Were Injuries To Quads In Phoenix Preventable? -- Community Second- Guessing Some Of Its Actions

PHOENIX - Betty Little returned to her summer residence in Ontario, Canada, last spring feeling good for helping a set of quadruplets born to a young Phoenix-area couple of little means.

Her joy proved fleeting. Authorities earlier this year reported that the four babies were victims of severe child abuse. The first one to be hospitalized was left blind, deaf and in a vegetative state.

"I just cried and cried," said Little, 75, who spends winters at the Good Life Adult RV Resort in Mesa, southeast of Phoenix. It just makes your heart sick."

Weeks after the arrests of both parents, disbelief and confusion haunt those who reached out to the babies. When news of the pregnancy broke, many shared in the excitement of a multiple birth in their community. Investigative records suggest parents overwhelmed by what they faced, an image that haunts many of the well-wishers and gift-givers.

The babies - Megan Elizabeth, Anthony Thomas, Robert Michael and Damian Matthew Perez - were born nine weeks premature on Jan. 9. The three boys each weighed slightly more than 3 pounds.

The injuries were discovered just three months after their birth.

Their mother, Elizabeth Whittle, 23, was indicted Sept. 28 on 14 child-abuse charges. Last month, the father, Tony Perez, 21, also was charged with four counts of child abuse. He is accused of failing to promptly seek medical attention for the children.

Both parents have pleaded not guilty. Whittle was released on a $250,000 bond Dec. 1 after the head of a battered-women's shelter guaranteed the funds; she said Whittle had been threatened by jail inmates. Perez remains in jail pending trial. They declined a request for an interview.

Their next court appearance is scheduled Feb. 5.

Many offered help

The quadruplets were born at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix as the nation still celebrated the births two months earlier of the McCaughey babies in Iowa, the world's only surviving set of septuplets.

The quads captured the community's imagination; many came forward with donations and offers of help. Now, some of the same donors say they share culpability for not having done more before it was too late.

"We didn't give them help in the right area," Little said.

Little used about $3,000 in donations to buy a refrigerator, bassinets, a chest of drawers and strollers. Other Good Life Adult RV Resort residents spent a month building oak cribs, knitting booties and sewing other baby clothing.

Many community agencies also got involved, trying to get the family a larger home and offering counseling and support services.

"When we heard what had happened, we were shocked like everybody else," said Tony Banegas, director of Nuestra Familia, a nonprofit agency that offered the couple in-home family support, including parenting-skills instruction.

"The first reaction around here was that we wished we would have had an opportunity to help," Banegas said. "Then there was outrage because some people felt that somebody - I don't know who - but somebody could have done something to prevent this."

One infant hospitalized

According to the indictments, the injuries occurred between March 9 and April 5, the day Anthony was hospitalized and the first of the quadruplets' injuries was discovered.

Whittle and Perez lived in a now-vacant one-bedroom duplex for more than a year in Avondale, southwest of Phoenix. The mostly lower-income, rural community has a population of about 25,000.

Neighbors said Perez, a former security guard at an airport in nearby Goodyear, was well-liked. Friends came by to help him tinker with his pickup. Whittle kept to herself, often sitting on a chair in front of the home.

Also living with the couple were Whittle's 6-year-old daughter, Ericka, from a previous relationship, and her 17-year-old brother, Eric.

Some of those who knew the couple said the allegations don't make sense.

"I don't understand what happened or how it happened," said Jane Flores, a next-door neighbor. "The babies were always asleep. Sometimes we had to wake the babies up just to feed them."

Some even pointed to the possibility that Whittle's elder daughter, who has Down syndrome, accidentally caused the abuse.

Injuries are found

Court records suggest a more ominous series of events culminating with Anthony's admission in April to Phoenix Children's Hospital after his grandmother, Anita Whittle, noticed his head swelling. Medical examinations later revealed a skull fracture, several broken bones and brain injury.

A registered nurse on duty the day Anthony was brought in told authorities that she had never seen a baby with a head as large as his.

"He did not appear to have any of the normal infant movements and appeared to be like a limp rag doll," the nurse said.

Four days later, on April 9, the other three children also were examined, and similar injuries were found. The babies and their older sister were placed in the custody of the state's Child Protective Services, which put them in two foster homes, where they remain.

According to investigative reports from the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, Whittle, who had a history of manic depression, was emotionally unprepared for the four newborns.

Signs of trouble emerged Dec. 5, 1997, when Whittle was visited by representatives of Mercy Care Plan, a nonprofit agency that contracts with Arizona's Medicaid program to help expecting mothers.

During that visit, Whittle said she was feeling depressed and unable, because of her pregnancy, to take her medication.

Social workers later caught up with Whittle at the doctor's office where she had an appointment for one of the quadruplets. They reported that Whittle was extremely upset and complained that the babies were being released from the hospital too soon.

Two weeks later, on Feb. 19, a high-risk case manager from Mercy Care visited the home. According to court documents, "She noticed how dark the home was. The only light in the bedroom seeming to be the one that shone from the bathroom. It was like they were shutting out the world. . . . (Whittle) said she was OK but tired."

Others had concerns

Those visiting Whittle at home were not the only ones disturbed by the situation.

Even before the children were discharged from the hospital after their birth, a social worker in the intensive-care nursery at St. Joseph's Hospital told investigators that personnel involved with the babies discussed the case.

"All parties had concerns, but none were concrete enough to cause Child Protective Services to become involved," according to court documents.

It wasn't until April 5, when Anthony was taken to Phoenix Children's Hospital, that the state agency was contacted.

Officials with Mercy Care and St. Joseph's declined to comment on the case. Relatives of both Whittle and Perez also would not discuss the matter.

Mary Ault, program administrator with Child Protective Services, said there was no reason to report the parents or the children to the state when the infants were born.

"The role of Child Protective Services is to intervene when . . . there are injuries to a child," Ault said. "Child Protective Services can't get involved just because there are high risk factors."

Linda Spears, director of child protection for the Child Welfare League of America in Washington, D.C., said that until state agencies are given the legal right to intervene, abuse cases will more readily occur.

"This is a classic example of not having the right mechanisms," Spears said. "What we've created in this country is an intervention system, not a prevention system.

"In this case, it appears that everybody knew something was wrong, but, statutorily, people couldn't do anything about it," she said.