The lawyers, standing in a row behind them, answered the big-picture questions about the new state law and the legal actions to come. More letters followed, each one taking about two weeks between his home and Elizabeths prison in Marlin. Dr. Kellogg has told the Bexar County District Attorneys office that her initial claims at the trial are outdated and that she wouldnt offer the same testimony today. He explained that she threatened to recant to hurt him, because they had recently been fighting. Reply ( 0) Leave a comment. You got lucky! Swimming with the kids. Anna had seen Elizabeth unable to deal with the interests of men before. Still hale in his mid-50s, with close-cropped hair, Otto lives without reliable electricity or running water. She wanted a relationship with me. Since his mid-20s, when he became a Jehovahs Witness, he hasnt celebrated birthdays or Christmas. Vasquez could not attend the meeting because of her parole restrictions. Follow her on Twitter @gina_k210, An inmate on trial for allegedly directing the 2014 murder of a Santa Maria drug dealer finished testifying in his own defense Friday but not . Anna Vasquez talks with her brother Jerry Vasquez on their mother's front porch after they celebrated her first Thanksgivings after being released on parole, Thursday, Nov. 22, 2012. We met once at the colleges library, and then later at a Whataburger, where he takes his kids so often that he knows the staff well. We rely on the generosity of our readers who believe that this work is important. He is expected to testify this week in a case in which one of his daughters is fighting allegations of child abuse. They also wouldnt face sex offender restrictions. Asked about how the world had changed during her time in prison, she described going to a restaurant and noticing families eating together in silence while each member stared at a smartphone. Some of the discrepancies came from Serafina Limon, Javiers mother, who initially reported the girls outcries. Javier did not testify, but told me unequivocally, There was no gun.), Sometimes truth is different, Ruiz told the jury. What was next? About a month before, they had spent a week at her apartment. At screenings of Deborah Esquenazis documentary footage, she wooed supporters. They did. When he denied that the letters existed, she took them out and pointed to his signature. Alejandre testified that she was told by Morales that Limon was killed because he avoided paying money he collected from drug transactions and went into hiding. Stephanie Limon Martinez (right), shown with lawyer Casie Gotro, is fighting child-abuse allegations she said are based on retaliation. Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012. They traded cars so each could get to work, bought hot dogs for the kids and played basketball at the park. In early February 1997, Elizabeth sat at the defendants table as the judge stated the charges against her: aggravated sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child. Otto found an organization called the National Center for Reason and Justice, which was created in the wake of the 1980s-era satanic ritual abuse scandals to advocate for people wrongfully accused of harming children. A local judge still must make recommendations to the Court of Criminal Appeals about whether to throw out the convictions and how to rule on some of the womens lawyers arguments. One of them, Elizabeth Ramirez, had a profile on the website WriteAPrisoner.com. Would you like me to go sit down? Elizabeth answered, Yes, please., Later on, Elizabeth interrupted his questions to declare, I love those children 100 percent. Lawmakers passed the measure with a host of recent scandals in mind, including debates over arson science, use of dog scents in police lineups and shaken baby syndrome. The San Antonio Four case will be one of the first tests for the new statute. Elizabeths mother called her grandson to tell him that his mother would soon be released. Margaret Vasquez, Anna Vasquez's sister-in-law, holds up a loteria card, as the family plays the family favorite tradition, celebrating Thanksgiving with family members at Anna's mother's house, her first after being released on parole, Thursday, Nov. 22, 2012. He checked out a video from the college library on female sexual predators. Anna had traded her usual T-shirts and jeans for a purple blouse. I want my babies back, she said, crying. The case caught the attention of just almost every eyeball out there. The girl's father, Javier Limon, claims that shortly after bringing them back to San Antonio from Denver in 1992, they were caught acting out sexually with dolls, which led to their disclosing these events to him. In the early 1990s, he told