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Foster Mom Upset CPS Moved Child To Stockton Man Now Accused Of Putting Her In Coma

STOCKTON (CBS13) — A foster mom is angry and upset that the infant she spent months caring for is now in the hospital, and another foster parent is accused of child abuse.

Rhonda Steward has been a foster mom for a number of children, but despite the number of kids she's cared for, a baby named Princess was different.

"She was so attached to me," she said. "I had her since she was 3 weeks old."

She says she is sure Princess is the baby we've heard about that's in a coma after Stockton Police say she was beaten by her new foster dad, Paul Teldeschi.

"It's a miserable feeling that I can't explain," she said. "It's just like losing your child."

While incredibly depressed, she says she's also incredibly angry at both Teldeschi and San Joaquin Child Protective Services.

She says a new social worker took over Princess' case, and almost immediately said she was moving Princess to a new home.

"It was like very weird to be like—how this social worker could just come in and say you know what, I found another family, so fast," Rhonda said.

She says within a week, the baby was brought to the Taldeschi home in Stockton. CPS told Rhonda that Taldeschi had plans to adopt the baby.

"He just looked pretty weird to me," she said. "He didn't talk, he didn't speak, he nothing like that. So I already had a bad vibe and I just didn't know what to do."

CBS13 reached out to CPS for answers after the arrest as to what background checks or monitoring was being done of Taldeschi. We received no comment.

Meanwhile, Rhonda wants justice for a baby not treated like the princess she is.

"I don't feel like she deserved nothing like this," Rhonda said. "I really feel like it was CPS responsibility to make sure she was okay, and I feel like they let us down on that part."

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