Newbury Park Foster Mother : 4-Year Sentence Imposed in Death of Abused Child

A Newbury Park woman was sentenced to four years in state prison Wednesday for the death of her 2-year-old foster son, whose body was covered with more than 70 bruises when he died last November.

The woman, Julie Maslin, 34, was found guilty by a jury in July of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of felony child abuse for inflicting the fatal injuries on Christopher Greer. Authorities had placed the boy in Maslin’s care in February, 1986, because the county had deemed his natural mother unfit.

Maslin’s sentence, handed down by Ventura County Superior Court Judge Edwin M. Osborne, was about half the maximum for the charges, Deputy Dist. Atty. Lela Henke-Dobroth said.

County coroners testified during the four-week trial that Christopher died Nov. 4 of a massive infection caused by a rupture in the intestine. Medical experts testified that the injury was probably caused by a blow to the stomach several days earlier.

During her testimony, Maslin denied hitting the boy. She said in court that his fatal injuries were caused by several heavy objects which fell on the boy when she was trying to remove them from a closet shelf. The boy’s bruises were probably caused by playground accidents, Maslin said.

In documents submitted to court after her conviction, Maslin said she was responsible for Christopher’s death because she had failed to take him to a doctor after he had been vomiting for several days. She said did not seek medical care for him because she fears doctors, according to court records.

Maslin called paramedics Nov. 4 after the boy lost consciousness, court records said. Christopher died about an hour later at Los Robles Regional Medical Center.

Jurors said in interviews after the trial that they did not believe Maslin’s explanation of the boy’s injuries. But the jurors also said they did not believe that Maslin intentionally killed Christopher and decided on involuntary manslaughter rather than the original manslaughter charge.

Christopher was placed in the Maslin home after he was taken from his natural mother, a 21-year-old Simi Valley woman, in December, 1985, by the Children’s Services section of the county Public Social Services Agency, court records showed.

A spokeswoman for that agency said Maslin received her foster-care license after meeting all state and county requirements.