Investigator Testifies in Fatal Abuse Case

Ventura County social workers visited the home of Rogelio and Gabriela Hernandez five times in the months before their 2-year-old daughter died, each time observing cuts, bruises and burns on the toddler, an investigator testified Friday.

Susan Creede interviewed two county social workers as part of the district attorney’s investigation into the beating death of Joselin, who died in June after receiving blunt blows to her stomach.

The child’s 18-year-old parents are charged with murder and felony child abuse for allegedly inflicting the injuries that caused her death.

Testifying Friday at a hearing to determine whether the parents should be bound over for trial, Creede recounted a series of interviews she conducted with witnesses in the case.

One county social worker, Cathy DeLaTorre-Martinez, told Creede that she was assigned to Joselin’s case in 1994, one month after the child was released from a hospital after suffering broken bones, burns and bruises.

As an infant, Joselin was taken away from her parents and placed in the care of her grandparents, Amor and Miguel Nieto.

At first, Rogelio and Gabriela Hernandez were allowed only supervised visits with their daughter. Later, they were granted unsupervised and overnight visits.

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It was after an unsupervised visit in October 1995 that Amor Nieto contacted DeLaTorre-Martinez.

In response, the social worker went to the family’s home to check on Joselin and noticed bruises on the child’s face and stomach, Creede said.

When she asked the parents about the injuries, they told DeLaTorre-Martinez that the toddler fell from a short step at their apartment complex, Creede said.

Amor Nieto later reported that Joselin had been burned by touching a hot iron. This injury occurred while the child was in the care of her grandparents--not her parents--and was checked out by the social worker, Creede testified.

Last March, about five months later, Amor Nieto was killed in a traffic accident and Joselin was returned to her parents for an extended 60-day visit.

During that time, Creede said, the social worker told her that “she was going to visit each family at least once a month,” referring to the Nietos and the Hernandezes.

But DeLaTorre-Martinez lost contact with the parents twice during the spring of 1996, Creede testified.

It was not until April 23 that the social worker had a home visit with the Hernandezes, during which she noticed a burn on the child’s right hand and a bruise on her right cheek.

“She said she was angry that they did not call to report the injuries,” Creede testified.

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According to the investigator, Gabriela Hernandez told the social worker that the bruise occurred when the child was playing with her cousins in Mexico, after her grandmother’s funeral.

Rogelio Hernandez attributed the burn to a hot-water accident in Mexico--a statement that was refuted by other witnesses Creede interviewed.

About two weeks after the April visit, DeLaTorre-Martinez went to the family’s Oxnard produce store to inform the parents that their case was being transferred to a new social worker. DeLaTorre-Martinez had been promoted, Creede explained.

During that visit, the social worker and her replacement noticed a cut on Joselin’s forehead that had been stitched, Creede testified.

The father told the county employees that the wound was an accident that occurred when the little girl slipped and fell from a milk crate in the store while playing a video game, the investigator said.

After that visit, employees of the county’s Public Social Service Agency had one additional contact with the couple before Joselin’s death.

On May 14, social worker Patricia Peralta was called to check on the child after a report of possible abuse, Creede said.

Two days later, Peralta went to the produce store to see Joselin, but Gabriela Hernandez refused to let her see the child, Creede said. She told Peralta that the child was not there and that she already had an assigned caseworker, Creede said.

“She said that Gabriela . . . wasn’t cooperative,” the investigator testified.

Under questioning from defense attorney William Maxwell, Creede acknowledged that DeLaTorre-Martinez determined that there was insufficient evidence to suggest child abuse in one of the reported injuries.

The investigator also stated on cross-examination that the grandfather never expressed his concerns about possible abuse to DeLaTorre-Martinez.

However, Miguel Nieto did tell Peralta he was worried about the series of injuries, Creede testified.

Also during Friday’s hearing, Creede recounted interviews she conducted with about seven other witnesses, including the doctor who was present at Joselin’s birth and examined the infant after the 1994 abuse.

Dr. Robert Moore also examined autopsy photos and X-rays of the child after her death and told the investigator that Joselin’s life could have been saved if her injuries had been treated sooner.

Two witnesses told Creede that the parents offered differing explanations of how the child died. The father attributed her fatal injuries to a hiking accident, Creede testified.

Another witness told her that Gabriela Hernandez said Joselin swallowed a piece of chewing gum that did not pass through her and caused a stomach injury.

The hearing is expected to be completed Monday.