Convicted Marin Child Abuser Paroled To Southern California
OXNARD, Ventura County (BCN) -- A Marin County man who was convicted of neglecting and abusing his 12 children, one of whom starved to death, was released in Oxnard Monday on supervised parole.
Winnfred Wright was an inmate at the Golden State Modified Community Correctional Facility in Kern County and was released to the Oxnard Parole Unit in Ventura County, a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation employee said.
Another employee with the CDCR's Oxnard Parole Unit confirmed Wright would be supervised there.
Marin County District Attorney Ed Berberian said he could not confirm where Wright was paroled, but said he understands that Oxnard is where Wright will be under supervision.
Berberian said it is "appropriate" Wright was paroled far from Marin County and the Bay Area because Wright's minor children are still living here.
Wright was sentenced in March 2003 to 16 years and eight months in prison after he pleaded guilty to six counts of child abuse, Berberian said.
Berberian said the victims were Wright's 12 children between 19 months and 17 years old, whom he fathered with three female codefendants. The clan, known as "The Family," lived in Marinwood.
Wright's 19-month-old son Ndigo Campisi-Nyah-Wright died of starvation in November 2001.
Wright and the boy's mother, Mary Campbell, initially pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, manslaughter and child neglect.
Campbell also pleaded guilty to child endangerment that ended in death and three other child neglect charges. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Berberian said the Marin County District Attorney's Office learned last week that Wright might be released on unsupervised, "non-revocable" parole, and that the CDCR could not force Wright to attend a batterer's program or prohibit him from contacting the victims.
He said he spoke to the cabinet secretary for the CDCR and asked to have the terms of parole altered.
Berberian learned Tuesday afternoon that the terms of Wright's release had been modified, and that Wright will, in fact, be supervised and will be barred from contacting his children who are still minors.
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