By Eric Dexheimer and Andrea Ball
In 2007, stunned by revelations of ongoing sexual abuse of young state wards by the adults charged with caring for them, legislators passed a series of laws that reformed how the Texas Youth Commission kept its teenage offenders safe. The changes included simple adjustments considered best practices in lockups for years: increased use of security cameras to capture and record incidents, independent monitors to field complaints and a separate investigative team to pursue allegations of abuse.
In 2009, images discovered on a lost cellphone revealed that staff members at a state-run school for people with disabilities had promoted a "fight club," instigating young residents to hit and push one another. The reports came on the heels of a federal lawsuit requiring reforms to the same system of schools. Another, but similar set of reforms added thousands of cameras and a standing order that investigators start looking for patterns in past claims of abuse to identify problem employees.
Now a third agency in less than five years finds itself in the spotlight because of claims a staffer abused children in state care. In late October, the Department of Family and Protective Services, which investigates claims of abuse in state facilities, found reason to believe psychiatrist Charles Fischer had sexually abused two patients, in 2003 and 2006, at the Austin State Hospital. Weeks later, the Texas Medical Board concluded that evidence supported nine claims of sexual abuse against Fischer dating back at least two decades.
Fischer has not been criminally charged. Through his lawyer he "vigorously" denied the allegations.
The news nevertheless has promoted self-examination among state officials.
"We want to know, how did we get to this place with a number of allegations (against Fischer), even if not confirmed?" said Stephanie Goodman, a spokeswoman for the state Health and Human Services Commission.
One likely reason, reporting by the American-Statesman shows, is that none of the basic reforms mandated by lawmakers only a few years earlier at the Youth Commission and state schools made their way to the state hospital system, despite the similarities in the three agencies' missions: caring for troubled, mentally fragile children in an institutional setting.
The 13 state supported living centers (formerly called state schools) and the state psychiatric hospital system are even overseen by the same agency: the Health and Human Services Commission, which shares office space with the Texas Youth Commission.
"There are a number of things we put into place at the state supported living centers that we are looking at to see if we could put them in place at the state hospitals," acknowledged Goodman.
"In hindsight, could we have done things differently?" added Carrie Williams of the Department of State Health Services, which oversees the state's 10 psychiatric hospitals. "Absolutely."
There is no allegation that confirmed abuse claims at the state hospital system extend past a single person — a contrast to the Youth Commission and the living centers, which were found to have deep and systemic deficiencies requiring immediate repair.
Legislators are vowing new investigations anyway.
"I am reviewing the measures taken by our state agencies in response to this tragedy to determine whether they need to be put into statute and possibly strengthened," said state Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound , who chairs the Senate Health and Human Services Committee .
The allegation that one of the hospital system's doctors could have carried on a series of assaults over decades despite numerous reports, as reforms were occurring at similar agencies literally next door, suggests missed opportunities and raises questions about government's ability to anticipate and prevent serious problems, rather than to react and respond only to scandal.
The agencies treat different clients; however, not different enough to account for security variations, advocates say.
"Any additional precautions when you're working with such vulnerable population are important," said Beth Mitchell, supervising attorney for Disability Rights Texas, an Austin-based group that often litigates on behalf of mentally ill patients. "Hopefully, this will put the hospitals on notice, and they'll do the right thing."
News that officials at the Texas Youth Commission knew about but largely ignored confirmed reports that two administrators at a West Texas facility were sexually preying on teenagers in their custody hit just as the 2007 legislative session was getting under way. Forced by lawmakers to remake itself, the agency — last week renamed the Texas Juvenile Justice Department — undertook a series of reform measures.
A number of the changes were specifically designed to make Youth Commission facilities physically safer for offenders in its custody. Several were informed by the Prison Rape Elimination Act, a 2003 federal law that seeks to address the high incidence of sexual assault in lockups by targeting the culture and physical settings that allowed abuse.
Chief among them was the purchase, for $18 million, of 12,000 new high-definition cameras that peered into literally every corner of the Youth Commission's facilities. The images can be accessed at any time by the facility administrators, investigators and even agency executives in Austin.
The 10 state psychiatric hospitals, by comparison, have a total of 549 cameras, about a third from the 1980s. Three of the facilities have fewer than six cameras each.
Stored digital images not only protect youth, but also accused staff, said Cris Love, head of the Youth Commission's Office of Inspector General. "They're extremely important — a huge, huge asset to investigations," he said.
Though the agency doesn't keep numbers, Love said, images from the cameras have "absolutely" been used to both clear and convict staff of abuse allegations.
A November 2010 report by an outside consulting company hired to evaluate the reforms concluded, "Youth and staff commented at every TYC facility that cameras have increased safety, especially sexual safety."
The agency also made small but significant physical changes to its facilities. It took down walls that blocked sight lines, decreasing opportunities for hidden activity. It replaced solid wooden doors with doors that had windows and exchanged individual locks for a new keyless entry system that requires staff to have a control room operator open doors.
"This practice contributes to the sexual safety of youth by limiting the number of keys held by staff, thereby decreasing the number of areas they are able to access," the consultant wrote.
Criminal cases against the West Texas facility administrators had stalled when local prosecutors dragged their feet, so how the agency pursued claims of abuse was overhauled as well.
Senate Bill 103, which provided the blueprint for the Youth Commission's reform, created the independent inspector general, whose officers were granted police powers to investigate abuse claims and make arrests. New laws also allowed the Youth Commission to use the adult prison system's Special Prosecution Unit to take children's cases to court on its own.
"Looking at the fight club situation at the state school," Hurley said, "a lot of the things we now have in place would have prevented that."
Living centers react
In fact, recent reforms at the state living centers mirrored those implemented at the Youth Commission less than two years earlier.
The centers, residential facilities where people with intellectual and developmental disabilities receive a full range of psychiatric and medical care, came under scrutiny in 2006 after a federal civil rights investigation of the Lubbock center found "just deplorable conditions generally," recalled Disability Rights' Mitchell.
Follow-up investigations found problems in other centers, and the U.S. Department of Justice sued the state to force reforms. Among other claims, federal lawyers asserted that the Texas facilities did not provide "reasonably safe conditions, including protection from abuse, neglect, and other harm." In 2009, the Department of Aging and Disability Services signed a consent order, promising to improve how center residents were treated and cared for.
Reports in March 2009 that employees at the Corpus Christi living center had been arranging late-night fights among disabled residents came as legislators were beginning a new biennial session. Three months later, Gov. Rick Perry signed a bill mandating a sweeping set of reforms.
Within months, the state began laying 35 miles of fiber-optic cable and installing 3,200 new surveillance cameras at its centers.
Though the cameras were not as pervasively placed as those at the Youth Commission facilities — they cover mainly common areas, not treatment or residential rooms — they are monitored around the clock by center staff, spokeswoman Allison Lowery said.
State hospitals don't have employees designated to monitor cameras, health services department spokeswoman Williams said.
"They're a big component of our larger reforms," Lowery said, adding that the recorded images have been used to train staff, as well as to provide definitive evidence to confirm or dismiss complaints.
Department of Family and Protective Services data show the number of confirmed allegations at state supported living centers — reports that investigators determined were true based on a preponderance of evidence — grew from 8 percent in 2009, before the new cameras, to 9 percent in 2011, a difference of 90 cases. The case confirmation rate at state hospitals fell a percentage point over the same period.
Officials say the new cameras may not be entirely responsible for the difference. But "it has helped with the confirmation rate," said Wendy Ivy, a policy analyst with the protective service's facility investigation unit.
New inquiry policies
The 2009 living center reforms also required that investigations into allegations of abuse at the facilities be pursued differently than at other mental health agencies.
At state hospitals, Department of Family and Protective Services investigators looking into allegations of abuse are given 14 days to respond and finish their initial report. The new rules for the living centers require the reports be completed more expeditiously, in 10 days.
As with the Texas Youth Commission, the reforms also empowered the Health and Human Services Commission's Office of Inspector General to act as official law enforcement agents and assist with investigations — but only on those cases within the state supported living centers.
Perhaps the biggest difference in abuse inquiries between facilities, however, has been in how investigators can research and weigh an accused perpetrator's past record. At state hospitals, detectives generally do not take into account previous complaints and accusations against an individual.
Because of the 2009 federal reforms, however, the same investigators examining comparable allegations at the living centers must examine older cases to identify patterns. "Trends shall be tracked by the categories of: type of incident; staff alleged to have caused the incident; individuals directly involved; location of incident; date and time of incident; cause(s) of incident; and outcome of investigation," the new law stated.
Even if the new investigation is inconclusive, Ivy said, examiners can still document a noteworthy history of complaints on the "concerns and recommendations" portion of their reports, alerting future investigators to a suspect's troubled past.
Trending analysis "makes a big difference when you have a perpetrator who's constantly being reported, being called in for the same incidents time after time by different individuals," Mitchell added.
State records show that seven boys ages 13 to 17 who were patients at the Austin State Hospital accused Fischer of inappropriate sexual contact between 2001 and 2006 and that two others made complaints against him while he was working at other facilities.
Hospitals follow suit
State officials say they are already changing how they run the hospitals and investigate abuse incidents. Two weeks ago, executives announced a ban on after-hours therapy sessions unless two staff members are present and a requirement that individual treatment services occur only in rooms with windows or in locations that can be observed by other staff members — all rules adopted years earlier by the Texas Youth Commission following its 2007 scandal, Hurley said.
State Rep. Elliott Naishtat, D-Austin, said he plans to introduce a bill in 2013 that would require the Department of State Health Services to perform a more extensive FBI fingerprint background check on employees — a safeguard already required by the Department of Aging and Disability Services, which runs the state centers.
Hospital administrators also have ordered "a review of sexual abuse allegations, confirmations and actions taken \u2026 to identify any trends" in old state hospital cases. The Department of Family and Protective Services announced that it was undertaking a review of all sexual abuse complaints filed in the past five years at every state facility. "Trends or patterns may result in the reopening of old cases," agency spokesman Patrick Crimmins said. "We want to make sure we haven't missed anything."
