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Dad gets 2 years’ probation for child neglect
A judge also ordered Joshua Lamarr Weaver to undergo random drug tests and to take a parenting class
Joshua Lamar Weaver
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A Golden Gate man who appeared high on drugs while his 5-year-old daughter sat in a stroller, dirty, shoeless, and hungry outside a store, has been ordered to take a parenting class and drug tests as part of his probationary sentence.
Collier Circuit Judge Fred Hardt sentenced Joshua Lamarr Weaver, 29, of 5312 16th Place S.W., to two years of probation Monday on a child neglect charge and ordered him to undergo random drug tests at his own expense. The judge also ordered him to follow the state Department of Children and Families 12-month case plan.
He was given credit for time served in the county jail since his arrest on March 18 and was released on Tuesday.
Weaver said little in court, except to waive his right to trial. His hands were covered with tattoos — love on his right hand and hate on his left — and it appeared he got more since his arrest, two teardrops on his eye, a gang tattoo indicating he’d killed two people.
Weaver faced up to five years in a state prison on the third-degree felony, but was sentenced as part of a plea agreement negotiated by Assistant State Attorney Steve Maresca and Assistant Public Defender Shawn Nagle.
Court records show Weaver’s criminal history here dates back to 2001 and includes convictions for possessing drugs, including cocaine and amphetamines, and drug paraphernalia, disorderly intoxication, battery, fraudulent urine test practices, and several violations for violating release on bond and probation. His aliases include Joshua Waver, Josh Weaver, and the middle name Lamar.
His most recent arrest came after two sheriff’s deputies at the Circle K store at 1998 Santa Barbara Blvd. saw him approach the clerk and ask for a drink for his daughter, who was waiting outside in her stroller. The reports say:
One deputy went outside and saw she wasn’t visible from inside the store and she was dirty, shoeless, and had dried blood and dirt covering a cut on her toe. She told deputies she was hungry and thirsty and hadn’t eaten all day.
Several minutes later, Weaver came out of the store, but instead of checking on his daughter he walked to a car parked about 25 feet away and began talking with someone inside it. When deputies talked to him about his daughter’s condition, he was unsteady on his feet and his speech was slurred. Deputies arrested him and turned the child over to her mother.
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Must be a mistake. I can tell from his photo that he is a decent and respectable father. NDN justs want to make him look bad by mentioning all his gang tattoos.
#1 Posted by micirisi on July 18, 2008 at 8:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Start the bets
It will be only days(maybe hours)
And he will be violating,again
#2 Posted by houdal on July 18, 2008 at 9:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This is a sad case, and with Florida's terrible child welfare system, there's many children suffering these days.
Two years may not get him back on track.
He looks high in the photo, too.
#3 Posted by beetlejuice on July 18, 2008 at 10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Change his lastname to Rodriguez and they will put him in jail in 2 seconds.
#4 Posted by ricky369 on July 19, 2008 at 3:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
He is so cool.
#5 Posted by techie on July 19, 2008 at 7:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Nutering woudl solve so many problems ....
#6 Posted by HARTLAND on July 19, 2008 at 7:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The Court System has not seen the last of this guy yet. He will be back.
#7 Posted by CaptKidd on July 19, 2008 at 8:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Typically I chastise the NDN because it is the mom who is abusing and/or neglecting the child and there is no mention of the dad. But, in this story they have left out mention of the mom. Why?
A child is being neglected by their parent. The first question ought to be how can we find the other parent to let them know what is happening. That is at least as pertinent to the story as anything else. Obviously, you can't rely upon the abusive parent's characterization of the other parent. If nothing else, the NDN should report if and how the police attempted to contact the child's other parent.
Here is who abuses kids - http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pu...
#8 Posted by POC on July 19, 2008 at 9:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)
POC - did you read this article? To answer your question about when/how police contacted the other parent, read the last line, which says that deputies arrested him and turned the child over to her mother. I'd guess they used a phone (how) right before his arrest (when).
Since you want to speculate, did you consider that perhaps this "father" was having a court ordered visit day with his child? Perhaps Mom lives apart from Dad? Perhaps because of that Mom was unaware of her little girl being neglected by her father? It doesn't appear Mom has been charged with anything, so what are you getting at?
Your statistics are sad - but not all moms abuse their kids. And in this case, it is the father.
#9 Posted by etcetcetc on July 19, 2008 at 10:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Im just wondering who would crawl between the sheets with this guy...yuck.
#10 Posted by SandnSurf on July 19, 2008 at 10:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Of course!
#11 Posted by SandnSurf on July 19, 2008 at 1:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Deport him!
Oh, wait, he's a citizen. The story must be a mistake.
#12 Posted by 5GsforCirclesofSistahs on July 19, 2008 at 5:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)
etc...
Please forgive me. I missed that last line. Yes, I assumed that the parents were divorced or separated. Of course, most moms do not abuse their kids. But, child abuse/murder stories typically leave the whereabouts of the father unreported. At least they reported something about both parents this time.
#13 Posted by POC on July 20, 2008 at 12:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
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