Alice Velasquez worries every time she brings her children to the doctor’s office. Like most mothers, she is concerned that there might be something wrong with them, but more than that, she worries that the doctors will find a reason to take her children away from her.
Such was the case when she brought her 4-month-old daughter, Liliana Velasquez, from the family home in Alexandria for a routine checkup at Bethesda Naval Medical Center on Feb. 3, 2000. After Alice Velasquez pointed out some bumps on the baby’s ribs, doctors ordered that X-rays be taken. They revealed multiple rib fractures.
Based on this evidence alone, the doctors accused Liliana Velasquez’s father, Miguel Velasquez, of child abuse and contacted Child Protective Services in Alexandria.
Liliana Velasquez spent the night at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the next day was taken from the couple and placed in foster care. And so the nightmare began.
Alice Velasquez explained to the doctors that Osteogenesis Imperfecta — also known as brittle bones — runs in her family and asked that her daughter be tested for the disease. According to Alice Velasquez, military doctors refused to have the child tested and told her to stop making excuses for her husband.
Miguel Velasquez was arrested and charged with felony child abuse. Liliana Velasquez remained in foster care.
“The thing is, when she was in foster care she was hospitalized seven times and almost died,” said Miguel Velasquez. “When she went to the hospital, social services didn’t even tell us. When my wife went to visit Liliana, she was told that she was in the hospital.”
Miguel Velasquez tried to visit his daughter but was denied visitation. “They wanted me to confess in order to see my daughter,” he said.
Debra Collins, director of Human Services in Alexandria, could not comment specifically on the Velasquez’ case, but said, “We’re not medical professionals, so when we are called in by doctors we rely on their supporting medical testimony. When a medical provider calls [to report abuse] it triggers a different response. When there’s medical observation of abuse, we have to call the police. There’s a whole decision-making tree and where we don’t have expertise we rely on other professionals' expertise.”
IN THE MEANTIME, Miguel Velasquez, who was in the process of applying for U.S. citizenship, lost his job. Alice Velasquez, who went from 145 pounds to 84 pounds, was forced to take a hardship discharge from the Army where she was an active duty member for several years.
With little income, the family had to move from their home in Alexandria to a less expensive residence in Prince George’s County — the fact that they were in another state would later complicate and delay the release of their daughter.
Through the efforts of the public defender assigned to Miguel Velasquez, the court OK'd funds to pay for medical tests for Liliana Velasquez. When the test came back positive for brittle bones disease, or Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI), the charges against Miguel Velasquez were dismissed at the request of the City of Alexandria Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.
That happened in the beginning of 2001, but the doctors in Bethesda continued to insist that the child was abused by Miguel Velasquez.
“The military doctors didn’t want to accept that she had the disease,” said Miguel Velasquez.
Based on that information, Child Protective Services still didn’t feel that it was safe to return Liliana Velasquez to her home. Alice Velasquez said that they started saying that her daughter would be available for adoption after a year.
“That’s when I really panicked,” she said. “We started looking for a lawyer because up to that point we only had court-appointed lawyers. A lot of people hear 'Social Services' and they won’t want anything to do with it.”
DOROTHY ISAACS, partner with Surovell Markle Isaacs & Levy PLC, heard their story and felt compelled to take their case.
“I’m a person who doesn’t like injustice and I fight for understanding,” she said. “The day I first met them just sitting there and talking to them I knew they weren’t that kind of people.”
“When Dorothy Isaacs came in, things really started happening,” said Alice Velasquez. They moved Liliana Velasquez to another foster-care home and in July, 2001, she finally came home. Isaacs had Miguel Velasquez removed from the Child Abuse Registry and had the record of his criminal case expunged.
She then started preparing a civil case suing the United States of America because of the conduct of military doctors at Bethesda Naval Medical Center and Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The lawsuit, which stipulated medical malpractice, intentional infliction of emotional distress and malicious prosecution, was filed July, 2004 in the United States District Office for the District of Maryland, Baltimore Division. On Friday, Oct. 14, the United States settled the case for $950,000.
