Josh Powell kills 2 young sons in 'an act of evil,' authorities say

Blogger note:
Why didn't the court or CPS order that visitation be at a Visitation Center type facility that is not only supervised but is also monitored rather than allowing the children to go to his home? CPS failed these boys horrifically in this case. They knew that the situation was volatile and that the accusations against the father were of an extreme crime. This whole thing could have been prevented if CPS or the courts would have handled this properly but like most always, they did not.

Josh Powell, who has been implicated in the disappearance of his wife, was killed along with his two sons in a fire Sunday at Powell's home in Graham, Pierce County, authorities said.

By Sara Jean Green and Steve Miletich

GRAHAM, Pierce County — The 2-year-old mystery surrounding the disappearance of Susan Powell might forever lack answers after police said her long-investigated husband, Josh Powell, set his house on fire Sunday afternoon, killing himself and his two young boys moments after a caseworker brought them for a supervised visitation.

"The fire burned hot and it burned fast," said Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Ed Troyer, who described the fire as an intentional act that came shortly after Powell sent an email to his attorney apologizing and saying goodbye.

Three bodies, believed to be those of Powell and his sons, Charlie, 7, and Braden, 5, were found in the same room in the house, authorities said.

Troyer called the deaths "a double murder-suicide."

"What happened here ... was an act of evil. Do not call it a tragedy because that sanitizes it. This was a terrible act of murder involving two young children," Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor said near the house.

Powell, 36, had lost custody of the boys after his father was arrested last year for allegedly possessing child pornography in another house they previously shared. The boys were in the custody of Susan Powell's parents; however, Josh Powell was allowed supervised visitation.

About noon Sunday, Troyer said, the caseworker, a state contract worker from Foster Care Resource Network, brought the boys for a scheduled visit to Powell's house. The caseworker was assigned to the children and had previously brought them to their father without incident, Troyer said.

Powell answered the door, pulled the boys inside, slammed the door and locked it, Troyer said.

Denied entry, the caseworker immediately began banging on the doors and windows and called 911. She told police she thought she smelled gasoline.

The caseworker reported the fire started within seconds, Troyer said.

The first 911 call was at 12:13 p.m., followed by other calls.

Graham Fire and Rescue responded within three minutes, finding the house in flames with no chance to save those inside, Troyer said.

The fire marshal will determine the exact cause of the blaze.

The Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office, which is to perform autopsies Monday, still needs to make positive identifications.

Troyer said Utah authorities might have been preparing criminal charges against Powell in connection with his wife's disappearance in December 2009, but he did not give details.

Buzz Nielson, the police chief in West Valley City, Utah, whose department is investigating the disappearance of Susan Powell, said Sunday night that detectives were pursuing promising new avenues in the case and that he had hoped to seek charges by the end of the year.

"It's a circumstantial one," he said of the case, adding that his investigators had not shared their progress with Josh Powell.

Nielson said he believes Powell was more concerned with civil-court matters, an apparent reference to the child-custody case.

Investigators from West Valley City police will be sent to Washington, said spokesman Sgt. Mike Powell, who is no relation to Josh Powell.

Asked if Josh Powell's death would forever preclude answers to his wife's disappearance, Sgt. Powell said it was important to "emphasize that Josh hasn't been cooperative with our investigation from the very beginning."

The Associated Press reported that Josh Powell's lawyer received an email from him shortly before the fire, saying: "I'm sorry, goodbye."

Attorney Jeffrey Bassett told The Associated Press the email arrived at 12:05 p.m. Sunday, but he didn't see it until two hours later, when others informed him of the fire. He says he knew Powell was upset after a judge last week ordered him to undergo a psychosexual evaluation, but he didn't see this coming.

Troyer said email and text messages from Powell's account were sent to a number of people, whom he didn't identify. He said investigators had no reason to doubt that Powell wrote them.

Firefighters were still mopping up the largely gutted house at 8119 189th St. Court E. late into the afternoon Sunday. Authorities began removing the bodies about 5:30 p.m.

Some people reported hearing popping sounds that sounded like gunshots at the time of the fire, while others described the noise as coming from the fire, Troyer said.

While Powell had not been arrested or charged in his wife's disappearance, he had been a person of interest in the case from the start.

