Tyrone N. Butts
APE Reporter
Wellington man charged with abuse of 3 girls; mother gets 15 years for neglect
Nice photos of Jasmin Stewart and Willie Whitaker at link!
Willie James Whitaker went to court Thursday to ask a judge to show his live-in girlfriend leniency as she was sentenced for criminally neglecting one of her daughters.
He left the Palm Beach County courthouse in handcuffs, accused of brutalizing the woman's three girls.
Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office deputies handcuffed Whitaker outside the courtroom moments after he leapt in disbelief as Judge Stephen Rapp sentenced Jasmin Stewart to 15 years in prison -- the maximum possible for Stewart's single charge of child neg
lect causing great bodily harm[
/b].
"Your honor!" Whitaker cried repeatedly after hearing the sentence. Bailiffs intervened and Rapp left the bench.
"The kids love their mother," Whitaker told the judge moments before. "She went through everything to be a good mother."
But a Sheriff's Office report released after Whitaker's arrest portrays a chilling web of abuse at his Wellington home, accusing Whitaker, 42, of beating the girls, imprisoning one in a bathroom and forcing two of the girls to watch as Whitaker and Stewart had sex.
Accounts in the report also implicate Stewart in some of the physical abuse.
The alleged victims told investigators that one daughter, now 4, was not potty trained and was forced to live in a filthy bathroom for 21/2 years, receiving only scraps of food, according to the sheriff's report.
"It was like poof, [the youngest girl] was gone,&qu
ot;
one of the daughters told a Child Protection Team investigator. "During the hurricanes in 2004, Willie said
they could take [her] out of the bathroom, but when they did he said, `Never mind. She's too weird, put her back.'"
The names of the alleged victims, now 4, 9 and 11, were blacked out of the report. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel is not naming the girls because they are minors and alleged victims of child abuse.
The report detailed allegations that Whitaker deprived one girl of her asthma medication, beat the girls with a belt, beat one with a wooden paddle, and threw hot water on two girls after asking Stewart "who she wanted him to throw the hot water on."
"It was like he wanted to torture us instead of Willie Jr. [his own son]," the 9-year-old is quoted as saying in the report.
Whitaker was booked into the Palm Beach County jail on susp
icion o
f nine charges ranging from child abuse to lewd and lascivious exhibition. He is scheduled to make his first appearance before a judge today.
His sister, Drucilla Whita
ker, 45, of West Palm Beach, met the accusations with disbelief.
"He's always been good with children," Drucilla Whitaker said when reached by phone. "He doesn't like hitting on children, and he doesn't like seeing other people hitting on their children."
She described her brother as a former neighborhood barber who would bring birthday cakes to children who had neglectful parents.
"I don't believe this," Drucilla Whitaker said. "I'm not saying that because he's my brother. I'm saying that because I don't believe it."
Drucilla Whitaker said she was skeptical of the questioning methods adult investigators may have used on the girls.
It's un
clear why the latest allegations against Stewart and Willie James Whitaker surfaced during questioning by abuse investigators in October -- eight months after Stewart was arrested on the initial charge of child neglect. The state Department of Children & Families has custody of the childr
en, who are residing with a foster family, according to the sheriff's report. State law prohibits DCF officials from commenting on individual cases.
Sheriff's records also indicate that when Stewart, 30, was taken into custody Thursday to begin serving her prison sentence, she also was booked on seven new counts stemming from her daughters' allegations.
"We will charge if any evidence supports new charges," State Attorney's Office spokesman Michael Edmondson said. Daniel Vogel, Stewart's public defender, did not return a call to his office.
*************
Jasmin Stewart is either a high yellow or Hispanic but Willie, well, y'all is gots to see Mr. Wil
lie. Here he i
s!
T.N.B.
Nice photos of Jasmin Stewart and Willie Whitaker at link!
Willie James Whitaker went to court Thursday to ask a judge to show his live-in girlfriend leniency as she was sentenced for criminally neglecting one of her daughters.
He left the Palm Beach County courthouse in handcuffs, accused of brutalizing the woman's three girls.
Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office deputies handcuffed Whitaker outside the courtroom moments after he leapt in disbelief as Judge Stephen Rapp sentenced Jasmin Stewart to 15 years in prison -- the maximum possible for Stewart's single charge of child neg
lect causing great bodily harm[
/b].
"Your honor!" Whitaker cried repeatedly after hearing the sentence. Bailiffs intervened and Rapp left the bench.
"The kids love their mother," Whitaker told the judge moments before. "She went through everything to be a good mother."
But a Sheriff's Office report released after Whitaker's arrest portrays a chilling web of abuse at his Wellington home, accusing Whitaker, 42, of beating the girls, imprisoning one in a bathroom and forcing two of the girls to watch as Whitaker and Stewart had sex.
Accounts in the report also implicate Stewart in some of the physical abuse.
The alleged victims told investigators that one daughter, now 4, was not potty trained and was forced to live in a filthy bathroom for 21/2 years, receiving only scraps of food, according to the sheriff's report.
"It was like poof, [the youngest girl] was gone,&qu
ot;
one of the daughters told a Child Protection Team investigator. "During the hurricanes in 2004, Willie said
they could take [her] out of the bathroom, but when they did he said, `Never mind. She's too weird, put her back.'"
The names of the alleged victims, now 4, 9 and 11, were blacked out of the report. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel is not naming the girls because they are minors and alleged victims of child abuse.
The report detailed allegations that Whitaker deprived one girl of her asthma medication, beat the girls with a belt, beat one with a wooden paddle, and threw hot water on two girls after asking Stewart "who she wanted him to throw the hot water on."
"It was like he wanted to torture us instead of Willie Jr. [his own son]," the 9-year-old is quoted as saying in the report.
Whitaker was booked into the Palm Beach County jail on susp
icion o
f nine charges ranging from child abuse to lewd and lascivious exhibition. He is scheduled to make his first appearance before a judge today.
His sister, Drucilla Whita
ker, 45, of West Palm Beach, met the accusations with disbelief.
"He's always been good with children," Drucilla Whitaker said when reached by phone. "He doesn't like hitting on children, and he doesn't like seeing other people hitting on their children."
She described her brother as a former neighborhood barber who would bring birthday cakes to children who had neglectful parents.
"I don't believe this," Drucilla Whitaker said. "I'm not saying that because he's my brother. I'm saying that because I don't believe it."
Drucilla Whitaker said she was skeptical of the questioning methods adult investigators may have used on the girls.
It's un
clear why the latest allegations against Stewart and Willie James Whitaker surfaced during questioning by abuse investigators in October -- eight months after Stewart was arrested on the initial charge of child neglect. The state Department of Children & Families has custody of the childr
en, who are residing with a foster family, according to the sheriff's report. State law prohibits DCF officials from commenting on individual cases.
Sheriff's records also indicate that when Stewart, 30, was taken into custody Thursday to begin serving her prison sentence, she also was booked on seven new counts stemming from her daughters' allegations.
"We will charge if any evidence supports new charges," State Attorney's Office spokesman Michael Edmondson said. Daniel Vogel, Stewart's public defender, did not return a call to his office.
*************
Jasmin Stewart is either a high yellow or Hispanic but Willie, well, y'all is gots to see Mr. Wil
lie. Here he i
s!
T.N.B.