Jolie Rouge
04-30-2008, 08:31 PM
Indictment: Missing girl was beaten, denied medical care
By P. SOLOMON BANDA, Associated Press Writer
1 minute ago
AURORA, Colo. - A young girl who is missing and presumed dead had been repeatedly beaten and locked in a closet for hours because she wet herself, according to an indictment released Wednesday.
The 60-count indictment against Aaron Thompson paints a grim picture of brutality against his daughter Aarone (EHR'-in-ay) and seven other children in his suburban Aurora home.
Investigators believe Aarone may have died as early as 2003, when she was 4 years old. Thompson reported her missing in November 2005, when she would have been 6.
The indictment accuses Thompson of fatal child abuse, concealing a death for two years, assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy. It also implicates Thompson's girlfriend, Shely Lowe, who died in May 2006 of heart problems.
Thompson faces up to 54 years in prison if convicted on all counts. Thompson, jailed on $500,000 bond, has refused to cooperate with investigators. Messages left for his public defender, James O'Connor, were not returned.
The indictment was issued in May 2007 but wasn't made public until The Denver Post and The Associated Press sued to gain access under open records laws.
The indictment said the abuse took place between May 12, 2002, and Aug. 31, 2004. At least one child living in the home told police that Aarone would be placed in a closet for hours as punishment for wetting herself.
The other children told police the couple sometimes took them to the basement, ordered them to strip naked and "whooped" them with a baseball bat, belts, cords, a broomstick or a magazine, often leaving scars, the indictment said.
Aarone was scarred from beatings, suffered from undernourishment and hadn't been given medical care, it said.
The last picture of her the family could provide investigators was taken during a 2002 vacation to the Grand Canyon. She was not enrolled in school, even though at the time she was reported missing she would have been in the first grade.
The couple told the other children and police that she moved to Michigan to live with her mother, the indictment said. Thompson reported his daughter missing Nov. 14, 2005, telling police she had run away after an argument over a cookie.
The indictment said Lowe told a male acquaintance in January 2004 that Aarone had stopped breathing in a bathtub and that when Thompson and Lowe couldn't revive her, they buried her body in a "far away" field.
Lowe told the acquaintance that Aarone appeared to exhale her last breath as they covered her with dirt, the indictment said.
"They decided they would have to get rid of the body because there was a scar on her back from where they had disciplined her," the indictment said.
The acquaintance told police that Lowe's main concern was that social services or police would take the other children away. He said he believed Aarone died in the summer or fall of 2003. Aarone's body has never been found.
The indictment says a nun from the Catholic Charities social service agency had been to the Thompson house earlier that day but did not see the girl. It says Thompson did not mention that visit when he reported Aarone missing.
An intensive police search began the day Thompson reported the girl missing. By 9 p.m. that day, Thompson told officers searching his house that he was tired and wanted to go to bed, the indictment said.
Colorado Department of Human Services spokeswoman Liz McDonough said there was no record in a statewide database of any social worker contact with the family regarding Aarone.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080501/ap_on_re_us/missing_girl;_ylt=AhdXiaSkRedzSbHa5FMZEm2s0NUE
An intensive police search began the day Thompson reported the girl missing. By 9 p.m. that day, Thompson told officers searching his house that he was tired and wanted to go to bed, the indictment said.
This had to tell the police that something was very very wrong ....
The indictment said Lowe told a male acquaintance in January 2004 that Aarone had stopped breathing in a bathtub and that when Thompson and Lowe couldn't revive her, they buried her body in a "far away" field.
Lowe told the acquaintance that Aarone appeared to exhale her last breath as they covered her with dirt, the indictment said.
"They decided they would have to get rid of the body because there was a scar on her back from where they had disciplined her," the indictment said.
The acquaintance told police that Lowe's main concern was that social services or police would take the other children away. He said he believed Aarone died in the summer or fall of 2003. Aarone's body has never been found.
