A Tulsa mother has been sentenced to three concurrent life terms after pleading guilty to two counts of child neglect and one count of permitting child abuse by injury in a case involving the abuse and neglect of newborn twins. Her boyfriend, who pleaded guilty to the same charges, is sentenced to 25 years for each charge. His sentences will also run concurrently.
Clorinda Alexis Archuleta, 25, was arrested in January 2014 after bringing one of her 34-day-old twins to the hospital for swelling in his leg. In addition to the leg swelling, however, medical personnel also discovered that the infant had a broken arm, two broken legs, and a skull fracture causing bleeding of the brain. Because of the severity of the infant's injuries, his twin brother was taken into protective custody. That infant was also discovered to have sustained multiple fractures.
When questioned about the nature of her infants' injuries, Archuleta said she had "no idea" what happened to them, but then blamed her boyfriend, Joshua Benjamin Wray, 26. She told investigators that she saw him pick one of the babies up by the leg, causing the child to lose consciousness.
Her charge of permitting child abuse by injury is the result of allowing Wray to continue to be responsible for the babies' care after seeing the abuse.
In the early days of investigation, both Archuleta and Wray blamed each other for the abuse, with Wray claiming that he saw the twins' mother shake one of the infants violently and slam his head into a crib.
This blame game made it virtually impossible for prosecutors to charge either Archuleta or Wray with child abuse--no one could be certain which of the two actually injured the infants, although from their statements, it seems likely that it was both. However, both admitted to seeing the other abuse the twins and continuing to let the abusive person care for the babies. Because of this, they were charged with neglect and enabling child abuse--both crimes which carry the same penalties as child abuse.
But if both parents were charged with the same crimes, why the discrepancy in sentencing? Why sentence the mother to life, but the father to only 25 years?
There reactions to the charges may have something to do with it. A prosecutor in the case acknowledged that Wray expressed remorse for his involvement in the infants' injuries, but said that the mother never expressed remorse or accepted ownership of her responsibility, continuing to blame everyone but herself for the twins' abuse.
Also, it is not uncommon for mothers to get more significant penalties than fathers in child abuse cases. Perhaps it is an ingrained belief that mothers have more responsibility for the care of their children than fathers do. In some cases of child abuse, the mother receives a harsher penalty for enabling child abuse than the person who physically abused the child receives.
One notable Oklahoma case is that of Tondalo Hall, herself a victim of domestic violence. Hall was sentenced to 30 years in prison for enabling child abuse under Oklahoma's "failure to protect" laws. Her boyfriend--who admitted to brutally abusing their 3-month old baby, breaking her ribs and leg--was only sentenced to 2 years in prison. He was released in 2006. Hall, denied clemency last month, is not eligible for parole until 2030.