Susan Powell, a Puyallup native, was 28 when she was reported missing Dec. 7, 2009. Josh Powell told police he last saw his wife around midnight, when he put their sons in a minivan and took them on a late-night camping trip in Utah's west desert in freezing temperatures.

Powell then moved back to the Puyallup area, where both his father and Susan Powell's parents live.

The boys were removed from Josh Powell's custody Sept. 22, the same day Josh Powell's father, Steven Powell, with whom the three were living, was arrested and charged with possessing child pornography. Temporary custody of the children was awarded by a judge to Susan Powell's parents, Chuck and Judy Cox of Puyallup.

Last week, a judge ordered that the boys remain in the custody of the grandparents.

Josh Powell has denied any role in his wife's disappearance and recently asked the judge to move his sons to a neutral caretaker, claiming his wife's parents — who have publicly implicated Josh Powell in their daughter's disappearance — were turning their two sons against him.

Chuck and Judy Cox declined to comment Sunday. Attorney Anne Bremner, who is representing the Cox family, said they have asked for time to grieve before speaking to the media.

Bremner learned about the deaths from a reporter in Salt Lake City. She then called Chuck Cox, who drove to Powell's house.

"It's unspeakable what he learned. It's horrific," Bremner said. "They've lost everything. They've lost their daughter. They've lost their grandkids."

Troyer said that Pierce County sheriff's investigators were coordinating with West Valley City police and that his office was seeking a search warrant for the house.

Steven Powell, who remains in jail in Pierce County, was notified of what happened Sunday and placed on suicide watch, Troyer said.

Steven Powell claimed last year that he and Susan Powell had a flirtatious relationship, and that he believed they were in love — allegations Chuck Cox dismissed as false, saying it was Powell who initiated unwanted sexual advances to her.

Troyer said the caseworker who went to the house Sunday was traumatized, and his detectives who had previously worked on the case were devastated.

"I feel bad for everybody ... so many people put so much work into this," Troyer said. Of Josh Powell, he said, "I wish he would have taken himself out and left the boys alone."

Troyer said police in Utah strongly believe Powell is responsible for the disappearance of his wife.

Denise Revels Robinson, assistant secretary of Children's Administration for DSHS, issued a statement saying, "All of us at the Department of Social and Health Services were shocked and deeply saddened by reports that Josh Powell had taken his own life and that of his two young children."

Robinson said the children were taken to the house as part of an ongoing court-ordered visitation schedule.

Robinson said the department will conduct a standard formal child-fatality review.

On her Facebook page, Susan Powell's best friend in West Valley City, Kiirsi Hellewell, expressed her grief, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

"It's true. Feels like life is over," Hellewell said.

Denise Cox, the boys' aunt, told The Tribune she is in shock and was headed to her parents' house Sunday.

Cox had just seen her nephews at her parents' Saturday and joked about leaving the house because Charlie commanded her to come back to see him Sunday. She said it was funny that he didn't ask her to come back, he told her to — which the family thought was cute.

On Thursday, Braden Powell spent time with Cox and was affectionate, she said.

"He gave me a hug and a kiss and said 'I love you' before he left," she said. "It was the best feeling ever and almost brought tears to my eyes."

Source http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2017434073_powell06m.html

Lawsuit Claims CPS Removed Kids Out of Spite - Texas

RANDY WALLACE
Investigative Reporter

HOUSTON - If Child Protective Services had its way, 5-year-old Katelynn Allen wouldn't be with her grandmother right now. Neither would her 6-year-old brother Elisha.

CPS wanted them to be adopted by non-relatives.

"I don't even think I can find a word that can summarize what I went through," said the children's grandmother, Houston Minister Teresa Allen.

It was Allen who first contacted CPS back in August of 2009.

She was concerned about her grandkids because of her daughter's alleged drug use.

Three months went by and nothing happened.

In the meantime Allen took the kids to keep them safe.

Then, according to her lawsuit against CPS, a CPS caseworker called.

That case worker stated, "She was in fear of losing her job for missing a deadline to investigate the matter."

Allen complained to the case workers supervisor and anyone else with CPS that would listen.

She wanted action.

"You go all the way to the top and you just can't believe that there was no one in authority that could have stopped, looked and listened and investigated my complaint," Allen said.

