by CRAIG CIVALE
FORNEY, Texas - A Forney family has filed a compliant with the state, claiming that Child Protective Services and Forney ISD failed to tell them about an abuse investigation involving their daughter.
Four-year-old Bella Holt is a special needs student at Henderson Elementary School in Forney. On Jan. 31, school officials were notified by an employee that Holt's teacher reportedly pushed the child to the ground.
"CPS told me she fell on her bottom, hit her elbows, her head, and started crying," her mother, Tana, said.
The district looked into the incident and during the investigation reassigned the teacher to another school. Child Protective Services was also asked to look into the matter.
But at no time was the little girl's family contacted about what was going on.
It wasn't until March 1, four weeks later, they say they received a call from a CPS case worker.
"The first thing out of her mouth was, 'I apoligize for not contacting you,' said Rene Keitch, the child's grandmother.
"She was there four times, observing the child, but not once was her parent, [or] her grandparent notified," she continued. "Not one time."
The family says the case worker interviewed and photographed 4-year-old Bella without their permission.
Child Protective Services would not comment on the incident, or the allegations against their case worker. School district officials confirm Bella's family was not contacted by the school.
A spokesperson for Forney ISD said the teacher's transfer had nothing to do with the investigation, and called the timing of her move a coincidence.
Source http://www.khou.com/news/texas-news/Family-not-notified-about-daughters-alleged-abuse-at-school-142068933.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.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Calif. prof gets prison term for child abuse
The Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO -- A former assistant professor of justice studies at California State University has been sentenced to 37 and 1/2 years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually abusing an infant.
Kenneth Martin Kyle entered the plea in federal court in San Francisco on Thursday to molesting a 5-month old infant in St. Louis, Mo. over several months. He was then sentenced to prison and ordered to pay $50,000 to the victim.
Kyle resigned his position at California State University East Bay after his arrest in March 2010.
Authorities say Kyle acknowledged traveling to St. Louis in 2009 to abuse the infant. He came to authorities' attention after he was allegedly discovered sharing child pornography over a so-called peer-to-peer network.
The infant's mother has pleaded guilty to state molestation charges in St. Louis and still faces federal child pornography charges.
Source http://www.sacbee.com/2012/03/09/4325234/calif-prof-gets-prison-term-for.html
SAN FRANCISCO -- A former assistant professor of justice studies at California State University has been sentenced to 37 and 1/2 years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually abusing an infant.
Kenneth Martin Kyle entered the plea in federal court in San Francisco on Thursday to molesting a 5-month old infant in St. Louis, Mo. over several months. He was then sentenced to prison and ordered to pay $50,000 to the victim.
Kyle resigned his position at California State University East Bay after his arrest in March 2010.
Authorities say Kyle acknowledged traveling to St. Louis in 2009 to abuse the infant. He came to authorities' attention after he was allegedly discovered sharing child pornography over a so-called peer-to-peer network.
The infant's mother has pleaded guilty to state molestation charges in St. Louis and still faces federal child pornography charges.
Source http://www.sacbee.com/2012/03/09/4325234/calif-prof-gets-prison-term-for.html
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Some Child Abuse Offenders Could Be Removed From Database - Conn.
By SHANNON YOUNG, Associated Press
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) _ Low-risk and rehabilitated suspects of child abuse and neglect might soon have the opportunity to have their names removed from the state’s database under legislation being considered by the General Assembly.
The proposed bill would allow offenders on the state’s child abuse and neglect database to appeal their listing after five years if they aren’t involved in any new abuse reports or investigations.
Appeals would be granted to applicants who have rehabilitated themselves or have demonstrated other legitimate reasons for removal. Applicants would be required to submit at least two letters in support of the appeal from competent adults.
If the bill is passed, individuals would be able to begin applying for an appeal as early as July 1.
Currently, anyone identified as a suspect in Department of Children and Families investigations of child abuse and neglect is listed in a registry for such offenses, even if the individual is not convicted of a civil or criminal offense. Those listed in the registry can initially appeal the listing and can appeal it in court, if necessary.
However, if they lose the appeal, they are permanently placed in the DCF child abuse database.
