THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 22, 1995 TAG: 9502220438
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MATTHEW BOWERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
In the end, after a string of Social Services and Navy witnesses testified in Circuit Court to the improved parenting skills of Martin and Karen Herrera, the judge on Tuesday followed the wishes of 12 people who weren't even in the room.
Judge Kenneth N. Whitehurst Jr. upheld the recommendation of the jurors who in January convicted the Herreras of criminally starving their infant son. He sentenced husband and wife each to 106 days in jail and a $106 fine.
The length of incarceration equals the amount of time jurors found that Christopher N. Herrera wasn't properly fed last year.
Sheriff's deputies took the couple into custody; they can be expected to serve half the jail time, or about a month and a half.
Their three children - Christopher, now 15 months, and daughters ages 3 years and 2 months - will stay with a foster family until the Herreras are released.
``We didn't intend any harm,'' Karen E. Herrera, 20, told the judge before he imposed the sentence.
Before being led away by deputies, Martin Herrera Jr., 21, handed file folders to the couple's civil attorney, who still represents them in a custody battle for their son. The boy's court-appointed guardian, Paul H. Ray, is seeking to have Christopher permanently removed from the Herreras' home for his own safety.
Social Services, which still has legal custody of Christopher, has joined the Herreras in opposing the move. A hearing on Ray's request is scheduled for March 2.
Ten witnesses, including the Herreras, pointed to many reasons for keeping the Herreras out of jail: Martin's excellent record in the Navy, where he's a petty officer; the couple's participation, under court order and on their own, in 16 hours of parenting classes, plus ongoing bonding therapy, stress management and other family counseling and nutrition classes; and their volunteer work since their arrests with ``Stand Up For Kids,'' an organization that provides shelter and food for homeless and street children.
But Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Janee D. Joslin called ``ludicrous'' the arguments that the Herreras simply were ignorant.
``This child, Christopher, is not their first child,'' she said. ``It's not like they didn't know anything about parenting.''
Joslin also noted that the Herreras received some counseling two years earlier in California after Martin admitted intentionally blocking their daughter's breathing for a few seconds because of stress at work.
The jury, Joslin said, ``basically told the defendants: `You all are responsible for the care of your children,' . . . and they have said: `We are going to hold you accountable day for day for every day you neglected Christopher.' ''
Karen Herrera testified at the trial that she tried to feed Christopher but that he wouldn't eat much. Martin Herrera said Tuesday that he thought Christopher was improving after having undergone surgery to remove an intestinal blockage that prevented him from keeping down food during his first two months.
``I didn't see it the way everybody else saw it,'' Martin Herrera said.
The Herreras' lawyers said they're appealing the felony neglect convictions.
The case began in May when passers-by noticed the emaciated Christopher, who at 5 months old weighed less than 9 1/2 pounds. Social Services took the boy, who was hospitalized and then placed in foster care, where he quickly gained weight.
Three months before the Herreras' trial, Social Services returned Christopher to his parents' custody. This outraged prosecutors, his guardian and his foster parents, who quit the city foster-home program in disgust.
Bruce E. Watson Sr., Christopher's former foster father, remained concerned after Tuesday's hearing. ``I don't really see how those kids can be allowed to be back in that home,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
MOTOYA NAKAMURA/Staff file
Martin Herrera Jr., 21, left, and Karen E. Herrera, 20, will serve
about half the jail time, or about a month and a half. ``We didn't
intend any harm,'' Karen Herrera said in court Tuesday.
KEYWORDS: CHILD ABUSE CHILD NEGLECT STARVATION TRIAL
SENTENCING by CNB