Williams said officials also are discussing whether to add more cameras to state hospitals, although vulnerabilities of its patients could limit where and how many. "These are psychiatric patients who come to us for mental health treatment, and they have a right to privacy," she said
Still, she added, "there will be more changes. We're looking at what other agencies have done."
About this story
Last month, the American-Statesman broke the story that state investigators had found credible evidence that longtime staff psychiatrist Charles Fischer had sexually abused two of his patients at Austin State Hospital. Soon after the story, state health officials announced immediate reforms to protect patients, and the Texas Medical Board suspended Fischer's license based on its determination that he had abused nine children under his care dating back to the early 1990s.
Source http://www.statesman.com/news/statesman-investigates/scandals-at-texas-agency-facilities-brought-reforms-but-2010985.html
CPS corruption hurts and destroys families worldwide. Please use caution posting about CPS here or anyplace on the internet. For your protection, using your full, real name and precise location is not advised. CPS has eyes everywhere and CPS is notorious for taking what people say, twisting it, embellishing on it and then using it against them in CPS "investigations" and at court proceedings.
Showing posts with label physical and sexual abuse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label physical and sexual abuse. Show all posts
Monday, December 5, 2011
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Sunday Journal: For social worker, biggest lie didn't come from 'hoodlum children'
By Derry Smith
Driving a child to the Florida School for Boys in Marianna was not in the job description when my mother accepted the position of social worker for the Pinellas County Juvenile Justice System in 1959.
Fresh out of college, she felt privileged to join the department. She intended to work toward improving the future for kids who lived with neglectful or abusive parents. What she learned was that Florida's state and county agencies didn't have much compassion for kids.
Children, some as young as six, were arrested for such petty crimes as trespassing and taken away from their homes. Typically, parents weren't punished for neglecting or even abusing their children.
As a juvenile guardian for the court, my mother would hear tales from kids about the horrendous punishment they had to endure at the hands of foster parents. When she took these revelations to her supervisors she was chastised for believing "lies."
The Marianna School for Boys was a threat that was part of the protocol when working with disobedient kids. And her charge, Jackie, had been threatened many times. He knew first-hand about the place, being a seasoned attendee by the time he was 11 years old.
Jackie lived with a mother who showed no interest in him. She didn't keep him fed or clean. The truant officer visited regularly, and the neighbors called the police often about the boy trespassing in their yards and stealing fruit. His mother finally gave up custody, and the state put him in a foster home. Within a month Jackie ran away. The authorities caught up with him. My mother was the social worker who interviewed him.
"The foster mother doesn't feed me," he told her. "I only eat if there's something left after her own kids do."
Again my mother reported the complaint to supervisors. Her report was met with indifference.
"Children lie," she was told as before. "Especially hoodlum children."
Her orders to escort Jackie to Marianna came as a "gift." She understood that the state had an expense account for traveling to the School for Boys and she was expected to use it.
Her supervisor informed her of the nicest hotel in the area and the best places to eat. She made the reservations and, accompanied by my father, left on a Friday. With the blessing of her boss they intended to make a weekend of it. It wasn't until they sped north with Jackie in the back seat that she realized this would be no blissful vacation.
He was small for 11, and his freckled face lacked childish wonder. His haggard eyes seemed too old for tears, and this may be why he didn't cry. He begged to be taken somewhere else. Anywhere else.
"Please don't take me there," he said. "They're mean. They beat you."
My mother looked at the child, his brown bangs almost in his eyes.
"You've survived this place before," she said. "And I bet if you cooperate, the guards won't beat you."
But still he begged.
"It's only an eight-month sentence," she said. "Use it as an opportunity to turn your life around."
She had no advice for what he said next.
"The big kids. They chase the little kids," he said quietly. "And when they catch ya' they blow ya'."
"They blow you?"
My mother assumed he spoke of oral sex. After listening to more description she realized he meant sodomy.
"I seen 'em even kill dogs that way," he concluded.
She felt sick to her stomach.
She contemplated not taking him. He wasn't handcuffed. He ate lunch with my parents in a restaurant outside of Tallahassee, and she waited for him to run away. But he didn't. Instead he tagged along behind her like a wounded animal, begging her not to leave him.
My mother didn't ask any more questions. She didn't say much either. She was young and inexperienced and stuck with a system that didn't care. She listened to his pleas, knowing she could do nothing for him.
When she returned to work on that Monday, it was only to hand in her resignation.
Derry Smith lives in St. Petersburg. She shares her stories on her blog, storiesonthenines.org.
Source http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/sunday-journal-for-social-worker-biggest-lie-didnt-come-from-hoodlum/1201820
Driving a child to the Florida School for Boys in Marianna was not in the job description when my mother accepted the position of social worker for the Pinellas County Juvenile Justice System in 1959.
Fresh out of college, she felt privileged to join the department. She intended to work toward improving the future for kids who lived with neglectful or abusive parents. What she learned was that Florida's state and county agencies didn't have much compassion for kids.
Children, some as young as six, were arrested for such petty crimes as trespassing and taken away from their homes. Typically, parents weren't punished for neglecting or even abusing their children.
As a juvenile guardian for the court, my mother would hear tales from kids about the horrendous punishment they had to endure at the hands of foster parents. When she took these revelations to her supervisors she was chastised for believing "lies."
The Marianna School for Boys was a threat that was part of the protocol when working with disobedient kids. And her charge, Jackie, had been threatened many times. He knew first-hand about the place, being a seasoned attendee by the time he was 11 years old.
Jackie lived with a mother who showed no interest in him. She didn't keep him fed or clean. The truant officer visited regularly, and the neighbors called the police often about the boy trespassing in their yards and stealing fruit. His mother finally gave up custody, and the state put him in a foster home. Within a month Jackie ran away. The authorities caught up with him. My mother was the social worker who interviewed him.
"The foster mother doesn't feed me," he told her. "I only eat if there's something left after her own kids do."
Again my mother reported the complaint to supervisors. Her report was met with indifference.
"Children lie," she was told as before. "Especially hoodlum children."
Her orders to escort Jackie to Marianna came as a "gift." She understood that the state had an expense account for traveling to the School for Boys and she was expected to use it.
Her supervisor informed her of the nicest hotel in the area and the best places to eat. She made the reservations and, accompanied by my father, left on a Friday. With the blessing of her boss they intended to make a weekend of it. It wasn't until they sped north with Jackie in the back seat that she realized this would be no blissful vacation.
He was small for 11, and his freckled face lacked childish wonder. His haggard eyes seemed too old for tears, and this may be why he didn't cry. He begged to be taken somewhere else. Anywhere else.
"Please don't take me there," he said. "They're mean. They beat you."
My mother looked at the child, his brown bangs almost in his eyes.
"You've survived this place before," she said. "And I bet if you cooperate, the guards won't beat you."
But still he begged.
"It's only an eight-month sentence," she said. "Use it as an opportunity to turn your life around."
She had no advice for what he said next.
"The big kids. They chase the little kids," he said quietly. "And when they catch ya' they blow ya'."
"They blow you?"
My mother assumed he spoke of oral sex. After listening to more description she realized he meant sodomy.
"I seen 'em even kill dogs that way," he concluded.
She felt sick to her stomach.
She contemplated not taking him. He wasn't handcuffed. He ate lunch with my parents in a restaurant outside of Tallahassee, and she waited for him to run away. But he didn't. Instead he tagged along behind her like a wounded animal, begging her not to leave him.
My mother didn't ask any more questions. She didn't say much either. She was young and inexperienced and stuck with a system that didn't care. She listened to his pleas, knowing she could do nothing for him.
When she returned to work on that Monday, it was only to hand in her resignation.
Derry Smith lives in St. Petersburg. She shares her stories on her blog, storiesonthenines.org.
Source http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/sunday-journal-for-social-worker-biggest-lie-didnt-come-from-hoodlum/1201820
Monday, November 14, 2011
Elected Officials Involved In Coverup Penn State Alleged Sexual Abuse Of Young Boys?
Information in this TMZ video suggests that more than university officials may have been involved the coverup at Penn State. It runs until about 21 minutes before it goes off onto another topic.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Children in Foster Care Higher Report Higher Rates of Sexual Abuse
Article provided by New York Injury Accident Attorney - The Orlow Firm
A carefree childhood should not be considered a luxury. Children should not have to live their life in fear of their caregivers, which is unfortunately what sometimes occurs when children are placed in foster care.
Generally, studies find that children do best when they are raised by their natural parents, but this ideal arrangement is not possible when neglected or abused children are removed from their homes and enter the foster care system. Unfortunately for these already mistreated children, foster care often perpetuates their dreadful treatment ― as recent studies have found a higher prevalence of sexual abuse when children reside in foster care.
A Baltimore study concluded that children in foster care suffered four times higher rates of sexual abuse than the general population. Another study, conducted in Indiana, found three times more physical abuse and twice the rate of sexual abuse in foster homes when compared with the general population. On further examination of the higher rates of abuse in foster care, it was discovered that often times it is the children themselves that are abusing each other.
Unreported Abuse
Even though child abuse is now discussed more openly than in the past, with more child victims and adults who were abused as children coming forward, there is still a large number of victims who never report these crimes. Child abuse is a hidden and deeply rooted problem. Children often suffer quietly, allowing abusers to continue to victimize other children with impunity.
Children and adults are often hesitant to report sexual assaults that occur during their childhood. The reluctance to disclose abuse may be caused by the shame an older child might feel. Also, many children are terrified the abuser will hurt them if they disclose the abuse. Moreover, a child might also fear they will lose the love of someone special or be forced to leave their family or move to a different foster home.
Problems with Delayed Sexual Abuse Reporting
If you were a victim of sexual abuse as a child, you have the right to bring a civil lawsuit against the person who committed the abuse and anyone who could have prevented the abuse. But you only have a certain amount of time to bring a lawsuit. In New York, victims have five years to bring a sexual abuse claim. If you were abused as a child, you can bring a lawsuit until the age of 23 (the five year limitations period begins when you turn 18).
Recent legislation seeks to change the limitations period. According to the proposed changes, the five year limitations period would start at the age of 23 instead of 18. This would allow a victim until the age of 28 to file a sexual abuse lawsuit. Passage, however, of this legislation, is very problematic.
