‘I was robbed of a childhood,’ victim says as adoptive mom gets prison

A former Clark County School District employee was sentenced to prison Wednesday for abusing her two adopted children, who prosecutors said were locked inside a North Las Vegas home and neglected.

Addy Gonzales was arrested in November 2022 with her boyfriend, Daniel Omezcua, and her mother, Maria Pasarin. They were arrested after police found a teen girl being held inside a bedroom in Gonzales’ home, and investigators later determined that the girl’s brother had suffered similar abuse, prosecutors said.

The children were Gonzales’ family members who were in the foster system, and lived with Gonzales for several years before she adopted them, Chief Deputy District Attorney Dena Rinetti said Wednesday. The teenage girl was 10 years old when she was adopted.

The victim, now 20, testified about the abuse during a sentencing hearing on Wednesday.

“From the age of 10 until I turned 18, my life became a nightmare,” she told the judge.

She said that Gonzales hit her “almost daily,” and that she often withheld food from her as a punishment. Her and her brother were frequently locked in separate rooms in the house with sparse furniture, prosecutors argued, and were made to use a bucket as a makeshift toilet.

Gonzales’ attorney, John Turco, asked for his client to be sentenced to probation during Wednesday’s sentencing hearing. He argued that although Gonzales displayed “poor judgment,” the case involved differing views on parenting. Turco said the children were not confined to the rooms all of the time, and could come and go for activities such as school work and chores.

Between nine and 24 years

But District Judge Joe Hardy followed the sentence recommended by prosecutors, and ordered Gonzales to spend between nine and 24 years in prison. She was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs at the end of the hearing.

Gonzales had pleaded guilty in August to four counts of child abuse, neglect or endangerment. Pasarin pleaded guilty to two child abuse charges, and Omezcua pleaded guilty to a single count, court records show.

The judge sentenced both Pasarin and Omezcua to probation. Rinetti argued that both knew the children were locked inside rooms in the house and did not prevent the abuse.

Rinetti said Gonzales deserved prison time despite her lack of a criminal history, due to the seriousness of the charges.

“It’s a case that shocks the conscience,” Rinetti said.

A neighbor called police on Nov. 4, 2022, after finding the teenage girl in the neighbor’s yard, drinking from a hose. She asked to borrow a ladder from the neighbor to climb back into a second-floor bedroom. Police who arrived at the home found her in a room containing one sheet and two empty dressers, and the teenager said she felt like a prisoner and had been locked inside the room for a year, according to an arrest report.

Gonzales had worked for the Clark County School District since 2005 and was employed as a family learning advocate when she was arrested. She was placed on unpaid leave after her arrest and last reported for work in November 2022 before resigning in September, a spokesperson for the school district said Wednesday.

Gonzales did not apologize when she spoke to the judge during her sentencing hearing. She admitted to being a “strict” parent, especially when it came to school, and said “only God knows what happened” inside the home.

“I’m not a perfect parent, your honor, I did what I could for them — I gave them a roof, I gave them food,” Gonzales said, also adding that she took her children to church regularly.

‘Survival mode’ after childhood abuse

Gonzales’ adoptive daughter told the judge that she was controlling, especially when it came to food and cleaning the house.

She also said that Pasarin, her grandmother, would sneak her and her brother food, and would occasionally let them out of their rooms.

“Looking back, I know my grandma was part of the reason we survived,” she said.

Pasarin appeared in court on Wednesday sitting in a wheelchair, listening to a Spanish interpreter.

“I love those children very much ... and if I did something wrong with them, please forgive me, but I always treated them good,” Pasarin said through the interpreter.

Omezcua’s attorney argued that he was rarely home because he was frequently working long shifts. Omezcua gave a brief statement to the judge and asked for “mercy” during the sentencing.

Gonzales’ adoptive son was not present at the hearing. Her adoptive daughter said she still feels like she is in “survival mode” after spending a significant portion of her childhood locked in a room or cleaning Gonzales’ house.

“I feel like I was robbed of a childhood, and now I’m being thrown into adulthood without the tools I need to survive,” she said.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240.