Bonita mom gets probation in neglect case
By AISLING SWIFT
Posted August 18, 2009 at 8:39 p.m.

Karen Elizabeth Arriaga, a teenage mother of two, couldn't afford the medical care for a premature baby with breathing problems. The 19-year-old Bonita Springs woman also had no transportation to get to doctor's appointments.

Arriaga's parents, Elida and Victor, were detained a week after her Feb. 12 arrest on a child neglect charge as they visited their grandsons, ages 11 months and 2 years. The case set off a statewide debate over whether a Naples contractor for the Florida Department of Children and Families - whose mission is to protect children - should be cooperating with law enforcement and Immigration and Customs Enforcement in their effort to nab illegal aliens.

The couple felt they had been set up by A Children’s Network of Southwest Florida, a Naples child welfare agency, prompting a protest by immigration advocates in March outside DCF offices in Miami.

"There is a serious concern that the actions of DCF and local law enforcement will have a chilling effect on cooperation between immigrant communities and DCF and their providers with local law enforcement on issues that impact the welfare of children and their families," John DeLeon, attorney for the Mexican and Guatemalan Consulates, said at the press conference.

On Monday, without the fanfare that accompanied the initial arrests, Karen Arriaga's case came to a quiet end.

Wearing an orange jumpsuit, the petite teen pleaded no contest to child neglect without great harm and Collier Circuit Judge Fred Hardt sentenced her to a year of probation, but withheld an adjudication of guilt because she had no criminal record. That means she will have no conviction if she successfully finishes probation.

The judge ordered her to complete a parenting class and comply with the DCF case plan, which recommends reunification with her children. By sentencing, Arriaga had already served 187 days in the county jail.

However, because there's an ICE hold on her, probation may be terminated if she's deported to Mexico.

"I don't have faith that the U.S. government's going to follow through on these things," Assistant State Attorney Steve Maresca told the judge, who questioned terminating her probation. "I'm just concerned that if she doesn't get deported, nothing will happen to her."

The children, who are legal U.S. citizens, are with an aunt, according to Assistant Public Defender Shawn Nagle, who represented Arriaga.

She faced a maximum of five years in a state prison on the third-degree felony, but was sentenced as part of a plea agreement that considered her lack of a record and other factors.

"It's a sad situation all around," Nagle said as he left the courtroom, adding that Arriaga didn't have the money for the expensive medical equipment and had no vehicle to drive to medical appointments. Nagle said the children's father has disappeared.

Arriaga's baby boy was born six months premature with undeveloped lungs in April, according to an arrest report by Collier County sheriff's investigators, who noted that the baby spent four months in neonatal intensive care and must be on oxygen at all times.

Between Sept. 9 and Oct. 14, reports say, the 11-month-old baby had 16 scheduled doctor appointments, but was only taken to two. Reports say Arriaga consistently neglected to obtain oxygen for the baby and did not know how to care for him. In December, he was removed from her home by DCF and taken to a hospital for care.

Arriaga, who was visiting her children in February after they'd been taken away by DCF, was turned over by A Children's Network to Collier deputies, who were asked by ICE to have her arrested on an outstanding deportation warrant.

On Feb. 26, after A Children's Network social worker called Victor and Elida Arriaga to set up a visit with the children, they also were detained. Elida, who is from Guatemala, was holding her 1-year-old grandson when deputies told her she was in the country illegally and led her and her husband away as the children cried.

Victor Arriaga was later released so the children had someone to care for them, while Elida Arriaga remains in a deportation center.

Angry immigrant advocates set up a press conference in March. At the time, Maria Rodriguez, executive director of Florida Immigrant Coalition, asked: "How can a state agency possibly be working to the children's benefit when it's trying to sever ties between the children and everyone they love?"

The Arriagas told reporters they felt set up.

"We were asking, 'Why are these (deputies) here?' and 'What does our immigration have to do with us visiting our grandchildren?' " Victor Arriaga said through an interpreter. "We came as we often did. We sat down to play with the children and they asked if we had our immigration papers."

Immigration advocates have said the arrests demonstrate problems with the system. Such arrangements between social workers and immigration authorities, they say, deter immigrants from cooperating with social workers on issues like child abuse.

Erin Gillespie, a spokeswoman for the Department of Children and Families, which contracts with A Children’s Network of Southwest Florida, has said DCF is legally required to contact local authorities about criminal neglect cases. And, she said, DCF always cooperates when deputies ask about a family, including sharing the time and location of a scheduled visitation.


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