Report: Anonymous Ind. hotline caller pleaded 20 minutes for abuse check before boy’s death

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — An anonymous caller to Indiana’s child abuse hotline pleaded for 20 minutes for someone to check on conditions in a South Bend home six months before a boy living there was tortured to death, a newspaper reports.

The South Bend Tribune posted the story online (http://bit.ly/wEQaqe ) Monday, after the Court of Appeals dismissed an attempt by the Department of Child Services to block the story’s publication. The caller last May told the person answering the phone at the hotline about another child’s injuries that day. The caller said the injuries left the boy limping and bleeding in his abdomen.

“Please go tonight. Please go,” the caller says. “I’m not saying this just to be saying this. Please go. Something got to be done. ... If they go there right now, they’ll see how them kids is beat, if they go there right now, because I don’t want it to get on the news and the boy died and then everybody come forward and they gonna say, ‘Well, why did nobody come forward from before?’”

Ten-year-old Tramelle Sturgis was found beaten to death in the house on Nov. 4, months after the May 27 hotline call.

His father, Terry Sturgis, is charged with murder, eight felony counts of battery and one misdemeanor count of battery, two counts of neglect, and two counts of confinement. He contends he was insane.

The Tribune reported a DCS spokeswoman did not respond to the newspaper’s requests to clarify policies on when the agency decides to investigate a call immediately and how urgent hotline calls are communicated to local offices. John Ryan, the agency’s chief of staff, declined comment to The Associated Press on Monday, saying he didn’t know enough about the policies or the case.

The Tribune reported that DCS documents it obtained under the state’s public records law indicate the call center contacted a family case manager the night of the call. The records do not indicate whether any action was taken then.

According to South Bend Police spokesman Capt. Phil Trent, police took a report from an anonymous caller just after midnight. Police records show two officers went to the house, having been told only that 10 children were possibly being abused. Trent said officers went to the home and everything appeared fine. He said unless police have more details to provide probable cause, they cannot enter a house after midnight, pull children aside and ask to look under their shirts for injuries. If an officer saw an injury or blood on a shirt, he would have probable cause.

“If you suspect that (abuse), you can seize the child, but you’d better be able to articulate why you did that,” he said.

The caller to the DCS hotline told the DCS worker the children would likely have marks.

“All you got to do is just raise them shirts up,” the caller replies with concern. “And I think them kids would tell it because them kids so scared.”

The caller said that the week before, some of the children were beaten so badly that their visible injuries kept them from being sent to school.

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller said he asked the state Court of Appeals to dismiss DCS’ attempt to block the South Bend Tribune from publishing a story because prior restraint of the news media is inconsistent with the First Amendment. Ryan, who is with the DCS, said the agency was concerned the media would publish information that would identify the caller.

Source http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/report-anonymous-ind-hotline-caller-pleaded-20-minutes-for-abuse-check-before-boys-death/2012/03/12/gIQAtf847R_story.html

Story on DCS hotline call is blocked - Indiana

Newspaper had posted information based on report that children were abused

The Indiana Court of Appeals approved an emergency request Friday from the Department of Child Services that prevents the South Bend Tribune from publishing a story based on the recording of a call made last year to the state's child abuse hotline.

On Tuesday, a St. Joseph County judge ordered DCS to release a copy of the May call to the hotline alleging 10 children were being abused in a South Bend home.

The Tribune briefly posted a story on its website based on the tape, along with audio clips from the 20-minute call. Both were removed after the appeals court ordered a stay of the local court order late Friday afternoon.

The Court of Appeals also set a hearing on the matter for Monday.

"We were very, very disappointed," said Tribune Executive Editor Tim Harmon. "The material that we received after the juvenile court judge's order is clearly something the public needs to know about. It is something we have reported about in the past and will continue to report about."

Harmon said the newspaper planned to use material from the call "very responsibly," and the story that was briefly posted did not include the caller's name or gender. It also did not use the names of the children involved.

