Child-sex allegations dropped against St. George man, woman

[yizuman]

Prosecutors say there was no evidence of sexual intent

Updated: 03/27/2010 01:37:39 PM MDT

St. George » Prosecutors have dropped sexual abuse charges against a St. George couple after determining pictures of the father kissing his infant son were scenes of affection, not abuse, police said.

But the undocumented immigrant couple may still be deported, their lawyers said, and their U.S. citizen son is still in state custody.

Sergio Diaz-Palomino, 34, was arrested on almost three weeks ago after a photo -processing employee at the St. George Walgreens called police to report seeing two images of him kissing a naked infant.

"The officer deemed that based on the location of where the father was kissing his infant boy it met in his mind, (a sexual abuse) charge," said St. George police Lt. James Van Fleet.

The boy's mother, 22-year-old Alma Vasquez, took the photos and was also arrested on Monday. The photos were the sole evidence for the arrests, he said.

Washington County prosecutors filed charges against both mother and father based on the officer's written arrest statement, Van Fleet said. But after county attorneys began to examined the photos, they dropped the charges late Friday afternoon, he said.

Diaz-Palomino's attorney, Kent Combs, said the images were of a father being affectionate with his 9-month-old son.

"From our perspective it was an innocent thing," said Kent Combs, Diaz-Palomino's attorney. "I have a lot of respect for the prosecutor; I think he
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did the right thing."

Diaz-Palomino and Vasquez were still being held at the Washington County jail Saturday on both the original charges and an immigration hold.

Both parents are Mexican nationals, but their 9-month-old son was born in the U.S. and is a citizen, said Al Boyack, an attorney represent the mother. He said he expected his client would be deported.

But the boy's citizenship "really represents a problem for them," he said. "My best case scenario is to get mom out of the clinker and get custody of the child from DCFS and let them leave the country together."

Source: Child-sex allegations dropped against St. George man, woman - Salt Lake Tribune

Ya know, I hate it when people overreact to something that isn't there.

If the state had their way and usually child protection services can tend to be assholes about things like this, they could keep the child in permanent state custody and deport the parents w/o their child.

The whole thing makes me mad.

I know it had alot to do with the fact with Dateline: To Catch A Predator television show exposing people about child molesters. But at the same time, it caused people to become paranoid when they see pictures of a naked child say like being bathed, or running around the house naked or being affectionately loved by mom and dad. This sort of thing has been around for many years since the invention of the camera. And now suddenly it's wrong for parents to take a cutie picture of their naked babies.

What a prudish society we have become.

Yiz

 

[posts from hell]

Source: Child-sex allegations dropped against St. George man, woman - Salt Lake Tribune

Ya know, I hate it when people overreact to something that isn't there.

If the state had their way and usually child protection services can tend to be assholes about things like this, they could keep the child in permanent state custody and deport the parents w/o their child.

The whole thing makes me mad.

I know it had alot to do with the fact with Dateline: To Catch A Predator television show exposing people about child molesters. But at the same time, it caused people to become paranoid when they see pictures of a naked child say like being bathed, or running around the house naked or being affectionately loved by mom and dad. This sort of thing has been around for many years since the invention of the camera. And now suddenly it's wrong for parents to take a cutie picture of their naked babies.

What a prudish society we have become.

Yiz

Yep, the more of a reason for me to move to Europe.