After losing her son, mother finds strength fighting child abuse
PORTLAND, Ore. – It seemed like the perfect life: A nice home, two new babies, two well-paying careers and all the love one household could contain.
That dream life was shattered in June 2011 when accomplished Portland musician Angie Foster returned home from teaching a piano lesson.
“There were police cars and an ambulance in front of my house,” Foster told KATU’s Thom Jensen. “All I could think is ‘I hope the boys are okay.’”
Angie had two infant boys at home, 11-week-old twins Bryan and Ethan. She soon learned from her husband, Kaliq Mansor, that Bryan was hurt.
The young boy wasn't breathing and he was being rushed to the hospital.
Bryan died the next day.
Doctors told Angie her baby boys were being abused. They both had broken ribs, and Bryan had been shaken so hard that his brain had started to liquefy.
Foster said nothing at the time made sense.
“I remember the doctors telling me both boys had been abused, and somebody needs to come forward. And I kept racking my brains. They can't be. Kaliq and I are the only ones that watch them,” she said. “There's no way.”
Foster and Mansor left their Southwest Portland home and stayed with friends for two weeks, but Foster soon began suspecting her husband was the abuser.
“For the first two weeks I wanted so desperately to believe him, because I loved him and I had never seen him do anything so extreme,” she said.
Foster said it became obvious Kaliq was guilty just as a Washington County grand jury met to consider whether it should recommend criminal charges against Mansor. Detectives confiscated Foster's and Mansor’s computers as part of their investigation.
That’s when Foster said she discovered there was damning information on her husband’s hard drive.
“One of the district attorneys started asking me, ‘have you heard of this website? Have you heard of this website? Dream Catchers For Abused Children? Have you ever heard of Father Hates Infant?’” she recounted. “He started telling me all of these terms. At first I looked confused, and then he told me these were all on Kaliq's computer, and I remember screaming and crying and saying ‘no! This can't! No!’ Then I think I actually almost fell on the ground because I didn't want to believe he was capable of this.”
Watch: Raw interview with Angie Foster
The next few months were almost too much to bear, Foster said. She said she couldn't get out of bed, eat, shower or even brush her teeth. Angie said it just didn't matter. Nothing mattered.
She eventually found strength as she tried to care for her surviving son Ethan and from friends who pulled her out of bed and made her take walks with them four days a week.
She has also found a new cause: fighting against child abuse along with her Portland attorney, Tara Lawrence.
“You never think it's going to happen to you. Not me. This happens to other people. It doesn't happen to people like me,” Foster said. “But the reality is it does. It happens to all walks of life.”
“Her family's case perfectly demonstrates the fact that child abuse knows no boundaries,” said Lawrence, a former Sherman County district attorney. “It does not fit into neat categories. It moves across all social and economic lines. There are no ethnic or cultural boundaries."
Nearly 600,000 children are abused every year in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 1,700 die from the abuse, like Bryan.
Foster says she hopes people will hear her story and pay attention to subtle details, trust suspicions and report possible abuse when they believe children are being harmed by the very people who are supposed to love and support them.
Kaliq Mansor was found guilty of murder and ten child abuse-related crimes. On Friday, he was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 27 years.
Child abuse resources:
CDC: Child abuse and neglect costs the U.S. $124 billion
If you know or suspect a child is being abused, call the National Child Abuse Hotline 24/7 at 1-800-4-A-CHILD or visit their website at childhelp.org.
Mr. Mansor and his entire family have no conscience. Even after Mr. Mansor's conviction, his family continues to act like he is the victim. In fact, they are aggressively fighting the mother in family law court. These idiots seem to think that Mr. Mansor will have so-called "parenting" rights with his surviving son. And that bringing his 19-month-old child to prison to visit his sperm donor is in his best interest. They also believe that the mother has no claim to the small amount of money that Mr. Mansor has left. She will never get child support from him and yet his brother and mother think that they and Mr. Mansor deserve his money instead of his surviving son. If he is killed in prison, no one but his immediate family will be sad.
I can't help it... I keep seeing her face at KATU.COM and thinking she looks like Dana Scully. She's hot. She shouldn't have a problem selecting a Fox Mulder to protect her as long as she makes sure she stays away from creeps, monsters and abusive nut cases. Maybe someday she'll even meet a real man, because she clearly hasn't yet.
There is a lot to this story that isn't being told. Trust me, this mother is NOT innocent.Â
@Kahzoo trust isn't earned by attacking somebody anonymously. Sorry,
@Kahzoo Clearly you are one of Kaliq Mansors family members who refuses to pull your head out of the sand and face facts...oh but, wait there was only 2 supporters for him in the courtroom during the whole trial so clearly you don't have the facts! I mean really?? The detectives, DA's, Judge and Jury must all be idiots if you are correct in you ignorant statement...hmm I think I will go with the fact that you are just in the dark...completely.
 @Kahzoo Well, you sound like you have the inside scoop. Try your reporting skills, and spill your guts.
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Angie, I'm amazed at your strength..it is great that you decided to share your story and yes, I bet it will help someone somewhere. I was very moved seeing you on the news. You should never have had such an awful thing befall you. I hope you'll sing again in the future. Blessings to you and yours.Â
Broke my heart to read this article...I have a 5 month old (3rd child), but I can never imagine how one person can harm a human being let alone a baby-their own flesh and blood! May baby Bryan (A pure Angel)Â RIP and may Ethan grow up to be strong and healthy. To the mom-continue to spread the word and educate the world.
It's just such a shame he wasn't caught looking up the websites that he did. It's so easy to pass of subtle signs as being something else, so I hope she isn't carrying undue guilt. This man is a monster, period. Her baby boy was beautiful, and I just hope she will be able to find peace at some point in her life.
Ugh! I just can't fathom how anyone could do ANYTHING like this to a human being, let alone a child. This really is just sickening. I see these stories, and it's hard to believe that we live in a society with people like this around. It's disheartening and sad. Right when you think we have grown something like this happens and you feel like you took 100 steps back.My thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the victim and the family. I hope she is getting help to deal with the obvious emotional aftermath that is going to come with loosing a child let alone loosing a child to a brutal murder by someone she once loved. I hope she finds enough piece in her life so that she can begin the healing process which I have a feeling music will play a huge part in her healing once she is able to get grounded.Prayers are with family and friends at this time.
I feel bad for her and finding out her husband was injuring their children. Â However, child abuse will never end until someone holds the abusers accountable. Many children go on being abuse simply because CPS won't investigate when a call is made. I know because I tried to report something last week and CPS told me, it wasn't something that caused them extreme concern even if it was slightly neglectful of the parent's to do so.
 @Jennifer Havens What sort of "slightly neglectful" behavior did you report?
 @badcat The fact that the child had a injured arm for almost eight weeks and the parents refused to take her to the doctor because if they did, they couldn't afford money for the camp store at church camp for her.
Can't imagine what she went through when the person she thought she knew turned out to be a monster. I'm glad to hear you are finally getting back on your feet Ms. Foster. Prayers and best wishes to you.
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As for Mr. Mansewer, may you rot in prison for the rest of your life.