Paradise parents accused of fatal child abuse

By ROBIN EPLEY - Staff Writer

Posted: 02/07/2010 12:00:00 AM PST

PARADISE -- Two parents in Paradise were arrested Saturday after Paradise police responded to a 1 a.m. 9-1-1 call and found an 8-year-old adopted girl in cardiac arrest.

A further search of the home in the 500 block of Crestwood Drive revealed another girl, 11, to have significant injuries due to child abuse, Paradise police said.

The younger victim was not breathing at the time of discovery but was later revived with life support at Feather River Hospital. However, she died en route after being transferred to Sutter Memorial Hospital in Sacramento.

The 11-year-old is hospitalized at Sutter.

Both children are the adopted daughters of Kevin Schatz, 46, and Elizabeth Schatz, 42, who have been arrested and booked into the Butte County Jail in Oroville on an open count of murder and child abuse, Paradise police said.

Seven other children have been taken into protective custody. The children were home-schooled. There was no history of child abuse at the home.

Police will continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incidents.