Court gave child custody to Weston despite her past

Vicky Weston said Saturday that she and her sister, convicted murderer Linda Ann Weston, went before a Family Court judge several times in 2003 and 2004 to decide custody of Vicky's young daughter, Beatrice.

At the time, Vicky Weston was recovering from a head injury. Another relative was watching Beatrice but was not sending her to school, Vicky Weston said.

Despite Linda Weston's past - she was convicted in 1984 of starving a man to death and served about four years in prison - Vicky Weston trusted her sister to take care of Beatrice.

"She was watching my other kids and she was bringing them back normal," she said.

The judge granted Linda Weston partial custody of Beatrice, and Vicky Weston said she was granted regular visits.

Beatrice Weston vanished soon after and was not seen for years. She ended up a member of Linda Weston's caravan of victims, police said, a group that moved around the country and was freed last week when authorities learned Weston was keeping four mentally disabled adults locked in a basement in the city's Tacony section.

Police found Beatrice Weston, 19, in Frankford last week. Investigators said she was malnourished and bore scars from burns, beatings, and other torture.

When Vicky and Linda Weston first went to Family Court in 2003, Vicky said, her sister's murder conviction was not mentioned.

"They must not have looked at her record," she said. "All they had to do was look it up on the computer and she would not have gotten the child."

Legal experts say anyone seeking child custody is supposed to undergo a background check by the Department of Human Services, including a criminal-background check. DHS presents that information to Family Court judges.

DHS spokeswoman Alicia Taylor said the department was restricted by law from discussing the situation.

Frank Keel, a spokesman for Family Court, would not discuss the case.

"It's important to remember that all Family Court judges are only as good as the information they're provided by DHS," he said.

Linda Weston, 51, was arrested last week on charges of kidnapping. Police said that she and two accomplices stole Social Security checks from the captives in the basement and that there may be more victims.

After Linda Weston was awarded partial custody of Beatrice, Vicky Weston said, her sister wouldn't allow her to visit the child. At a final Family Court hearing in 2004, Vicky Weston said, she told the judge about her sister's murder conviction in an effort to get her daughter back. The judge, she said, told her Linda Weston's children would be removed if she was a murderer. Vicky Weston said she didn't recall the judge's name.

Soon after, she said, a DHS caseworker visited her home and told her Beatrice was doing well. After Linda Weston disappeared, Vicky Weston said she called the District Attorney's Office but was told the case was closed. In 2009, she called police to a house near Frankford where Linda Weston was living. Linda Weston told her sister then that she didn't know where Beatrice was.

Last week, Vicky and Beatrice Weston were reunited in the hospital where Beatrice is recovering. Vicky Weston said she wished she could have helped her daughter.

"No one listened to what I said. I tried to tell them, but they all said they couldn't help me - that they couldn't do nothing for me."