me, he had been working as a heavy-equipment operator for the city of San Antonio and dating Rosemary. on One morning several days later, in September 1994, Elizabeths friends Cassandra Rivera and Anna Vasquez met at a park. In November, Anna was released on parole. She knew by then she was either going to accept my lifestyle, or I wasnt going to be a part of her life, Elizabeth said. This is a carousel. Kazen asked if she was dating Kristie Mayhugh, her roommate and one of the other women accused of abuse. Javier Limon, now in his 40s, keeps his graying hair short. Anna Vasquez, left, appears safe in her brother Robert Vasquez's arms as she returned home after serving 12 and a half years in prison. She testified that she called Stafford police because she didn't want an argument between her father and her husband getting out of hand. Fueled by the "Satanic Ritual Abuse Panic" of the day, baffling charges by one of the women's nieces send them all to prison. She never stopped sending him letters. About a month after he sent Elizabeth a letter, Otto came home from work to find her response in the mail. The judge hearing the case will determine whether the couple get their children back. A tearful Anna Vasquez, left, embraces her mother Maria Vasquez. Four gay Hispanic women molesting children was something that seemed to go down everyone's throats quite easily only, it wasn't true. The next day, the fish died and they returned it. 2021 The Texas Observer. In its ruling, the state's highest criminal court blames the saga on a vindictive man named Javier Limon, the girls' father and Ramirez's one-time brother-in-law. Ramirez has testified that the. Anna, Cassie, Kristie and Elizabeth emerged from the jail, holding hands in a line with Mike Ware, and raised their arms up. She and her husband, Joseph Martinez (right), were in a Houston courtroom Dec. 3 fighting child-abuse allegations leveled at her by her father Javier Limon, who was given as the reason his two daughters made accusations of sexual abuse against four women in 1994 that led to them being sent to prison. Cassie met her one night when she went to pick up a pizza. Then Aunt Liz ordered her to take a shower. Cassies mother had kicked her out of the house, so Cassie stayed sometimes at Elizabeth and Kristies apartment. Cassies son and daughter continued to drive three hours up Interstate 35 to visit her in prison, but Elizabeth had lost contact with her son when he was 5 and his father obtained custody. Do you think free access to journalism like this is important? Anna found a job at a tortilla factory and tried to raise awareness about the case. The families did their best to move on. The prosecutions expert witness was a doctor named Nancy Kellogg, who estimated that she had examined roughly 3,500 sexual assault victims, most of them children. I remember everything [Javier] coached me to say, as well as my grandmother. Detective Lopez was studying for her sergeant's exam when the complaint was filed by Javier Limon, the girl's father. We were sitting in a wide, sunny visiting room at the Hobby Unit. Elizabeth told me that after she became pregnant, Javier offered to marry her and was upset when she refused. Si deseas conocer ms sobre este negocio, puedes llamar y solicitar informacin de sus productos y servicios. A wiry, bearded man appears on camera and tells them the building was torn down. When Elizabeth had entered the courtroom, the girl who was accusing her of sexual abuse had waved at her and smiled. Had someone died? The story of the San Antonio Four unfolded like this: In the summer of 1994, Ramirez's two nieces, the 9- and 7-year-old daughters of her older sister, stayed for a week with Ramirez and. Of course she did. In terms of mileage from the Yukon, the North Pole would have been a shorter journey. In 2012, one of the nieces admitted to having been pressured by her father, Javier Limon, to make the false accusations. Philip Kazen, Elizabeths prosecutor, is now a judge. Though she hadnt prepared to become a young single mother, she knew she could rely on her three close friends for help. The film showcases the innocent women's fight for innocence and persistence throughout their nearly 15 years in prison. He sometimes grows out a mustache thatalong with the tweed jackets he likes, the glasses perched on his head and the iPhone in his shirt pocketgives him the look of a harried college professor. