A city child-welfare worker spotted early signs of abuse on 7-year-old Nixzmary Brown, but got the cold shoulder from the child’s stepfather when she tried to quiz him about the bruises, the investigator testified yesterday.
“He told me that he took Nixzmary to the hospital,” Administration for Children’s Services specialist Vanessa Rhoden said about stepfather Cesar Rodriguez.
“And he proceeded to say that he didn’t have a f- – -ing thing else to say to me.”
The terse exchange took place on Dec. 1, 2005, after school officials, concerned about lacerations, bruises and welts they spotted, called ACS. The young girl died about six weeks later, on Jan. 11, 2006, allegedly at the hands of Rodriguez.
The ACS specialist’s account appeared to Rodriguez’s lawyer, Jeffrey Schwartz, off guard. He had called her to the stand in order to show that ACS found no cause for alarm.
Rhoden noted after visiting the family’s home on Greene Avenue that it was “neat and clean,” that the kitchen had an abundance of food and that the children were happy. Despite the confrontational meeting, she said, the abuse complaint remained unresolved until the girl’s death.
The agency has said it tried reaching out to the family again, but was rebuffed every time. Rhoden later left the agency in 2006, but it is unclear why.