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CNN Live Saturday
Woman, 16-Year-Old Under Arrest for Child Abuse
Aired January 11, 2003 - 17:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A New Jersey woman and her 16- year-old son are behind bars today. The FBI accuses both of them in a horrendous child abuse case involving three little boys who were beaten and left starving in a dark and dingy basement.
CNN's Jamie Colby has more on the case from New Jersey.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE COLBY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: An FBI task force has arrested the 16-year-old son of Sherry Murphy, the go-go dancer authorities say kept her three young cousins locked in her Newark, New Jersey basement.
According to Newark Mayor Sharpe James, the teenager is charged with two counts of Child Endangerment and one count of Aggravated Assault against seven-year-old Fahim Williams (ph).
MAYOR SHARPE JAMES, NEWARK, NEW JERSEY: The details he provided in connection with the death of seven-year-old Fahim Williams led local authorities to immediately arrest him and charge him.
COLBY: Sherry Murphy was arrested four days after police discovered Fahim Williams' body in a storage bin in her basement. Fahim's two brothers were rescued by police a day earlier. Both are hospitalized after being found in the basement malnourished and dehydrated and remain in fair condition.
GOV. JIM MCGREEVEY, NEW JERSEY: The failure of government in this instance to safeguard the health and welfare of these children is beyond excuse.
COLBY: The boys were under the care of New Jersey's Division of Youth and Family Services or DYFS, while their mother was in jail on separate child abuse charges. Their DYFS caseworker had not seen them for more than a year.
MCGREEVEY: I requested literally DYFS to track every single child to identify where that child is, working with police departments, working with school systems, and working with the courts, and we will locate every single child.
COLBY: Under orders of the governor, DYFS workers were dispatched this week to establish personal contact with all 280 children whose files had open abuse allegations and had not been seen. Caseworkers have met with 170 of those kids so far. Jamie Colby, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 11, 2003 - 17:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A New Jersey woman and her 16- year-old son are behind bars today. The FBI accuses both of them in a horrendous child abuse case involving three little boys who were beaten and left starving in a dark and dingy basement.
CNN's Jamie Colby has more on the case from New Jersey.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE COLBY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: An FBI task force has arrested the 16-year-old son of Sherry Murphy, the go-go dancer authorities say kept her three young cousins locked in her Newark, New Jersey basement.
According to Newark Mayor Sharpe James, the teenager is charged with two counts of Child Endangerment and one count of Aggravated Assault against seven-year-old Fahim Williams (ph).
MAYOR SHARPE JAMES, NEWARK, NEW JERSEY: The details he provided in connection with the death of seven-year-old Fahim Williams led local authorities to immediately arrest him and charge him.
COLBY: Sherry Murphy was arrested four days after police discovered Fahim Williams' body in a storage bin in her basement. Fahim's two brothers were rescued by police a day earlier. Both are hospitalized after being found in the basement malnourished and dehydrated and remain in fair condition.
GOV. JIM MCGREEVEY, NEW JERSEY: The failure of government in this instance to safeguard the health and welfare of these children is beyond excuse.
COLBY: The boys were under the care of New Jersey's Division of Youth and Family Services or DYFS, while their mother was in jail on separate child abuse charges. Their DYFS caseworker had not seen them for more than a year.
MCGREEVEY: I requested literally DYFS to track every single child to identify where that child is, working with police departments, working with school systems, and working with the courts, and we will locate every single child.
COLBY: Under orders of the governor, DYFS workers were dispatched this week to establish personal contact with all 280 children whose files had open abuse allegations and had not been seen. Caseworkers have met with 170 of those kids so far. Jamie Colby, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