"She finally went over the head of the case worker, then over the head of a supervisor to the program director," said Allen's attorney Chris Branson. " She was told in no uncertain terms that that was a bad move on her part and they were going to show her exactly what happens to people who make bad moves."

The next day Branson said CPS took Allen's two young grandkids away from her.

"I did not know what was going on, I did not know why," Allen said.

"The initial taking was illegal," Branson said.

Branson said CPS claimed the kids were in danger that's why they took them with no court order in hand.

"My client did nothing to have CPS take these kids, nothing came out later," Branson said.

For the next 11 months the lawsuit claims CPS workers did everything they could to discredit Allen who was denied access to her grandkids, and was repeatedly told they would be adopted by non relatives and she would never see them again.

"Anger, fear, the rejection, I mean it makes you feel less than a human being," Allen said.

In a hearing the grandmother won the right to get her grandkids back. But she hopes the lawsuit will lead to changes at CPS.

"We believe this is a good case to set a precedent that will send a clear and distinct message to Child Protective Services to clean up their act and do things the right way," Branson said.

Source http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/investigates/111216-child-protective-services-dispute

Police: Boy Tied Up, Beaten To Death By Dad - Indiana

Blogger note:
CPS failed, once again! Shame on them. When will CPS ever be held criminally accountable for their failure to protect children and being neglectful in their duties?
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Caseworker Reported Nothing Wrong In Home, Records Show

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The father and grandmother of a 10-year-old boy who was beaten to death have been charged, yet a caseworker who investigated the family months before found nothing wrong, records show.

Tramelle Sturgis died earlier this month after he and his older brother were tied up with duct tape and beaten with a club by their father, Terry Sturgis, over several hours, in the family's South Bend home, police said.

The 10-year-old was found to have both old and new injuries, including a broken arm and leg, bruising across his body and marks from the club, police said.

His older brother survived the attack but also suffered bruises and welts, police said.

Terry Sturgis has been charged with one count of murder and two counts of felony battery. His mother, Dellia Castile, 53, the boys' grandmother, was charged Wednesday with three counts of felony neglect of a dependent.

Police said Castile, who lived with her son and his five children, was in the home the night that her grandson was killed and heard the boys screaming but did nothing to stop the abuse.

Indiana Department of Child Services records obtained by the Call 6 Investigators show at least one person reported ongoing abuse in the home in May.

According to the complaint, the parents "beat the children with two-by-fours" and that one of them "might be bleeding internally."

Records show that a caseworker went to the home to investigate but found the report to be unsubstantiated. The caseworker said the children didn't show signs of being abused.

Sandy Runkle-Delorme with Prevent Child Abuse Indiana said it is critical to study child fatalities to determine how other children might be saved in the future.

"Who knows where the responsibility lies, other than with the perpetrator, ultimately," she said. "Anyone with whom that child had contact with -- where was the missing link and who failed this child?"

Due to confidentiality rules, DCS officials were unable to comment on the case.

Source http://www.theindychannel.com/news/29787510/detail.html

Indiana child welfare supervisor faces charges

GREENSBURG, Ind.— An Indiana child welfare supervisor who was the caseworker for a slain 12-year-old Greensburg boy faces charges after allegedly giving a client a drug and sending her a photo of his genitals.

Indiana State Police arrested 28-year-old Scott Ogden of Greensburg last week. WRTV-TV and WISH-TV report he's charged with dealing a controlled substance, official misconduct, and distribution of obscene matter.

Court records show he sent text messages to a woman who lost custody of her children and offered information about them in return for sex. He also gave her three prescription painkiller pills.

Ogden was the case worker for 12-year-old Devin Parsons, who was beaten to death by his mother in June.

A telephone message seeking comment was left at the Greensburg home a man named Scott Ogden.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-in--greensburgchildd,0,3823164.story

Police Won't File Charges Against Texas Judge Caught on Video Beating Daughter

Associated Press

Police say a Texas judge who was secretly videotaped beating his teenage daughter seven years ago won't face charges because the statutes of limitations have passed.

Rockport Police Chief Tim Jayroe said Thursday that Aransas County Court-at-Law Judge William Adams likely would have been charged with causing injury to a child and other assault offenses if the five-year statutes of limitations hadn't expired.