If you were abused as a child, you need to consult with an experienced attorney. Discussing past abuse is sensitive and an attorney will be able to help you by advising you as to your rights and options.
Source http://knowledgebase.findlaw.com/kb/2011/Sep/378791.html
A carefree childhood should not be considered a luxury. Children should not have to live their life in fear of their caregivers, which is unfortunately what sometimes occurs when children are placed in foster care.
Generally, studies find that children do best when they are raised by their natural parents, but this ideal arrangement is not possible when neglected or abused children are removed from their homes and enter the foster care system. Unfortunately for these already mistreated children, foster care often perpetuates their dreadful treatment ― as recent studies have found a higher prevalence of sexual abuse when children reside in foster care.
A Baltimore study concluded that children in foster care suffered four times higher rates of sexual abuse than the general population. Another study, conducted in Indiana, found three times more physical abuse and twice the rate of sexual abuse in foster homes when compared with the general population. On further examination of the higher rates of abuse in foster care, it was discovered that often times it is the children themselves that are abusing each other.
Unreported Abuse
Even though child abuse is now discussed more openly than in the past, with more child victims and adults who were abused as children coming forward, there is still a large number of victims who never report these crimes. Child abuse is a hidden and deeply rooted problem. Children often suffer quietly, allowing abusers to continue to victimize other children with impunity.
Children and adults are often hesitant to report sexual assaults that occur during their childhood. The reluctance to disclose abuse may be caused by the shame an older child might feel. Also, many children are terrified the abuser will hurt them if they disclose the abuse. Moreover, a child might also fear they will lose the love of someone special or be forced to leave their family or move to a different foster home.
Problems with Delayed Sexual Abuse Reporting
If you were a victim of sexual abuse as a child, you have the right to bring a civil lawsuit against the person who committed the abuse and anyone who could have prevented the abuse. But you only have a certain amount of time to bring a lawsuit. In New York, victims have five years to bring a sexual abuse claim. If you were abused as a child, you can bring a lawsuit until the age of 23 (the five year limitations period begins when you turn 18).
Recent legislation seeks to change the limitations period. According to the proposed changes, the five year limitations period would start at the age of 23 instead of 18. This would allow a victim until the age of 28 to file a sexual abuse lawsuit. Passage, however, of this legislation, is very problematic.
If you were abused as a child, you need to consult with an experienced attorney. Discussing past abuse is sensitive and an attorney will be able to help you by advising you as to your rights and options.
Source http://knowledgebase.findlaw.com/kb/2011/Sep/378791.html
Monday, October 31, 2011
Texas - CPS removes kids after mysterious incident prompts investigation
By Anna Waugh
Almost three months after an 11-year-old Willis girl disappeared one evening and was discovered delirious and bleeding in a ditch hours later, she and her 13-year-old sister were removed by a Child Protective Services emergency order from their home because of possible neglect.
CPS officials arrived around 5 p.m. Tuesday at the family’s home in the Royal Forest subdivision when the girls’ parents were grocery shopping, mother Jade Polk said. Polk’s mother was watching the girls and refused to open the door, but agreed to do so after they allegedly threatened to kick the door down and have the grandmother arrested.
Without cell phone reception inside the store, Polk said listening to a voicemail in the parking lot left by her panicked mother “just killed her,”knowing she would go home to a house without her kids.
“It was a shock,” she said.
Polk’s youngest daughter went missing for a few hours July 31 after she was last seen playing with their family dog around 7:45 p.m. and later found around 9:50 p.m. in front of a home on Royal Sterling Drive, about 1-1/2 miles from her home. She was covered in bruises with blood splattered across her body from a nose bleed and did not recognize her parents.
She was rushed to Conroe Regional Medical Center, where she was diagnosed with a severe concussion. The possibility of a sexual assault was ruled out with a rape kit, and she was released a few days later on Aug. 2.
Since then, Polk said, numerous doctor visits later at three hospitals have made doctors conclude that her daughter has a neurological disorder, but a three-month waiting list to see a pediatric neurologist at Texas Children’s Hospital has delayed any more tests and answers.
“She still doesn’t know what happened to her,” Polk said. “She’s blank.”
According to the emergency order, CPS presented the case Tuesday before 410th state District Court Judge K. Michael Mayes and was granted an emergency removal based on an "immediate danger to the physical health or safety of the children or the children have been the victims of neglect or sexual abuse.”
CPS workers told Polk and her husband Wednesday that the reason for removing their children was because they did not continue to take their daughter to counseling or participate in family counseling, which was recommended by a CPS case worker after a home visit suggested the girl see a counselor at Children’s Safe Harbor in Conroe to help her try to remember what happened the night she disappeared.
But after one visit, Polk said, her daughter was uncomfortable with the constant questions by the counselor asking if her parents hurt her. Her parents then decided to have a family friend who attends a nearby church to counsel her so she would feel more comfortable, Polk said.
Instructions can be either verbal or written and in CPS cases where the safety is a concern, parents are asked to participate in services relevant to the case – like counseling – and the children are removed without warning by emergency removal if they do not comply, CPS spokeswoman Gwen Carter said.
“If a family doesn’t cooperate and abuse or neglect is a concern, we can go to the court to request to remove the children and put them in a safe environment,” Carter said, adding that both girls are together in a foster home.
Now knowing the lack of official counseling was viewed by CPS as a neglectful decision, Polk said she had no idea her decision would result in her daughters' removal because she was never given any written documentation about counseling, so did not think continuing to take her daughter to CSH or participate in family counseling was mandatory.
In such situations, CPS is "put into the position where it is more difficult to explain inaction as opposed to action," regardless of the validity of the accusation at the time it was made, Conroe attorney E. Tay Bond said.
“When you have a governmental agency that is tasked with performing a family function," he said, "there is no possible way for CPS to function as well as a caring family does.”
The family’s financial situation also leads Polk to believe that her family is being targeted because they are low-income. Polk has a job, she said, but her husband recently filed for disability.
Regardless of their income, Polk said, she always ensures her children have food to eat and clothes to wear every day, as well as proper medical care.
“I think we’ve been wrongly accused,” she said. “There’s been no neglect.”
She has lined up 10 character witnesses to speak on her behalf at a hearing Monday morning that will consist of neighbors, friends and the girls’ teachers, and plans to request that the girls be turned over to another family member for the time being so they will be around family.
“I’m there for my kids. I do not neglect my kids,” Polk said. “I would bleed for them.”
James Ridgway, Jr. contributed to this report.
Source http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/courier/news/cps-removes-kids-after-mysterious-incident-prompts-investigation/article_de53db32-003c-55ad-8666-228bdb3d6aec.html
Almost three months after an 11-year-old Willis girl disappeared one evening and was discovered delirious and bleeding in a ditch hours later, she and her 13-year-old sister were removed by a Child Protective Services emergency order from their home because of possible neglect.
CPS officials arrived around 5 p.m. Tuesday at the family’s home in the Royal Forest subdivision when the girls’ parents were grocery shopping, mother Jade Polk said. Polk’s mother was watching the girls and refused to open the door, but agreed to do so after they allegedly threatened to kick the door down and have the grandmother arrested.
Without cell phone reception inside the store, Polk said listening to a voicemail in the parking lot left by her panicked mother “just killed her,”knowing she would go home to a house without her kids.
“It was a shock,” she said.
Polk’s youngest daughter went missing for a few hours July 31 after she was last seen playing with their family dog around 7:45 p.m. and later found around 9:50 p.m. in front of a home on Royal Sterling Drive, about 1-1/2 miles from her home. She was covered in bruises with blood splattered across her body from a nose bleed and did not recognize her parents.
She was rushed to Conroe Regional Medical Center, where she was diagnosed with a severe concussion. The possibility of a sexual assault was ruled out with a rape kit, and she was released a few days later on Aug. 2.
Since then, Polk said, numerous doctor visits later at three hospitals have made doctors conclude that her daughter has a neurological disorder, but a three-month waiting list to see a pediatric neurologist at Texas Children’s Hospital has delayed any more tests and answers.
“She still doesn’t know what happened to her,” Polk said. “She’s blank.”
According to the emergency order, CPS presented the case Tuesday before 410th state District Court Judge K. Michael Mayes and was granted an emergency removal based on an "immediate danger to the physical health or safety of the children or the children have been the victims of neglect or sexual abuse.”
CPS workers told Polk and her husband Wednesday that the reason for removing their children was because they did not continue to take their daughter to counseling or participate in family counseling, which was recommended by a CPS case worker after a home visit suggested the girl see a counselor at Children’s Safe Harbor in Conroe to help her try to remember what happened the night she disappeared.
But after one visit, Polk said, her daughter was uncomfortable with the constant questions by the counselor asking if her parents hurt her. Her parents then decided to have a family friend who attends a nearby church to counsel her so she would feel more comfortable, Polk said.
Instructions can be either verbal or written and in CPS cases where the safety is a concern, parents are asked to participate in services relevant to the case – like counseling – and the children are removed without warning by emergency removal if they do not comply, CPS spokeswoman Gwen Carter said.
“If a family doesn’t cooperate and abuse or neglect is a concern, we can go to the court to request to remove the children and put them in a safe environment,” Carter said, adding that both girls are together in a foster home.
Now knowing the lack of official counseling was viewed by CPS as a neglectful decision, Polk said she had no idea her decision would result in her daughters' removal because she was never given any written documentation about counseling, so did not think continuing to take her daughter to CSH or participate in family counseling was mandatory.
In such situations, CPS is "put into the position where it is more difficult to explain inaction as opposed to action," regardless of the validity of the accusation at the time it was made, Conroe attorney E. Tay Bond said.
“When you have a governmental agency that is tasked with performing a family function," he said, "there is no possible way for CPS to function as well as a caring family does.”
The family’s financial situation also leads Polk to believe that her family is being targeted because they are low-income. Polk has a job, she said, but her husband recently filed for disability.
Regardless of their income, Polk said, she always ensures her children have food to eat and clothes to wear every day, as well as proper medical care.
“I think we’ve been wrongly accused,” she said. “There’s been no neglect.”
