The 11-month-old baby had infected burns. He and his four siblings, all 9 or under, were living in what Denver police called “extremely unsanitary and unsafe conditions” with drug-abusing parents, authorities said.
Tuesday, the parents – Yvette Barragan, 26, and William Cardenas, 28, who each had pleaded guilty to one count of felony child abuse – were sentenced to drug-court supervision.
The children were found in a home in the 1400 block of Vine Street in January after John Wolfer, principal at Bromwell Elementary School, asked police to conduct a welfare check on them.
The 11-month-old had a neck burn caused when a lighter his parents were using to ignite a crack pipe exploded, authorities said. At the hospital, the baby tested positive for cocaine.
On Tuesday in court, the parents said they were kicking their drug habit and hoped they’d eventually be reunited with their kids, who have been taken from them. Three are with their biological father; the two youngest are are in the custody of Denver Department of Human Services.
“I apologize. I’m scared straight,” said a tearful Barragan, who had spent 109 days in jail. “Just help me get my life in order so I can be reunited with my children.” Cardenas has spent 53 days behind bars.
But Denver prosecutor Shana Beggan told Denver District Judge Anne Mansfield that she is “incredibly concerned about these children.
“The focus needs to be on their drug addiction and their learning how to be parents,” Beggan said.
Mansfield gave Cardenas a six-year prison term, but suspended it and ordered him to report instead to Denver’s Family Integrated Drug Court, where he will receive intense supervision. She ordered Barragan to three years of drug-court supervision.
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
