Miami-Dade County, Fla. – The trial of the man accused in one of South Florida’s most horrific child abuse cases has stretched over 13 years.
Police found Nubia Barahona dead in the truck of her adoptive father, Jorge Barahona, then 53, on the side of the road on Interstate 95 in Palm Beach County in February of 2011.
Investigators said Nubia’s twin brother, Victor Barahona, was found convulsing from chemicals inside the truck, while Nubia was pronounced dead and wrapped up in plastic in the back of it.
Gail Levine, the case’s original prosecutor, who is now retired, says she remembers the vivid detail of bondage and torture in Barahona’s home and the then-court-appointed guardian who first raised red flags about the well-being of twins Nubia and Victor with the couple that first fostered then adopted them.
“Jorge Barahona is the worst of the worst,” she said. “Due to judges’ calendars, due to the defense, and the attorney’s decision to go to trial on other cases, Jorge Barahona’s case took a backseat.”
Investigators say the twins, Nubia and Victor, who were 10 years old at the time, were starved and locked in the bathroom inside their west Miami-Dade home for long periods of time and were also physically abused and tortured.
“When I would try to come and do my visits with them, there were times they wouldn’t let me in the house,” said Paul Neumann, the court-appointed guardian.
Police said the house was a torture chamber, especially for Nubia who was allegedly beaten and starved.
Thirteen years later, Carmen Barahona, the mother of the twins, has taken a plea in return for testifying against her husband in his death penalty trial, a case that is still nowhere near trial.
Judges and attorneys have changed for years as Jorge Barahona continues to ask for postponements.
“It makes no sense,” said Neumann. “Everyone I talk to can’t believe it’s still going on.”
Tuesday’s court hearing about whether Jorge Barahona is competent to stand trial was again reset. He faces the death penalty if convicted.
“Just because now he says he’s sorry that he mutilated and tortured two children, doesn’t mean he gets to be sorry and take a lesser plea,” said Levine.