Mother Guilty of Abusing Her Daughter

Wealthy Westlake mother Charlotte Russo was found guilty of one count of abusing her teen-age daughter Thursday, reacting first with tears and then an attack on a news photographer as she rushed from the courtroom.

As a result of the misdemeanor conviction in Ventura County Superior Court, Russo, 52, faces up to six months in County Jail.

The same jury on Monday will continue deliberating an additional count of felony child abuse, which accuses the registered nurse and stockbroker’s wife of biting her daughter.

“I’m pleased they came back guilty on the misdemeanor,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Dee Corona commented. “I think they are validating some of (the victim’s) concerns, where nobody else ever believed her.”

As Los Angeles Times photographer Alan Hagman snapped a picture of Russo outside the courtroom, she charged him and swung her purse.

“There!” she said. “Are you happy now?”

The purse became caught with the camera before Russo yanked it free, breaking several accessories on the camera in the process.

After the confrontation, Russo exited the Hall of Justice through a back stairwell surrounded by her husband and six other children.

The victim, now 16 and living in foster care, was the only one of Russo’s seven children not to attend Thursday’s verdict hearing.

Defense attorney James M. Farley expressed hope the jury will acquit Russo of the felony charge, which could bring a six-year prison term if she is convicted.

“That was the easy one to find, even though I don’t believe the evidence supports it,” Farley said, downplaying the misdemeanor conviction. “I believe the other will be more difficult.”

Farley also said Russo does not deserve jail time for the misdemeanor conviction.

“She’s been punished enough,” he declared, saying her husband, Richard, has lost many clients since news of the case broke.

Farley said Russo’s nine-bedroom house is in foreclosure and that the family probably will file for bankruptcy.

Richard Russo pleaded guilty in November to misdemeanor child abuse and served a 30-day jail term. He also was placed on three years’ probation.

Prosecutors charged Charlotte Russo with one count each of felony and misdemeanor child abuse. The felony charge accuses Russo of severely biting the girl on the arm.

The misdemeanor charge accused her of forcing the girl to sleep in a back-yard racquetball court for long periods and of clawing and hitting the girl.

Because the jury is still under an admonishment not to discuss the case, it was unclear Thursday which actions resulted in the misdemeanor conviction.

“The facts surrounding the misdemeanor were overwhelming,” Corona said.

During the emotional six-week trial, several neighbors testified about witnessing the defendant attack the girl, either in the family’s garage or back yard on different occasions during the past few years.

The girl testified for five days, saying she had been banished to the locked environs of the family’s $75,000 racquetball court as punishment for not doing her homework. She also testified that she was pinched, punched, scratched and roped around the wrists by her mother.

Russo denied most of the accusations. She said she bit the girl in self-defense. And she said she slapped her occasionally as a form of discipline when the girl talked back.

The misdemeanor conviction came on the jury’s second day of deliberations.

After the verdict was read, Superior Court Judge Charles W. Campbell Jr. replaced a juror on the panel.

The man said personal business would not allow him to continue his jury work next week when deliberations resume. Farley objected, but Campbell agreed to excuse the juror after questioning him.

“I’m satisfied if he could have stayed, he would have,” Campbell said.

Charlotte Russo and her husband were arrested May 24, 1993, after a neighboring couple called the Sheriff’s Department and reported seeing the girl being beaten by her mother in the family’s garage.

Those same neighbors and others testified for the prosecution. Russo testified in her own defense, as did most of her children, who called the victim a liar and a thief who refused to follow their parents’ orders.

The victim was adopted by the Russos at the age of 1. She has had five heart surgeries and suffered from seizures.

The medical problems required the girl to receive extra attention, which frustrated Russo, prosecutor Corona said.