Judge Declines to Jail Baby’s Killer Who Got Pregnant on Probation

Josephine Mesa, who was spared a prison sentence last year after admitting that she beat her 23-month-old son to death, was allowed to remain free on probation Tuesday by a Superior Court judge in Vista who said she poses no threat to her newborn son.

The 20-year-old Oceanside woman had faced a possible 30 days in jail because of a violation of a term of the five years’ probation she received in the wake of the beating death of her son. The violation was for spending an unauthorized weekend with a friend several months ago, without having first notified her probation officer.

Although she was not prohibited from becoming pregnant after she pleaded guilty in July, 1987, to voluntary manslaughter, she nonetheless won the scorn of court officials when they learned that she became pregnant again last year--and hid her pregnancy from her probation officer and other authorities.

Pregnancy Tests

Her son, Perrin Xavier Roys, was born four months ago to the surprise of her therapist, her probation officer and her own defense attorney, and to the consternation of prosecutors who had handled the manslaughter case and were none too pleased that she had gotten pregnant again.

The judge who had handled her case, Don Martinson, ordered her to undergo periodic pregnancy tests, and the baby was put in the custody of the county’s Child Protective Services.

Although prosecutors could not charge her with a criminal offense for having a baby, they saw their chance to put her in jail by charging her with probation violation--the AWOL weekend.

It was that violation that put Mesa before Martinson on Tuesday.

By Tuesday, however, the Probation Department had softened its own, earlier recommendation that she be ordered to Las Colinas, the county’s woman’s jail, for 30 days. Too much time had elapsed since the probation violation for the 30-day jail sentence to be effective as punishment, probation officer Ruth Hansen said.

The district attorney’s office didn’t argue.

Martinson said he was “encouraged” by reports that Mesa and her boyfriend--Tim Roys, the child’s father--are developing a strong relationship.

“She’s 20. She’s got a long life ahead of her,” said Martinson at Tuesday’s hearing. “There’s only so much that society can do.”

With that, Martinson ordered her not to associate with children under 10 unless in the company of an adult, and ordered her to return to his courtroom in March for a review hearing.

The voluntary manslaughter plea followed the discovery by scavengers in May, 1986, of a battered body in a Dumpster behind her Oceanside apartment. Mesa, 18 at the time, first denied that the baby was hers, later admitting that she beat her son, Paul Anthony, with a bathroom plunger after she caught him drinking out of the toilet.

Videotaped Interview

Through her attorney, John Jimenez, and with the use of a dramatic videotaped interview while she was under the influence of sodium amytal, a truth serum, Mesa told the court of a life filled with rape and abuse at the hands of strangers and relatives.

Martinson rejected prosecutors’ demands for an 11-year prison term and released Mesa on five years’ probation with her promise to divorce her husband at the time, attend counseling, get a job and return to school.

Mesa’s new baby is being cared for by his father, and Mesa is allowed by Juvenile Court authorities to visit the child once a week, under supervision. A permanent unification plan for mother and child is being considered by authorities.

Mesa’s first visit with her son was Sept. 16. According to a probation department report, Mesa was “very happy with the visit, and spoke lovingly and appropriately about the baby.”