WHY didn't this "acquaintance" call the police ? WTF is wrong with people ?
By P. SOLOMON BANDA, Associated Press Writer
1 minute ago
AURORA, Colo. - A young girl who is missing and presumed dead had been repeatedly beaten and locked in a closet for hours because she wet herself, according to an indictment released Wednesday.
The 60-count indictment against Aaron Thompson paints a grim picture of brutality against his daughter Aarone (EHR'-in-ay) and seven other children in his suburban Aurora home.
Investigators believe Aarone may have died as early as 2003, when she was 4 years old. Thompson reported her missing in November 2005, when she would have been 6.
The indictment accuses Thompson of fatal child abuse, concealing a death for two years, assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy. It also implicates Thompson's girlfriend, Shely Lowe, who died in May 2006 of heart problems.
Thompson faces up to 54 years in prison if convicted on all counts. Thompson, jailed on $500,000 bond, has refused to cooperate with investigators. Messages left for his public defender, James O'Connor, were not returned.
The indictment was issued in May 2007 but wasn't made public until The Denver Post and The Associated Press sued to gain access under open records laws.
The indictment said the abuse took place between May 12, 2002, and Aug. 31, 2004. At least one child living in the home told police that Aarone would be placed in a closet for hours as punishment for wetting herself.
The other children told police the couple sometimes took them to the basement, ordered them to strip naked and "whooped" them with a baseball bat, belts, cords, a broomstick or a magazine, often leaving scars, the indictment said.
Aarone was scarred from beatings, suffered from undernourishment and hadn't been given medical care, it said.
The last picture of her the family could provide investigators was taken during a 2002 vacation to the Grand Canyon. She was not enrolled in school, even though at the time she was reported missing she would have been in the first grade.
The couple told the other children and police that she moved to Michigan to live with her mother, the indictment said. Thompson reported his daughter missing Nov. 14, 2005, telling police she had run away after an argument over a cookie.
The indictment said Lowe told a male acquaintance in January 2004 that Aarone had stopped breathing in a bathtub and that when Thompson and Lowe couldn't revive her, they buried her body in a "far away" field.
Lowe told the acquaintance that Aarone appeared to exhale her last breath as they covered her with dirt, the indictment said.
"They decided they would have to get rid of the body because there was a scar on her back from where they had disciplined her," the indictment said.
The acquaintance told police that Lowe's main concern was that social services or police would take the other children away. He said he believed Aarone died in the summer or fall of 2003. Aarone's body has never been found.
The indictment says a nun from the Catholic Charities social service agency had been to the Thompson house earlier that day but did not see the girl. It says Thompson did not mention that visit when he reported Aarone missing.
An intensive police search began the day Thompson reported the girl missing. By 9 p.m. that day, Thompson told officers searching his house that he was tired and wanted to go to bed, the indictment said.
Colorado Department of Human Services spokeswoman Liz McDonough said there was no record in a statewide database of any social worker contact with the family regarding Aarone.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080501/ap_on_re_us/missing_girl;_ylt=AhdXiaSkRedzSbHa5FMZEm2s0NUE
An intensive police search began the day Thompson reported the girl missing. By 9 p.m. that day, Thompson told officers searching his house that he was tired and wanted to go to bed, the indictment said.
This had to tell the police that something was very very wrong ....
The indictment said Lowe told a male acquaintance in January 2004 that Aarone had stopped breathing in a bathtub and that when Thompson and Lowe couldn't revive her, they buried her body in a "far away" field.
Lowe told the acquaintance that Aarone appeared to exhale her last breath as they covered her with dirt, the indictment said.
"They decided they would have to get rid of the body because there was a scar on her back from where they had disciplined her," the indictment said.
The acquaintance told police that Lowe's main concern was that social services or police would take the other children away. He said he believed Aarone died in the summer or fall of 2003. Aarone's body has never been found.
WHY didn't this "acquaintance" call the police ? WTF is wrong with people ?