Author Topic: Joana Cipriano - A sorry story of poverty and neglect.  (Read 32444 times)

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Offline John

Joana Cipriano - A sorry story of poverty and neglect.
« on: March 15, 2015, 03:06:22 AM »
Press report dated Thursday 30 September 2004.

I did everything I could for my ladybug (ladybird)

By one of the people who best knew Joana. Who better to understand.  She was also one of the few who tried to help. The first teacher of the ghtml

from Figueira still feels a lump in her throat when she speaks of her "Ladybug". "I did everything I could for her," she told the Correio da Manhã with words full of emotion.




She's the one who addressed to the Commander of the National Republican Guard (GNR) in Lagos, a "request for location" of Joana. It was she too who earlier warned Social Services that she was sick "and needed someone to accompany her ".  Joana had pneumonia and no one to care for her. "If the mother had given her food let alone antibiotics," adds the teacher. At the time the Commission for the Protection of Minors in Lagos was alerted to her plight. But like its counterpart in Portimão, they also did not consider that Joana was at risk.

In spite of this, her time spent at Alporchinhos Primary School, Porches, Lagos municipality, was perhaps the happiest in the? life of Joana. "She loved to be here. The school was a world for her", recalls the teacher. Nothing more natural since she lived in a ruined shack, abandoned by all and for all. Nothing more natural since, at least, the school had a roof, and a world of affection. "She was sometimes a sad girl because she wanted a house. She was longing for a home. She only made drawings of houses ", stresses.  At this point Joana lived in Vale do Olival and every day had to walk about two kilometres to the school. "When it rained or was bad weather she didn't arrive," recalls the teacher. 

It was the second year however that shortages began to be more frequent. It was shortly after her mother vanished without a trace. "The mother was absent, I don't know where, and left Joana at the home of a neighbour. But during that time Joana still came to school, "he stresses. And he adds: "A social worker had to go just to see what was going on". In the end, Leonor Cipriano returned to her man, and Joana stopped attending school. It was then that the teacher sent the "location request" to the Commander of the GNR. Days after she received the following reply. "They told me that her mother promised to come to school to deal with the transfer of the child". And so it was.

The teacher doesn't believe that the mother could have killed little Joana. "I don't think she ever hit her," confesses. But she refuses to have the same confidence in the brothers of Leonor. Having said that highlights what is touted as one of the major personality traits of Leonor – the neglect towards the children. "It was Joana who turned on the question of food and clothing," she said..

Now the primary school teacher of Alporchinhos prefers to remember the sweet and docile girl. Her "Ladybug" as she called her. The girl who never got into fights and loved playing with dolls. The girl who liked school because the school was the best that the world could offer her. 

Even so, Joana continues every day to come through the door of the school. She comes at the hands of her former classmates who at home consume the overdose of news about this case. "They see her photo on TV and then they come to school to ask questions," says the teacher. What questions? "Like, where is Joana? What happened to Joana ", responds to a teacher. And she adds: "you know she was a cherished by everyone."

In Alporchinhos elementary school still nobody forgets little Joana. The teacher does all she can to distract the attention of the children. If only because a brother of Joana still attends that school. But also because she fears that her former classmates will be affected forever. "I should have here a psychologist to help me," she complained. But nobody remembered it.

NOTES

BODY

Searches to find the body of little Joana have been developed over the last two days, sometimes less than visible. According to one source contacted by the CM, the PJ were yesterday at a Western Algarve sanitary landfill site situated in the municipality of Portimão, in order to inspect the garbage from the village of Figueira.  Suggesting the possibility of violence and that the girl's body was placed in a dumpster.

SADNESS

The stepfather's family of Joanna ensures that the girl, "was very sad on the afternoon of the day of her disappearance". According to Sara Silva, Leandro's sister, "was the birthday of my niece, but, despite being a feast day, she was distant. I asked her what was wrong and if she wanted to go home. Answered no. However, her mother came and said that "she was going home, because the uncle was there and they were going to the Cockle Festival".

