WOMAN DRAWS 7 YEARS FOR DEATH OF FOSTER CHILD

MOM ADMITS ASSAULT ON 2-YEAR-OLD GIRL

The Star-Ledger

A Phillipsburg woman was sentenced yesterday to seven years in state prison  for the death of her 2-year-old foster child in 1988.

Superior Court Judge John C. Stritehoff Jr. sentenced a weeping Colleen  Chavez in Belvidere after hearing the woman's attorney argue for no jail term  and the Warren County prosecutor argue for the maximum 20-year sentence.

Chavez, 25, pleaded guilty in January to first-degree aggravated  manslaughter in the June 1988 death of Gladys Campbell. The mother of two  daughters, Chavez admitted shaking the child and smashing her head against a  bedroom wall when she became frustrated with the girl's behavior. In imposing the sentence, Stritehoff said Chavez did not intend to kill  Gladys, was suffering from depression when the incident occurred, had no prior  criminal record and probably will not commit another crime. He also noted the  close relationship between Chavez and her family, and the hardship her  imprisonment would cause on the family.

But he noted that a lesser sentence would reduce the seriousness of the  offense because Gladys Campbell was Chavez's foster child. The age and small  size of the victim, and the need to deter others from committing the same  offense, also are important factors, he said.

Chavez could have received a 10- to 20-year sentence, but Stritehoff  imposed a penalty appropriate to second-degree aggravated manslaughter instead  of the first-degree offense she admitted committing.

Prosecutor Richard Hare said Chavez would be eligible for parole in 16  months. But Chavez's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Sheri Woliver, said  Chavez probably would have to serve at least three years because of the  severity of the offense.

Before her sentencing, Chavez told Stritehoff that living without her  husband, Artemio, and daughters Nieves and Stephanie would be unbearable.

"I can't tell you how sorry I am," she said, crying. "If there was any  way I could bring her (Gladys) back, I would do it. "

Woliver argued that Chavez's case is unique and sending her to jail would  harm her family.

"She's punished enough. She's not going to learn any more lessons in  jail," Woliver said.

Woliver said doctors who examined Chavez have determined the woman suffered  an "isolated explosive disorder." Chavez was under stress because of the  child's unruly behavior and was suffering emotional problems because she was  pregnant with Stephanie, Woliver said.

Chavez received little help in caring for Gladys from the Children's Home  of Easton, Pa., which placed the troubled child in the Chavez household. The  home has defended its work in the case.

Chavez has sought treatment voluntarily since Gladys' death, Woliver said.

Hare urged the judge to focus on what happened to the 24-pound, 2 feet, 10-  inch-tall girl, whom he described as a "tiny, little helpless thing."

"We're here today to sentence the killer of a 2-year-old baby," he said.

State law says that people who commit first-degree offenses will go to  jail, "no ifs, ands or buts," Hare said. Child abuse in the state and the  nation is a "significant, alarming, troubling problem," he added.

"This (court) is not a social service agency," Hare said.

Hare also stressed that Chavez initially lied to authorities about how the  girl suffered her multiple bruises and lacerations "to protect herself."  Chavez told authorities the girl fell accidentally, but the truth came out  when Nieves asked her father if he could fix the hole in the bedroom wall,  Hare said.

Woliver said she will appeal the sentence, though she credited Stritehoff  for working hard on the case. "However, the judge misapplied certain aspects  of the sentencing provisions," she said.

Hare said he is considering an appeal.