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Baby Found In Backpack
POSTED: 3:31 pm PDT August 1, 2008
UPDATED: 4:32 pm PDT August 1, 2008

SAN DIEGO — A woman accused of killing her baby faced a judge Friday as prosecutors detailed her alleged crime.
Julie Reynolds, 36, was arraigned on one count of first-degree murder. She pleaded not guilty.
Reynolds was arrested in connection with the case on Wednesday. Reynolds, who is originally from Colorado, came to Rancho Penasquitos, along with her five children, ages 18 months to 15 years old, at the request of her sister and brother-in-law, prosecutors said.
Deputy District Attorney Tracy Prior alleged Reynolds hid her pregnancy, denying it when her family asked her directly if she was pregnant. The couple became suspicious after they noticed she had lost weight, Prior said. The brother-in-law noticed blood on the carpet and later found bloody towels in their trash can.
At that point he notified police, Prior said. When officers arrived, Reynolds took them to a bedroom and the newborn’s remains were found in a black backpack.
The prosecutor said the boy, 6 pounds, 19 inches long, had been smothered by his mother’s hand. Prior said Reynolds has a documented history with Child Protective Services in two states other than California.
Reynolds is being held at Las Colinas Detention Facility on $1 million bail. Her five other children are now in the custody of child protective services.
Previous Stories:
•    July 31, 2008: Mom Accused Of Killing Newborn
•    July 30, 2008: Dead Newborn Found In Rancho Peñasquitos Home
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by Jourdan Rassas and Lindsey Collom - Aug. 1, 2008 10:39 AM
The Arizona Republic

The infant abandoned at a Phoenix church on Thursday is in great condition and on her way to Arizona’s Child Protective Services, official said Friday morning.

During a morning press conference, Maricopa County Medical Center and Phoenix Fire Department officials praised the child’s mother for taking advantage of the state’s Safe Haven law, under which an infant up to 72 hours old can be dropped off at churches, hospitals and fire stations, with no questions asked.

‘The darkest hour in a baby’s life is when the mother doesn’t know what to do,” said Phoenix Fire Chief Bob Kahn.

The child, believed to be less than 48 hours old, will go through the same adoption process that other children in CPS custody go through, said Kote Chundu, chairman of pediatrics for the medical center.

Chundu said the child was in excellent condition and was well dressed when she was found.

A teacher walking to work at Wilson Primary School found the baby shortly before 7 a.m. on a bench outside St. Mark’s Catholic Church near 30th and Fillmore streets. The girl was wearing a pink jumper, wrapped in a towel and lying inside a baby carrier.

“She was very clean,” said Rosie Bernal, a Wilson School social worker who made the call to 911 at the request of the teacher. “You could see that someone took the time. Someone loved her enough to put clothes on her.”

The Safe Haven law ensures that parents will not face child-abuse charges for leaving an unharmed newborn with a safe-haven provider. Officials said the mother won’t be sought out.

The Anaheim Hills couple is accused of abusing their 15-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son by binding their wrists and ankles, authorities say.

By DENISSE SALAZAR, LARRY WELBORN, SONYA SMITH and JEBB HARRIS

The Orange County Register

Comments 38 | Recommend 12

FULLERTON – An Anaheim Hills couple appeared in court Thursday in a case of child abuse that one prosecutor said was one of the worst she’d seen.

Kimberly Joy Quebe, 48, and John Herman Quebe, 47, are charged with abusing their two children by binding their wrists and ankles and leaving them tied up for hours at a time.

Following their arraignment at the North Justice Center in Fullerton, Deputy District Attorney Christine Simmons said: “In all my years as a prosecutor, I’ve never seen anything even close to this. The children are nowhere near age-appropriate; they act younger, and they are very pale.”

Susan Schroeder, spokeswoman for the District Attorney’s Office, said later that though the case is not the county’s worst, “It breaks your heart.” Referring to the son, she added, “That’s the only life he remembers.”

The couple, married for 21 years, have lived in Anaheim Hills for six years with their daughter, 15, and son, 11.

