Woman gets 6-10 years for child's drug death: foster daughter diedafter overdosing on morphine pills was sentenced yesterday to 6 to 10 yearsin prison...

Woman gets 6-10 years for child's drug death
Thursday, August 30, 2007
BY PETE SHELLEM
Of The Patriot-News

http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriot...310.xml&coll=1

A Harrisburg woman whose 4-year-old foster daughter died after
overdosing on morphine pills was sentenced yesterday to 6 to 10 years in
prison after an emotional sentencing hearing at which most agreed she
didn't mean to hurt the child.

Saying he didn't believe Cassandra Vaden, 38, meant any harm, Judge
Lawrence F. Clark Jr. imposed the term, which is at the bottom end of
the standard range of state sentencing guidelines.

He declined Vaden's attorney's request to lower it and the prosecution's
request to go higher.

"Not every case in which a life is lost -- and I use that word
specifically, 'lost' -- is one that requires a superlatively harsh
sentence," Clark said. "Even if I was to give you 20 to 40 years, that
would not bring that child back."

In June, Vaden pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and reckless
endangering charges in the April 24, 2006, death of Breonna Canales, who
died after taking about 10 30-milligram pills of the powerful narcotic
pain reliever. She and her brother had taken the pills out of a medicine
cabinet the night before.

Vaden didn't call 911 until the next morning, two hours after she found
the girl unresponsive.

In an interview, the girl's twin brother, Brian, said he and his sister
were pretending they were Halloween candy.

Vaden's attorney, First Deputy Public Defender Brad Winnick, told Clark
that Vaden took in the twins when they were 3 and their mother, a
drug-addicted prostitute, was sent to prison.

She was given guardianship status and county Children and Youth Services
stopped monitoring them, which Winnick said was a credit to how well she
was raising them despite their disabilities. They were born premature
and addicted to crack.

Winnick presented Vaden's 17-year-old son and friends and family members
who said she was the epitome of a loving mother.

Deputy District Attorney Kristen Weisenberger did not dispute that Vaden
loved the children, but said the bar is raised when one is taking care
of youngsters who can't take care of themselves.

She suggested that Vaden might have given the children morphine pills in
the past. She said hair testing showed Breonna had morphine in her
system as early as a year before she died.

Vaden found the children and the pills around 9 p.m. April 23, and
Breonna started vomiting that night. Weisenberger said the case went
over the top when Vaden found Breonna unresponsive at 7:30 a.m. and
waited two hours to call for help.

"You can't wake the child up, you call 911," Weisenberger told Clark.
"You don't have to be a parent to figure that out."

PETE SHELLEM: 255-8156 or






CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A
DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NSA / CIA
WIRETAPPING PROGRAM....

CPS Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of Child Protective Services.

every parent should read this .pdf from
connecticut dcf watch...

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com/8x11.pdf

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com

Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US
These numbers come from The National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS

*Perpetrators of Maltreatment*

Physical Abuse CPS 160, Parents 59
Sexual Abuse CPS 112, Parents 13
Neglect CPS 410, Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS 14 Parents 12
Fatalities CPS 6.4, Parents 1.5

Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that
are supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per
100,000 children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse
and kills more children then parents in the United States. If the
citizens of this country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold
parents too. No judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY
government agency because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and
death than any human being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more
human rights violations and deaths of children then the homes from which
they were removed. When are the judges going to wake up and see that
they are sending children to their death and a life of abuse when
children are removed from safe homes based on the mere opinion of a
bunch of social workers.


CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT
FAMILIES YEARLY NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO YOU'RE HOME SOON...


BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF
REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES
TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY
ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...

I wonder if she would have gotten this much if it were her natural daughter

"fx" wrote in message
...
Woman gets 6-10 years for child's drug death
Thursday, August 30, 2007
BY PETE SHELLEM
Of The Patriot-News

http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriot...310.xml&coll=1

A Harrisburg woman whose 4-year-old foster daughter died after overdosing
on morphine pills was sentenced yesterday to 6 to 10 years in prison after
an emotional sentencing hearing at which most agreed she didn't mean to
hurt the child.

Saying he didn't believe Cassandra Vaden, 38, meant any harm, Judge
Lawrence F. Clark Jr. imposed the term, which is at the bottom end of the
standard range of state sentencing guidelines.

He declined Vaden's attorney's request to lower it and the prosecution's
request to go higher.

"Not every case in which a life is lost -- and I use that word
specifically, 'lost' -- is one that requires a superlatively harsh
sentence," Clark said. "Even if I was to give you 20 to 40 years, that
would not bring that child back."

In June, Vaden pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and reckless
endangering charges in the April 24, 2006, death of Breonna Canales, who
died after taking about 10 30-milligram pills of the powerful narcotic
pain reliever. She and her brother had taken the pills out of a medicine
cabinet the night before.

Vaden didn't call 911 until the next morning, two hours after she found
the girl unresponsive.

In an interview, the girl's twin brother, Brian, said he and his sister
were pretending they were Halloween candy.

Vaden's attorney, First Deputy Public Defender Brad Winnick, told Clark
that Vaden took in the twins when they were 3 and their mother, a
drug-addicted prostitute, was sent to prison.

She was given guardianship status and county Children and Youth Services
stopped monitoring them, which Winnick said was a credit to how well she
was raising them despite their disabilities. They were born premature and
addicted to crack.

Winnick presented Vaden's 17-year-old son and friends and family members
who said she was the epitome of a loving mother.

Deputy District Attorney Kristen Weisenberger did not dispute that Vaden
loved the children, but said the bar is raised when one is taking care of
youngsters who can't take care of themselves.

She suggested that Vaden might have given the children morphine pills in
the past. She said hair testing showed Breonna had morphine in her system
as early as a year before she died.

Vaden found the children and the pills around 9 p.m. April 23, and Breonna
started vomiting that night. Weisenberger said the case went over the top
when Vaden found Breonna unresponsive at 7:30 a.m. and waited two hours to
call for help.

"You can't wake the child up, you call 911," Weisenberger told Clark. "You
don't have to be a parent to figure that out."

PETE SHELLEM: 255-8156 or






CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A DAILY
BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NSA / CIA WIRETAPPING
PROGRAM....

CPS Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of Child Protective Services.

every parent should read this .pdf from
connecticut dcf watch...

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com/8x11.pdf

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com

Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US
These numbers come from The National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS

*Perpetrators of Maltreatment*

Physical Abuse CPS 160, Parents 59
Sexual Abuse CPS 112, Parents 13
Neglect CPS 410, Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS 14 Parents 12
Fatalities CPS 6.4, Parents 1.5

Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that are
supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per 100,000
children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse and kills
more children then parents in the United States. If the citizens of this
country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold parents too. No
judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY government agency
because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and death than any human
being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more human rights violations
and deaths of children then the homes from which they were removed. When
are the judges going to wake up and see that they are sending children to
their death and a life of abuse when children are removed from safe homes
based on the mere opinion of a bunch of social workers.


CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT
FAMILIES YEARLY NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO YOU'RE HOME SOON...


BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF REFORMING
OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES TAKE A
STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY ARE
"FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...