One of those children was 10-year-old Tramelle Sturgis, who was fatally beaten about six months later. His father, Terry Sturgis, is charged with murder in the boy's death.

DCS already has released paper copies of the Sturgis family's files. Those records included information detailing allegations made in the May call to the hotline. They also reveal that a DCS worker did not make contact with the family until four days after that call.

A few weeks later, the worker ruled the allegation of abuse was unfounded.

However, the circumstances of Tramelle's killing -- he was beaten to death with a wooden club -- closely matched details of the abuse allegation in the hotline call.

Ann Houseworth, DCS spokeswoman, said she was unable to discuss details of pending litigation but did issue a brief written statement.

"The child protection process by statute begins with the call to the hotline -- 1-800-800-5556," Houseworth said.

"The statute requires and callers expect confidentiality when those calls are made. Disclosure of the identification of a caller will have a chilling effect on the willingness of people to call in and report abuse and neglect. Children will be in harm's way if the identity of the caller is disclosed. We will aggressively defend the statute and the confidentiality of those who care about children by calling in to report abuse and neglect."

The fight comes just one day after lawmakers gave final approval to Senate Bill 286. Included in the legislation addressing a number of DCS policy issues is a provision making recordings of calls to the hotline confidential unless a judge orders the information to be released.

Gov. Mitch Daniels could sign or veto the bill. The governor's spokeswoman, Jane Jankowski, said Daniels had no comment on the legal dispute.

DCS Director James Payne repeatedly has pledged that the agency would be open and transparent.

But one critic of the agency, Dawn Robertson of the family-rights group HonkForKids.com, says that has not been her experience.

"I've heard Director Payne say over and over how DCS would be open and transparent," she said. "In the years since, families we have worked with have repeatedly run into hurdles just getting their own records.

"So why would you think DCS was going to allow more access to information that would help the public determine whether or not the agency's actions are correct or appropriate?"

Source http://www.indystar.com/article/20120310/LOCAL/203100318/Story-DCS-hotline-call-blocked?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CNews

Foster mother gets life for torture, murder - California

MARTINEZ, Calif. -- A judge Friday morning sentenced Antioch woman Shemeeka Davis to life in prison for torturing and abusing her two foster children and for murdering one of them.

Shemeeka Davis, 41, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the torture and murder of 15-year-old Jazzmin Davis and to life in prison with the possibility of parole for the torture of her twin brother, who survived years of abuse.

Davis, the aunt of Jazzmin and her brother, wept loudly throughout today's hearing and as the sentence was handed down.

"I'd like to say that I'm very sorry," she said between sobs. "This was never my intention ... and I wish I could change everything."

On Sept. 2, 2008, Jazzmin's naked, gaunt and scarred body was found on the floor inside the Antioch home where for years, the only mother she had known abused her and her brother.

Police said that when she died, the teen was 5 foot 7 feet tall and weighed about 78 pounds.

A coroner's report found that she died from a combination of repeated physical abuse and malnutrition, Deputy District Attorney Satish Jallepalli said.

Jazzmin's twin brother was also found to be scarred and severely malnourished, but survived and testified during Davis' trial last summer.

At the end of the trial last June, a jury convicted Davis of first-degree murder, torture and felony child abuse charges and found her legally sane at the time she committed the crimes, despite her dual plea of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity.

Defense attorney Betty Barker argued throughout the trial that Davis suffers from severe mental illnesses, including psychotic delusions, which prevented her from forming the intent to torture the twins.

Jallepalli agreed that Davis is mentally ill, but argued that she chose to keep hurting the children and covered up the abuse because she knew it was wrong -- skipping the twins' doctor's appointments and keeping them home from school.

She had taken custody of the twins - who were born to a crack-addicted mother - shortly after they were born, raising them in addition to her three biological children.

A week before Jazzmin died, Davis was granted legal guardianship of the twins.

But Jallepalli said during Davis' trial that there was a clear difference in how she treated her niece and nephew.

The twins were not allowed to eat with her biological children and were not given the same food, if any at all, he said.

