Leroy N. Soetoro
2018-03-31 21:26:00 UTC
http://komonews.com/news/local/woman-killed-in-cliffside-crash-earlier-
charged-with-malicious-child-beating
One of the Woodland, Wash., women who was killed in a cliffside crash
along with most of her family members was accused of spanking her daughter
so hard, the child had extensive bruising on her torso and back.
The allegations, which come from a criminal complaint filed in Minnesota
eight years ago, center around 39-year-old Sarah Hart. Sarah, along with
her partner Jennifer and three of their adopted children, was killed
earlier this week in a crash in northern California. Authorities say the
SUV they were driving went off a cliff in Mendocino County.
A search continues for three of their other children, who have yet to be
found. Authorities have every reason to believe they were with their
parents and other siblings in the car at the time of the crash.
One of the missing children is 15-year-old Devonte Hart, who was seen in a
famous photo hugging a police officer three years ago at a Portland
protest about the events in Ferguson, Missouri. All six of the children
were adopted.
The criminal complaint KATU News obtained Thursday says one of the
couple's children told her teacher she had "owies on her tummy." When the
teacher lifted her shirt, she saw the 6-year-old had bruises on her front
side, from her sternum to her bellybutton, and on her back from midway
down her back to the waistband of her pants.
When she was interviewed by police, Sarah said she and her partner do not
usually use spanking as punishment, but they recently "resorted to
spanking" to deal with the little girl's behavior. Sarah then told police
she "let her anger get out of control the previous day. She took (the
girl) into the bathroom and bent her over the edge of the bathtub,"
hitting her over the backside and admitting the bruising likely came from
that incident.
Sarah was charged with malicious punishment of child and domestic assault.
She eventually pleaded guilty to domestic assault, and the malicious
punishment of child charge was dropped.
More recently, Washington state's Child Protective Services visited the
Hart family home just outside Woodland, Wash., last Friday, March 23.
Bruce and Dana DeKalb, who live near the Hart family, told KATU News they
called CPS last week after one of the Hart children came over to their
house, asking for food, eventually several times a day. He said his
parents were withholding food as punishment.
A CPS worker visited the family's home Friday, but no one answered the
door.
When that worker left, Dana DeKalb said the entire Hart family came out of
the house, quickly loaded up their SUV, and took off. CPS officials
confirmed they returned to the house on Monday and Tuesday of this week
but were not able to reach the family.
DeKalb said she believes the children reached out to her for help for some
reason.
Absolutely I think I was a lifeline. And yeah, I don't think it was my
fault certainly. I just, wow, it's not how I thought it was gonna end. I
thought it was gonna end in a beautiful life for them, said DeKalb.
The DeKalbs also said that one of the Hart's children tried to run away
last fall, and in May 2017, one of the girls rang their doorbell at 1:30
a.m.
She "was at our door in a blanket saying we needed to protect her," Bruce
DeKalb said. "She said that they were abusing her."
The Department of Social and Health Services has not made any findings in
the case and they have no prior history with the family. According to
Child Protective Services, the children were identified as "potential
victims of alleged abuse or neglect."
Deputies with the Clark County Sheriff's Office searched the home after
the crash, but found nothing unusual. They said there was no trace of the
family's three missing children.
Authorities have located Sarah and Jennifer's bodies, as well as the
bodies of three of their children; 19-year-old Markis Hart, 14-year-old
Jeremiah Hart and 14-year-old Abigail Hart.
Jennifer and Sarah's three other children, 15-year-old Devonte Hart, 16-
year-old Hannah Hart and 12-year-old Sierra Hart have been reported
missing. Police have said they were likely in the car as well.
The California Highway Patrol has not determined why the vehicle went off
an ocean overlook on a rugged part of coastline. A specialized team of
accident investigators was trying to figure that out, Allman said.
"We have no evidence and no reason to believe that this was an intentional
act," he said, adding that the scene was confusing because "there were no
skid marks, there were no brake marks" at the roadside turnout where the
vehicle went over.
Friends of the family described them as warm, adventurous people
"They were always on some grand adventure, and the kids were living this
life that was kind of like this dream," Zippy Lomax, a photographer who
knew the Harts, told The Associated Press. "The family was this very self-
supporting unit that was impossible to miss. When they showed up to an
event, they made an impression. They shattered a lot of norms and they did
not shy away from controversy or adversity."
The Harts, who went to events such as rallies for presidential candidate
Bernie Sanders, often showed up in matching T-shirts.
The Harts moved to Woodland, Washington, in the spring of last year,
partly overwhelmed by the media coverage stemming from Devonte Hart's
viral photo with the police officer.
Max Ribner, who has known the family since 2012, said allegations from
neighbors don't square with what he knows about the Harts.
"They are beautiful examples of opening arms to strangers, helping youth,
supporting racial equality," Ribner, who lives in Portland, told the AP.
"They brought so much joy to the world. They represented a legacy of
love."
--
Donald J. Trump, 304 electoral votes to 227, defeated compulsive liar in
denial Hillary Rodham Clinton on December 19th, 2016. The clown car
parade of the democrat party ran out of gas and got run over by a Trump
truck.
Congratulations President Trump. Thank you for cleaning up the disaster
of the Obama presidency.
Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp.
ObamaCare is a total 100% failure and no lie that can be put forth by its
supporters can dispute that.
Obama jobs, the result of ObamaCare. 12-15 working hours a week at minimum
wage, no benefits and the primary revenue stream for ObamaCare. It can't
be funded with money people don't have, yet liberals lie about how great
it is.