She has lined up 10 character witnesses to speak on her behalf at a hearing Monday morning that will consist of neighbors, friends and the girls’ teachers, and plans to request that the girls be turned over to another family member for the time being so they will be around family.
“I’m there for my kids. I do not neglect my kids,” Polk said. “I would bleed for them.”
James Ridgway, Jr. contributed to this report.
Source http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/courier/news/cps-removes-kids-after-mysterious-incident-prompts-investigation/article_de53db32-003c-55ad-8666-228bdb3d6aec.html
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Oklahoma - DHS finds funding for benefits, legal defense
By GINNIE GRAHAM World Staff Writer
OKLAHOMA CITY - About $10 million in one-time funding has been found in the budget for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services to avoid cutting benefits in two low-income programs and to add $1 million to defend a class-action lawsuit.
On Tuesday, the commission overseeing the agency approved the expenditures, which include avoiding proposed hikes in child-care subsidy co-payments and avoiding lowering monthly assistance to a program for families with developmentally disabled children.
Commissioners also voted to use the money toward the class-action lawsuit filed by New York-based Children's Rights alleging abuse in the foster care system. Trial is set for February in the U.S. Northern District Court in Tulsa.
This brings the total cost of litigation to at least $9 million for private attorneys - $6 million already spent and $2 million previously planned for next year.
DHS Director Howard Hendrick said the funds are from amounts carried over from previous years. He said a new process allows officials to identify carryover funds earlier.
Hendrick said without new funding in the 2013 budget, these cuts may still need to be made.
"We would have found it eventually in January, February or March," Hendrick said. "We have a lot of one-time funds paying for recurring costs, and that's the biggest pause I have about the recommendation. But it's the right thing to do to push on through."
During discussion, Commissioner Jay Dee Chase cut off Commissioner Steven Dow from asking questions and called for a vote on the changes and monthly financial report, which had not been presented.
Procedure allows for further discussion and Dow asked for a "friendly amendment" for a separate vote on the service programs and legal fees.
"I don't accept that," Chase said. "My motion is made and seconded and I don't want to change it."
Dow said he wanted to explore if the $1 million could be used toward increasing foster-care subsidies or in the field offices.
"I'd like to have a conversation and discussion on where else we could spend $1 million before it goes to litigation costs," Dow said.
Commissioner Brad Yarbrough asked Chase to amend the motion so the board could hear the monthly financial report before making an approval.
Commissioners passed the changes by a 7-1 vote, with Dow dissenting.
The meeting ended with a vote to settle a 2007 lawsuit filed by a former foster child, who was subjected to "horrific acts of sexual abuse" by his foster father and his live-in boyfriend.
DHS commissioners and agency attorney Charles Waters refused to state the amount of the settlement or how it is being paid.
Terms were discussed in executive session, and the 7-1 approval was taken in open session.
According to the Oklahoman, the commissioners voted to pay a share of the $1.1 million settlement. The attorneys blacked out the settlement amount in the court papers, but The Oklahoman was able to calculate the amount of the overall settlement because attorneys asked for $308.90 in daily interest until it is paid.
Dow was the lone vote against the settlement and said he has not seen a proposed settlement agreement document.
"I personally did not feel I had enough advance knowledge or notice to make an informed decision," Dow said. "I was uncomfortable being brought in at the last minute."
The victim was a 15-year-old boy in Cleveland County who was placed in the home of Paul Stephen Hull in December 2005, the court records state. Shadow Mountain Behavioral Health System was named in the lawsuit as a contractor with DHS and had a hand in the boy's foster placement.
Hull's live-in lover, Erwin Charles Swender, started molesting the victim, and Hull joined in after the third or fourth assault, records state.
Swender had spent time in an Iowa juvenile facility as a 16-year-old after causing the death of a 22-month-old by hitting the toddler three to four times, according to court records and Iowa media reports.
He had a history with DHS, resulting in the termination of his parental rights to at least seven of his children.
DHS removed him for a few days in February 2006 because of concerns about conditions there. He was returned to the home after Hull agreed to a safety plan, which included keeping Swender away.
The lawsuit alleges Hull ignored the plan, with Swender continuing to live in the home and the two continuing to abuse the boy. DHS removed him for good when he finally told a counselor about the abuse.
The victim said he was abused for several weeks and was exposed to drugs and pornography.
Hull - a former teacher at Oklahoma City's Capitol Hill High School - pleaded guilty in 2007 to attempted rape, forcible sodomy, second-degree rape, lewd molestation and meth possession. He agreed to eight years in prison and to testify against Swender.
Swender pleaded guilty as jury selection began in 2007 to lewd acts with a child, forcible sodomy and meth possession. He was sentenced to 20 years.
The lawsuit alleges DHS left the victim in the home despite suspicions that Hull was ignoring the safety plan.
Since 2005, DHS has paid at least $3.4 million to settle child-welfare lawsuits, according to a Tulsa World investigation. That is in addition to the defense of the class-action lawsuit.
Source http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20111026_11_A1_CUTLIN294857
OKLAHOMA CITY - About $10 million in one-time funding has been found in the budget for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services to avoid cutting benefits in two low-income programs and to add $1 million to defend a class-action lawsuit.
On Tuesday, the commission overseeing the agency approved the expenditures, which include avoiding proposed hikes in child-care subsidy co-payments and avoiding lowering monthly assistance to a program for families with developmentally disabled children.
Commissioners also voted to use the money toward the class-action lawsuit filed by New York-based Children's Rights alleging abuse in the foster care system. Trial is set for February in the U.S. Northern District Court in Tulsa.
This brings the total cost of litigation to at least $9 million for private attorneys - $6 million already spent and $2 million previously planned for next year.
DHS Director Howard Hendrick said the funds are from amounts carried over from previous years. He said a new process allows officials to identify carryover funds earlier.
Hendrick said without new funding in the 2013 budget, these cuts may still need to be made.
"We would have found it eventually in January, February or March," Hendrick said. "We have a lot of one-time funds paying for recurring costs, and that's the biggest pause I have about the recommendation. But it's the right thing to do to push on through."
During discussion, Commissioner Jay Dee Chase cut off Commissioner Steven Dow from asking questions and called for a vote on the changes and monthly financial report, which had not been presented.
Procedure allows for further discussion and Dow asked for a "friendly amendment" for a separate vote on the service programs and legal fees.
"I don't accept that," Chase said. "My motion is made and seconded and I don't want to change it."
Dow said he wanted to explore if the $1 million could be used toward increasing foster-care subsidies or in the field offices.
"I'd like to have a conversation and discussion on where else we could spend $1 million before it goes to litigation costs," Dow said.
Commissioner Brad Yarbrough asked Chase to amend the motion so the board could hear the monthly financial report before making an approval.
Commissioners passed the changes by a 7-1 vote, with Dow dissenting.
The meeting ended with a vote to settle a 2007 lawsuit filed by a former foster child, who was subjected to "horrific acts of sexual abuse" by his foster father and his live-in boyfriend.
DHS commissioners and agency attorney Charles Waters refused to state the amount of the settlement or how it is being paid.
Terms were discussed in executive session, and the 7-1 approval was taken in open session.
According to the Oklahoman, the commissioners voted to pay a share of the $1.1 million settlement. The attorneys blacked out the settlement amount in the court papers, but The Oklahoman was able to calculate the amount of the overall settlement because attorneys asked for $308.90 in daily interest until it is paid.
Dow was the lone vote against the settlement and said he has not seen a proposed settlement agreement document.
"I personally did not feel I had enough advance knowledge or notice to make an informed decision," Dow said. "I was uncomfortable being brought in at the last minute."
The victim was a 15-year-old boy in Cleveland County who was placed in the home of Paul Stephen Hull in December 2005, the court records state. Shadow Mountain Behavioral Health System was named in the lawsuit as a contractor with DHS and had a hand in the boy's foster placement.
Hull's live-in lover, Erwin Charles Swender, started molesting the victim, and Hull joined in after the third or fourth assault, records state.
Swender had spent time in an Iowa juvenile facility as a 16-year-old after causing the death of a 22-month-old by hitting the toddler three to four times, according to court records and Iowa media reports.
He had a history with DHS, resulting in the termination of his parental rights to at least seven of his children.
DHS removed him for a few days in February 2006 because of concerns about conditions there. He was returned to the home after Hull agreed to a safety plan, which included keeping Swender away.
The lawsuit alleges Hull ignored the plan, with Swender continuing to live in the home and the two continuing to abuse the boy. DHS removed him for good when he finally told a counselor about the abuse.
The victim said he was abused for several weeks and was exposed to drugs and pornography.
Hull - a former teacher at Oklahoma City's Capitol Hill High School - pleaded guilty in 2007 to attempted rape, forcible sodomy, second-degree rape, lewd molestation and meth possession. He agreed to eight years in prison and to testify against Swender.
Swender pleaded guilty as jury selection began in 2007 to lewd acts with a child, forcible sodomy and meth possession. He was sentenced to 20 years.
The lawsuit alleges DHS left the victim in the home despite suspicions that Hull was ignoring the safety plan.
Since 2005, DHS has paid at least $3.4 million to settle child-welfare lawsuits, according to a Tulsa World investigation. That is in addition to the defense of the class-action lawsuit.
Source http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20111026_11_A1_CUTLIN294857
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Chambers DA says sheriff failed to act in child sex case against Sheriff's sergeant
Charges against sergeant comes nearly 2 years after initial complaint
By CINDY HORSWELL, HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Updated 12:18 a.m., Saturday, October 15, 2011
The Chambers County district attorney expressed "shock and dismay" on Friday that she was forced to ask a Texas Ranger to investigate a child's sexual assault complaint against a sheriff's sergeant after the sheriff failed to act when the accusations were first raised in 2009.
District Attorney Cheryl Lieck said the complaint sat in the Sheriff's Department without action for 1½ years until the victim's mother sought help from the DA's office, and she enlisted the assistance of a Texas Ranger.
On Thursday night, a Chambers County grand jury indicted Sgt. Gabriel Davila, who had been a supervisor at the county's jail for eight years. He was charged with six counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and six counts of indecency with a child. His bail was set at $60,000.