STAINS

One of the issues that arises in this case is to know how it was possible for the PJ to come to the conclusion that there was a crime. Well, apart from the testimony of the alleged involved, laboratory technicians of scientific police discovered traces of blood stains in the house and have been examining DNA, which it is feared related to Joana. Also discovered are traces of blood on a mop.

www.cmjornal.xl.pt/nacional/portugal/detalhe/fiz-tudo-o-que-pude-pela-minha-joaninha.html

16
« Last Edit: October 24, 2016, 12:51:52 PM by John »
A malicious prosecution for a crime which never existed. An exposé of egregious malfeasance by public officials.
Indeed, the truth never changes with the passage of time.

Offline John

Re: Joana Cipriano - A sorry story of poverty and neglect.
« Reply #1 on: March 16, 2015, 06:27:19 PM »
Report dated Friday 1 October 2004.

Likes to sleep and forgets to eat

For almost three years Joana lived with his family in a casita located on the land of ‘Tó Gordo’ , a construction worker from Vale do Olival.  The stepfather worked as a bricklayer and formwork carpenter - "he could do a little bit of everything", recognizes the boss, the mother was supposed to take care of the chores in the house - "she was a bit sloppy and didn't care too much about her daughter," adds ‘Tó Gordo’ .



Happier times.  Joana pictured at her little sister's 1st birthday party with stepfather Leandro Silva.

As for Joana, she was a child alone and abandoned. "The girl was a bit helpless. A neighbour and myself used to give help" remembers.

‘Tó Gordo’ has no fond memories of Leonor Cipriano...  "She liked to sleep and forgot to feed the children," he says.  Still doesn't believe that she could kill her daughter. "She could give a slap. But killing has to be crazy".  In relation to her family he has his doubts.  "Do not put your hands into the fire for João Manuel".  In fact, ‘Tó Gordo’ accuses Leonor's family of living at the expense of her and her companion.  "Every other week one of them came to stay here.  Leandro walked to work for pimps", stresses. And the money that was left was insufficient to meet the most basic needs.

It was ‘Tó Gordo’ , along with another neighbor, who took care of Joana when she had pneumonia. And that bolstered the girl when her mother abandoned her. "For a while she (Leonor) was going around,"  he complained. But the episode that was most memorable was the painter baptism. "She came here with two friends, opened cans of paint and Joana began painting with friends with a paintbrush". It was perhaps one of the rare moments of happiness in the short life of Joana.

www.cmjornal.xl.pt/nacional/portugal/detalhe/gostava-de-dormir-e-esquecia-se-de-dar-de-comer.html
« Last Edit: January 13, 2016, 11:07:23 AM by Angelo222 »
A malicious prosecution for a crime which never existed. An exposé of egregious malfeasance by public officials.
Indeed, the truth never changes with the passage of time.

Offline Carana

Re: Joana Cipriano - A sorry story of poverty and neglect.
« Reply #2 on: January 12, 2016, 09:25:25 PM »
Quote from: Angelo222 on Today at 09:00:21 PM

    She was passed around like pass the parcel while her mother was off sleeping with other men.  Neighbours had to rear the girl at times, do keep up.  Leonor was a crap mother, end off!!


Let's have a reality check on that one.

- According to Joana's biological father *, Joana spent one weekend with him when she was a baby, because she was unable to look after her. It's not clear what the situation was.

- Joana spent a few weeks with an elderly couple (unidentified, but possibly Leonor's parents) because Leonor didn't want Joana to miss school while she was arranging for a new one.

Is that what you call being passed around like a parcel?

- Yes, we know that someone (possibly supermarket lady) took her to a clinic for a bad cough at some point and it's presumably the same person who took her to her new school when she'd got lost. As Leonor didn't take the stand, there's no way of knowing why she couldn't take her herself (aside from having babies at home).

