Thursday, 4:30 PM
'Too much destruction' for 3-year-old to ever fully recover from bite wounds, doctor says
(Robert E. Klein for the Boston Globe)
Bryan M. James, 34, and Jessica L. Silveira, 26, were ordered held without bail for 90 days after a dangerousness hearing today in New Bedford District Court.
By John R. Ellement and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff
NEW BEDFORD -- A doctor who contacted child welfare officials when she examined a 3-year-old with severe bite wounds testified today that the girl was so badly mutilated that she will never fully recover.
"She is essentially missing her top lip," Dr. Alice Newton said at a dangerousness hearing in New Bedford District Court. "I've never seen a child who is missing her upper lip."
Newton, the medical director of the child protection team at Children’s Hospital Boston, said that plastic surgery will not be able to repair the damage allegedly inflicted by her mother’s live-in boyfriend, Bryan M. James, 34.
"She will never have a normal appearing lip," Newton said. "There is too much destruction."
James and the girl's mother, Jessica Silveira, 26, were both ordered held without bail today for the next 90 days. They will be held at the Bristol County Jail.
Silveira wept through much of the 90-minute hearing and at times vehemently disagreed with the testimony by shaking her head from side to side. She cried hardest when Newton said her daughter was permanently disfigured.
Silveira is accused of permitting and covering up the alleged abuse by James, who is charged with child assault and mayhem. Police said James bit off a portion of the child's lip and pummeled her head so frequently that one ear was left deformed, with her hearing possibly permanently impaired. Both pleaded not guilty last week after they were arrested on July 4.
The girl first came to the attention of DSS officials in January, after suffering a broken tooth and bruising that a physician called suspected abuse. DSS officials said they were unable to find and interview the girl, delaying any legal action on their part. New Bedford police, meanwhile, dropped their investigation after accepting explanations for the injuries given by Silveira.
DSS took custody in May after the girl was brought to Children's Hospital Boston with injuries that doctors told police constituted one of the worst cases of abuse they had ever seen. The case has brought scrutiny on the New Bedford police and DSS, where Commissioner Angelo McClain recently took office after a string of abuse scandals.