Neither Chambers County Sheriff Joe LaRive nor Davila could be reached for comment.
The name of the victim, an elementary school girl, was not released.
"I'm very disappointed when someone sworn to protect the citizens does not do their duty," Lieck said. "When somebody does not do their job, it makes us all look bad."
According to authorities, the assaults occurred in Davila's home in Chambers County.
The girl's mother, who lives in another county, initially filed a complaint with the Sheriff's Office in December 2009. After finding the sheriff to be unresponsive she sought help from the district attorney's office in June, Lieck said.
"I asked to see the sheriff's file and all that was in there was the original complaint from the mother. Nobody had even bothered to take a statement from the jailer who was working at the jail right by them," she said.
The Texas Ranger had his investigative findings reviewed by a grand jury which chose to indict Davila.
Davila continued working and was not suspended until the end of August when the ranger's investigation was nearing completion, Lieck said.
Children's Protective Services has also investigated the case and attempted to forward its findings to the sheriff to "no avail," Lieck said.
CPS closed its file because the child was no longer living in Chambers County and not believed to be in any further danger, she said.
Lieck said her focus in this case will be on seeing the young girl's case is heard by a jury.
Source http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Chambers-County-officer-charged-in-child-sex-2219400.php
By CINDY HORSWELL, HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Updated 12:18 a.m., Saturday, October 15, 2011
The Chambers County district attorney expressed "shock and dismay" on Friday that she was forced to ask a Texas Ranger to investigate a child's sexual assault complaint against a sheriff's sergeant after the sheriff failed to act when the accusations were first raised in 2009.
District Attorney Cheryl Lieck said the complaint sat in the Sheriff's Department without action for 1½ years until the victim's mother sought help from the DA's office, and she enlisted the assistance of a Texas Ranger.
On Thursday night, a Chambers County grand jury indicted Sgt. Gabriel Davila, who had been a supervisor at the county's jail for eight years. He was charged with six counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and six counts of indecency with a child. His bail was set at $60,000.
Neither Chambers County Sheriff Joe LaRive nor Davila could be reached for comment.
The name of the victim, an elementary school girl, was not released.
"I'm very disappointed when someone sworn to protect the citizens does not do their duty," Lieck said. "When somebody does not do their job, it makes us all look bad."
According to authorities, the assaults occurred in Davila's home in Chambers County.
The girl's mother, who lives in another county, initially filed a complaint with the Sheriff's Office in December 2009. After finding the sheriff to be unresponsive she sought help from the district attorney's office in June, Lieck said.
"I asked to see the sheriff's file and all that was in there was the original complaint from the mother. Nobody had even bothered to take a statement from the jailer who was working at the jail right by them," she said.
The Texas Ranger had his investigative findings reviewed by a grand jury which chose to indict Davila.
Davila continued working and was not suspended until the end of August when the ranger's investigation was nearing completion, Lieck said.
Children's Protective Services has also investigated the case and attempted to forward its findings to the sheriff to "no avail," Lieck said.
CPS closed its file because the child was no longer living in Chambers County and not believed to be in any further danger, she said.
Lieck said her focus in this case will be on seeing the young girl's case is heard by a jury.
Source http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Chambers-County-officer-charged-in-child-sex-2219400.php
Friday, October 14, 2011
NY parents charged with kidnapping 8 children from foster care; bail set at $75,000 each
Associated Press
NEW YORK — A husband and wife were charged Thursday with kidnapping their eight children from foster care last month and fleeing New York, in part because they believed the children were being abused by their caregivers, prosecutors and their attorney said.
Mother Shanel Nadal and father Nephra Payne were arrested in Harrisburg, Pa., last month, waived extradition and were arraigned in criminal court in Queens, where the charges also included custodial interference and child endangerment. They were being held on $75,000 bail each.
Nadal, 28, slipped out of a supervised visited at a Queens foster care agency with her sevens sons and infant daughter, and then left town with her 34-year-old husband, prosecutors said. The family was found a week later safe in their van in Pennsylvania. The children were unharmed.
“This mother and father sadly risked the relationships they were building with their children during supervised visits when they allegedly kidnaped them,” said Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown. “This is a serious matter.”
Their attorney, Norman Steiner, said the couple vanished because they could no longer wait for the slow-moving Family Court system to give back the children. Steiner said one boy was molested in foster care and his siblings “suffered horrendous abuse” during two years in foster care.
“They are loving, caring parents, who made a choice — the lesser of two evils — to take their children and make them safe,” Steiner said.
The children — seven boys named Nephra, who have different middle names, and an infant daughter, Nefertiti — range in age from 11 months to 12 years, according to the police complaint in Harrisburg. They were returned to New York City and are again under the care of the Administration for Children’s Services. It’s not clear if they were placed in the same homes.
The couple lost custody of their seven sons in 2009, after allegations of abuse. Steiner said one of the boys had bruising on his eyes and was taken to the doctor by his father. The boy later went to school, and authorities had the father arrested on abuse charges, Steiner said. Steiner said there had possibly been a fight at home with other siblings. The criminal abuse allegations against the father were later dropped, he said. A Family Court hearing was scheduled for Oct. 19 in Manhattan.
The parents were working toward regaining custody, Steiner said: They went to parenting classes, attended supervised visits and kept their home immaculate. They regularly attended Family Court hearings and cooperated with authorities.
But Shanel Nadal had an eighth child, Nefertiti, born last year, and did not mention it to authorities. They also lost custody of her, and the birth led to even more problems with Family Court, Steiner said.
“To me that’s atrocious that the city steps in and tells you how many children to have,” Steiner said.
Child welfare officials do not comment on specific cases. But in order to remove a child from a home, there must be a determination of serious safety or risk concerns for a child to remain there.
The agency said it was aware of the parents’ abuse allegations and takes such allegations very seriously. The agency also is investigating how the children were abducted during a supervised visit, a spokesman said.
Nadal disappeared from the 3-acre campus of Forestdale, a nonprofit, privately run foster care center, on Sept. 19. She went there for a scheduled group visit with the children, who were living with three different foster caregivers. Despite the presence of both Forestdale staff and at least some of the foster parents, she slipped away unnoticed with the children during a trip to a vending machine, police said.
Police thought they may have gone to North Carolina, but they ended up in Pennsylvania where they had relatives. The children showed no signs of physical abuse when discovered, and it looked like the family had planned to spend the night in the vehicle.
NEW YORK — A husband and wife were charged Thursday with kidnapping their eight children from foster care last month and fleeing New York, in part because they believed the children were being abused by their caregivers, prosecutors and their attorney said.
Mother Shanel Nadal and father Nephra Payne were arrested in Harrisburg, Pa., last month, waived extradition and were arraigned in criminal court in Queens, where the charges also included custodial interference and child endangerment. They were being held on $75,000 bail each.
Nadal, 28, slipped out of a supervised visited at a Queens foster care agency with her sevens sons and infant daughter, and then left town with her 34-year-old husband, prosecutors said. The family was found a week later safe in their van in Pennsylvania. The children were unharmed.
“This mother and father sadly risked the relationships they were building with their children during supervised visits when they allegedly kidnaped them,” said Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown. “This is a serious matter.”
Their attorney, Norman Steiner, said the couple vanished because they could no longer wait for the slow-moving Family Court system to give back the children. Steiner said one boy was molested in foster care and his siblings “suffered horrendous abuse” during two years in foster care.
“They are loving, caring parents, who made a choice — the lesser of two evils — to take their children and make them safe,” Steiner said.
The children — seven boys named Nephra, who have different middle names, and an infant daughter, Nefertiti — range in age from 11 months to 12 years, according to the police complaint in Harrisburg. They were returned to New York City and are again under the care of the Administration for Children’s Services. It’s not clear if they were placed in the same homes.
The couple lost custody of their seven sons in 2009, after allegations of abuse. Steiner said one of the boys had bruising on his eyes and was taken to the doctor by his father. The boy later went to school, and authorities had the father arrested on abuse charges, Steiner said. Steiner said there had possibly been a fight at home with other siblings. The criminal abuse allegations against the father were later dropped, he said. A Family Court hearing was scheduled for Oct. 19 in Manhattan.
The parents were working toward regaining custody, Steiner said: They went to parenting classes, attended supervised visits and kept their home immaculate. They regularly attended Family Court hearings and cooperated with authorities.
But Shanel Nadal had an eighth child, Nefertiti, born last year, and did not mention it to authorities. They also lost custody of her, and the birth led to even more problems with Family Court, Steiner said.
“To me that’s atrocious that the city steps in and tells you how many children to have,” Steiner said.
Child welfare officials do not comment on specific cases. But in order to remove a child from a home, there must be a determination of serious safety or risk concerns for a child to remain there.
The agency said it was aware of the parents’ abuse allegations and takes such allegations very seriously. The agency also is investigating how the children were abducted during a supervised visit, a spokesman said.
Nadal disappeared from the 3-acre campus of Forestdale, a nonprofit, privately run foster care center, on Sept. 19. She went there for a scheduled group visit with the children, who were living with three different foster caregivers. Despite the presence of both Forestdale staff and at least some of the foster parents, she slipped away unnoticed with the children during a trip to a vending machine, police said.
Police thought they may have gone to North Carolina, but they ended up in Pennsylvania where they had relatives. The children showed no signs of physical abuse when discovered, and it looked like the family had planned to spend the night in the vehicle.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Abducted children found, claim city abuse
BY BOB DODA
The search for eight children taken from a foster care facility in Forest Hills on September 19 ended at around 10:30 p.m. Monday evening in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Police officials say that Shanel Nadal, 28, of Manhattan, and her husband Nephra Payne are awaiting extradition back to New York City after being found with their eight children – seven boys named Nephra and one 11-month-old girl – preparing to spend the night in a van with no license plates. The Daily News has reported that a joint police effort between NYPD, South Carolina State Police and the FBI were able to track the family through their cell phone and swipes on their welfare benefits card.
While the eight-child escape from a supervised visit with foster parents and Forestdale officials was dramatic enough, Norman Steiner – the parent’s attorney – claims that while in the city’s custody the children were abused. He states that the planned abduction was in the best interest of the children.
