A woman was taken into custody on Wednesday after the Miami Police Department’s human trafficking task force received information that she had allegedly trafficked one of her three children at a North Miami park.
“This is horrific based on what I have read here,” Miami Circuit Judge Mindy Glazer stated in court on Thursday. “It’s horrible.”
Beverly Barton, 45, is accused of child neglect and presenting false information to police, according to an arrest record.
Police said they questioned Barton after discovering that three of her children, aged 8 to 14, seemed to be “unbathed, had a foul odor, and were wearing dirty clothes.“
At the time, detectives claimed Barton provided police with a false identity and identified herself as “Evelyn Martin.”
She also informed officers that her children were enrolled in Miami-Dade Public Schools’ virtual program. However, authorities discovered that there was no record of the children attending any school.
According to her arrest record, she also provided detectives with the incorrect gender of her children when speaking with police.
“The two she described as boys are really girls,” Glazer explained. “They do not attend school and have never done so. Why aren’t there three counts of child neglect?
The eldest child, a 14-year-old girl, told authorities that she had been sexually raped several times. According to the report, one of these episodes involved the girl’s mother (Barton) as the alleged suspect.
The story also claims that Barton previously left the teen alone while she went to buy booze, something she disputed in court.
According to jail records, this is not Barton’s first appearance in court on charges of child neglect.
“I see she had a prior conviction for child neglect Back in 2002,” Glazer stated.
It was also revealed in court that the Florida Department of Children and Families had previously removed six children from her care.
As of Thursday, Barton was still in Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $5,500 bond.
Glazer also instructed Barton to keep away from her three children.