Where's My Mom? - Epilogue

    A couple of years ago I related the story of young Thomas Valva (see here). Thomas was only 8-years old when his father forced him and his brother into their unheated garage in the middle of winter as punishment for a number things including urinating and defecating in rooms other than the bathroom. Not only were the  boys forced to sleep on the concrete floor in this unheated garage, but they were hosed down with freezing water as the temperature outside dropped to 20 degrees Fahrenheit. The brothers were forced to endure this torture for approximately 16 hours. Young Thomas' brother survived this horrific ordeal...Thomas did not.

    Since that day, Michael Valva, the boys father, was arrested along with his fiancee, Angela Pollina. Valva was charged with one count of second-degree murder and four counts endangering the welfare of a child. Almost two-years later, Michael Valva has finally been found guilty and a Suffolk County (New York) jury sentenced him to a prison term of 25-years to life. Pollina has also been charged with second-degree murder and child endangerment in Thomas' death. She has pleaded not guilty and still awaits trial. 

    The one thing that has troubled me the most is how the judge came to place the boys with their father instead of allowing them to stay with their mother. As I wrote previously, there was no indication whatsoever that she was anything but an exemplary mother. To this day Judge Hope Zimmerman is one of the most reviled figures in Suffolk County legal circles, if not parent groups. We'll probably never know, but it's a stain on her career, if not her person, that she is in no small way responsible for this.

    There are a couple of things that I was not aware of when I initially wrote about this heinous crime. First and foremost, Thomas Valva was autistic, as is his older brother. Like many of you, I grow weary of reading stories like these. And I understand that in a vacuum it shouldn't matter whether or not these boys were autistic or not. A child's death, any child, holds a certain place in the heart. But I have held... what's the proper euphemism...developmentally challenged children in my arms. Each and every one of them, with a grin or a laugh, a touch of my nose or arms around my neck, has stolen my heart. It's a transaction with a "No Returns" proviso. It is also a feeling that cannot be duplicated or forgotten. 

    Secondly, Michael Valva was a New York City police officer. Sworn to protect and serve. And I know that every profession has people who somehow slipped through the psych evaluation. I get it. But I keep asking myself, "Shouldn't some be held to a higher standard?" I know many police officers personally, from Bucks County to Boston, and they put their lives on the line every single day. And while nobody is perfect, I'm a pro-police guy. I also have no problem with young children being more special, especially those who weren't as lucky in the lottery of life. And if something should happen, as what happened to young Thomas Valva, at the hands of, not only his father...but a police officer, then the hammer should come down even harder.

    I don't believe in divine retribution. But I know about jailhouse retribution; and I'm okay with that.

write to Peter: magtour@icloud.com