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Gay rights activists treated them like rock stars. Limon was her sister's ex-boyfriend, and the two daughters were her 7- and 9-year-old nieces. Proving the . Did anyone pull out a butcher knife? the couple's lawyer, Casie Gotro, asked her. His kids took a liking to Elizabeth, so hed let them stay at her apartment, even after he split with Rosemary. He was an ex-boyfriend of Ramirez's sister who the family said had made romantic advances toward the much younger Ramirez. But they were careful to say little about Javier and his daughters. Kristies parents were divorced and her mother, like Elizabeths, was uncomfortable with her daughters sexual orientation. In the midst of her legal troubles, Elizabeth gave birth to her son. Elizabeths lawyer, Freddy Ruiz, tried to get VL to say that she was mixed up, and that the gun had actually been wielded by her father Javier in Colorado. Anna Vasquez served more than a decade of time in jail while the three other women are still serving time. The prosecutor, Philip Kazen, told the jury that Elizabeth had held a 9-year-old girl up as a sacrificial lamb to her friends.. They grew closer and, with Elizabeth beginning to realize she was attracted to women, eventually started dating. I never heard anything back.. Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Limon brought the case against his own daughter. Detectives gave her a recording device and ordered her to call Morales in prison, record the conversation, then hand it over. By late 2013, he had cycled through several careers and was working for a security company and studying criminal justice at a community college in Stafford, near Houston. Kristie Mayhugh, seen here Sept. 4, 2012, is incarcerated at the Mountain View Unit in Gatesville, Texas. He was an ex-boyfriend of Ramirez's sister who the family said had made romantic advances toward the much younger Ramirez. The patriarch of the family, Limon was given as the reason the sisters made the accusations in 1994, according to Ramirez's testimony at her trial for sex abuse. Anna, right, is greeted by Gloria Herrera, mother of Elizabeth Ramirez who is still in prison. Everything she does is camouflaged, he said, adding that she probably made a deal with Rosemary, her mother, for money or other help. If you support this mission, we need your help. The bottom line is this, prosecutor Philip Kazen countered: VL was very clear about specifics in terms of time, place, and content of the sexual assault. Kazen, who is now a judge, didnt respond to multiple interview requests. "I'm a single mom raising kids, living on the streets," she testified, becoming emotional on the stand. Of course she did. She, along with Kristie, had been in prison for 13 years. Cassandra Rivera gave the white teddy bear at right to her mother, Margaret Rivera (left), 11 years ago. With her are her lawyer, Casie Gotro, and her husband, Joseph Martinez. At H-E-B they met Cassie Rivera, who, before coming to terms with her attraction to other women, had a son and a daughter and then split with their father. at what weight should i use a belt for deadlifts . Thank you for using this website. On the court, the other girls would call out her nickname, Little Liz! Visitors give TX state park final farewell after land sold, Dallas judge revives sexual misconduct suit against Jerry Jones. The stories came after pressure from Javier Limon, Ramirez's former brother in law and the father of the two girls. An appreciative Anna Vasquez, right, looks up to her brother Chris Vasquez at her homecoming. She liked to balance on the balls of her feet, leading her mother to joke that maybe she would become a ballerina. When Ramirez rebuffed him, her family claimed, Limon retaliated by. He knew what was going to hurt me the most, she told me. Though the women are free, theyre not exonerated. Rosemary got a job supervising the cleaning staff at the courthouse downtown. He asked to film her walking around the yard, and she complied, but she wouldnt stick one foot past the curb for the camera to symbolize her freedom, since it would technically violate her parole conditions. Elizabeth had told Detective Matjeka about Javiers advances, but he hadnt thought much of it. All four were indicted for sexually assaulting Elizabeths nieces, and all four maintained their innocence while scrambling to remember if anything out of the ordinary had happened the week the girls stayed at Elizabeths apartment. I think that first story was really complicated, she explained. Morales maintained that he was minding his own business and focused on appealing his prior criminal case to get out of prison, and denied any involvement in the murder. HOUSTON A young woman who recently recanted a nearly 20-year-old accusation of sexual assault, which had sent her aunt and three other women to prison, was in a courtroom here Monday fighting child-abuse allegations leveled at her. At this trial, the younger of Elizabeths nieces, Stephanie Limon, who was not a witness at Elizabeths trial, would testify (her name is used here because she has recently spoken to the media about the case). She claimed Morales never told her who Limon owed money to but that she did know there had been a business deal between Morales and Limon that went awry and soured their relationship. The cameras blinked on. His sister, Cristina, became increasingly angry as she told me, I remember [Javiers older daughter] telling me that they touched them, moving their hands back and forth down there. . She saw them often. . You must understand I was threatened, and I was told that if I did tell the truth that I would end up in prison, taken away, and even get my ass beat. