Couple Ordered to Stand Trial on Child Abuse Charges

VALENCIA —  Citing evidence of physical abuse “beyond belief,” a Municipal Court judge Wednesday ordered a Canyon Country couple to stand trial on charges of abusing four of their young children, including a boy who was barely 3 weeks old when he suffered permanent brain damage.

Carl Oliveri, 37, and Sheila Jackman, 31, face a combination of nine different counts, including attempted murder, torture and aggravated mayhem for injuries to baby Justin and children ages 2, 5 and 8. Judge Norris Goodwin capped several days of testimony and argument by setting the trial date for Nov. 26 in Los Angeles Superior Court in Van Nuys.

Prosecutors chose not to pursue a 10th, lesser abuse charge from the original list. Jackman now faces seven counts and Oliveri eight.

Ida Campbell, a public defender representing Jackman, asked Goodwin to dismiss all counts against Jackman. She characterized her client as a responsible mother who should not be considered an “aider and abettor” to Oliveri. She noted testimony that Oliveri was addicted to cocaine at the time of the alleged abuse.

“Her intent has never been shown,” Campbell said. “We have a man using drugs in a frustrating situation with four children and a newborn baby.”

After recessing the court for nearly an hour, Goodwin rejected that argument.

“Sitting idly by and doing nothing where you had obvious information and the ability to stop or correct the situation does constitute or is tantamount to aiding and abetting,” Goodwin said.

Karen Richardson, a public defender for Oliveri, did not dispute the depiction of him as a drug addict who “liked to play policeman,” in the words of Sheriff’s Det. Mike Wilson. But she maintained he never intended to kill or severely injure, as alleged in the more serious charges against him.

The case stunned Santa Clarita residents, especially because of the life-altering injuries to Justin, whom social workers, doctors and prosecutors rank among the youngest abuse victims in county history.

Risky surgery and extensive therapy helped Justin survive a cracked skull, cigarette lighter burns to his feet and buttocks and two black eyes. But doctors say he is permanently brain damaged and they cannot say how long he will live.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Jacquelyn Lacey called Oliveri’s alleged behavior “horrifying,” but also did not spare Jackman.

“She was the only lifeline these little children had,” Lacey said. “She could have taken them out of there. But she chose her man over her children.”

Lacey added that Jackman knew of the alleged abuse of the other children in the couple’s 1,200-square-foot house on Soledad Canyon Road, including a 2-year-old girl whose ankles were shackled with steel handcuffs. A fifth child in the couple’s care was not named in any of the charges.

“But she made a feeble attempt at best to stop what was going on,” Lacey said.

Due to a gag order issued last week by Goodwin, all principals in the case were unavailable for further comment.