LOMPOC BATTLES CHILD DEATHS

In the past three years, seven Lompoc infants have died under a cloud
of suspicion as a result of their parents' involvement with drugs or
alcohol, according to authorities.

Lompoc police, who say a methamphetamine epidemic is sweeping the
community, said they asked the district attorney's office to file
charges in each of the cases. But charges were filed only in the most
recent case - against the father of twin baby girls who died in
January after their father allegedly rolled onto them in their sleep.

Jason Moises Gomez was charged with two counts of involuntary
manslaughter, two counts of child endangerment and a misdemeanor
count of being under the influence of a controlled substance in the
deaths of Michelle Caroline Perry and Chrissy Dawn Perry.

Tests showed he had used methamphetamine shortly before the girls
were accidentally smothered. In each of the other deaths, the child
also was sleeping with a parent, according to police.

Gomez faces seven years and four months in prison if he is convicted
of all the felony charges. He is scheduled to appear in court June 15
in Lompoc to set a date for his preliminary hearing.

Deputy District Attorney Jerry McBeth declined to discuss the Gomez
case or the other cases involving infants' deaths, but said charges
are filed only if authorities believe there is enough evidence to
prove a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Prosecutors will not file
charges unless they believe they can get a conviction, he said.

"They are difficult cases to put together," said Lompoc Police Chief
Bill Brown. "There is no real ability to tell if it was a SIDS
(Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) deaths or from co-sleeping." Advertisement

Police, however, say methamphetamine use was involved in most of the
cases, and now they are looking at ways to work with the community to
alert parents about the dangers of doing drugs or drinking when
co-sleeping with a child.

Brown said he met with the Lompoc Hospital's pediatric subcommittee
last week as a first step.

The next meeting could be with the Lompoc Valley Healthcare Council
sometime in the coming months to work on some sort of public
education program about the problem that could include public service
announcements, Brown said.

"(The number of deaths) seems like a lot to me. That is what prompted
this," said Brown. "Maybe there is something we can do here."

The seven deaths involved a 9-month-old boy Feb. 14, 2003; a
2-month-old girl March 6, 2003; a 3-week-old boy June 23, 2004; a
5-month-old boy July 21, 2005; a 1-month-old girl Dec. 22, 2005; and
the Perry twins, who died late Jan. 22 or early Jan. 23.

"In all except for one (of the deaths) the parents were determined to
be under the influence of meth or another drug," said police Sgt.
Deanna Clement. The other case involved a parent who admitted to
using alcohol at the time, she said.

Usually the parents in these cases have had a history of drug-related
offenses, and most of the cases involved a parent co-sleeping with
their child, Clement said.

Besides meeting with medical experts, police said they have found
other ways to focus on the issue.

Lompoc police officers now go through a new program that teaches them
to recognize when children are in danger because of drugs and how to
investigate it immediately when they are called to a potential crime scene.

Despite the rise of methamphetamine use and the death of the
children, Brown said he is uncertain that the two are directly related.

But Child Welfare Services (CWS) say about 80 percent of their cases
deal with some sort of substance abuse, and many of those involve
methamphetamine.

When a parent or guardian uses meth, aggressive behavior, abuse or
neglect of children is more common, said Cindy Nott, a CWS division chief.

Each case involving drug abuse by a parent is treated differently,
and CWS looks at several factors before it takes action.

"There is no magic number (for taking a child away from a parent),
but we are looking at repeated history," Nott said. "What we look at
are the crimes that have a role on a parent's impact to care for
kids. We really look at those crimes closely."

In many cases, Child Welfare Services is involved in situations in
which a parent has a drug history and that agency can do an
assessment when a child is born.

The agency has safeguards in place for children, but when parents are
on drugs, nothing is foolproof.

"When people are doing any kinds of drugs, their whole priority
system changes," Nott said.