additional commentary by Timothy Horrigan
(member of the House Petitions & Redress Committee)
See:
Here is a video of an interview of Dr. David
Vandenberg, done by Josh Youssef. It was uploaded to Youtube
on April 17, 2012. I am not sure when it was actually taped, but
it was probably several weeks before that date. During his most
recent visit to the House Redress Committee, on January 21, Dr.
Vandenberg provided us with some court documents filed by his
ex-wife and by Guardian ad litem Judith Hamilton, detailing the
charges which he refudiates in this video. He threatened to sue me
under Arkansas law for slander when I briefly reposted them on my
website. I don't need to repost them again: you get a fairly clear
picture of what the charges were just from his own
summaries. His exwife has been defending herself vigorously
(with the help of a very good lawyer), although she opted not to
appear before the Redress Committee, and she (as far as I know)
disagrees with just about everything said here:
Original URL: http://youtu.be/dkCLLMR4ygk
Dr. Vandenberg's story about the young "Gutierrez" woman is (by current New Hampshire House standards) reasonably accurate. There were two eeriely similar tragedies involving two young women from the Merrimack Valley— one with a Spanish last name, the other with a Portugese last name— whose infant sons drowned in the bathtub. Dr. Vandenberg got the Spanish surname straight: Melissa Gutierrez of Merrimack was arrested after her 8-month-old son drowned on August 25, 2011. Her son Christian was allegedly left alone in the tub with his two-year-old brother. Ms. Gutierrez had a long criminal record (all for relatively minor offenses.) The father of the youngest child put up bail, but she was arrested again in April 2012 at a mall in Salem on drug and shoplifting charges. She had three other children, even though she was only 25 years old. at least two of her four surviving children are in the DCYF system.
This tragedy followed an eeriely
similar case in Manchester. On July 13, 2010, Jessica Botelho left
her two sons, aged 1 and 2 in the tub for 40 minutes. The younger
boy drowned while she was sitting out on the porch with her
laptop. She wasn't arrested till October 2011. In February 2012,
during one of Dr. Vandenberg's visits to New Hampshire, Ms.
Botelho was convicted on charges of of manslaughter, negligent
homicide and reckless conduct, and on May 22 she was sentenced to
a minimum of five years in prison. (Unusually, David
Garfunkel, the Superior Court judge who sentenced her, has not yet
been named in a House Petition.)
Both women have apparently been allowed visitations with their children, but these seem to have been supervised visitations. (We do know that Ms. Gutierrez's lawyer asked for unsupvervised visits, but we don't know what has been granted.)
See:
February 16, 2012 Manchester Union
Leader story: "Mother of drowned boy can visit son"
At the time, I commented: " One obvious point: she hasn't
been convicted of anything yet. She will be convicted only
if the state proves her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. One
less obvious point: the DCYF may recommend supervised
visitation, which is a structured program carried out under
the auspices of a private visitation center (e.g., the one
at the YWCA in downtown Manchester.) The children won't be
in any danger. "
April 12, 2012 Nashua Telegraph story: "Merrimack woman charged in infant's death arrested in Salem"
For
whatever it's worth, David Vandenberg (even though he lives in
Arkansas) has endorsed Joshua Youssef's State Senate campaign. I
am not 100% sure, but this Letter to the Editor probably ran in
the Laconia Citizen on or before May 16, 2012:
| "Joshua Youssef will work to restrict harmful government intrusion" |
|
To the editor, I am writing to endorse Joshua Youssef's candidacy for
State Senate. Joshua is a life-long resident of Laconia, a
business owner, and a remarkable advocate for reform in
state courts. Like many others, he has seen how average,
hard-working citizens' lives have been harmed by state
officials dizzy with their own power. He will work to
restore the rights to run a business, raise a family, and
maintain a good life without harmful government intrusion. |
David D. Vandenberg, Ph.D, M.F.A. |
See Also:
Dr. David Vandenberg's May 8, 2012 interview with Rep. Kevin Avard
Dr. Vandenberg's testimony before the House Redress Committee; February 21, 2012
Josh Youssef & David Vandenberg on WEZS radio
Capital Hill Baptist Church (an ultra-conservative church in Washington,. DC, which Dr. Vandenberg says he and his daughter attended)
Joshua Youssef's testimony before the Redress Committee: February 2, 2012 through July 24, 2012
Am I That Guy Who Made Those Statements?
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