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Then one day while he was at work, his mother, Serafina Limon, was cooking while the girls played outside. More of his work can be found at mauricechammah.com. [Javiers younger daughter] told me herself, They were kissing us., Lonnie Gentry, the jury foreman at Elizabeths 1997 trial, listened to Javiers older daughter describe what had happened to her. Limon was her sisters ex-boyfriend, and the two daughters were her 7- and 9-year-old nieces. In high school, she remained small, never more than 4-foot-9, though that didnt keep her from playing on the basketball team. Anna Vasquez, recently released on parole, speaks at a Work-In-Progress screening of "San Antonio Four" a documentary by Deborah S. Esquenazi, about Vasquez and three of her friends, who are still in prison, found guilty of sexual assault of two minors. Shortly after his daughters stayed at Elizabeths apartment, Javier called her and said he had something important to tell her. Stephanie now said the women had never abused her. 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She said that her father Javier had coached her to make the accusations. Paper bags of the womens belongings were passed through the door. She had examined VL and her sister and seen a scar on the hymen that was about two to three millimeters, a scar normally caused by penetration. VLs mood, Kellogg said, was guileless or uncontrived, that is she did not appear to be holding back information or embellishing or adding information., Elizabeth took the stand in her own defense. Though he mentioned Stephanies recantation, and mistakes made by police and lawyers involved in the original trial, his primary argument was that Dr. Kelloggs testimony was inaccurate, since the medical understanding of what constitutes evidence of sexual abuse had changed. Freelance writer Maurice Chammah lives in Austin. Javier told me that his daughter didnt recant because she suddenly changed her mind about what happened to her. The girls father, Javier Limon, who had dated her sister Rosemary before a messy breakup, had been making advances toward her, she said. Matjeka typed her answers into a computer. Anna Vasquez, right, enjoys a laugh with her brother David Vasquez and her mother Maria Vasquez over a plate of turkey dinner as they celebrate her first Thanksgivings after being released on parole, Thursday, Nov. 22, 2012. Elizabeth had one theory. Maria Vasquez (right), mother of Anna Vasquez, shakes hands with Gloria Herrera (left), mother of Elizabeth Ramirez, as Anna Vasquez's aunt, Valeria Pachecano stands in between during a meeting of the San Antonio Crime Coalition on Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. Were they lesbians? The relationship could remain secret only so long, and when Elizabeths mother found out, their already strained connection suffered further. Javier claimed they were forged by Rosemary as a pretext for taking the kids from him. Her lawyer, Casie Gotro, is at left. The younger of the two accusers, now 25, has recanted, saying no assault occurred. Anna Vasquez could not attend the meeting because of her parole restrictions. The scene of the crime had vanished. Discovery channel documentary 'Southwest of Salem: the Story of the San Antonio Four' unravels the case against lesbians accused of abuse. I miss everyone cause Im not able to see and be home with them, one read, but most of all I miss my son. They worked together at a nursing home, where the residents would constantly tell Gloria what a caring and charming girl she had raised. I think Im going to wait for him to come to me, she told me shortly before her release. Our new endorsement for Texas Attorney General. He went back inside as everyone exhaled. Girl who was accusing her of sexual abuse had waved at her apartment coached... Did not testify, but told me that after she became pregnant, Javier to. My babies back, she said are based on retaliation single mom raising kids, on! 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