- A social worker had been contacted for some unspecified reason and did make a house visit while Leonor was cooking lunch and the sum of that was to point out that children shouldn't eat too many crackers.

- Yes, she had been seen sweeping the house and helping to look after the babies on occasion (which she apparently enjoyed), just as she'd been seen out playing with other kids.

- A teacher found that she sometimes turned up inappropriately dressed for the weather.

Those are all the potentially negative points that I can find from the court testimonies, unless I've missed a detail.

On the other hand, none of the witnesses had ever seen Leonor mistreating her, slapping her, nor even raising her voice at her (and that includes Leandro and the other chap who lived there).

* Correction: Leonor wasn't married to Joana's father.
« Last Edit: January 14, 2016, 08:06:31 AM by Carana »

Offline Angelo222

Re: Joana Cipriano - A sorry story of poverty and neglect.
« Reply #3 on: January 12, 2016, 10:04:16 PM »
...none of the witnesses had ever seen Leonor mistreating her, slapping her, nor even raising her voice at her (and that includes Leandro and the other chap who lived there).

I never said there was a history of violence, just a history of neglect and abandonment.  After her disappearance there was also forensic evidence found in the form of sperm on her underwear indicating possible abuse.

The neglect goes back to when she was school age, during the period before her disapearance she had a more stable life I agree.

Davel really needs to read up on this case before spouting the rubbish he does.
« Last Edit: January 12, 2016, 10:22:48 PM by Angelo222 »
De troothe has the annoying habit of coming to the surface just when you least expect it!!

Je ne regrette rien!!

Offline Carana

Re: Joana Cipriano - A sorry story of poverty and neglect.
« Reply #4 on: January 12, 2016, 10:37:46 PM »
You also said this, Angelo:

She was passed around like pass the parcel while her mother was off sleeping with other men. Neighbours had to rear the girl at times as Leonor disappeared on her drunken binges for weeks on end. Joana's father is on record saying he was shocked at what the little girl had gone through, Leonor moved so much he had lost touch with them but had he known he would have taken the girl.

Leonor was a crap mother, end off!!



Joana's father testified in court, and what he said isn't quite the same as what may have appeared in the notoriously pro-PJ CdM pre-trial coverage.

According to Leandro, she hardly ever drank at all: the most would be an occasional little glass. I've no idea where the idea of drunken binges comes from. If that had been the case, I doubt that the prosecution would have missed the opportunity.

She did indeed have children by various men and the "in-law" extended families ended up looking after the older ones. At the same time, she was married at 18 and only had 3 years of schooling. How do you bring up one or more young children on your own in such conditions? What no one asked was why she left any of them, e.g., was there any history of domestic violence?

The point on which we appear to agree is that life became more settled when she and Leandro got together. A point on which we disagree is whether Leonor had mistreated Joana. It's possible, but I can't find anything reliable to substantiate it beyond the few potential points that I've already mentioned.

In a murder trial lasting only 20 hours with 45 witnesses to plough through, as well as the infamous "reconstruction"... I guess there's not much time to go through the finer details...


Offline Carana

Re: Joana Cipriano - A sorry story of poverty and neglect.
« Reply #5 on: January 12, 2016, 10:51:03 PM »
Some details in the pre-trial CdM coverage may be true or not... there's no way of knowing.

Some of it most definitely isn't true.

Just one example:

STAINS

One of the issues that arises in this case is to know how it was possible for the PJ to come to the conclusion that there was a crime. Well, apart from the testimony of the alleged involved, laboratory technicians of scientific police discovered traces of blood stains in the house and have been examining DNA, which belonged to Joana. Also discovered are traces of blood on a mop.


None of the blood specks (of human and animal origin) were found to have had Joana's DNA.