The database, unlike the sex offender registry, is private and not available to the public. Employers who work with children, however, can contact DCF with a release, signed by the potential employee, to verify that the individual doesn’t present a risk to kids.
Because of this, some argue that while the registry was created to ultimately protect children, it can permanently damage the reputation of suspected offenders and subject them to unemployment.
Michael Agranoff, an attorney specializing in DCF cases, said he has been pushing the state legislature to adapt this measure. He said that while he is successful in winning appeals for some clients, Connecticut has very few DCF attorneys for adults and not every person accused can afford representation.
Agranoff said he has seen hundreds of people successfully rehabilitate themselves. He said no one should be subject to a potential lifetime of unemployment without being allowed to defend him or herself.
Thomas DeMatteo, the assistant agency legal director for DCF, said the agency supports the proposed legislation and is willing to give listed individuals a second look. Thousands of names are on the child abuse and neglect registry, he said.
“DCF works on the basis that people can rehabilitate themselves,” DeMatteo said.
He said, now, around 30 percent of all alleged offenders who appeal their listing are successful.
Despite DCF’s support, some child advocate agencies and activists have raised concerns over the bill’s lack of details and potential effects on other registries.
Mickey Kramer, with the state’s Office of the Child Advocate, said that while the bill sounds like a fair concept, she believes the proposed appeals process needs to be carefully scrutinized and, if passed, applied consistently across the state.
“The devil is in the details, which this legislation doesn’t address,” she said.
Kramer said she agrees with the concept of the legislation but thinks it needs to be more specific before she could support it outright. She said she will likely testify at the hearing.
Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield, ranking member of the legislature’s Judiciary Committee, also raised concerns over the bill’s lack of details, specifically what qualifies a suspected offender as “rehabilitated.” He said he’d like to see a more specific definition of the term and learn more about how a person would be evaluated.
“God forbid someone gets off of the registry and harms another child,” Kissel said.
The Judiciary Committee will hear opinions on the bill at a Wednesday morning public hearing at the Legislative Office Building.
Wallingford Republican Sen. Len Suzio said the Select Committee on Children, on which he serves as ranking member, reviewed identical legislation on the issue before ultimately removing it from the bill.
He said that among other things, the committee questioned how the process of removing a person’s name from the child abuse and neglect registry would work when a suspected offender could potentially still be listed on the state’s sex offender registry.
Like Suzio, Karen Jarmoc, the executive director of the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence, also expressed concerns on the relation between the child abuse and sex offender registries.
Jarmoc said allowing offenders to remove their names from the child abuse and neglect database may open the door for individuals to try and get their names off of other lists, like the sex offender registry.
She said the legislature needs to be careful that it doesn’t create a precedent for this type of name removal.
Last year, similar legislation that included a section concerning parental consent for children being interviewed by DCF failed to make it to the floor for a vote in the Senate. This year, the measures are separated into two bills.
Bill supporters are optimistic that the name removal legislation could be passed this session, as DCF is once again behind the measure.
Source http://connecticut.cbslocal.com/2012/03/08/some-child-abuse-offenders-could-be-removed-from-database/
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) _ Low-risk and rehabilitated suspects of child abuse and neglect might soon have the opportunity to have their names removed from the state’s database under legislation being considered by the General Assembly.
The proposed bill would allow offenders on the state’s child abuse and neglect database to appeal their listing after five years if they aren’t involved in any new abuse reports or investigations.
Appeals would be granted to applicants who have rehabilitated themselves or have demonstrated other legitimate reasons for removal. Applicants would be required to submit at least two letters in support of the appeal from competent adults.
If the bill is passed, individuals would be able to begin applying for an appeal as early as July 1.
Currently, anyone identified as a suspect in Department of Children and Families investigations of child abuse and neglect is listed in a registry for such offenses, even if the individual is not convicted of a civil or criminal offense. Those listed in the registry can initially appeal the listing and can appeal it in court, if necessary.
However, if they lose the appeal, they are permanently placed in the DCF child abuse database.
The database, unlike the sex offender registry, is private and not available to the public. Employers who work with children, however, can contact DCF with a release, signed by the potential employee, to verify that the individual doesn’t present a risk to kids.