Adams is still being investigated by the state Department of Family and Protective Services, which has requested he not preside over any of its cases.

Adams' 23-year-old daughter, Hillary, posted the 8-minute clip of the 2004 beating on YouTube last week that shows her father savagely lash her 17 times with a belt.

Hillary Adams says that until last week, only a couple of close friends knew about the savage beating she received seven years ago from her father, a Texas judge who handles child abuse cases.

Adams says the outpouring of support and encouragement she's received since posting the video online last week is tempered by the sadness that it's her father lashing her with a belt and threatening to beat her "into submission." The video had been watched nearly 2 million times by Thursday morning.

"I'm experiencing some regret because I just pulled the covers off my own father's misbehavior after so many people thought he was such a good person. ... But so many people are also telling me I did the right thing," she told The Associated Press outside her mother's home in the Gulf Coast town of Portland, near Corpus Christi.

"He's supposed to be a judge who exercises fit judgment," she said."I cannot stress enough -- I cannot repeat myself enough, that he just needs help."

And she said the videoed attack was not a one-off. "It did happen regularly for a period of time," she told NBC's "Today" show on Thursday.

In the same interview, Hallie Adams blamed her ex-husband's bouts of violence on his "addiction," calling it a "family secret." She did not elaborate. Their 22-year marriage ended in 2007.

The judge did not return an AP reporter's call seeking comment early Thursday.

Police in Rockport, where the 51-year-old judge lives, opened an investigation Wednesday after receiving calls from several concerned citizens, Police Chief Tim Jayroe said.

William Adams has been receiving threatening phone calls and faxes at the courthouse since the video went online, Aransas County Sheriff Bill Mills said.

No one answered the door Wednesday at the judge's home, repeated calls to his office rang unanswered and his attorney, William Dudley, did not respond to phone messages seeking comment. A neighbor said she saw Adams and his girlfriend packing luggage, a briefcase and rifles into their truck.

Corpus Christi television station KZTV caught up with the judge while he was getting into his vehicle Wednesday, and he confirmed it was him in the video. But he said it "looks worse than it is" and that he doesn't expect to be disciplined.

"In my mind, I haven't done anything wrong other than discipline my child after she was caught stealing," Adams said. "And I did lose my temper, but I've since apologized."

When told of her father's comments, Hillary Adams said, "it's a shining perfect example of his personality and he believes he can do no wrong. ... He will cover up rather than admit to what he did and try to come clean."

She stressed that she did not post the video as revenge and does not want her father punished. Rather, she did it because she thinks it will force him to seek help, and because he has been harassing her and she thought posting the clip would make that stop.

"We need to reach out to victims and the abusers themselves to get people to realize what it actually is," she said. Hillary, who was 16 at the time, said she secretly videotaped the beating in her bedroom because she "knew something was about to happen." She says her parents were angry at her for using her computer to download pirated content over the Internet.

In the clip's opening seconds, William Adams is heard telling Hillary's mother, "Go get the belt. The big one. I'm going to spank her now." With belt in hand, he turns off the light and tries forcing his daughter to bend over the bed to be beaten, but she refuses.

"Lay down or I'll spank you in your (expletive) face," Adams screams while he lashes her with sweeping blows across the legs, ignoring her wails and pleas for him to stop.

A few minutes into the video, Hillary's mother barks at her to "turn over like a 16-year-old and take it! Like a grown woman!" For about a minute, the ordeal appears to have ended after both parents leave the room and shut the door. But the judge then storms back into the room and the beating resumes.

Hallie Adams said she was "completely brainwashed and controlled" by her ex-husband.

"I did every single thing that he did," she told NBC. Hillary Adams said she is not angry at her mother.

Child advocates roundly condemned the beating as abuse. But investigators may decide that the judge's actions, while shocking, weren't criminal.

The lines between what's deemed child abuse and what's considered an acceptable level of discipline differ across the country and among various social groups, though the use of objects such as belts and sticks is usually seen as beyond any normal physical punishment, said David Finkelhor, a University of New Hampshire sociology professor who heads the school's Crimes against Children Research Center.

Adams, Aransas County's top judge, was elected in 2001 and has dealt with at least 349 family law cases in the past year alone, nearly 50 of which involved state caseworkers seeking determine whether parents were fit to raise their children.