Offline Angelo222

Re: Joana Cipriano - A sorry story of poverty and neglect.
« Reply #6 on: January 12, 2016, 11:22:45 PM »
You also said this, Angelo:

She was passed around like pass the parcel while her mother was off sleeping with other men. Neighbours had to rear the girl at times as Leonor disappeared on her drunken binges for weeks on end. Joana's father is on record saying he was shocked at what the little girl had gone through, Leonor moved so much he had lost touch with them but had he known he would have taken the girl.

Leonor was a crap mother, end off!!



Joana's father testified in court, and what he said isn't quite the same as what may have appeared in the notoriously pro-PJ CdM pre-trial coverage.

According to Leandro, she hardly ever drank at all: the most would be an occasional little glass. I've no idea where the idea of drunken binges comes from. If that had been the case, I doubt that the prosecution would have missed the opportunity.

She did indeed have children by various men and the "in-law" extended families ended up looking after the older ones. At the same time, she was married at 18 and only had 3 years of schooling. How do you bring up one or more young children on your own in such conditions? What no one asked was why she left any of them, e.g., was there any history of domestic violence?

The point on which we appear to agree is that life became more settled when she and Leandro got together. A point on which we disagree is whether Leonor had mistreated Joana. It's possible, but I can't find anything reliable to substantiate it beyond the few potential points that I've already mentioned.

In a murder trial lasting only 20 hours with 45 witnesses to plough through, as well as the infamous "reconstruction"... I guess there's not much time to go through the finer details...

Carana, Joana's father is Paulo Guerreiro and not Leandro or Antonio Silva.
De troothe has the annoying habit of coming to the surface just when you least expect it!!

Je ne regrette rien!!

Offline Angelo222

Re: Joana Cipriano - A sorry story of poverty and neglect.
« Reply #7 on: January 12, 2016, 11:24:39 PM »
Some details in the pre-trial CdM coverage may be true or not... there's no way of knowing.

Some of it most definitely isn't true.

Just one example:

STAINS

One of the issues that arises in this case is to know how it was possible for the PJ to come to the conclusion that there was a crime. Well, apart from the testimony of the alleged involved, laboratory technicians of scientific police discovered traces of blood stains in the house and have been examining DNA, which belonged to Joana. Also discovered are traces of blood on a mop.


None of the blood specks (of human and animal origin) were found to have had Joana's DNA.

We are discussing the neglect on this thread and not the murder case.
De troothe has the annoying habit of coming to the surface just when you least expect it!!

Je ne regrette rien!!

Offline Carana

Re: Joana Cipriano - A sorry story of poverty and neglect.
« Reply #8 on: January 12, 2016, 11:52:43 PM »
We are discussing the neglect on this thread and not the murder case.

I agree, but incorrect details are in the pre-trial articles quoted in this thread.

stephen25000

  • Guest
Re: Joana Cipriano - A sorry story of poverty and neglect.
« Reply #9 on: January 13, 2016, 10:13:31 AM »
I agree, but incorrect details are in the pre-trial articles quoted in this thread.

What incorrect details Carana ?

Offline Angelo222

Re: Joana Cipriano - A sorry story of poverty and neglect.
« Reply #10 on: January 13, 2016, 10:29:31 AM »
I agree, but incorrect details are in the pre-trial articles quoted in this thread.

I have corrected the reference to Joana's DNA having been found since there is no published evidence of this, the rest of the articles appear correct unless there is something you disagree with?

The people who knew Joana, cared for her and taught her have spoken out regarding the terrible start the little girl had in life, are you calling hem all liars?  Is her real father a liar too because he also spoke out about the girls neglect?  The truth of the matter is that Leonor Cipriano was more interested in her own relationships than she was in the wellbeing of Joana.  It was only after she got involved with the Silva's that things settled down and went to live in a rented house in Figueira.

In your post above you reference comments by Leandro Silva but what you fail to point out is that the neglect occurred before this time.
« Last Edit: January 13, 2016, 11:13:34 AM by Angelo222 »
De troothe has the annoying habit of coming to the surface just when you least expect it!!

