2 children were denied food, BCSO says
Kids were forced to stand at attention, relative tells deputies
Padlocks on the pantry and refrigerator. Security cameras in the kitchen and bedrooms. That’s what investigators with the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office say they found when they searched a Cedar Crest home in November.
At least two of the children who lived there — described as “extremely thin and malnourished” — told detectives their parents took those measures to keep them from eating.
Interviews with teachers and school staffers revealed that the siblings, one of whom is autistic, were often found eating food from trash cans and off the floor at school.
The children’s parents, 40-year-old Damie Brooks and 41-year-old Aaron Brooks, are now facing several counts of child abuse and conspiracy charges.
Prosecutors say Aaron Brooks showed “marked favoritism” toward his 5-year-old biological child
while showing “a directed animosity” toward his stepchildren and “demonstrating a specific intent to harm them.”
BCSO said all four children, which included an infant, were removed from the home by the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department, but according to Aaron Brooks’ mother, her son’s biological children — a 3-month-old girl and 5-year-old boy — have been returned to the family.
“None of it’s true; they’re all made-up charges,” Molly Brooks told the Journal. “They released two younger kids back to them immediately, and if there was a danger, why did they do that?”
Molly Brooks said her son, who is “amazing” and “brilliant,” was “taken from his family” due to allegations from Damie Brooks’ relatives and their dislike of him.
“It’s all born out of people who are critical of Aaron … and haven’t even bothered to come see the kids,” she said.
CYFD declined to comment on the case.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court:
The investigation began Oct. 26 when deputies conducted a welfare check on an 11-year-old girl (referred to only as C.G.) and 9-year-old boy (N.G.) at the Brooks home on Calyx Lane in Cedar Crest. The visit was made after a concerned relative reported possible abuse against the children by their stepfather, Aaron Brooks.
The relative told deputies he witnessed the parents force the children to “stand at attention” for two hours, did not allow them to eat and did not allow them to sit on the furniture to keep it from getting “dirty.”
When the deputies went to the house, they found that the children were “very thin” and “approximately the same size” as their younger brother (R.B.) — Aaron Brooks’ biological child.
Teachers and staffers at their schools told deputies the children were always hungry and “exclusively ate” beans, crackers, Vienna sausage and tuna for lunch.
Staffers described Aaron Brooks as “unresponsive” and, at worst, “combative and hostile,” often accusing staff of giving the boy food without his permission.
In contrast, Aaron Brooks’ biological child — the only one currently enrolled in school — was not given diet restrictions and “typically ate yogurt and vegetarian meals.”
When deputies went to the home to remove the children at 9:30 p.m. Nov. 7, they found the boy and girl dressed — with diapers on — standing at attention in the dining room. Their younger brother was wearing pajamas and watching television in his room.
Deputies noted a “substantial difference” between the children’s bedrooms: The younger brother’s room was littered with toys and two mattresses, while the other children had “single, small, hard mattresses,” a latch securing the closet and a television on the wall but no power supply running to it.
The video from the security cameras showed Aaron Brooks smacking the little boy’s head — causing it to bounce off the counter — as he attempted to eat, inspecting the girl’s mouth in the kitchen and both parents padlocking the pantry and refrigerator.
The deputy found that “based on dozens of hours of reviewed video footage” the two children “never had access to food.”
The boy told deputies their younger brother — whom Aaron Brooks did not allow the other children to speak to — was “free” and “could eat whatever he wanted.”
The girl told deputies the stepfather would smack the bottom of her feet with a piece of rubber siding as punishment and would lock both children outside, sometimes until the sun went down.
After they were taken from the home, a doctor diagnosed the two children with “nutritional neglect” and found “no medical reason” for them to have restricted diets.
Deputies say the children have started to gain “healthy amounts of weight” after being moved to a foster home and put on an ageappropriate diet.
Molly Brooks said that she is appalled that BCSO and CYFD would believe everything they are hearing without getting her son’s side of the story and that they were on a diet for a reason.
“I’ve seen the kids since they’re with their new family and they’re not healthy,” she said. “I think New Mexico is a real backwards state, and I can’t wait to leave it . ... I love the scenery, but the government? Nuh-uh.”