here is a update on the story
http://www.khou.com/news/local/stori...y.724cdf7.html
Caseworker refutes mom's claim that dog mutilated baby's genitals
10:07 PM CDT on Monday, April 9, 2007
Associated Press
HOUSTON -- A caseworker cast doubt on a mother’s claims that her infant son had his genitals severed in an attack by the family dachshund after testifying Monday no blood was found on the dog by authorities.
“No I don’t believe the dog attacked the child,” said Harris County Child Protective Services caseworker Armando Morin. “The dog would have had dried blood under its chin, bloody paws. It didn’t have any, animal control said.”
The dog has since been released from the custody of the Houston Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care and been adopted.
Morin’s testimony came during a custody hearing Monday for Holden Gothia, who was found on a bed in his mother’s suburban Houston apartment March 13, covered in blood. His genitals were severed and there was a deep cut in his upper leg.
Holden’s mother, whose name has not been released, has not given a statement to police about what happened to her son and remains in an undisclosed inpatient treatment program outside of Houston. The mother has a history of drug abuse.
No charges have been filed in the case.
Itze Soliz-Matthews, the attorney for Holden’s mother, would not
comment to reporters Monday, only saying that her client is entering the second stage of her treatment. During the hearing, she asked that her client be allowed supervised visitation with her son.
The mother, who was not at the hearing, was denied any contact with her child and ordered by Juvenile Court Judge Michael Schneider to undergo psychiatric and psychological tests.
Holden’s father, Camden Gothia, was granted unsupervised contact with the boy, who is recovering at a Houston hospital.
“Holden is doing spectacular,” Camden Gothia said after the custody hearing. “Part of his recovery is hinged on us being able to see him, touch him more than one to two hours a day. It kind of lifts a cloud. It’s just a relief.”
The judge also ruled that the infant, now nearly 10 weeks old, will remain in the temporary custody of Harris County Child Protective Services. Camden Gothia said he will seek full custody of his son.
CPS took custody of Holden after his mother, who is not married to Gothia, told agency investigators last month that she woke up from a nap to find the family’s dachshund standing over the mutilated baby. She ran to a neighbor’s house for help.
But doctors have said the infant’s injuries are inconsistent with dog bites.
Child-protection authorities said the 25-year-old mother had a history of prescription drug abuse and tested positive for cocaine and methadone the day after Holden was mutilated.
CPS spokeswoman Estella Olguin said after the hearing the mother told agency investigators the dog bit through a comforter and a diaper when it attacked her son.
Investigators “found a comforter on the bed with a little bit of blood but no bite marks,” she said.
Morin testified Monday he could not find the bloody diaper in the dumpster behind the apartment where the mother said she had thrown it away.
Morin, who was in the apartment shortly after the alleged attack, said he did not see any bloody paw prints on the bed or on the floor.
DNA tests done on the dog seem to have cleared the pet because he has been released, Olguin said. At least one more test is still pending.
During the hearing, Itze Soliz-Matthews, the mother’s attorney, raised the possibility another person could have come into the apartment and injured the infant.
“Someone is responsible. I want justice for Holden,” Camden Gothia said. “Justice for Holden right now is (for him) to be able to get the nurturing he needs.”
Doctors were able to save the infant’s left leg, which had been in danger of being amputated.
“He’s got a long road ahead of him. He has many surgeries for years to come,” Camden Gothia said.
Another hearing in the case was set for May 11.