Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Mom, boyfriend face child abuse charges
When Merissa Anderson left for work at 8:35 a.m. Monday, her 2-year-old son, Justin Polk, was sound asleep.
She left Justin and her other two children with her boyfriend, Jonathan Charapata, who would normally watch them in the couple’s room at Countryside Inn and Suites because he didn’t have a job. But that morning would be anything but normal in Room138.
Just after 9 a.m., Orange County deputies responded to a 911call from someone at the Lee Road hotel reporting an unconscious child, records show. Justin wasn’t breathing, and his badly bruised body had turned cold, officials said. The toddler was pronounced dead 45 minutes later.
Newly released court documents detail the relationship between Anderson and Charapata, whoare expecting their first child together and now both face child abuse charges.
Anderson is charged with three counts of failure to report child abuse and two counts of child neglect. An Orange County judge set her bond at $80,000 on Saturday. She remains in the Orange County Jail.
Several hours later Saturday, deputies arrested Charapata on two counts of child abuse. No one has been charged with Justin’s death, which was ruled a homicide by deputies Wednesday.
“If Jonathan did something he needs to go to jail,” Anderson told investigators earlier in the week. “He should have watched my children better. I trusted him to take care ofmy children.”
Anderson’s 1-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter, who also showed signs of abuse, were taken to Florida Hospital South. Officials reported old and new injuries to the children — including multiple rib fractures on the boy and bruises on the girl’s face and chest.
The couple had been together for about six months. They moved from Sanford to the hotel with the children about two months ago.
Anderson described Charapata as a father figure to her children. Justin affectionately called Charapata “Daddy Jon,” according to Anderson.
The family spent their last meal together Sunday at CiCi’s Pizza. But Justin, nicknamed “Bubby,” didn’t eat any pizza. Instead, he ate cheeseburgers when the family returned back to the hotel, Anderson said.
“All Bubby wanted to do was play,” Anderson told investigators.
She gave the children a bath and put them to bed, but Bubby didn’t go to sleep until 11:30 p.m.
“I don’t know how to make my kids go to bed or be [on] a schedule,” she said.
The last thing Justin wanted to do before going to sleep Sunday night was color pictures, Anderson recalls. Hours later, Anderson would learn her son was dead.
Anderson’s sons have the same biological father, Justin Polk Sr.; her daughter has a different father, who lives in Lake County. Both men see their children, but Anderson told investigators she prohibits them from being alone with the kids.
Anderson separated fromthe boys’ father in December because he was abusive toward her, she told investigators. He was arrested twice in March for violating a restraining order she had against him, records show.