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On 18 Jun 2020, Rich Keebler <rkeebler@afe.net> posted some news:<MPG.39e4fa97a75670d59896c7@news.aioe.org>:

EDITOR’S NOTE: An earlier version of this report incorrectly
stated that an organization named Adoption Advice and Guidance
served as the adoption agency in this case. That is incorrect,
and we apologize for the error.

A professor has been arrested and charged with first-degree
murder and felony child abuse for allegedly abusing a baby boy
he adopted just weeks ago, leaving the newborn with a fractured
skull, broken rib, and other injuries.

Gaston County Bureau Reporter Ken Lemon was in court Thursday
afternoon, where Van Erick Custodio, 42, faced a judge on the
upgraded charge. The charges against Custodio were upgraded
after the baby died from the injuries he sustained from the
alleged abuse, according to investigators. He was given no bond.

Lemon also learned the biological mother who gave up her newborn
son, believing he would have a better life with another family,
arrived from out of state Thursday. She was able to be with her
son just before he died.

Channel 9 obtained warrants against Custodio, a now-suspended
Belmont Abbey College professor, that say he admitted to
physically abusing the baby boy “multiple” times. The baby was
just six weeks old.

On Wednesday, Lemon discovered Custodio and his wife, who
already adopted a girl, held fundraising efforts to pay for the
adoption. They were even part of a video for it.

“We just felt like God put that desire in our hearts,” they said
in the video. “We’ve always wanted to have a family. At the end
of the day, it’s a calling, right, it’s also a scriptural thing,
right?”

ALSO READ: Gaston County mother accused of intentionally
starving 3-year-old son, prosecutors say

The organization Both Hands helped the couple raise money for
the adoption.

“Our team is incredibly devastated about this news,” the agency
said in a statement. “We find these actions atrocious and pray
for healing for this child. We strive for all children to be
placed in safe and loving homes, so our hearts are broken.”

The child was six weeks old but had already been through trauma.
Custodio is in the Gaston County Jail and, according to arrest
warrants, admitted to causing serious harm to the adopted
newborn.

(VIDEO: 11 p.m. update -- Adoptive father arrested, accused of
physically abusing 6-week-old, warrants say)

On Wednesday, investigators were at his Gastonia home, a place
police were first called to on April 1 for a child in cardiac
arrest.

Arrest warrants reveal the child had a “skull fracture, broken
rib, and multiple fractures in each leg.” Another warrant says
friends of Custodio went to police saying he had told them,
“...he threw the child on the sofa and also squeezed the child,
hearing a pop in the rib area” and while changing the baby’s
diaper, “...he jerked the legs of the child back and felt a pop
in the child’s legs.”

Two days later, police charged Custodio with felony child abuse
with serious bodily injury -- but he wasn’t around.

Three days after those charges were filed, York County deputies
swarmed a Lake Wylie home. They had gotten information from the
State Law Enforcement Division that Custodio was hiding out
there. Custodio was arrested and Wednesday afternoon, he was
brought back to Gastonia.

ALSO READ: Police: Man charged with shooting, killing another
man in Gaston County neighborhood

The man who pled publicly for money to adopt a child is behind
bars, charged with horrible abuse of that child, who died in a
hospital Thursday.

Custodio’s personal website says he once volunteered for a
family ministry.

His wife was also part of that fundraising effort and she
adopted the child with him. The warrant says she told him to
leave the house when the abuse came to light.

Custodio faced a judge Thursday, but the investigation is still
active.

UNC Charlotte said Custodio was working as an adjunct professor
there but is now on administrative leave.

UNC Charlotte statement:

“UNC Charlotte hired Van Erick Custodio on a limited, temporary
contract to teach one class this semester in an adjunct
capacity. He has been placed on administrative leave, and
another faculty member will cover this class for the remainder
of the semester.”

ALSO READ: Taylorsville man arrested for felony child abuse,
sheriff says

Adoption process Custodios would have had to complete
Genie Miller Gillespie, the president of the Academy of Adoption
and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys, spoke to Lemon from Chicago
Thursday.

She said that, like any family, the Custodios would have had to
complete a vetting process before bringing a child into their
home.

“A thorough home study process, which usually requires
references, criminal background checks, state, federal, and
child abuse registry,” said Gillespie.

The couple had already gone through that process with their
older child.

Gillespie said the process can take six months and is helpful,
but not foolproof.

“It’s impossible to know. I truly wish I had a crystal ball,”
she said.

Heather Kauffman, the program director of Lighthouse -- the
Gaston County agency that helps abused children -- said the case
is frustrating, but not uncommon.

“I don’t know if there’s really ever that situation that truly
surprises you,” said Kauffman.

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. If you know of a
child who is being neglected or abused, please call police. If
you just have a bad feeling about something, or are concerned
about a child’s well-being, there is help. 1-800-CHILDREN will
connect you to resources in North Carolina, and 1-800-4-A-CHILD
is the national child abuse hotline.

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