Davis would also lock the pair in a closet for long periods of time, forcing them to urinate and defecate on the floor.

When the twins were about 9 years old, Davis began beating them with belts.

Jallepalli said during the trial that over the years, Davis used electrical cords, a wooden rod and a belt with an attached padlock to beat the children and sometimes burned them with an iron.

As the beatings escalated, Davis stopped taking her nephew to doctor appointments to be treated for sickle cell anemia. In the year before Jazzmin's death, she also kept the teen home from school and even kept her from leaving the house, Jallepalli said.

Social workers who monitored the twins' care throughout their lives never noticed or reported the abuse, attorneys said.

The San Francisco Human Services Agency, which was in charge of overseeing the twins' care, agreed last year to a $4 million settlement with Jazzmin's brother.

The Antioch Unified School District agreed to settle with the teen for $750,000 and has implemented changes to its attendance policy.

Before handing down the sentence in Contra Costa County Superior Court today, Judge Susanne Fenstermache heard emotional statements from several of Davis' family members, who requested leniency.

"I've known her all my life, and I know that she's not a monster ... we will continue to pray for her and support her," said one man, Davis' cousin.

Jallepalli read two letters from other family members of the twins addressed to the court, including an aunt who wrote, "I can't begin to imagine how my niece felt during that last attack ... please have no mercy for sentencing."

The prosecutor also read entries from Jazzmin's journal in the months leading up to her death in which she wrote how much she loved her foster mother and wanted to make her happy.

In a later entry, Jazzmin described being "in big trouble" for failing to clean the bathroom.

"I'm going to lose all my privileges and end up in the same position I started in ... I'm so confused ... someone help," she wrote. Before handing down the sentence, the judge told Davis that she didn't consider her a monster.

"This is a sad day for everyone," Fenstermache said. "I know you wish you could undo this ... but it's been done."

Davis will be 69 years old when she becomes eligible for parole, attorneys said.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/east_bay&id=8493857

Mother’s care was spotty, case manager says in murder trial

Blog authors note:
CPS really failed this little child but of course, they are not on trial for murder as is the mother. CPS should be just as accountable as the mother and charged with murder beause CPS aided and abetted the death by not doing their job!
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WINFIELD, W.Va. -- A case manager with Child Protective Services relied on the mother of a 3-year-old girl with cystic fibrosis to say whether the child consistently received medication and went to doctors' appointments, a Putnam County jury heard Tuesday.

Testimony continued Tuesday during the trial of Tracy Wright, 28, of Hurricane, who is accused of neglecting the medical condition of her daughter, Ashley, which allegedly resulted in her death.

Wright is charged with murder of a child by a parent, guardian or custodian by refusal or failure to supply necessities and child neglect resulting in death.

Jurors heard about two hours of testimony Tuesday from Gail Noullette, a case manager with the state Department of Health and Human Resources. Noullette relied on Wright to know whether Ashley had received her prescribed medications and attended doctors' appointments, she said.

Wright had told her in April that she was "giving [medicine] to Ashley here and there," but "wasn't being consistent," Noullette said.

Noullette said based on what Wright was telling her -- and Ashley's condition -- there wasn't imminent danger and therefore the child wasn't removed from Wright's care.

In September 2010, when Noullette spoke to Ashley's cystic fibrosis doctor, she said he informed her that Wright hadn't been giving her daughter proper medical treatment, and that Ashley's prescriptions hadn't been filled in the past nine months.

Assistant prosecutor Steve Connolly said Ashley was supposed to receive the medication four times a day, and that in September 2010 she had had only 60 pills since May.

"That would be two weeks' worth over the course of 4 1/2 months," Connolly said.

On Nov. 17, 2010, Noullette said, Ashley visited the cystic fibrosis clinic for the first time since February, and that her doctor said her condition was deteriorating.

A day later, Noullette said, she filed a nonemergency petition with the court.

"We had to do something because she wasn't making progress," Noullette said.

Wright's attorney, David Moye, questioned why Noullette didn't take action sooner if they knew that Ashley wasn't getting her medicine as far back as March.

