her real name is Stacy Vallarta
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Judge takes kids away in bizarre case
Nick Reiher
ASSISTANT CITY EDITOR
Joliet Herald News
Munchausen Syndrome: Court says woman's sons are victims of abuse
JOLIET -- A Will County judge Tuesday took custody of two small children
away from a Joliet woman authorities believe was using a rare, bizarre form
of child abuse.
After wading through nearly a foot of medical records and testimony from
Department of Children and Family Services workers, Associate Judge Barbara
Badger said Stacey Vallarta's two boys, ages 3 and 6, were victims of abuse
and made them wards of the state pending an April 18 custody hearing.
While Badger's ruling affected both boys, the case focused on the
3-year-old whom prosecutors say was the victim of Munchausen Syndrome by
proxy, a form of child abuse in which a parent, usually the mother, induces
or fakes illness in a child to gain attention for herself.
The syndrome is named for Baron Von Munchausen, an 18th-century German
adventurer known for his exaggerated tales.
Badger said the state had to meet a burden of proof that the children
were in danger other than by reason of accident to take away children from a
mother. She said the state, represented by Assistant State's Attorney Tina
Brault, met that burden.
Death preparations
Among the reasons the judge gave was the information revealed by The
Herald News that Vallarta, more than a year ago, was making preparations
with the Fred C. Dames Funeral Home in Joliet for her then-2-year-old son's
apparently imminent death.
Officials at the funeral home remembered the boy was with the mother and
had a tube in his nose that was connected to a tank on a cart. He sat
fidgeting as his mother asked about space for the boy near a relative at
Elmlawn Cemetery and as she talked about caskets for a child.
Badger said that information, combined with the statement in Brault's
closing arguments Feb. 24 that Vallarta had asked Will County Coroner
Patrick K. O'Neil at one point how to avoid an autopsy for a child, showed
Vallarta's state of mind concerning her son.
The judge also noted, as did prosecutors, that the 3-year-old seemed to
get better during one of his many hospitalizations and since the boy and his
brother have been with their maternal grandparents during the past seven
months. He then repeatedly had problems when he was in the care of his
mother.
Doctors also found ipecac, a compound used to induce vomiting, in the
3-year-old's system, Badger said. Doctors familiar with the case said the
ipecac likely could have caused the vomiting, diarrhea and fever that
initially led physicians at Children's Memorial and Loyola to suspect the
boy had a gastrointestinal disorder or a fructose intolerance.
Son poisoned
Last August, a doctor at Loyola told Vallarta her son had been poisoned
with ipecac, a preparation used to induce vomiting in cases of poisoning,
Brault said in her closing arguments. When Vallarta heard the news, Brault
added, she reportedly said, "Where did you find it? In the blood or in the
urine?"
How the ipecac got there doesn't matter, Brault added. In a custody case,
it matters only that Vallarta, a single parent, was the lone caregiver at
the time.
Badger reiterated that Tuesday as she gave reasons for her decision.
She also noted that Vallarta, a former paramedic, may not have known what
ipecac was, but should have been able to find out before giving it to the
child.
Vallarta's testimony that she got the ipecac at Toys R Us after the
pharmacy didn't have his prescribed medication, Badger said, didn't seem
"truthful in nature."
Vallarta sat motionless as Badger gave her decision. Behind her, a DCFS
worker sitting with paternal family members pumped her arm at her side and
whispered, "Yes!"
Vallarta's attorney, Mary Rosiek-Cardin, said she and her client had no
comment.
The children will remain with Vallarta's parents until the April 18
disposition hearing. Badger continued to suspend visitation between Vallarta
and the 3-year-old during that time and also continued to allow supervised
visitation between Vallarta and her 6-year-old son.