“The children were sexually molested while in the care of the city,” said Steiner to The Daily News. “You can’t blame the parents for acting in the children’s best interest. It’s a shame the city failed them.”
Steiner did not release any details regarding the alleged abuse but says he fully expects his clients to be exonerated from any crime.
An attempt to visit and interview Riverdale officials was refuted by workers at the agency who said the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) would speak on their behalf. They issued two statements regarding the apprehension of the family and the allegation of abuse on the city’s behalf:
“It is wonderful that the Payne children have been located and are now safe. Specially-trained staff from ACS will bring the children home to New York City. . . An investigation by ACS is already underway into how the children could have been abducted from the foster care agency during a supervised visit. ACS is reviewing with the foster care agency the protocols it has in place for supervised visits and its campus security system. We will share the results of that investigation once it is completed . . . We are aware of the allegations currently being made by the parents and we take all allegations of abuse seriously. Our immediate concerns are for the well being of the children. We have appropriate mental health professionals working with the children, including experts in trauma and a range of other disciplines.”
The parents will be charged with kidnapping, custodial interference and child endangerment, according to Associated Press reports. Nadal was arraigned and bail was set at $200,000.
Source http://www.queenscourier.com/articles/2011/09/28/news/top_stories/doc4e836b977bd08255418581.txt
The search for eight children taken from a foster care facility in Forest Hills on September 19 ended at around 10:30 p.m. Monday evening in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Police officials say that Shanel Nadal, 28, of Manhattan, and her husband Nephra Payne are awaiting extradition back to New York City after being found with their eight children – seven boys named Nephra and one 11-month-old girl – preparing to spend the night in a van with no license plates. The Daily News has reported that a joint police effort between NYPD, South Carolina State Police and the FBI were able to track the family through their cell phone and swipes on their welfare benefits card.
While the eight-child escape from a supervised visit with foster parents and Forestdale officials was dramatic enough, Norman Steiner – the parent’s attorney – claims that while in the city’s custody the children were abused. He states that the planned abduction was in the best interest of the children.
“The children were sexually molested while in the care of the city,” said Steiner to The Daily News. “You can’t blame the parents for acting in the children’s best interest. It’s a shame the city failed them.”
Steiner did not release any details regarding the alleged abuse but says he fully expects his clients to be exonerated from any crime.
An attempt to visit and interview Riverdale officials was refuted by workers at the agency who said the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) would speak on their behalf. They issued two statements regarding the apprehension of the family and the allegation of abuse on the city’s behalf:
“It is wonderful that the Payne children have been located and are now safe. Specially-trained staff from ACS will bring the children home to New York City. . . An investigation by ACS is already underway into how the children could have been abducted from the foster care agency during a supervised visit. ACS is reviewing with the foster care agency the protocols it has in place for supervised visits and its campus security system. We will share the results of that investigation once it is completed . . . We are aware of the allegations currently being made by the parents and we take all allegations of abuse seriously. Our immediate concerns are for the well being of the children. We have appropriate mental health professionals working with the children, including experts in trauma and a range of other disciplines.”
The parents will be charged with kidnapping, custodial interference and child endangerment, according to Associated Press reports. Nadal was arraigned and bail was set at $200,000.
Source http://www.queenscourier.com/articles/2011/09/28/news/top_stories/doc4e836b977bd08255418581.txt
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Children's Right: Texas' Rick Perry defends dismal treatment of foster care kids
AUSTIN, September 27, 2011—Last March, a child advocacy group filed a lawsuit against the state of Texas, claiming serious problems in that state’s foster care system.
The 89-page lawsuit was filed by the New York-based child advocacy group Children’s Rights on behalf of nine Texas children between the ages of nine and 16.
Among the most common abuses in the Texas system under Governor Perry’s stewardship, is the uprooting of foster care children. Statistics show that, as of 2009, children who had been in the state's custody more than three years had been in an average of 11 different homes or shelters.
The lawsuit alleges that under the leadership of Governor Rick Perry, the state of Texas has allowed these children, and, reportedly 12,000 others, to be bounced from home to home under the foster care system, systematically denying them a right to a permanent family.
The suit also claims that children in the state’s foster care suffer both physical and mental abuse, are denied mental health services, and are routinely separated from siblings.
The suit cites specific examples of the detriment caused by Perry’s administration to foster kids, like one child who wound up in a hospital in Belton, Texas so severely medicated that he was brought in on a stretcher unable to stand or communicate. Another incident is detailed involving a child who was consistently sexually abused by his foster care family chosen by the state.
While the suit seeks no damages, it asks that the state reform and improve its foster care system, which during Perry’s tenure has been seriously compromised due to negligent supervision and outsourced contracts to third parties without accountability.
Governor Rick Perry, who is officially one of the defendants in the suit, had his office issue this innocuous statement in response:
Child protective services has continued to be a priority for the governor, including declaring CPS reform an emergency item in the 2005 legislative session, and taking other steps to further improve the system since then.
The governor believes the elected members of the Texas Legislature, rather than a New York interest group or a federal judge, are better suited to determine how the State of Texas should care for some of our most vulnerable Texans – our children.
The governor expects the agency to continue ensuring Texas children are safe, and receive the proper care and services they need.
Source http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/red-thread-adoptive-family-forum/2011/sep/27/rick-perry-defends-dismal-treatment-foster-care-ki/
The 89-page lawsuit was filed by the New York-based child advocacy group Children’s Rights on behalf of nine Texas children between the ages of nine and 16.
Among the most common abuses in the Texas system under Governor Perry’s stewardship, is the uprooting of foster care children. Statistics show that, as of 2009, children who had been in the state's custody more than three years had been in an average of 11 different homes or shelters.
The lawsuit alleges that under the leadership of Governor Rick Perry, the state of Texas has allowed these children, and, reportedly 12,000 others, to be bounced from home to home under the foster care system, systematically denying them a right to a permanent family.
The suit also claims that children in the state’s foster care suffer both physical and mental abuse, are denied mental health services, and are routinely separated from siblings.
The suit cites specific examples of the detriment caused by Perry’s administration to foster kids, like one child who wound up in a hospital in Belton, Texas so severely medicated that he was brought in on a stretcher unable to stand or communicate. Another incident is detailed involving a child who was consistently sexually abused by his foster care family chosen by the state.
While the suit seeks no damages, it asks that the state reform and improve its foster care system, which during Perry’s tenure has been seriously compromised due to negligent supervision and outsourced contracts to third parties without accountability.
Governor Rick Perry, who is officially one of the defendants in the suit, had his office issue this innocuous statement in response:
Child protective services has continued to be a priority for the governor, including declaring CPS reform an emergency item in the 2005 legislative session, and taking other steps to further improve the system since then.
The governor believes the elected members of the Texas Legislature, rather than a New York interest group or a federal judge, are better suited to determine how the State of Texas should care for some of our most vulnerable Texans – our children.
The governor expects the agency to continue ensuring Texas children are safe, and receive the proper care and services they need.
Source http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/red-thread-adoptive-family-forum/2011/sep/27/rick-perry-defends-dismal-treatment-foster-care-ki/
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
County Commission approves $267,000 settlement in foster care lawsuit
By Joe Schoenmann
Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011 | 12:01 p.m.
Clark County will pay $267,000 to three children allegedly neglected and sexually abused while in foster care.
Steve Sisolak was the only commissioner to question the pre-trial settlement. He made sure wording was added to the payment to mandate as much counseling as needed for the three children, who were pre-teens during the time of the incident, even if that means cutting attorney fees.
"It's a small sum for what these kids went through," he said later. "These kids are really subjected to some horrors. It is a terrible shame."
Little information about the children or what happened to them was provided in county documentation. A case filed on the matter in U.S. District Court alleges that the abuse occurred in 2004. Attorneys were hired for the children's biological parent in 2009.
According to court documents, the foster parent was accused of denying medical care and providing poor supervision, which may have led to sexual abuse of a child or children by a man who was a registered sex offender in Nevada.
In return for the settlement, the plaintiffs, Tim D. Fullmer, et al., has agreed to dismiss their lawsuit against the county.
Foster care in Clark County has for years been the focus of intense scrutiny. In the mid-2000s, stories of children who died in foster care led to a resignation and the hiring of Tom Morton in 2006 to take over.
Morton, credited with helping turn Alabama‚s child welfare system into a national model, arguably improved the system, decreasing caseloads per case worker and ending the warehousing of children in Child Haven.
Morton resigned in August, citing increasing fiscal pressures and a trend indicating that cases per caseworker were once again on the rise, a trend he blamed on the need to cut staff in the face of budget cuts.
Source http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/sep/20/county-commission-approves-settlement-over/
Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011 | 12:01 p.m.
Clark County will pay $267,000 to three children allegedly neglected and sexually abused while in foster care.
Steve Sisolak was the only commissioner to question the pre-trial settlement. He made sure wording was added to the payment to mandate as much counseling as needed for the three children, who were pre-teens during the time of the incident, even if that means cutting attorney fees.
"It's a small sum for what these kids went through," he said later. "These kids are really subjected to some horrors. It is a terrible shame."
Little information about the children or what happened to them was provided in county documentation. A case filed on the matter in U.S. District Court alleges that the abuse occurred in 2004. Attorneys were hired for the children's biological parent in 2009.
According to court documents, the foster parent was accused of denying medical care and providing poor supervision, which may have led to sexual abuse of a child or children by a man who was a registered sex offender in Nevada.
In return for the settlement, the plaintiffs, Tim D. Fullmer, et al., has agreed to dismiss their lawsuit against the county.
Foster care in Clark County has for years been the focus of intense scrutiny. In the mid-2000s, stories of children who died in foster care led to a resignation and the hiring of Tom Morton in 2006 to take over.
Morton, credited with helping turn Alabama‚s child welfare system into a national model, arguably improved the system, decreasing caseloads per case worker and ending the warehousing of children in Child Haven.
Morton resigned in August, citing increasing fiscal pressures and a trend indicating that cases per caseworker were once again on the rise, a trend he blamed on the need to cut staff in the face of budget cuts.
