Adoption of dead tot investigated

Adoption of dead tot investigated

The National Council for Social Welfare has opened an investigation into the adoption process of Christine Montalbano, a 3-year-old who died from multiple blows to the head and body on Oct. 18 at the Grand View Hospital in Sellersville, Pennsylvania. According to the Philadelphia Daily News, Christine was rushed to the hospital after reportedly falling down a flight of stairs, but an autopsy revealed hemorrhaging in her brain, a lacerated liver and "over 28 blunt trama injuries." Christine's adopted mother, Nancy Jane Montalbano (45) of Perkiomenville, has been charged with third-degree murder and is currently being held at the Montgomery County Prison.

Honduran authorities say Christine, abandoned by her mother at the Hospital Escuela, was adopted by Montalbano on Oct. 28, 1996. Montalbano had previously adopted Richard, who was abandoned by his mother in the Mario Catarino Hospital in San Pedro Sula, on Jan. 28, 1994. Officials of the JNBS said they will seek custody of Richard, who is now 4.