Through numerous reports written by Noullette, Moye tried to exhibit a pattern showing that officials knew Ashley wasn't getting her medication as prescribed.

Click here for the rest of the story http://wvgazette.com/News/201110180149

Oregon - Girl’s death spurs lawsuit

The state Department of Human Services faces a $1.5 million case over the abuse suffered by Jeanette Maples

By Karen McCowan

The Register-Guard

Oregon’s child protective services agency faces a $1.5 million lawsuit for failing to prevent the 2009 starvation, torture and beating death of north Eugene teenager Jeanette Maples.

Portland attorney David Paul mailed the wrongful death complaint Monday to Lane County Circuit Court. The court clerk had not received or filed the lawsuit Tuesday afternoon, but Paul’s legal assistant provided a copy to The Register-Guard. Paul has successfully represented children injured in state foster care, including a record-breaking $2 million settlement for twins injured by poor foster care.

The suit on behalf of Jeanette’s estate targets the state Department of Human Services, which is responsible for investigating reports of child abuse and neglect. The complaint accuses the agency of failing to reasonably respond to multiple reports over four years that Jeanette was being abused. It called the state’s inaction “a substantial factor” in her death at age 15.

Jeanette’s mother, Angela McAnulty, is on Oregon’s death row after pleading guilty in February to the aggravated murder of her daughter. The dead teen’s stepfather, Richard McAnulty, is serving a life sentence after pleading guilty to murder by abuse. He denied inflicting harm, but admitted failing to protect Jeanette from her mother or to report her injuries and starvation to authorities.

“Jeanette Maples’ death could have been prevented if the State of Oregon exercised reasonable care in responding to reports that Jeanette Maples was being abused,” the suit charges. It alleges that state workers failed to “investigate and heed” allegations of abuse from reliable sources beginning in 2006, four years before Jeanette died. It also accuses the agency of failing to consider Angela McAnulty’s documented history of child abuse in California before moving to Oregon.

The suit also faults the agency for failing to adequately assess Jeanette’s “vulnerability to abuse.” It says workers wrongfully concluded that Jeanette “could fend for herself as a young teenager” despite “a history of abuse and neglect by the adult parents in her home.”

Those charges echoed the January 2010 findings of an internal Department of Human Services critical incident team.

The suit says state “negligence” was a substantial factor in Jeanette’s “suffering, humiliation, pain, fear, anguish, and torture” and ultimately in her violent death. As a result, she suffered “severe hunger, starvation, anemia, dehydration, alienation of affection, distress and a lack of the enjoyment of her short life, to her non-economic damage in the amount of $500,000.”

Siblings not considered heirs

The Oregon Attorney General’s Office, which will defend the Department of Human Services in the case, declined comment on the suit Tuesday.

“It is the policy of the Department of Justice not to comment on pending litigation,” spokesman Tony Green said.

The bulk of the lawsuit’s damages would go to Jeanette’s father, Anthony Maples, of California. The suit seeks $1 million in noneconomic damages for his loss of Jeanette’s “society, love and companionship.” As her “lone qualified heir” under Oregon law, Anthony Maples would also receive $500,000 the suit seeks as the value of the estate his daughter would probably have accumulated in her lifetime if not for her wrongful death.

The suit seeks an additional $7,000 to cover the teen’s burial and related expenses.

Anthony Maples could not be reached for comment Tuesday. He told The Register-Guard shortly after Jeanette’s death that he had not been in touch with his daughter for nearly a decade. According to his unsuccessful February 2010 court petition to be appointed personal representative of her estate, he had nine drug possession convictions — at least five involving methamphetamine — between 1990 and 2008. The petition shows that he was in and out of jail until late 2008, when he entered and completed a one-year residential treatment program. According to a June 2010 declaration in support of that petition, Maples had been clean and sober for 16 months.

Lane County Circuit Judge Lauren Holland in August 2010 denied Maples’ request, instead appointing Portland attorney Erin Olson as the estate’s personal representative.

