Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Month--why are the roles of custodial dads being ignored? (Lafayette, Indiana)

During Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness month, there are bound to be dozens and dozens of articles just like this one. Concerned citizens remembering murdered children in their locality. All very sweet, but for the most part, these articles will completely avoid some of the real issues.

Notice this story from Lafayette, Indiana about Aiyana Gauvin who wasn't just "brutally abused." This child was tortured and murdered at the hands of her father WHO IS NOT NAMED HERE (but whose name was CHRISTIAN GAUVIN) and her stepmother. Second, though it's airbrushed out of this particular article (since, after all, this is Indiana, a big stronghold for fathers rights), this father was CUSTODIAL. In fact, the little girl's mother had contacted the authorities before about her concerns--but had been ignored. The police officer sent out to the home to check on the girl's welfare not only failed to do so, but lied about not seeing her in a lawsuit deposition. Yup, we're very friendly to custodial daddies in Indiana. Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge.

It's all very nice to do all the handwringing and gnashing of teeth about how awful it is that mean, nasty "people" kill kids, but we can no longer afford to ignore the role that judges, the family courts, the police, and CPS play in setting up these murders. We must start holding these people accountable if we are ever to see a reduction in child abuse and murders.

Here's the real story of who contributed to this little girl's torture murder (see complete timeline here: Chronology of Events: Aiyana Gauvin Case)

October 22, 2003: Judge Loretta Rush orders unsupervised visits between Aiyana and Christian Gauvin, with the intent of transitioning her into the father’s home after fairly minor neglect charges against the mother had apparently been "substantiated."

December 6, 2003: Aiyana moves in with Christian Gauvin based on plan recommended by Aiyana’s court appointed special advocate (CASA) and approved by the court and the Division of Family and Children (DFC). Aiyana apparently loses all contact with maternal grandmother, mother, siblings, shortly after this time, though Judge Rush had specified that she was to have "regular contact" (i.e. custodial father ignores Judge's order with complete impunity).

June 5, 2004: Aiyana’s maternal grandmother contacts sheriff’s department after neighbor sees Aiyana at a grocery story with scratch marks on her face.  Sheriff  Deputy Glen Keller visits home; talks at the door with Christian Gauvin and Michelle Urbanus. (In other words, Keller failed to examine the child.) Keller reports to radio dispatcher that Aiyana is OK and has no visible marks.  No record of visit is filed with CPS.   The Tippecanoe county sheriff’s office received 38 calls regarding the Urbanus household from 2000-2004, but this was only one of two that involved a child’s welfare; most were made by Michelle Urbanus herself regarding disputes with neighbors.

February 18, 2005: The father of one of Aiyana’s siblings visits the Urbanus home. Aiyana appears sad and listless; he notices bald spots on Aiyana’s head.  He shares this with Cassandra Robinson (Aiyana's non-custodial mother), who contacts Tippecanoe DFC alleging that Aiyana is being abused by Michelle Urbanus.  The report is “screened” by a CPS case manager and not investigated because “inappropriate discipline does not meet legal sufficiency for CPS to investigate.”

March 16, 2005:  Sheriff’s deputies respond to a 911 call from the Urbanus home and find 4-year old Aiyana dead.  Police find bruises all over Aiyana’s body.  Michelle Urbanus Gauvin tells police she occasionally struck Aiyana with a broken cutting board and put her to bed bound and gagged. Christian Gauvin admits he did not seek medical treatment for his daughter because he feared being arrested for abuse.

March 19, 2005: An autopsy reveals Aiyana died from a head injury and blunt force trauma.

March 23, 2005: Michelle Urbanus Gauvin charged with murder; Christian Gauvin charged with neglect in connection with a child’s death (a felony).

April 8, 2005: Jim Klusman, President and CEO of the Greater Lafayette Community Foundation, writes a guest editorial in Lafayette Journal and Courier. He cautions against “finger pointing” (in other words, let's not actually hold any governnment officials responsible for their incompetence and/or corruption) and announces the foundation will “seek solutions to the problems of child abuse and neglect in our community.” (i.e. let's make polite, sympathetic noises until everybody forgets this latest outrage, then we'll sweep it under the carpet and go back to business as usual). He asks citizens to write with "their thoughts." The Community foundation sponsors three "public forums on child abuse and neglect" between April and October 2005.

November 2-3, 2005:  Sheriff’s Deputy Glen Keller resigns after admitting he never saw Aiyana Gauvin during his June 5, 2004 visit to the Urbanus home, and fabricated his report. 

December 21, 2005: Former Tippecanoe County sheriff’s deputy, Glen Keller, pleads guilty to felony perjury; sentenced to six months in jail.

September 15, 2006: Michelle Urbanus Gauvin avoids the death penalty by pleading guilty to murder.

October 26, 2006: Michelle Gauvin sentenced to life in prison without parole.

November 2, 2006:  A LaPorte Country jury finds Christian Gauvin guilty of Class A felony neglect of a dependent. 

http://www.wlfi.com/dpp/news/local/many-vow-to-stop-and-prevent-child-abuse

Many vow to stop child abuse
April Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness monthUpdated: Friday, 01 Apr 2011, 6:56 PM EDT
Published : Friday, 01 Apr 2011, 4:28 PM EDT

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Rickie Feldt knows the horror of child abuse and neglect. Her good friend's daughter died in 2005 at the hands of child abuse.

"Aiyana Gauvin was brutally abused by her stepmother and father. That really affected myself and my children and all of our friends," Feldt said.

She is now helping in the crusade to prevent this tragedy from happening again.

"This child was only four years old. She didn't have a voice. She had a voice, she didn't have a choice," Feldt said.

Court Appointed Special Advocate for children (CASA) volunteer Val Hilbun has been a voice for abused and neglected children.

"It is hard to understand how someone can inflict these injuries on these children. It is just mindboggling," Hilbun said.

Just this past year more than 600 children went through the county court system because of abuse or neglect. CASA director Coleen Hamrick said the number of children her department advocated for last year has been about the same the past few years.

"In 2009, I believe we had 381 cases of neglect, 60 cases of sexual abuse, and a little bit less in physical abuse," said Tippecanoe Child Abuse Prevention Council President Melissa Swathwood.

According to T-CAP, it is estimated five children in America will be abused every minute. Within the day, an estimated four children will have been killed by abuse or neglect.

"I think some of the heightened issues are domestic violence (in Tippecanoe County). It seems to be more prevalent. Drug use has always been an issue in some of the cases, but not all. Those issues people are more stressed than normal. Parenting is a stressful job within itself. They find that they are going to other sources to help them deal with these issues," Hamrick said.

Blue ribbons and blue pinwheels lined the sidewalks Friday around the Tippecanoe County Courthouse, at an event intended to raise awareness of child abuse. CASA members said it is a reminder to be a voice for a child.

"Take those blinders off and see that it exists. You cannot ignore it. You cannot push it under the rug," Hilbun said. "You need to get involved."

All are hoping to save a child from neglect and abuse so many have already gone through.