Because of this, some argue that while the registry was created to ultimately protect children, it can permanently damage the reputation of suspected offenders and subject them to unemployment.
Michael Agranoff, an attorney specializing in DCF cases, said he has been pushing the state legislature to adapt this measure. He said that while he is successful in winning appeals for some clients, Connecticut has very few DCF attorneys for adults and not every person accused can afford representation.
Agranoff said he has seen hundreds of people successfully rehabilitate themselves. He said no one should be subject to a potential lifetime of unemployment without being allowed to defend him or herself.
Thomas DeMatteo, the assistant agency legal director for DCF, said the agency supports the proposed legislation and is willing to give listed individuals a second look. Thousands of names are on the child abuse and neglect registry, he said.
“DCF works on the basis that people can rehabilitate themselves,” DeMatteo said.
He said, now, around 30 percent of all alleged offenders who appeal their listing are successful.
Despite DCF’s support, some child advocate agencies and activists have raised concerns over the bill’s lack of details and potential effects on other registries.
Mickey Kramer, with the state’s Office of the Child Advocate, said that while the bill sounds like a fair concept, she believes the proposed appeals process needs to be carefully scrutinized and, if passed, applied consistently across the state.
“The devil is in the details, which this legislation doesn’t address,” she said.
Kramer said she agrees with the concept of the legislation but thinks it needs to be more specific before she could support it outright. She said she will likely testify at the hearing.
Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield, ranking member of the legislature’s Judiciary Committee, also raised concerns over the bill’s lack of details, specifically what qualifies a suspected offender as “rehabilitated.” He said he’d like to see a more specific definition of the term and learn more about how a person would be evaluated.
“God forbid someone gets off of the registry and harms another child,” Kissel said.
The Judiciary Committee will hear opinions on the bill at a Wednesday morning public hearing at the Legislative Office Building.
Wallingford Republican Sen. Len Suzio said the Select Committee on Children, on which he serves as ranking member, reviewed identical legislation on the issue before ultimately removing it from the bill.
He said that among other things, the committee questioned how the process of removing a person’s name from the child abuse and neglect registry would work when a suspected offender could potentially still be listed on the state’s sex offender registry.
Like Suzio, Karen Jarmoc, the executive director of the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence, also expressed concerns on the relation between the child abuse and sex offender registries.
Jarmoc said allowing offenders to remove their names from the child abuse and neglect database may open the door for individuals to try and get their names off of other lists, like the sex offender registry.
She said the legislature needs to be careful that it doesn’t create a precedent for this type of name removal.
Last year, similar legislation that included a section concerning parental consent for children being interviewed by DCF failed to make it to the floor for a vote in the Senate. This year, the measures are separated into two bills.
Bill supporters are optimistic that the name removal legislation could be passed this session, as DCF is once again behind the measure.
Source http://connecticut.cbslocal.com/2012/03/08/some-child-abuse-offenders-could-be-removed-from-database/
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Occupy the American Psychiatric Association Convention Protest May 5th
We got an email from PsychRights that we would like to share.
--
Hi All,
Below is the News Release MindFreedom just issued regarding the Occupy the APA protest on May 5th in Philadelphia. I hope you can come. PsychRights is coming with a limited number of t-shirts with the following design for people who come to the Protest. To reserve yours, occupy@psychrights.org with your name and size.
I hope to see you there.
Also, MindFreedom is devoting its monthly radio show to the Occupy the APA protest and I will be on this Saturday, March 10th, at 2 pm Eastern Time. People are encouraged to call in.
Press Release - For immediate release
Protesters, Rejecting Mental Illness Labels, Vow to "Occupy" the American Psychiatric Association Convention
PHILADELPHIA (3/6/12) - On Saturday, May 5, 2012, as thousands of psychiatrists congregate in Philadelphia for the American Psychiatric Association (APA) Annual Meeting, individuals with psychiatric labels and other supporters will converge in a global campaign to oppose the APA's proposed new edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), scheduled for publication in May 2013. Occupy the APA will include distinguished speakers from 10 a.m. to noon at Friends Center (1515 Cherry Street, Philadelphia). A march at 1 p.m. from Friends Center will lead to the Pennsylvania Convention Center (12th and Arch Streets), where the group will protest beginning at 1:30 while the APA meets inside.
