Abandoned kids wait for decision

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Jan 6, 2006 | by Paul Burgarino, STAFF WRITER

MARTINEZ -- The maternal grandmother of two boys left home alone over New Year's weekend appeared at a court hearing Thursday in hopes of gaining full-time custody of her grandchildren.

Manteca resident Libbey Holden, 60, along with her husband, Douglas, appeared to be emotionally drained yet eager to learn the fates of grandsons Josh, 10, and Jason, 5, as they sat on a bench outside the courtroom and waited to be let into the closed hearings.

The boys' father, Jacob Calero, 39, appeared at the hearing wearing a yellow jumpsuit with handcuffs on his wrists.

Any decision made in the hearing could not be disclosed, as representatives from all parties involved were under a gag order issued by Judge Lois Haight.

"This is the very beginning of what could be a long process," said A. Araceli Ramirez, a legal expert on child welfare issues who is observing the case. "What today's hearing isdesigned to do is determine whether or not the children are going to remain at home."

Officials from the county's Child Family Services, lawyers for the father and the two boys, and Calero were involved in the proceeding.

After about 10 minutes, the Holdens were escorted into the courtroom. They had planned to let interested parties know what had gone on inside, but afterwards were escorted through the courthouse by a bailiff and were tight-lipped.

"We are not allowed to have media contact anymore," said Douglas Holden.

"No comment," Libbey Holden repeated several times while leaving the courthouse and being asked questions by reporters.

Attorneys for the various parties also did not comment. Likewise, Calero would not respond to any questions as he was led away.

Judge Haight was thorough in keeping the courtroom closed during the proceedings. Even a probation officer was not allowed in the courtroom, as the hearing was held under strict confidentiality.

Calero left his two sons home alone at their luxury apartment in the Dougherty Valley section of San Ramon on Friday to celebrate the New Year's weekend in Las Vegas.

The boy's birth mother, Cristina, the Holdens' daughter, died of breast cancer in June 2003, so the father had sole custody of the children.

Calero and his second wife, Michelle De La Vega, were arrested on two counts of child endangerment Wednesday upon arrival by plane in Oakland after five days in Las Vegas.

Contra Costa County Deputy Attorney Dara Cashman said she would review the case today , and that if the two are charged they could be arraigned as early as this afternoon.

Before the custody hearing, Holden said that she was hopeful the boys would be allowed to live with her and her husband at their Manteca apartment.

"We just want the boys to be happy," Libbey Holden said.

During Thursday's hearing, the boys were at the home of their godmother, Erin Stoker of Tracy.

San Ramon Police investigators said they found the couple had arranged a dog-sitter for their three puppies, that the younger boy had an episode due to his autism, and that the father and his wife had a history of leaving the children to fend for themselves.

Holden has been caring for the boys at her small Manteca apartment with her husband. Police reports say she was the one who called San Ramon Police on Saturday night, alerting them that the boys were home alone and could have been in peril. Officers retreived the boys that night, entering the home through an upstairs sliding glass door when no one answered the door.

"The goal in juvenile proceedings is to reunify families, not break them apart," observer Ramirez said. "The judge must determine what happened and why the parents acted as they did, and that could take some time."

Calero is being held at the Contra Costa County jail in Martinez, while De La Vega is being held in the county's West Detention Facility in Richmond.