Child’s Death is Latest in String of Child Abuse Cases

The death of a 7-year-old girl in Brooklyn, NY has many around the country calling on the nation to change and maintain its child welfare system. Nixzmary Brown was found beaten to death and tied to a chair with some twine. Her death was the fourth death of a child being watched by the city's Administration for Children's Services (ACS) office in just a few months.

Officials admit that they don't have the means to protect all of the children on the city's watch list and that the child welfare system needs a serious overhaul. The failure of the system to help child abuse victims is seen by many as indicative of a larger failure to put priorities in place.

The Commissioner of the ACS, John Mattingly, recently admitted that the family of Nixzmary was particularly uncooperative with the agency. The family never answered their phones and often refused to come to the door when agents showed up. The agency never, however, got a court order to enter the home.

The girl lived with her stepfather, Cesar Rodriguez, who often tied her up, beat her, and molested her . Rodriguez has since been arrested on criminal charges of second-degree murder , sex abuse and child endangerment . The girl's mother, Nixzaliz Santiago, was also charged with second-degree manslaughter and child endangerment.