"This peaceful protest exposes the fact that the DSM-5 pushes the mental health industry to medicalize problems that aren't medical, inevitably leading to over-prescription of psychiatric drugs - including for people experiencing natural human emotions, such as grief and shyness," said David Oaks, founder and director of MindFreedom International (MFI), which has worked for 26 years as an independent voice of survivors of psychiatric human rights violations. "We call for better ways to help individuals in extreme emotional distress."
Other speakers criticizing the revised manual, considered the psychiatric industry's bible, include Brent Robbins, Ph.D., Secretary of the Society for Humanistic Psychology, which has gathered more than 8,000 signatures from mental health professionals calling for "developing an alternative approach" to the DSM.
Jim Gottstein, Esq., founder and president of the Alaska-based Law Project for Psychiatric Rights (PsychRights), will cross the country to speak. "The public mental health system is creating a huge class of chronic mental patients through forcing them to take ineffective yet extremely harmful drugs. As the APA gets ready to do even more harm with its proposed expansion of what constitutes mental illness, I want to be there in person to participate in the protest."
Occupy the APA will begin at 10 a.m. at Friends Center (1515 Cherry Street, Philadelphia), where the speakers will also include Dr. Paula Caplan, a psychologist, playwright and activist from California; Dr. Al Galves, director of the International Society for Ethical Psychology & Psychiatry (ISEPP); Joseph Rogers, chief advocacy officer of the Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania (MHASP); and Dr. Stefan P. Kruszewski, a whistleblower who was fired by the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare after he reported the abuse and deaths of Pennsylvania children as a result of systemic physical and psychiatric malfeasance. His subsequent federal lawsuit was successfully settled in 2007.
"We will promote humane alternatives to the traditional mental health system, such as peer support, which evidence proves is effective in helping individuals recover from severe emotional distress," Oaks said. "Our protest is about choice, and everyone is welcome."
Contact: David Oaks, MFI, boycott@mindfreedom.org, 541-345-9106
James B. (Jim) Gottstein, Esq.
President/CEO
Law Project for Psychiatric Rights
406 G Street, Suite 206
Anchorage, Alaska 99501
USA
Phone: (907) 274-7686) Fax: (907) 274-9493
jim.gottstein@psychrights.org
http://psychrights.org/
PsychRights®
Law Project for Psychiatric Rights
The Law Project for Psychiatric Rights is a public interest law firm devoted to the defense of people facing the horrors of forced psychiatric drugging and electroshock. We are further dedicated to exposing the truth about these drugs and the courts being misled into ordering people to be drugged and subjected to other brain and body damaging interventions against their will. Currently, due to massive growth in psychiatric drugging of children and youth and the current targeting of them for even more psychiatric drugging, PsychRights has made attacking this problem a priority. Children are virtually always forced to take these drugs because it is the adults in their lives who are making the decision. This is an unfolding national tragedy of immense proportions. Extensive information about all of this is available on our web site, http://psychrights.org/. Please donate generously. Our work is fueled with your IRS 501(c) tax deductible donations. Thank you for your ongoing help and support.
--
Hi All,
Below is the News Release MindFreedom just issued regarding the Occupy the APA protest on May 5th in Philadelphia. I hope you can come. PsychRights is coming with a limited number of t-shirts with the following design for people who come to the Protest. To reserve yours, occupy@psychrights.org with your name and size.
I hope to see you there. Also, MindFreedom is devoting its monthly radio show to the Occupy the APA protest and I will be on this Saturday, March 10th, at 2 pm Eastern Time. People are encouraged to call in.
Press Release - For immediate release
Protesters, Rejecting Mental Illness Labels, Vow to "Occupy" the American Psychiatric Association Convention
PHILADELPHIA (3/6/12) - On Saturday, May 5, 2012, as thousands of psychiatrists congregate in Philadelphia for the American Psychiatric Association (APA) Annual Meeting, individuals with psychiatric labels and other supporters will converge in a global campaign to oppose the APA's proposed new edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), scheduled for publication in May 2013. Occupy the APA will include distinguished speakers from 10 a.m. to noon at Friends Center (1515 Cherry Street, Philadelphia). A march at 1 p.m. from Friends Center will lead to the Pennsylvania Convention Center (12th and Arch Streets), where the group will protest beginning at 1:30 while the APA meets inside.
