COP: DEAD BOY HAD BEEN TREATED FOR HEAD INJURY

Author: CYNTHIA BURTON, Daily News Staff Writer

Carlos Beltran, a 4-year-old El Salvadoran boy found dead last month in the home of a couple who had planned to adopt him, was treated for a concussion three weeks before his death, a Montgomery County detective said.

Detective William Davis also said the agency arranging the boy's adoption never made the required follow-up visits to the home of Peter Moyer, 33, and his 35-year-old wife, Christine. The Franconia Township couple were charged with third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter Dec. 20 in connection with the boy's death.

Davis and a representative of Adoptions International Inc. in Huntingdon Valley said the Moyers refused the follow-up visits.

State Department of Public Welfare officials say an agency must visit the homes of prospective adoptive parents three times after a child is placed there. Spokesman Leslie Harris said the department is investigating Adoptions International to see if proper procedures were followed in the Beltran case.

According to the Secretary of State, Adoptions International, which brought the boy to the United States in April, was incorporated as a non-profit organization Nov. 9, 1983.

Davis said the agency apparently followed other required procedures such as studying the Moyers' home life and referring them to a psychologist before the adoption.

The boy was treated at Grand View Hospital in Sellersville for a concussion in late November, around the time of his birthday, according to county detectives. A hospital official said Montgomery County detectives have seized records regarding Beltran.

Coroner Theodore A. Garcia ruled Beltran's Dec. 14 death a homicide after an autopsy. He said the autopsy indicated a pattern of child abuse.