Obama increased total debt from $10 trillion to $20 trillion in the eight
years he was in office, and sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood queer
liberal democrat donors.
charged-with-malicious-child-beating
One of the Woodland, Wash., women who was killed in a cliffside crash
along with most of her family members was accused of spanking her daughter
so hard, the child had extensive bruising on her torso and back.
The allegations, which come from a criminal complaint filed in Minnesota
eight years ago, center around 39-year-old Sarah Hart. Sarah, along with
her partner Jennifer and three of their adopted children, was killed
earlier this week in a crash in northern California. Authorities say the
SUV they were driving went off a cliff in Mendocino County.
A search continues for three of their other children, who have yet to be
found. Authorities have every reason to believe they were with their
parents and other siblings in the car at the time of the crash.
One of the missing children is 15-year-old Devonte Hart, who was seen in a
famous photo hugging a police officer three years ago at a Portland
protest about the events in Ferguson, Missouri. All six of the children
were adopted.
The criminal complaint KATU News obtained Thursday says one of the
couple's children told her teacher she had "owies on her tummy." When the
teacher lifted her shirt, she saw the 6-year-old had bruises on her front
side, from her sternum to her bellybutton, and on her back from midway
down her back to the waistband of her pants.
When she was interviewed by police, Sarah said she and her partner do not
usually use spanking as punishment, but they recently "resorted to
spanking" to deal with the little girl's behavior. Sarah then told police
she "let her anger get out of control the previous day. She took (the
girl) into the bathroom and bent her over the edge of the bathtub,"
hitting her over the backside and admitting the bruising likely came from
that incident.
Sarah was charged with malicious punishment of child and domestic assault.
She eventually pleaded guilty to domestic assault, and the malicious
punishment of child charge was dropped.
More recently, Washington state's Child Protective Services visited the
Hart family home just outside Woodland, Wash., last Friday, March 23.
Bruce and Dana DeKalb, who live near the Hart family, told KATU News they
called CPS last week after one of the Hart children came over to their
house, asking for food, eventually several times a day. He said his
parents were withholding food as punishment.
A CPS worker visited the family's home Friday, but no one answered the
door.
When that worker left, Dana DeKalb said the entire Hart family came out of
the house, quickly loaded up their SUV, and took off. CPS officials
confirmed they returned to the house on Monday and Tuesday of this week
but were not able to reach the family.
DeKalb said she believes the children reached out to her for help for some
reason.
Absolutely I think I was a lifeline. And yeah, I don't think it was my
fault certainly. I just, wow, it's not how I thought it was gonna end. I
thought it was gonna end in a beautiful life for them, said DeKalb.
The DeKalbs also said that one of the Hart's children tried to run away
last fall, and in May 2017, one of the girls rang their doorbell at 1:30
a.m.
She "was at our door in a blanket saying we needed to protect her," Bruce
DeKalb said. "She said that they were abusing her."
The Department of Social and Health Services has not made any findings in
the case and they have no prior history with the family. According to
Child Protective Services, the children were identified as "potential
victims of alleged abuse or neglect."
Deputies with the Clark County Sheriff's Office searched the home after
the crash, but found nothing unusual. They said there was no trace of the
family's three missing children.
Authorities have located Sarah and Jennifer's bodies, as well as the
bodies of three of their children; 19-year-old Markis Hart, 14-year-old
Jeremiah Hart and 14-year-old Abigail Hart.
Jennifer and Sarah's three other children, 15-year-old Devonte Hart, 16-
year-old Hannah Hart and 12-year-old Sierra Hart have been reported
missing. Police have said they were likely in the car as well.
The California Highway Patrol has not determined why the vehicle went off
an ocean overlook on a rugged part of coastline. A specialized team of
accident investigators was trying to figure that out, Allman said.
"We have no evidence and no reason to believe that this was an intentional
act," he said, adding that the scene was confusing because "there were no
skid marks, there were no brake marks" at the roadside turnout where the
vehicle went over.
Friends of the family described them as warm, adventurous people
"They were always on some grand adventure, and the kids were living this
life that was kind of like this dream," Zippy Lomax, a photographer who
knew the Harts, told The Associated Press. "The family was this very self-
supporting unit that was impossible to miss. When they showed up to an
event, they made an impression. They shattered a lot of norms and they did
not shy away from controversy or adversity."
The Harts, who went to events such as rallies for presidential candidate
Bernie Sanders, often showed up in matching T-shirts.
The Harts moved to Woodland, Washington, in the spring of last year,
partly overwhelmed by the media coverage stemming from Devonte Hart's
viral photo with the police officer.
Max Ribner, who has known the family since 2012, said allegations from
neighbors don't square with what he knows about the Harts.
"They are beautiful examples of opening arms to strangers, helping youth,
supporting racial equality," Ribner, who lives in Portland, told the AP.
"They brought so much joy to the world. They represented a legacy of
love."
--
Donald J. Trump, 304 electoral votes to 227, defeated compulsive liar in
denial Hillary Rodham Clinton on December 19th, 2016. The clown car
parade of the democrat party ran out of gas and got run over by a Trump
truck.
Congratulations President Trump. Thank you for cleaning up the disaster
of the Obama presidency.
Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp.
ObamaCare is a total 100% failure and no lie that can be put forth by its
supporters can dispute that.
Obama jobs, the result of ObamaCare. 12-15 working hours a week at minimum
wage, no benefits and the primary revenue stream for ObamaCare. It can't
be funded with money people don't have, yet liberals lie about how great
it is.
Obama increased total debt from $10 trillion to $20 trillion in the eight
years he was in office, and sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood queer
liberal democrat donors.