"This peaceful protest exposes the fact that the DSM-5 pushes the mental health industry to medicalize problems that aren't medical, inevitably leading to over-prescription of psychiatric drugs - including for people experiencing natural human emotions, such as grief and shyness," said David Oaks, founder and director of MindFreedom International (MFI), which has worked for 26 years as an independent voice of survivors of psychiatric human rights violations. "We call for better ways to help individuals in extreme emotional distress."
Other speakers criticizing the revised manual, considered the psychiatric industry's bible, include Brent Robbins, Ph.D., Secretary of the Society for Humanistic Psychology, which has gathered more than 8,000 signatures from mental health professionals calling for "developing an alternative approach" to the DSM.
Jim Gottstein, Esq., founder and president of the Alaska-based Law Project for Psychiatric Rights (PsychRights), will cross the country to speak. "The public mental health system is creating a huge class of chronic mental patients through forcing them to take ineffective yet extremely harmful drugs. As the APA gets ready to do even more harm with its proposed expansion of what constitutes mental illness, I want to be there in person to participate in the protest."
Occupy the APA will begin at 10 a.m. at Friends Center (1515 Cherry Street, Philadelphia), where the speakers will also include Dr. Paula Caplan, a psychologist, playwright and activist from California; Dr. Al Galves, director of the International Society for Ethical Psychology & Psychiatry (ISEPP); Joseph Rogers, chief advocacy officer of the Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania (MHASP); and Dr. Stefan P. Kruszewski, a whistleblower who was fired by the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare after he reported the abuse and deaths of Pennsylvania children as a result of systemic physical and psychiatric malfeasance. His subsequent federal lawsuit was successfully settled in 2007.
"We will promote humane alternatives to the traditional mental health system, such as peer support, which evidence proves is effective in helping individuals recover from severe emotional distress," Oaks said. "Our protest is about choice, and everyone is welcome."
Contact: David Oaks, MFI, boycott@mindfreedom.org, 541-345-9106
James B. (Jim) Gottstein, Esq.
President/CEO
Law Project for Psychiatric Rights
406 G Street, Suite 206
Anchorage, Alaska 99501
USA
Phone: (907) 274-7686) Fax: (907) 274-9493
jim.gottstein@psychrights.org
http://psychrights.org/
PsychRights®
Law Project for Psychiatric Rights
The Law Project for Psychiatric Rights is a public interest law firm devoted to the defense of people facing the horrors of forced psychiatric drugging and electroshock. We are further dedicated to exposing the truth about these drugs and the courts being misled into ordering people to be drugged and subjected to other brain and body damaging interventions against their will. Currently, due to massive growth in psychiatric drugging of children and youth and the current targeting of them for even more psychiatric drugging, PsychRights has made attacking this problem a priority. Children are virtually always forced to take these drugs because it is the adults in their lives who are making the decision. This is an unfolding national tragedy of immense proportions. Extensive information about all of this is available on our web site, http://psychrights.org/. Please donate generously. Our work is fueled with your IRS 501(c) tax deductible donations. Thank you for your ongoing help and support.
No autopsy of Monroe child despite police requests
Police say examiner's office ignored their concerns about child's death
By Noah Haglund, Diana Hefley and Rikki King
MONROE -- Police say they repeatedly tried to tell the Snohomish County Medical Examiner's Office that a 7-year-old boy who showed up dead at a Monroe hospital had a history of mistreatment and neglect.
Police wanted an autopsy and called at least three times to make their case. They were given "a dismissive 'no,'" Monroe police spokeswoman Debbie Willis said Tuesday.
State officials confirmed that a social worker witnessed at least one of those conversations, and the detective mentioned Child Protective Services' past involvement with the boy's family.