Source http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/sep/20/county-commission-approves-settlement-over/
Suit Filed Over Wrongful Child Abuse Allegation
By John Sullivan
Times Herald-Record
Published: 2:00 AM - 09/16/11
Goshen — A local couple wrongly accused of sexually abusing their child are taking the unusual step of drawing attention to themselves and their legal fight against the questioning of their daughter by Orange County Child Protective Service investigators.
Marie Condoluci and her husband, Steven Phillips, claim that CPS caseworkers had no good reason to question their daughter, then a student at Scotchtown Avenue Elementary School, without their permission in 2010. The investigation, which did not result in charges, stemmed from hearsay allegations that the child's father sexually abused her.
Condoluci and Phillips struggled with anxiety, isolation, and even physical revulsion after the investigation, Condoluci said.
Condoluci, who is a lawyer, filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. Southern District Court in White Plains. Parties named include the county and the Goshen School District. She says that CPS and the school district failed to vet the allegations against the couple before taking their child aside and asking her questions such as "whether Mommy or Daddy ever fight," whether they ever "touched her down there," and who sleeps with her.
Condoluci initially declined to identify herself, her husband or their daughter for fear of the impact on their child. The couple have since removed their daughter, now 7, from the school and taken their fight public. "I thought it's the only way to clear our names," she said.
The lawsuit raises a rare challenge to the practice of hastily conducting child abuse investigations, often on the basis of an anonymous tip to the state's child-abuse hotline.
In Condoluci's case, officials failed to question the fact that the call to the state hot line came from a pastor reporting hearsay about her family from a third-party source, Condoluci said. Condoluci allowed that reasonable cause, such as visible bruises or telling statements by a child, might justify an unfettered CPS investigation. But "that's different from somebody calling and saying I heard from someone else that there were concerns of abuse," she said. Defense lawyers in the case argue that their clients were just following state law. "The law was not violated," said Lewis Silverman, the Manhattan lawyer representing the school district.
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110916/NEWS/109160361
Times Herald-Record
Published: 2:00 AM - 09/16/11
Goshen — A local couple wrongly accused of sexually abusing their child are taking the unusual step of drawing attention to themselves and their legal fight against the questioning of their daughter by Orange County Child Protective Service investigators.
Marie Condoluci and her husband, Steven Phillips, claim that CPS caseworkers had no good reason to question their daughter, then a student at Scotchtown Avenue Elementary School, without their permission in 2010. The investigation, which did not result in charges, stemmed from hearsay allegations that the child's father sexually abused her.
Condoluci and Phillips struggled with anxiety, isolation, and even physical revulsion after the investigation, Condoluci said.
Condoluci, who is a lawyer, filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. Southern District Court in White Plains. Parties named include the county and the Goshen School District. She says that CPS and the school district failed to vet the allegations against the couple before taking their child aside and asking her questions such as "whether Mommy or Daddy ever fight," whether they ever "touched her down there," and who sleeps with her.
Condoluci initially declined to identify herself, her husband or their daughter for fear of the impact on their child. The couple have since removed their daughter, now 7, from the school and taken their fight public. "I thought it's the only way to clear our names," she said.
The lawsuit raises a rare challenge to the practice of hastily conducting child abuse investigations, often on the basis of an anonymous tip to the state's child-abuse hotline.
In Condoluci's case, officials failed to question the fact that the call to the state hot line came from a pastor reporting hearsay about her family from a third-party source, Condoluci said. Condoluci allowed that reasonable cause, such as visible bruises or telling statements by a child, might justify an unfettered CPS investigation. But "that's different from somebody calling and saying I heard from someone else that there were concerns of abuse," she said. Defense lawyers in the case argue that their clients were just following state law. "The law was not violated," said Lewis Silverman, the Manhattan lawyer representing the school district.
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110916/NEWS/109160361
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
4 sue state over abusive Tacoma foster home
Four former foster children sue the state Department of Social and Health Services, saying their foster parents beat, drugged and sexually abused them.
By Christine Clarridge
Seattle Times staff reporter
The state Department of Social and Health Services has been sued by four former foster children who say they were beaten and sexually abused in a Tacoma foster home that never should have been licensed, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday.
The victims were "sexually, physically and psychologically terrorized for the pleasure and profit of their foster-care providers."
"It was not a home," said Jeremy Johnston, an attorney for plaintiffs, who are now adults and living in Tacoma. "It was a house of horrors."
Thomas Shapley, a spokesman for the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), declined to comment on the suit, which was filed in Pierce County Superior Court.
The lawsuit alleges that the former foster parents, Jose and Juanita Miranda, were both on welfare and collecting disability payments when the state licensed them to operate a foster-care home between 1997 and 2003.
Jose Miranda died behind bars in 2009 after he had been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for raping and molesting foster children. His wife died of a drug overdose in Tacoma's McKinley Park in 2006, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that the children were routinely drugged with sleeping pills and forced to engage in sexual acts with Jose Miranda, and the other foster children, in a padlocked room in the basement dedicated to that purpose
The suit also alleges that the Mirandas forced the children to wear diapers and pretend to have bed-wetting issues to increase their foster-care benefits, to eat expired food and consume their own vomit when they were sick.
The foster children were beaten with broomsticks, frying pans and nail-studded sticks, the suit alleges, and forced to clean their foster father after he had used the bathroom. One of the children was forced to wear a dog leash and walk around naked on her hands and knees, the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit charges that DSHS ignored years of complaints from social workers, guardians, teachers, neighbors, relatives, coaches, family friends, parents of the foster children and the children themselves.
According to the lawsuit, DSHS approved Juanita Miranda as a foster parent despite a long history of drug use and criminal violations. Her own two biological children were taken from her by Child Protective Services in California because of drug use and neglect, and she was arrested in that state more than 50 times, the suit alleges.
The suit claims that Juanita Miranda was also under the supervision of Washington's Department of Corrections when she was granted her foster-care license and that DSHS failed to revoke her license even after later receiving reports about her criminal history.
She was never charged with a crime in connection with the abuse, the lawsuit claims.
According to the lawsuit, the abuse began when the children were as young as 5 and continued through their teens.
Tacoma police began an investigation in 2005 after Jose Miranda confessed his crimes to a nurse while he was hospitalized, according to the suit.
Court documents indicate that Jose Miranda was charged in 2007 with three counts of first-degree child rape, two counts of first-degree child molestation and two counts of third-degree assault of a child.
The lawsuit claims Jose and Juanita Miranda should never have been licensed and that their personal histories and their physical and financial circumstances should have made them ineligible to become foster parents.
"There were multiple opportunities for the state to save these children from this nightmare," said Johnston, the attorney for the four former foster children. "But they failed to act."
Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com.
Seattle Times news researcher Miyoko Wolf contributed to this report.
Source http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2015990609_dshslawsuit24m.html
By Christine Clarridge
Seattle Times staff reporter
The state Department of Social and Health Services has been sued by four former foster children who say they were beaten and sexually abused in a Tacoma foster home that never should have been licensed, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday.
The victims were "sexually, physically and psychologically terrorized for the pleasure and profit of their foster-care providers."
"It was not a home," said Jeremy Johnston, an attorney for plaintiffs, who are now adults and living in Tacoma. "It was a house of horrors."
Thomas Shapley, a spokesman for the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), declined to comment on the suit, which was filed in Pierce County Superior Court.
The lawsuit alleges that the former foster parents, Jose and Juanita Miranda, were both on welfare and collecting disability payments when the state licensed them to operate a foster-care home between 1997 and 2003.
Jose Miranda died behind bars in 2009 after he had been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for raping and molesting foster children. His wife died of a drug overdose in Tacoma's McKinley Park in 2006, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that the children were routinely drugged with sleeping pills and forced to engage in sexual acts with Jose Miranda, and the other foster children, in a padlocked room in the basement dedicated to that purpose
The suit also alleges that the Mirandas forced the children to wear diapers and pretend to have bed-wetting issues to increase their foster-care benefits, to eat expired food and consume their own vomit when they were sick.
The foster children were beaten with broomsticks, frying pans and nail-studded sticks, the suit alleges, and forced to clean their foster father after he had used the bathroom. One of the children was forced to wear a dog leash and walk around naked on her hands and knees, the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit charges that DSHS ignored years of complaints from social workers, guardians, teachers, neighbors, relatives, coaches, family friends, parents of the foster children and the children themselves.
According to the lawsuit, DSHS approved Juanita Miranda as a foster parent despite a long history of drug use and criminal violations. Her own two biological children were taken from her by Child Protective Services in California because of drug use and neglect, and she was arrested in that state more than 50 times, the suit alleges.
The suit claims that Juanita Miranda was also under the supervision of Washington's Department of Corrections when she was granted her foster-care license and that DSHS failed to revoke her license even after later receiving reports about her criminal history.
She was never charged with a crime in connection with the abuse, the lawsuit claims.
According to the lawsuit, the abuse began when the children were as young as 5 and continued through their teens.
Tacoma police began an investigation in 2005 after Jose Miranda confessed his crimes to a nurse while he was hospitalized, according to the suit.
Court documents indicate that Jose Miranda was charged in 2007 with three counts of first-degree child rape, two counts of first-degree child molestation and two counts of third-degree assault of a child.
The lawsuit claims Jose and Juanita Miranda should never have been licensed and that their personal histories and their physical and financial circumstances should have made them ineligible to become foster parents.
"There were multiple opportunities for the state to save these children from this nightmare," said Johnston, the attorney for the four former foster children. "But they failed to act."
Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com.
Seattle Times news researcher Miyoko Wolf contributed to this report.
Source http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2015990609_dshslawsuit24m.html
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Funeral Set for 4 year old girl
August 20, 2011 6:53 PM
Ashley Gaston
The Funeral has been set for a 4 year old girl who Investigators say died at the hands of her mothers boyfriend. Breonna Nichole Loftin died Wednesday night. Her funeral service will be 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, August 23, 2011, at Eastgate United Pentecostal Church, 290 South Street, Vidor with burial to follow at Restlawn Memorial Park in Vidor under the direction of Broussard’s, 530 W. Monroe, Kountze. A gathering of her family and friends will be Monday evening, August 22, 2011, from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at Broussard’s.