On July 18, the Orange County Social Services Agency received an after-hours call reporting the children had been at a community pool a week earlier and had restraint marks and bruising on their wrists and ankles. Anaheim police went to the Quebes’ home that night after being contacted by Social Services but were unable to talk to anyone.

Three days later, Anaheim police returned to the home and discovered the children had dark binding marks and scarring on their wrists and ankles, the District Attorney’s Office said. Both children were taken into protective custody by Social Services.

The Quebes are each charged with: 62 felonies for 21 counts of false imprisonment by violence; 21 counts of child abuse; 18 counts of corporal injury on a child with great bodily injury; and two counts of torture.

If convicted, they each face a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Thursday’s hearing was continued until Aug. 22. The Quebes are at Orange County Jail on $1 million bail each.

The couple are accused of physically and verbally abusing their children for six years by binding their wrists and ankles using tights to punish the children for minor issues, the District Attorney’s Office said. They are accused of leaving the children bound overnight and leaving them to sleep on the floor.

The Quebes are accused of frequently verbally assaulting the children by screaming obscenities and calling them degrading names, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

The Quebes are also accused of refusing to allow other family members to see the children, not sending the children to school under the false pretense of providing home schooling, and rarely allowing them to leave the house.

A neighbor of the Quebes, Joan Hoesterey, said Thursday that she and other neighbors were worried about the Quebe children since the family moved in six years ago.

“You could often hear the mom screaming horrible obscenities at the kids,” Hoesterey said. “Since they moved in, it’s just been constant.”

Hoesterey said the Quebe children were rarely seen outside the home.

Hoesterey also said her neighbors called police on at least one occasion about yelling coming from the Quebes’ house.

Anaheim Police Sergeant Rick Martinez said he had a record of one call about the Quebe home in the last 2.61/2 years, the furthest he can look at past records. Martinez said that on Sept. 5, 2007, officers responded to a call about a female reportedly yelling at her children using foul language.

“When the officers left, everything appeared OK,” he said.

Anyone with information can contact Carol Mona, supervising district attorney investigator, at 714-347-8627.

Vol. 10, No. 2
April 2005
North Carolina’s Response to Meth
Our state has responded to the spread of methamphetamine by taking a number of steps, including the following.
Obtaining Federal Funds. North Carolina received a grant through the federal Drug Endangered Child program; Watauga, Johnston, Ashe, and Harnett counties received a total of $312,000 to fund meth-response efforts.
Meth Summit. Attorney General Roy Cooper convened a group of experts in October 2003 to develop a comprehensive strategy to fight meth. The summit’s final report is available at .
New Laws and Funding. Several new laws to fight meth were proposed and passed in 2004 (Eisley, 2004):
Penalties for making meth increased greatly, from likely probation to a mandatory five to 17 years behind bars
Additional penalties for making meth in the presence of children, or if someone is injured while seizing the lab
If someone consumes meth you made and dies of overdose, you can now be charged with murder
Possessing ingredients in quantities sufficient to make meth can be punished with up to five years in prison, if prosecutors can prove intent to manufacture meth
Funding for additional SBI mobile clandestine lab response units
Funding for CPS policy development and training. The new policy is online at . Meth training will be offered 20 times in spring 2005.
Limiting Precursors. California, which has a long history fighting meth, found that legally restricting the sale of chemical precursors needed to manufacture meth is one of the most effective ways of combating the drug’s spread. After that state enacted laws restricting the sale of key ingredients such as ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, lab busts were cut in half, from 2,090 in 1999 to 1,130 in 2002 (Gregory & Lacour, 2004). In North Carolina, Attorney General Cooper hopes we can achieve the same results by asking retailers to apply restrictions voluntarily. Currently many retail chains voluntarily restrict sales of products containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine (Gregory & Lacour, 2004).
Cooper told the Charlotte Observer in 2004 that we will know soon enough whether this voluntary approach works. If it doesn’t, the state could seek a legislative solution (Gregory & Lacour, 2004).
One example of a community effort to get retailers to limit the sales of precursors is happening in Rowan County, where they have formed the “Rowan County Meth Watch.” Visit the group’s website at .