Parents prison-bound; They get 8 years for endangerment; judge gets an earful

Record, The (Hackensack, NJ)

Author: By KIBRET MARKOS, STAFF WRITER

Maureen Culhane had no intention of going quietly.

Sentenced on Tuesday along with her husband to eight years in prison for child endangerment, Culhane accused the judge and prosecutor of conspiring against her.

"Every time I stood before you, you have sent me to jail," she shouted at state Superior Court Judge Donald Venezia in Hackensack. "And I know you are going to send me to jail today.

"I am going to fight this till the end, and I am going to win on appeal," said Culhane, 51, shaking a finger at the judge. "I will be back."

Culhane and her husband, Michael, 54, were convicted in January of locking their two adopted children in a Montvale home for four hours. Each must serve at least 2 1/2 years before being eligible for parole.

The couple lost custody of the youngsters, and found themselves behind bars, after a building code official discovered the 3-year-old boy and 5-year-old girl eating cereal with coffee creamer in a bedroom reeking of urine.

"You left these children alone in a 27-room house for four hours," Venezia told Maureen Culhane. "You are as far from Mother and Father of the Year as you can possibly be."

Defense lawyers Frank Lucianna and Mark Musella both argued that the Culhanes did not knowingly harm the children and thus did not meet the standard for a second-degree child endangerment conviction.

"What happened on that day is that they left their kids home and went shopping," Musella said. "Sending somebody to state prison for five to 10 years for that is just too harsh."

Lucianna agreed, saying the Culhanes were a hardworking immigrant couple who loved their children and never intended to hurt them.

"The state has gone too far in this case," he said.

Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Patricia Baglivi countered that the Culhanes showed no signs of love for the youngsters.

"In the 14 months that Mrs. Culhane had those children, she only took them to the doctor once," she said. "I thought that maybe these people don't have money, but then I found out that they have five houses.

"And they did nothing for their children."

Baglivi also said the Culhanes missed visits to the state Division of Youth and Family Services.

"They still don't get it," she said. "They still don't understand that they did something wrong."

Maureen Culhane testified during the trial in January that she and her husband adopted the two children from Latvia in 2001. She also yelled at Baglivi from the witness stand, screamed objections in the middle of other witnesses' testimony, and kept Venezia busy trying to keep order.

Baglivi said the youngsters didn't have adoption papers from the United States, and no one knew the Culhanes had children until Oct. 18, 2002, when a building code official visited their home for inspections.

The official, Raymond Dressler, said the Culhanes weren't home, so he waited in his car.

Four hours later, the Culhanes returned and let in Dressler, who had a search warrant.

The house was in total disarray, and the children were soiled and disheveled, Dressler told jurors. The massive house on West Grand Avenue was declared uninhabitable, and the children were placed in DYFS custody.

This wasn't the first time the Culhanes "preyed on the vulnerable," Baglivi told Venezia on Friday.

In 2000, the Culhanes were convicted of neglecting an elderly woman in a Pearl River, N.Y., boarding home. Baglivi said firefighters went to the house when a smoke alarm went off, and they found the 87-year-old woman locked up home alone, badly malnourished, and suffering from bedsores.

Maureen Culhane accused Venezia of napping during the trial and conspiring with the prosecutor to put her behind bars.

She vowed to challenge the sentence and win back custody of the children.

"I love my kids," she said repeatedly.

When Michael Culhane's turn came to speak, he said, "The verdict was one-sided."

Venezia had the last word, however.

"Wherever they are, those children are eating cereal with regular milk," the judge said. "Wherever they are, those children are happy without you."

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E-mail: markos@northjersey.com

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Caption:

2 COLOR STAFF PHOTOS BY DANIELLE P. RICHARDS;

1 - At the Culhanes' sentencing Tuesday, a combative Maureen Culhane vowed to appeal her conviction, telling the judge, "I will be back."

2 - Michael Culhane, right. Judge Donald Venezia told the couple, "You are as far from Mother and Father of the Year as you can possibly be."