HARDIN COUNTY - A judge has set bond at more than $1 million each for a mother and boyfriend charged with Injury to a Child in connection with the death of the woman's 4-year-old daughter.
Read the complete affidavit for Jason Delacerda
Read the complete affidavit for Amanda Guidry
State District Court Judge Steve Thomas arraigned Amanda Nichole Guidry, 30, and her boyfriend, Jason Wade Delacerda, 34, Friday afternoon on 1st Degree Felony Charges of Injury to a Child.
He set Delacerda's bond at $2 million and Guidry's at $1.5 million.
The judge appointed attorney Sonny Cribbs to represent Delacerda and Jimmy Hamm to represent Guidry.
Investigators say the child suffered physical and sexual abuse, and neglect, for months.
The Hardin County Sheriff's Office and Child Protective Services are investigating the death of the child in what Sheriff Ed Cain and CPS spokeswoman Shari Pulliam tell KFDM News is "one of the worst child abuse cases" they've ever seen.
District Attorney David Sheffield says additional charges could be filed in the case.
KFDM News has obtained a Probable Cause Affidavit for the arrest of Delacerda and Guidry.
According to the Affidavit, Delacerda admitted making the 4-year-old stand barefoot on water caps.
Investigators spoke with two male juveniles who said they saw him make the girl stand on the bottle caps and observed Delacerda strike the child in the head and torso several times. The juveniles also said they saw him kick the girl several times on her body. Investigators say Delacerda admitted to those actions.
The Affidavit states Guidry told investigators that she observed Delacerda throw the child across the room on one occasion.
The court document indicates he admitted spilling hot coffee on her foot and thigh and causing burns, and he admitted spanking the child so hard with a wooden paddle that he caused injury to her buttocks.
Guedry, according to the document, admits she knew her daughter was being abused and failed to seek medical attention or to report the actions to law enforcement.
The Affidavit states the child suffered a number of injuries that include, numerous broken ribs in various stages of healing, abrasions to her left temple, a bruise in the middle of her forehead, a burn mark on her left chest, a burn to her inner right upper thigh, a burn to the top of her foot, bruising to her vaginal area, severe burns to both buttocks, bruising to her left shoulder, and an old fracture on her left leg.
A neighbor told KFDM News they saw the girl outside only a couple of times. The last time was about two months ago. They told us she was never allowed outside. The neighbor said the mother and boyfriend always had an excuse about why she couldn't come outside to play.
The girl weighed 32 pounds.
"That child suffered months and months of physical abuse, sexual abuse and also neglect," Shari Pulliam with Child Protective Services told KFDM News.
Funeral arrangements for the girl are pending with Broussard's Mortuary in Koutze.
Late Thursday afternoon deputies arrested the mother, Amanda Guidry, 30, and her boyfriend, Jason Delacerda, 34, and jailed them on 1st Degree Felony charges of Injury to a Child. If convicted they could face up to life in prison.
Sheriff Cain says the boyfriend called 911 Wednesday night and an ambulance took the child to Christus Hospital Saint Elizabeth. She died at about midnight. Sheriff's deputies and Child Protective Services began investigating and visited the couple's mobile home off Highway 69 in Kountze. Investigators say there were visible signs of abuse. A preliminary autopsy shows the four-year-old girl died of blunt force trauma to the head. The autopsy report lists the preliminary manner of death as homicide. Toxicology results are pending.
Sheriff Cain said the mother and boyfriend voluntarily came to the Sheriff's Office for questioning Thursday afternoon and were arrested following the questioning.
Shari Pulliam with CPS says investigators with her agency are shaken up after seeing what Pulliam calls abuse the girl suffered. Investigators believe it went on for nearly six months. The Sheriff and Pulliam say it's one of the worst cases of abuse they've ever seen. Pulliam says nearly every one of the girl's ribs was shattered.
"Old fractures and new fractures," said Pulliam. "Almost every rib on this child was fractured. The child had a skull fracture, multiple cigarette burns to the chest. Large burn on her foot and both buttocks."
Cain said the girl had "numerous bruises and burns, basically from head to toe." The Sheriff said she was the victim of severe abuse going on the last several months. According to Cain, his office is consulting with the Hardin County District Attorney's Office and other charges might be filed in the case.
"I've never seen anything this bad," said Sheriff Cain. "Doctors agree and they're saying it's pretty bad. I can't believe it went on this long without anyone bringing it to our attention."
Cain said it hurts him to see children who are abused.
"Any time there's a child involved, they are totally helpless. An adult can help themselves but children like this, they can't help themselves. It's a serious case. It's sad, it's tragic. This child has suffered a lot."
Pulliam says the girl would have turned five in December. According to Pulliam, the girl was malnourished. She weighed only 32 pounds. Pulliam says that's a definite sign of abuse. She says no calls were made to indicate any abuse was going on in the home.
Source http://www.kfdm.com/articles/year-44378-old-funeral.html<>
Ashley Gaston
The Funeral has been set for a 4 year old girl who Investigators say died at the hands of her mothers boyfriend. Breonna Nichole Loftin died Wednesday night. Her funeral service will be 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, August 23, 2011, at Eastgate United Pentecostal Church, 290 South Street, Vidor with burial to follow at Restlawn Memorial Park in Vidor under the direction of Broussard’s, 530 W. Monroe, Kountze. A gathering of her family and friends will be Monday evening, August 22, 2011, from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at Broussard’s.
HARDIN COUNTY - A judge has set bond at more than $1 million each for a mother and boyfriend charged with Injury to a Child in connection with the death of the woman's 4-year-old daughter.
Read the complete affidavit for Jason Delacerda
Read the complete affidavit for Amanda Guidry
State District Court Judge Steve Thomas arraigned Amanda Nichole Guidry, 30, and her boyfriend, Jason Wade Delacerda, 34, Friday afternoon on 1st Degree Felony Charges of Injury to a Child.
He set Delacerda's bond at $2 million and Guidry's at $1.5 million.
The judge appointed attorney Sonny Cribbs to represent Delacerda and Jimmy Hamm to represent Guidry.
Investigators say the child suffered physical and sexual abuse, and neglect, for months.
The Hardin County Sheriff's Office and Child Protective Services are investigating the death of the child in what Sheriff Ed Cain and CPS spokeswoman Shari Pulliam tell KFDM News is "one of the worst child abuse cases" they've ever seen.
District Attorney David Sheffield says additional charges could be filed in the case.
KFDM News has obtained a Probable Cause Affidavit for the arrest of Delacerda and Guidry.
According to the Affidavit, Delacerda admitted making the 4-year-old stand barefoot on water caps.
Investigators spoke with two male juveniles who said they saw him make the girl stand on the bottle caps and observed Delacerda strike the child in the head and torso several times. The juveniles also said they saw him kick the girl several times on her body. Investigators say Delacerda admitted to those actions.
The Affidavit states Guidry told investigators that she observed Delacerda throw the child across the room on one occasion.
The court document indicates he admitted spilling hot coffee on her foot and thigh and causing burns, and he admitted spanking the child so hard with a wooden paddle that he caused injury to her buttocks.
Guedry, according to the document, admits she knew her daughter was being abused and failed to seek medical attention or to report the actions to law enforcement.
The Affidavit states the child suffered a number of injuries that include, numerous broken ribs in various stages of healing, abrasions to her left temple, a bruise in the middle of her forehead, a burn mark on her left chest, a burn to her inner right upper thigh, a burn to the top of her foot, bruising to her vaginal area, severe burns to both buttocks, bruising to her left shoulder, and an old fracture on her left leg.
A neighbor told KFDM News they saw the girl outside only a couple of times. The last time was about two months ago. They told us she was never allowed outside. The neighbor said the mother and boyfriend always had an excuse about why she couldn't come outside to play.
The girl weighed 32 pounds.
"That child suffered months and months of physical abuse, sexual abuse and also neglect," Shari Pulliam with Child Protective Services told KFDM News.
Funeral arrangements for the girl are pending with Broussard's Mortuary in Koutze.
Late Thursday afternoon deputies arrested the mother, Amanda Guidry, 30, and her boyfriend, Jason Delacerda, 34, and jailed them on 1st Degree Felony charges of Injury to a Child. If convicted they could face up to life in prison.
Sheriff Cain says the boyfriend called 911 Wednesday night and an ambulance took the child to Christus Hospital Saint Elizabeth. She died at about midnight. Sheriff's deputies and Child Protective Services began investigating and visited the couple's mobile home off Highway 69 in Kountze. Investigators say there were visible signs of abuse. A preliminary autopsy shows the four-year-old girl died of blunt force trauma to the head. The autopsy report lists the preliminary manner of death as homicide. Toxicology results are pending.
Sheriff Cain said the mother and boyfriend voluntarily came to the Sheriff's Office for questioning Thursday afternoon and were arrested following the questioning.
Shari Pulliam with CPS says investigators with her agency are shaken up after seeing what Pulliam calls abuse the girl suffered. Investigators believe it went on for nearly six months. The Sheriff and Pulliam say it's one of the worst cases of abuse they've ever seen. Pulliam says nearly every one of the girl's ribs was shattered.
"Old fractures and new fractures," said Pulliam. "Almost every rib on this child was fractured. The child had a skull fracture, multiple cigarette burns to the chest. Large burn on her foot and both buttocks."
Cain said the girl had "numerous bruises and burns, basically from head to toe." The Sheriff said she was the victim of severe abuse going on the last several months. According to Cain, his office is consulting with the Hardin County District Attorney's Office and other charges might be filed in the case.
"I've never seen anything this bad," said Sheriff Cain. "Doctors agree and they're saying it's pretty bad. I can't believe it went on this long without anyone bringing it to our attention."
Cain said it hurts him to see children who are abused.
"Any time there's a child involved, they are totally helpless. An adult can help themselves but children like this, they can't help themselves. It's a serious case. It's sad, it's tragic. This child has suffered a lot."
Pulliam says the girl would have turned five in December. According to Pulliam, the girl was malnourished. She weighed only 32 pounds. Pulliam says that's a definite sign of abuse. She says no calls were made to indicate any abuse was going on in the home.
Source http://www.kfdm.com/articles/year-44378-old-funeral.html<>
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