According to a statement released by Surovell Markle Isaacs & Levy PLC, “Judge Richard D. Bennett apologized to Mr. Velasquez on behalf of the United States.”
“I’m relieved that this is over and that my name is clear,” said Miguel Velasquez. “It [the lawsuit] wasn’t about the money; it was about getting my daughter back. She was gone 18 months.”
“I’m very glad that we finally have some closure — it was a long five years [since the first checkup to now],” said Alice Velasquez. “We were very fortunate to have very good lawyers.”
ALICE VELASQUEZ SAID that although her daughter has been back with them for four years, she still has emotional problems.
“She’s scared to death that we will leave her,” said Alice Velasquez of Liliana. “If she doesn’t see me or my husband she starts to cry. It was the most horrible thing for a parent — we were powerless to do anything. Her second foster-care mother said that Liliana used to go to the front door and cry for her mother. These were the formative years for a child when they learn how to trust — her security blanket wasn’t there.”
“When she first came home, she couldn’t sleep at night,” said Miguel Velasquez. “She had nightmares and would cry and scream ‘The man’s going to take me away.’ She was really traumatized. She’s very overprotective with her [4-year-old] sister, Tahlia, who has since been diagnosed with the same disease.”
When they first got her back, Alice Velasquez said that she worried every time she stubbed her toe.
“Is my baby OK?” she thought. “Are they going to take her away? Are they going to think it’s my fault she has a cold? You’re torn between wanting to take care of her and not wanting to go to the doctor.”
THIS IS WHERE ATTORNEY ISAACS believes that the system failed. The agency continued to rely only on the medical evidence, and ignored the fact that Miguel Velasquez had no criminal record or history of violence, she said.
“I respect the work they do and they have a huge responsibility to see that children are safe. But Miguel Velasquez had as clear a slate as a man could have,” Isaacs said. “Once the diagnosis of OI was made, they should have immediately re-evaluated.”
Isaacs said authorities investigating the case ignored evidence that should have helped clear Miguel Velasquez. They ignored the fact that Alice Velasquez herself had OI and had broken bones as a child. They ignored evidence that Alice and Miguel Velasquez worked hard at being good parents. For example, Alice Velasquez’s coworkers at the Pentagon testified about efforts the parents made to so that Alice Velasquez could continue to breastfeed Liliana Velasquez even while she was working.
“If this kid was being abused, it would not be a smiling, happy baby,” Isaacs said.
Isaacs, who lived in Marlan Forest for about 20 years and was active in her children’s schools PTA organizations before she moved to Fairfax, said that she can now sleep at night.
“There’s a lesson to be learned in this — that doctors should not jump to conclusions and [should] test for things even if they are remote. If they’re charging somebody with abuse, they need to be thorough. It’s impossible to appreciate what they went through.”
Isaacs’ law partner, Scott Surovell, said, “The case started out as a pro bono project for her. She put over $100K of her time into fighting the abuse allegations without any expectation of getting paid before the medical malpractice suit was even filed. She tried to get some other injury attorneys to take it and no one would touch it because they were afraid to take on doctors reporting child abuse.”
“The thing I find outstanding is how many families have exactly the same story,” said Alice Velasquez, of families caring for children with “broken bones syndrome.”
“One father spent five years in jail because his child had 30 broken bones. They didn’t realize it was a disease; they weren’t educated. That man will never get his life back — he’s scared to touch his kids and the family is destroyed. We’re lucky we had a strong enough bond — I never doubted him [Miguel].”
“The problem is that when a fallacy is stated and restated, it starts to become the truth, even if there is no evidence,” Isaacs said. “The thing that shocked me was that they painted the abuse brush yet there was not a bruise or a cut on Liliana. Doctors told me that to break a child’s ribs, you have to put them on the floor and stomp on them — or grab and squeeze them so tight. There is no way that there would be no bruises.”
Isaacs credits the testimony of Dr. Kenneth Rosenbaum, head of genetics at Children’s Hospital in Washington, D.C.
“It was his testimony that assisted me in getting her home,” Isaacs said.