Step-grandmother speaks out

The prospect of Anthony Maples collecting damages from the suit distressed Jeanette’s step-grandmother, Lynn McAnulty. She testified during Angela McAnulty’s trial that she made multiple — and apparently futile — abuse reports to the Department of Human Services in the last months of the teen’s life.

“Why should he profit off Jeanette’s death?” the Leaburg woman said. “He doesn’t deserve it because he wasn’t involved in her life. He didn’t know her. He didn’t even come to her memorial service.”

Lynn McAnulty said lawsuit proceeds would more rightfully go to Jeanette’s surviving half-siblings — a 14-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy — both in foster homes and in state protective custody. Absent a will, however, only a deceased person’s parents, spouse or children are legal heirs under Oregon law.

In a interview this month, McAnulty elaborated on her trial testimony that she repeatedly and unsuccessfully phoned child protective service workers in 2009, urging them to investigate Jeanette’s emaciation and injuries. She acknowledged posing as a concerned neighbor, saying she feared losing the limited access she had to her grandchildren if Angela McAnulty learned she’d reported abuse. (According to child protection caseworkers, the agency protects the confidentiality of people who report abuse.)

Lynn McAnulty said she told one phone screener, “This child looks like an Ethiopian (famine victim),” only to have the screener respond with “something like, ‘You’re telling us she needs medical help — that’s not us,’ and, ‘Are you sure she’s not anorexic?’ ”

McAnulty said she placed her last call to the agency the week before Jeanette died, after her son called to tell her he’d caught the girl drinking from the toilet.

“I said, ‘Someone needs to go there. Something’s wrong with this child. It’s urgent,’” McAnulty said. “I told her, ‘I’ve called several times,’ and she said, ‘We don’t just drop everything — we have to go through channels.’ ”

McAnulty also reiterated her trial testimony that she asked one screener if she should call the police, but was advised that child protection workers could more effectively investigate.

The agency’s internal investigation, now posted on its website (www.oregon.gov/DHS/abuse/publications/children/cirt-jm-initial-report.pdf) without the redactions that originally blacked out information that might have compromised Angela McAnulty’s trial, reports only two calls in 2009, both from “the same individual” on Dec. 1. It says the person reported that Angela McAnulty’s children were being “abused and neglected, especially the older one.”

Report details decisions

The newly public material says the caller reported that the older child — Jeanette — was not attending school, had “current marks and bruises” and “appeared malnourished.” It also said the caller reported that the child was “not allowed to speak with her.”

“The (caller) initially would not provide the last name of the children or an address,” the state’s internal report said. “In a subsequent call that same day, the reporter called back and provided the last name and address for the family. Concluding that the call did not constitute a report of abuse or neglect, the matter was closed at screening.”

The critical incident team found that conclusion to be in error, the internal report said.

“This report in fact constituted abuse or neglect and should have been assigned for child protective service assessment,” it said.

The team’s report also acknowledged that additional calls “may have been made but not documented” if they “did not rise to the level of abuse or neglect.”

The newly public material from the internal report shows that the agency responded to two 2006 reports that Jeanette was “being punished by being forced to kneel on the tile floor with her nose to the wall and hands behind her back for extended periods of time, that she was being forced to eat chili peppers, and that her hair was being pulled making her head sore.” But the agency “could not determine whether there was a safety threat” to the girl because of inconsistent information about food deprivation and punishment from Angela and Richard McAnulty, Jeanette’s sister, and Jeanette herself.

The new material also details the agency’s response to a 2007 report from “a credible source” that Jeanette had a bruise on her chin. It says the critical incident team found that the agency erred in closing that case without further assessment, based on Jeanette’s “denial that abuse had occurred.”

The agency has adopted new protocols in response to the internal report — including a policy of more thoroughly investigating cases involving children such as Jeanette, who are not in school or other settings where other adults can see their condition.

Source http://www.registerguard.com/web/updates/26794414-55/jeanette-maples-death-oregon-paul.html.csp