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Police Investigating Signs Of Physical And Sexual Abuse On 7-Year-Old Who Fell Out Window
By
Ben Yakas
Published Jul 13, 2013
Modified Jul 19, 2013
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Jul 13, 2013
Modified Jul 19, 2013
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This week, a 7-year-old girl with severe signs of abuse, including opiates in her system and evidence of sexual abuse, fell out the sixth story window of a Brooklyn apartment. The unidentified girl was visiting from Florida and staying with her 19-year-old stepmother Diana Metellus's family when she fell from the Gravesend Houses in Coney Island around 7:45 p.m. Wednesday evening. “She was moaning and trying to move. We told her not to,” neighbor Delores Johnson, who helped the injured girl on the ground, told the Daily News. “It hurt my heart...It’s horrible.”
The girl was taken to Lutheran Medical Center with a shattered pelvis, punctured lungs, swelling to the brain and bruises to her arms and legs. Doctors also found traces of drugs in her system, including marijuana and Methadone, and also found signs of sexual abuse.
Though she survived the fall, the little girl is still in serious condition, using a ventilator to breath at the hospital; the Times says she is communicating with hand gestures now. The News adds that cops found at least one small Ziplock bag that had traces of drugs inside a bedroom belonging to the stepmom's 16-year-old sister. The city's Administration for Children’s Services took the girl's 1-year-old brother into custody after the incident.
Earlier that day, the girl had been reported missing, but police returned her to her family about 20 minutes after the report was made. A neighbor told the News that the little girl said she was upset after someone told her that the family wanted to move her to Haiti, where her biological mother lives.
Tagged
abuse
brooklyn
coney island
Gravesend Houses
severe abuse
sexual abuse
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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