Saturday, December 6, 2008

Arrests in Torture Case

A woman is being held in a San Joaquin County jail, in connection with the torture and kidnapping of a teen reportedly held captive for nearly a year.

Police said that Caren Ramirez, 43, a felon who was the teen's aunt and had a prior warrant for assaulting and abusing the boy, was arrested at an apartment, a few blocks south of the UC Berkeley campus.

Note: another article reported that Ramirez is not the boys aunt but his former guardian. The relationship is not clear at this time.

"Kelly Layne Lau and husband Michael Schumacher, of Tracy, were charged with 13 counts of abuse and former guardian Caren Ramirez was charged with 10 counts. The boy's relation to Ramirez is unclear. Authorities had earlier identified Ramirez as the boy's aunt but said Thursday they had learned she was a family friend that he called his aunt. Probation documents show that Ramirez claims to be the teen's mother, but the San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office said that is not a fact. The office also said that there is no DNA or biological relationship between Ramirez and the teen."
Warrant: Teen Forced To Stay In Fireplace


The boy was abused by his father and placed in the care of Ramirez by CPS in Sacramento County. He was then physically abused by Ramirez who was subsequently charged and sentenced in a plea deal — before being moved into a second foster home. He disappeared from the second home about a year ago.

When he showed up barely dressed and emaciated at the In-Shape Sports Club in Tracy, the boy told employees there he ran away from his second foster home in Sacramento because he wanted to be with his family.

According to court records, Ramirez was convicted in 2007 in Sacramento County of one felony count of inflicting corporal injury on a child. Ramirez also has three outstanding warrants for her arrest out of Sacramento.

Also arrested were Kelly Layne Lau and Michael Luther Schumacher. They are expected to be arraigned on charges of torture, kidnapping, false imprisonment, child endangerment and corporal injury to a child.

Source:
Third suspect in Tracy abuse case arrested in Berkeley

See also:
Video - Lau speaks to ABC7 about torture case

Video - Tracy torture suspects appear in court

In court papers, tortured boy describes life

New Details in Abuse Case of Shackled Teen

Abused Teen's Brother: Life Was a "Horror Movie"

California: The aunt and onetime guardian of an emaciated and shackled 17-year-old boy has been arrested

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's just so heartbreaking that anyone could be this cruel.

Anonymous said...

The law should be changed to provide for life imprisonment for these animals.

Anonymous said...

Yes, heartbreaking but true. Read the Profile of A Sociopath. There are two types of people on this earch:

PREDATORS AND THEIR PREY

Anonymous said...

And in the end, the boy just wanted to go home.

A story like this is a reality check that most of us, no matter what we think, have it pretty good.

Anonymous said...

I think this evil person Caren Ramirez, aunt and/or guardian, should be sentenced to life in prison.

And, while she is there, she needs to be available to all the other inmates who will know what she did to her victim.

As strange as it sounds, prisoners have their own code; they despise and look down on fellow inmates who take advantage of the vulnerable.

"According to court records, Ramirez was convicted in 2007 in Sacramento County of one felony count of inflicting corporal injury on a child. Ramirez also has three outstanding warrants for her arrest out of Sacramento."

Who are the responsible persons for letting this animal run loose?

These people need to be FIRED from their jobs post haste and I would hope they are criminally prosucuted for their role in allowing this low-life to proceed with criminal activities with others.