Still, the medical examiner's office ruled the boy's death "low suspicion." His body was released and cremated without an autopsy. Two weeks later, toxicology tests ordered by the medical examiner came back showing the boy died with lethal amounts of what appears to be over-the-counter painkillers in his system.
Police are investigating the death as a potential manslaughter. The case is complicated by a lack of evidence from a body, little cooperation from the boy's parents and possible missteps in how his death investigation was handled. National experts say there aren't clear-cut policies for when a child death investigation requires an autopsy.
The boy, identified in court papers only as "A.J." of Monroe, was pronounced dead Jan. 30. His father brought the boy into the hospital emergency room unresponsive, nearly 40 minutes after he said he found the boy "ash white," the documents showed.
In the days after the boy's death, a detective called the medical examiner's office at least twice to request an autopsy, Willis said. A sergeant called, as well.
The detective attempted to explain that he'd investigated the boy's parents in a reckless endangerment case two years before, she said.
"It was a dismissive 'no,' they were not going to do an autopsy," she said. "They asked if we had documentation of any physical abuse, and we said no."
The medical examiner representative reportedly told the detective that if police wanted to send documents, they'd be reviewed, Willis said. They asked for no additional information.
"The detective felt at that point that we'd had three dismissive phone calls, they're not listening, and we have an investigation to continue here, and did not send any reports to them," Willis said.
The Snohomish County Executive's Office, which oversees the medical examiner, has declined to discuss any specifics of the case, citing the ongoing police investigation.
Police look into deaths that may involve crimes, but the medical examiner's office determines how someone died and whether the death was natural, an accident or the result of someone else's actions.
A determination on the boy's manner of death is pending, meaning there's not enough information.
State toxicologists reported finding lethal amounts of salicylates in the boy's blood. Salicylates are common in aspirin and other over-the-counter drugs.
The tests determine the presence and amount of the drug in the blood, not how it was ingested.
An autopsy would have answered important questions, such as whether there were pills in the boy's stomach. Even without that evidence, authorities still should be able to investigate, said Janice Ophoven, a Minnesota-based pediatric forensic pathologist who has consulted on cases nationally and abroad.
"In this particular case, we have a cause of death -- that's not going to be in dispute," Ophoven said. "Then the question becomes how did that stuff get in there, and is there a reasonable explanation for that?"
Salicylate poisoning generally causes noticeable symptoms that last hours before death, she said. Those include breathing problems, nausea and vomiting.
"Assuming that the numbers are reported accurately and this is a fatal dose, somebody is going to have to answer the question of what the family thought when they saw signs of salicylate poisoning," Ophoven said.
The case ultimately will come down to "good police work in the days and weeks to come," she said.
Job defies policy
There are no policies to tell forensic pathologists in Snohomish County, or anywhere else, exactly when to perform autopsies. Instead, death investigators must rely on their training and experience to make the right call.
"The almost infinite varieties in ways that people die makes it impossible to write a policy to deal with every kind of death," said Dr. Andrew Baker, spokesman for the National Association of Medical Examiners and medical examiner for Hennepin County, Minn.
Baker added: "Whether one is done is only a piece of the much larger puzzle. Whether you do one or not depends on what historical information is available to you."
A former associate pathologist for Snohomish County said the information from Child Protective Services should have made a decision on the Monroe boy's case an easy call.
"To me, it's obligatory to do an autopsy in this case if the medical examiner knew of the CPS reports," said Dr. Carl Wigren, who left Snohomish County in 2009 and now consults with coroners, attorneys and families.
The child's father pleaded guilty in 2010 to reckless endangerment after police discovered his children living in deplorable conditions. The children, then 10 and 5, were removed from the home for three months. Before then, state social workers investigated numerous allegations of mistreatment involving the couple's two sons, including a report that the older boy, now 12, had been given a double dose of anti-seizure medication on at least two occasions.
Both boys were severely developmentally delayed, but doctors haven't found genetic or neurological reasons. The older boy has been removed from the home.
Timeline still unclear
What also remains unclear is the timeline of events between the younger boy having medical trouble and the hospital declaring him dead, police said.
His father said the boy was breathing and alive when they left the home, but the emergency room doctor said when they arrived, the boy appeared to be in the early stages of rigor mortis, which happens hours after death.