Patrick Crimmins, a spokesman for the state Department of Family and Protective Services, said in an email that the agency is aware of the video and "will take the appropriate steps in this matter." He said the agency would have no further comment.

Source http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/11/03/texas-judge-caught-on-video-beating-daughter-needs-help/

North Carolina DSS worker fired after DWI arrest

October 11, 2011 4:54 PM

By Diane Turbyfill

A social worker arrested twice in one week was fired from her job Tuesday.

Gaston County Social Services Director Keith Moon said the action seemed suitable for the circumstance.

“I just think given the nature of this situation that would be the appropriate action,” said Moon.

Yvette Jadine Smithen, 42, was stopped by Shelby Police in the 2100 block of East Dixon Boulevard Saturday. The officer determined Smithen had been drinking and charged her with DWI.

A 4-year-old boy was in the car when police took her into custody.

Smithen worked with the Child Protective Services division at Gaston DSS. Caseworkers are often called to testify in court, and credibility is essential, Moon said.

The DWI charge came less than a week after Smithen was arrested at a party held in her Bent Branch Street home in Gastonia.

“Those charges certainly are very serious,” said Moon. “Given the nature of duties of social workers here it was pretty much incompatible.”

On Sept. 2 Smithen was charged with resisting arrest in a Gaston County incident. According to the arrest report, Smithen interfered with police when they came to the scene of a party that afternoon.

Moon said Smithen has only been with the department for a month. She made $41,211.

Employees are required to report arrests to their supervisors.

Smithen did so last week, and she sent Moon an email requesting a meeting Monday. She was not penalized at work for her resisting arrest charge.

She did not come into work Tuesday and was terminated by a written document.

Source http://www.gastongazette.com/news/worker-61770-social-fired.html

Second Oklahoma DHS worker fired in Serenity Deal case

Randy J. Lack, 58, a Pottawatomie County child-welfare specialist, has denied doing anything wrong. He worked for the Department of Human Services for 11 years.

The principal DHS worker on the Serenity Deal case was fired Tuesday.

Randy J. Lack, 58, a Pottawatomie County child-welfare specialist, has denied doing anything wrong. He worked for the Department of Human Services for 11 years.

Serenity Deal, 5, died in June from an assault after she began living full time with her father in Oklahoma City at the recommendation of Lack and other DHS workers.

The father, Sean Devon Brooks, now is charged with first-degree murder. She was placed with her father from foster care even though she was injured twice in January during overnight visits with him.

“I don't have a crystal ball. I couldn't possibly have known any of this was going to happen,” Lack said last week.

Lack said he thought Serenity's injuries in January were from accidents.

His supervisor, Jennifer Shawn, was fired Thursday.

Lack was fired on grounds of unsatisfactory performance, misconduct, willful failure, dishonesty in reports and neglect of duty.

Lack of background check cited

In the termination papers, the agency specifically said Lack failed to fully check the father's background, often taking the father's word for things. Lack, for instance, once reported Brooks had no history of family violence. Brooks' ex-girlfriend actually had obtained a protective order against him after an angry confrontation in 2003.

The agency also said Lack never interviewed that ex-girlfriend, who had three children with Brooks. The ex-girlfriend later told police she considered Brooks too violent to be around his children.

The agency said Lack failed to notify the judge and the district attorney when Serenity needed medical treatment for black eyes and a swollen face the second time she was injured in January.

The agency said Lack failed to report to a judge that Serenity had reacted negatively to hearing her father's name while in foster care. Both of Serenity's foster mothers had reported this concern, according to the termination records.

Lack and Shawn have hired an attorney, Pete Serrata, to appeal their firings.

Serrata on Tuesday again criticized DHS, saying the agency did an incomplete and haphazard investigation into what happened in Serenity's case. Lack last week said he was personally invested in his cases.

“When you go home at night you still think about those kids,” he said then. “It's the first time in my life I've ever been fired. ... I've always done a good job in whatever capacity I've worked. Now, at this late stage in life, having to start all over again, it's a pretty scary thing.”

Source http://newsok.com/second-oklahoma-dhs-worker-fired-in-serenity-deal-case/article/3606070

DHS worker fired after child abuse death