Protecting Innocents

Ramona Villa hopes one of the 300 butterflies released in a ceremony for abused children Wednesday will float to heaven and kiss the cheek of her daughter, Gabriella, who died last year at the age of 15 months.

“This is letting [Gabriella] know that we’re still thinking of her and that we love her,” said Villa, 20, who, along with 200 others, attended the ceremony at the Santa Ana Zoo to mark the beginning of National Child Abuse Prevention Month.

“We’re thinking of her smiles, her walks, the crazy attitudes she had--she liked to be around boys.”

Last year, 11 Orange County children, including Gabriella, died as a result of abuse or under suspicious circumstances, according to the Orange County Social Services Agency. More than 34,600 were reported suffering from neglect, or emotional and physical abuse.

Placentia Police Det. Daron Wyatt said Gabriella died of a blow to the abdomen. Her father was arrested on suspicion of murder, but, Wyatt said, the district attorney declined to prosecute. Wyatt said the case remains under investigation.

To help avert these cases, the Child Abuse Prevention Council of Orange County sponsored Wednesday’s ceremony, which was attended by Gayle Wilson, wife of Gov. Pete Wilson, local officials and others involved in social service work.

Organizers hope to alert people in Orange County to the dangers of child abuse, in part, by distributing more than 400,000 blue ribbon buttons this month. The blue ribbon, similar to the red one meant to raise awareness of AIDS, is the international symbol of child abuse prevention.

At Wednesday’s ceremony, organizers urged those in attendance to tell others about the dangers of child abuse and to help distribute the buttons.

“If each one of us here today told five people, who told five people, the groundswell just might be enough to move us toward that day when our homes and communities are completely safe for the children,” said Barbara Oliver, executive director of the council.

While the number of child abuse cases reported last year dropped by about 3,500 from 1995, officials think the severity of child abuse has increased.

Wednesday’s ceremony, which included an hour of songs and speeches, took place alongside the zoo’s memorial garden that was dedicated last year to abused children.

“[The garden] is a place of peace and safety, not only for butterflies and hummingbirds, but for children,” Ron Glazier, the zoo’s executive director, told those assembled Wednesday. “And we need more sanctuaries where children can feel safe.”

As if to emphasize the topic of Wednesday’s ceremony, zoo visitors--mostly children--could be observed as they admired the animals and rode elephants.

As the ceremony drew to a close, those in the audience lined up to receive small, white, triangular boxes tied shut with silver thread. Inside each box was a painted lady butterfly with brown, beige and gray-speckled wings.

Participants then surrounded the semicircular garden and released the butterflies after names of children who died last year were read.

While the stream of butterflies was small, it released a flood of emotions. Some marked the occasion with smiles, others with tears.

“We want to help other people realize there are signs you can look for even though [babies] can’t talk,” said Gabriella’s grandmother, Alma Barba, 45, of Garden Grove.