Child Protective Services received notice from the hospital about the younger boy's death, said Sherry Hill, spokeswoman for the state Department of Social and Health Services
A social worker was investigating the case by 10 a.m. that morning. That included contacting Monroe police to ask if they would be assigning a detective.
Generally, hospitals contact CPS or law enforcement when the child's death is unexpected.
The social worker was in frequent contact with the detective. The social worker noted that she was there when the detective called the medical examiner's office. During that conversation, the detective conveyed the family's history with CPS. CPS officials never received a request from the medical examiner to see those reports, Hill said.
"We felt assured that the M.E. was aware of the history of this family," Hill said.
The social worker noted that the medical examiner expected to determine a cause of death that day. The social worker noted that the medical examiner planned to complete a toxicology screen and a full body scan to determine if there were any signs of abuse or neglect, Hill said.
Once the medical examiner concluded that the death wasn't suspicious, the social worker talked with the family about the possibility of doing an autopsy. She advised the family that an autopsy could be helpful to determine what caused the boy's seizures, which could be helpful to their care of their older son. The social worker made it clear that the family would need to request a full autopsy.
The social worker reported that the parents said they would consult with their own doctors and "take care of it."
Officials with the Children's Administration plan to convene a child fatality review. The law calls for a review when a child dies of suspected neglect or abuse and has received services from the state in the past year.
Shortly after A.J.'s death, leaders at his school broke the news to students and families.
A.J. was in a first-grade class.
"He faced many health challenges in his short life and we will miss him," Fryelands Elementary School Principal Jeff Presley wrote at the time. "A.J. was a wonderful member of our school family and our thoughts are with his parents and brother."
Source http://heraldnet.com/article/20120307/NEWS01/703079869/-1/News
By Noah Haglund, Diana Hefley and Rikki King
MONROE -- Police say they repeatedly tried to tell the Snohomish County Medical Examiner's Office that a 7-year-old boy who showed up dead at a Monroe hospital had a history of mistreatment and neglect.
Police wanted an autopsy and called at least three times to make their case. They were given "a dismissive 'no,'" Monroe police spokeswoman Debbie Willis said Tuesday.
State officials confirmed that a social worker witnessed at least one of those conversations, and the detective mentioned Child Protective Services' past involvement with the boy's family.
Still, the medical examiner's office ruled the boy's death "low suspicion." His body was released and cremated without an autopsy. Two weeks later, toxicology tests ordered by the medical examiner came back showing the boy died with lethal amounts of what appears to be over-the-counter painkillers in his system.
Police are investigating the death as a potential manslaughter. The case is complicated by a lack of evidence from a body, little cooperation from the boy's parents and possible missteps in how his death investigation was handled. National experts say there aren't clear-cut policies for when a child death investigation requires an autopsy.
The boy, identified in court papers only as "A.J." of Monroe, was pronounced dead Jan. 30. His father brought the boy into the hospital emergency room unresponsive, nearly 40 minutes after he said he found the boy "ash white," the documents showed.
In the days after the boy's death, a detective called the medical examiner's office at least twice to request an autopsy, Willis said. A sergeant called, as well.
The detective attempted to explain that he'd investigated the boy's parents in a reckless endangerment case two years before, she said.
"It was a dismissive 'no,' they were not going to do an autopsy," she said. "They asked if we had documentation of any physical abuse, and we said no."
The medical examiner representative reportedly told the detective that if police wanted to send documents, they'd be reviewed, Willis said. They asked for no additional information.
"The detective felt at that point that we'd had three dismissive phone calls, they're not listening, and we have an investigation to continue here, and did not send any reports to them," Willis said.
The Snohomish County Executive's Office, which oversees the medical examiner, has declined to discuss any specifics of the case, citing the ongoing police investigation.
Police look into deaths that may involve crimes, but the medical examiner's office determines how someone died and whether the death was natural, an accident or the result of someone else's actions.
A determination on the boy's manner of death is pending, meaning there's not enough information.
State toxicologists reported finding lethal amounts of salicylates in the boy's blood. Salicylates are common in aspirin and other over-the-counter drugs.
