The nanny of the autistic eight-year-old boy who died of hypothermia after he was beaten and left out in a garage overnight by his ‘abusive’ NYPD cop father last month, says the child was verbally and physically abused.
Nanny Amanda Wildman used to babysit the children of 15-year veteran police officer Michael Valva, 40, who lived with his fiancée Angelina Pollina, 42, in Long Island.
Valva had three sons from a previous marriage and Pollina had three daughters and they tried to present themselves as a happy family like The Brady Bunch, Wildman claims.
On Friday Valva and Pollina were charged with second-degree murder for the death of Valva’s son Thomas who died on January 17 after he was allegedly starved, beaten and locked outside the home in freezing temperatures.
Wildman worked for the Valva family from 2017 to 2018 and reveals in a Dr. Oz show interview to air Wednesday that she saw the boys in the family were subject to intense verbal abuse and brainwashed to hate their biological mom.
Amanda Wildman, who was a nanny for Thomas Valva and his siblings in 2017 to 2018, claimed she saw verbal and physical abuse in the Valva household in long Island
‘They were, you know everybody says more the boys than the girls, but they were all verbally abusive. They all got verbally abused,’ Wildman tells Dr. Oz in an interview to air Wednesday. She claims on one occasion she saw bite marks on Thomas
‘What were you observing in your time with Thomas and the rest of the children that was alarming to you?’ Oz asks in an exclusive clip shared with DailyMail.com.
‘They were, you know everybody says more the boys than the girls, but they were all verbally abusive. They all got verbally abused,’ she said.
She claims Pollina was the big abuser in the home who punished the kids for little things like not finishing their food. The kids would be told to sit on the couch and remain there, even if they had to use the restroom.
‘If they didn’t finish their food or they got caught throwing out their food, they got in trouble and they were told to go sit on the couch and they weren’t allowed to get up until she said,’ Wildman said.
‘She told them, “I don’t care if you have to go to the bathroom, you’re to remain on that couch until said otherwise.”‘
When asked if she ever saw the kids injured, Wildman said: ‘I did.’
She revealed the boys were brainwashed to hate their biological mother Justyna Zubko-Valva and blame her for any abuse they suffered.
‘I witnessed Thomas telling me a story saying that Justyna’s grandfather had bitten him. I’d seen the bite mark and now that I look back to the videos and everything that everybody’s posting, you see it – You could hear Mike in the car chanting, “We love daddy. We love Angela.” Ya know, “We hate mommy.”‘
‘So it’s like whatever was beaten into their head was beaten so bad that they were telling me like graphic stories. And I met Justyna. She’s a wonderful lady like. It’s so- I wish we could have connected before all of this happened. I wish somehow I knew she was fighting,’ she said.
Last month eight-year-old autistic boy Thomas Valva died of hypothermia after his parents forced him to sleep in a garage in freeing temperatures overnight
His father NYPD cop Michael Valva, 40, and his fiancée Angelina Pollina face second-degree murder charges for Thomas’ death. They lived together with their kids in Long Island
Wildman warned the public not to trust Pollina, who has portrayed her husband as the big abuser in the family, though she is also under investigation for abuse.
‘When I was there it was almost the opposite….And you know it’s funny because she’s trying to portray herself as like this victim of Mike. Meanwhile, she was the runner of it all,’ Wildman explained.
‘Like anything she said to do, Mike followed in her footsteps,’ Wildman added.
Now Pollina and Valva face second-degree murder charges for the death of their son Thomas, ‘because they engaged in conduct which created a grave risk of death to this child,’ Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart told reporters during a press conference.
They forced the child to sleep in the garage in frigid 19-degree weather, investigators said.
Valva called police on the morning of January 17 claiming that his son fell in the driveway while waiting for the school bus, hit his head, and became unconscious.
When cops arrived the boy’s body temperature was just 76 degrees. He was was transported to a hospital and declared dead.
Valva and Pollina lived together with their combined six kids. Thomas, a six year old boy, a 10 year old boy, 11-year-old girl twins and an eight-year-old daughter, authorities say.
All five of those kids have been placed in the custody of Child Protective Services.
Hart said investigators believe Thomas and his 10-year-old brother were subjected to severe punishment including ‘food deprivation and exposure to extremely frigid temperatures.’
Valva had three sons from a previous marriage and Pollina had three daughters and they tried to present themselves as a happy family like The Brady Bunch, Wildman claims
Matthew Valva’s Center Moriches, Long Island home pictured above
‘We are still investigating the extent of the abuse and if it extended to all of the children,’ Hart said.
At the time of Thomas’ death he and his brothers were living with their father after he gained custody of the kids in 2017 following a heated battle in court.
Wildman said she knew that Child Protective Services were involved with the family. Valva told her it was because their mother was abusive.
Justyna Zubko-Valva, Thomas’ biological mother, repeatedly fought for custody of the three boys and warned that Valva was abusive
In the months leading up to Thomas’ death, 17 calls were made to a child abuse hotline about the boys, records obtained by the New York Post reveal.
Thomas’ worried teachers had called a state abuse hotline about 20 times reporting that that he and his 10-year-old brother Anthony arrived to school hungry, and bore signs of physical abuse. In one instance the boys brought urine-soaked backpacks to school.
Child Protective Services visited Valva’s home three times from 2018 to 2019.
Valva has been suspended from the police force in light of the allegations and charges and an investigation into the abuse is underway in Suffolk County.