Je ne regrette rien!!

Offline Carana

Re: Joana Cipriano - A sorry story of poverty and neglect.
« Reply #11 on: January 13, 2016, 05:46:34 PM »
Angelo, you have made a number of assertions in this post.


She was passed around like pass the parcel while her mother was off sleeping with other men. Neighbours had to rear the girl at times as Leonor disappeared on her drunken binges for weeks on end. Joana's father is on record saying he was shocked at what the little girl had gone through, Leonor moved so much he had lost touch with them but had he known he would have taken the girl.

Leonor was a crap mother, end off!!


I'm still not sure what you're basing these assertions on.

Offline John

Re: Joana Cipriano - A sorry story of poverty and neglect.
« Reply #12 on: January 19, 2016, 01:42:25 AM »
Angelo, you have made a number of assertions in this post.


She was passed around like pass the parcel while her mother was off sleeping with other men. Neighbours had to rear the girl at times as Leonor disappeared on her drunken binges for weeks on end. Joana's father is on record saying he was shocked at what the little girl had gone through, Leonor moved so much he had lost touch with them but had he known he would have taken the girl.

Leonor was a crap mother, end off!!


I'm still not sure what you're basing these assertions on.

It is well documented what the poor little mite had to put up with in her early years.  There is no denying she was neglected and deprived of so much and in so many ways.  When Leonor took up with Leandro Silva things slowly improved for Joana until the day of the disappearance, coincidentally, the same day that uncle João moved into the house after falling out with his brother.  The stage was set and Joana paid the ultimate price!
« Last Edit: January 19, 2016, 01:50:06 AM by John »
A malicious prosecution for a crime which never existed. An exposé of egregious malfeasance by public officials.
Indeed, the truth never changes with the passage of time.

Offline Carana

Re: Joana Cipriano - A sorry story of poverty and neglect.
« Reply #13 on: January 20, 2016, 06:12:34 PM »
It is well documented what the poor little mite had to put up with in her early years.  There is no denying she was neglected and deprived of so much and in so many ways.  When Leonor took up with Leandro Silva things slowly improved for Joana until the day of the disappearance, coincidentally, the same day that uncle João moved into the house after falling out with his brother.  The stage was set and Joana paid the ultimate price!

A PT cartoon I saw the other day stated that there are two kinds of trial:

A Court of Justice - slow
The Court of Public Opinion - immediate

I've been through the numerous court witness testimonies and there is actually very little against her as a mother to Joana.

Why wasn't ‘Tó Gordo’ a star prosecution witness at the trial, for example?

There appears to have been a concerted tabloid effort to paint her in as negative light as possible prior to the trial, but I find it impossible to know what may be accurate or not.

Offline John

Re: Joana Cipriano - A sorry story of poverty and neglect.
« Reply #14 on: January 20, 2016, 10:04:06 PM »
A PT cartoon I saw the other day stated that there are two kinds of trial:

A Court of Justice - slow
The Court of Public Opinion - immediate

I've been through the numerous court witness testimonies and there is actually very little against her as a mother to Joana.

Why wasn't ‘Tó Gordo’ a star prosecution witness at the trial, for example?

There appears to have been a concerted tabloid effort to paint her in as negative light as possible prior to the trial, but I find it impossible to know what may be accurate or not.

So everyone who had to care for Joana over the years including social workers, teachers, neighbours and her own husband are liars?  Not to mention the time a neighbour had to take the poor mite to hospital when she contracted pneumonia, effectively abandoned by a mother who couldn't care less.

There was no need for ‘Tó Gordo’ to testify, Leonor was facing a murder charge, not a neglect charge.

« Last Edit: January 20, 2016, 10:09:24 PM by John »
A malicious prosecution for a crime which never existed. An exposé of egregious malfeasance by public officials.
Indeed, the truth never changes with the passage of time.