The tests determine the presence and amount of the drug in the blood, not how it was ingested.
An autopsy would have answered important questions, such as whether there were pills in the boy's stomach. Even without that evidence, authorities still should be able to investigate, said Janice Ophoven, a Minnesota-based pediatric forensic pathologist who has consulted on cases nationally and abroad.
"In this particular case, we have a cause of death -- that's not going to be in dispute," Ophoven said. "Then the question becomes how did that stuff get in there, and is there a reasonable explanation for that?"
Salicylate poisoning generally causes noticeable symptoms that last hours before death, she said. Those include breathing problems, nausea and vomiting.
"Assuming that the numbers are reported accurately and this is a fatal dose, somebody is going to have to answer the question of what the family thought when they saw signs of salicylate poisoning," Ophoven said.
The case ultimately will come down to "good police work in the days and weeks to come," she said.
Job defies policy
There are no policies to tell forensic pathologists in Snohomish County, or anywhere else, exactly when to perform autopsies. Instead, death investigators must rely on their training and experience to make the right call.
"The almost infinite varieties in ways that people die makes it impossible to write a policy to deal with every kind of death," said Dr. Andrew Baker, spokesman for the National Association of Medical Examiners and medical examiner for Hennepin County, Minn.
Baker added: "Whether one is done is only a piece of the much larger puzzle. Whether you do one or not depends on what historical information is available to you."
A former associate pathologist for Snohomish County said the information from Child Protective Services should have made a decision on the Monroe boy's case an easy call.
"To me, it's obligatory to do an autopsy in this case if the medical examiner knew of the CPS reports," said Dr. Carl Wigren, who left Snohomish County in 2009 and now consults with coroners, attorneys and families.
The child's father pleaded guilty in 2010 to reckless endangerment after police discovered his children living in deplorable conditions. The children, then 10 and 5, were removed from the home for three months. Before then, state social workers investigated numerous allegations of mistreatment involving the couple's two sons, including a report that the older boy, now 12, had been given a double dose of anti-seizure medication on at least two occasions.
Both boys were severely developmentally delayed, but doctors haven't found genetic or neurological reasons. The older boy has been removed from the home.
Timeline still unclear
What also remains unclear is the timeline of events between the younger boy having medical trouble and the hospital declaring him dead, police said.
His father said the boy was breathing and alive when they left the home, but the emergency room doctor said when they arrived, the boy appeared to be in the early stages of rigor mortis, which happens hours after death.
Child Protective Services received notice from the hospital about the younger boy's death, said Sherry Hill, spokeswoman for the state Department of Social and Health Services
A social worker was investigating the case by 10 a.m. that morning. That included contacting Monroe police to ask if they would be assigning a detective.
Generally, hospitals contact CPS or law enforcement when the child's death is unexpected.
The social worker was in frequent contact with the detective. The social worker noted that she was there when the detective called the medical examiner's office. During that conversation, the detective conveyed the family's history with CPS. CPS officials never received a request from the medical examiner to see those reports, Hill said.
"We felt assured that the M.E. was aware of the history of this family," Hill said.
The social worker noted that the medical examiner expected to determine a cause of death that day. The social worker noted that the medical examiner planned to complete a toxicology screen and a full body scan to determine if there were any signs of abuse or neglect, Hill said.
Once the medical examiner concluded that the death wasn't suspicious, the social worker talked with the family about the possibility of doing an autopsy. She advised the family that an autopsy could be helpful to determine what caused the boy's seizures, which could be helpful to their care of their older son. The social worker made it clear that the family would need to request a full autopsy.
The social worker reported that the parents said they would consult with their own doctors and "take care of it."
Officials with the Children's Administration plan to convene a child fatality review. The law calls for a review when a child dies of suspected neglect or abuse and has received services from the state in the past year.
Shortly after A.J.'s death, leaders at his school broke the news to students and families.
A.J. was in a first-grade class.
"He faced many health challenges in his short life and we will miss him," Fryelands Elementary School Principal Jeff Presley wrote at the time. "A.J. was a wonderful member of our school family and our thoughts are with his parents and brother."
Source http://heraldnet.com/article/20120307/NEWS01/703079869/-1/News
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