We've reported on this case before. Though so many of these cases are just insanely horrible, this one is particularly so. Dad is identified as TIMOTHY RAY JONES JR.
Notice, however, that there is no explanation as to who gave this crazy piece of sh** custody to begin with.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/mother-slain-kids-sc-agency-stopped-deaths-38685169
Mother of 5 Slain Kids: SC Agency Could Have Stopped Deaths
By meg kinnard, associated press
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Apr 26, 2016, 4:38 PM ET
The mother of five South Carolina children who police say were killed by their father in 2014 says the state's social services agency knew the father was a threat and did nothing to stop him.
The allegations are part of a lawsuit filed last week by Amber Jones accusing the Department of Social Services of wrongful death and infliction of pain and suffering.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against her ex-husband. Authorities say Timothy Ray Jones Jr. killed his five children — ages 8, 7, 6, 2 and 1 — at their Lexington County home in 2014 and drove around with their bodies in trash bags for nine days before dumping them in an Alabama field.
Jones was arrested in Mississippi after a deputy said he smelled the stench of death coming from the SUV at a traffic checkpoint.
A Social Services spokeswoman declined to comment on the lawsuit, which gives a detailed chronology of Jones' criminal past, including 2001 convictions for drug possession and forgery. It also notes his 2004 marriage to Amber Jones and the subsequent births of their five children.
By 2011, the family lived in Batesburg-Leesville, where, according to the lawsuit, Social Services received a report of child abuse and neglect, piles of trash at the home as well as a report Jones had threatened to shoot a neighbor's dog.
Caseworkers came to the family's home multiple more times that year, even calling law enforcement after Jones became violent and accused a caseworker of "ruining people's lives." But, according to the suit, no action was ever taken to discipline Jones or remove the children.
The complaint documents multiple additional instances in which Jones threatened the children's mother, who in 2012 made a criminal domestic violence complaint against him. The couple ultimately had a fifth child and then divorced in 2013, with Jones being awarded primary custody.
Over the next year, according to the lawsuit, teachers reported abuse claims to local Social Services workers after seeing bruises on three of the five children. A baby-sitter made similar claims. In August 2014, the agency contacted law enforcement, saying Jones didn't want to return his children to public school "because he feared the school would report the beatings."
Three weeks later, Jones picked up all five children from school and day care and killed them at the family home, authorities have said. Four children were strangled, and one was beaten to death.
Many of the claims mirror information in case files previously released by the Department of Social Services. Authorities never found anything serious enough to take the children away, but the documents show Jones as a single father and computer engineer struggling to raise his children.
"Dad appears to be overwhelmed as he is unable to maintain the home, but the children appear to be clean, groomed and appropriately dressed," a case worker wrote Aug. 13, two weeks before the children's disappearance.
Defense attorneys have suggested Jones suffered from mental problems, and an arrest warrant said he feared his children were going to kill him, chop him up and feed him to dogs. A judge in December ordered a psychiatric evaluation, and no trial date has been set.
Showing posts with label DSS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DSS. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Violent custodial dad hands over "sole care" of 3-year old to violent wife, child beaten to death (Boston, Massachusetts)
Another violent father who never should have received custody. Like a lot of guys, he seems to have increasingly coupled with the women who deserved him.
If this had been a custodial mother, she would be accused of failure to protect and end up doing hard time. But since it's a dad, well, he'll probably just play the Clueless Dad card and pay no penalty whatsoever.
By the way, this is a familiar theme with abusive custodial fathers. Since their motivations are all about punishment/control of the mother, and not about what's best fot the child or any desire to actively parent, they frequently dump the child on the new (resentful) wife or girlfriend.
Dad is identified as DAVE WHYTE.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/03/30/kenai-whyte-was-child-left-danger/ApI0rd9rADTrExHytGR5eP/story.html?event=event25
Kenai Whyte was a child left in danger
SUZANNE KREITER/GLOBE STAFF
Ashley Young is the mother of 3-year-old Kenai Whyte.
By Yvonne Abraham globe columnist
March 30, 2016
Ashley Young knew her son was in danger of being hurt. She was wrong, it seems, about who would do the hurting.
Young thought little Kenai Whyte’s father, Dave Whyte, was a danger to him — and she had good reason to think so. But prosecutors say it was Whyte’s wife, Marie Buie, who beat the child horribly on Jan. 31. The 3-year-old died two days later.
The court documents and police reports are gut-wrenching reading. From the day he was born, the toddler who loved firetrucks and Lightning McQueen was surrounded by threats and fear, the adults in his life battling and abusing each other, sometimes over him.
“I feel as if my child is in danger with his father,” Young wrote in a 2013 filing. “If he can beat on me and abuse me, I feel he can do the same to my son.”
Kenai’s father left a trail of police reports and restraining orders testifying to his abusiveness. Young said Whyte’s violence drove her to a shelter for domestic abuse victims. And later, she took out restraining orders against Whyte for pushing her against a wall and for visiting Kenai’s day care center to try to get her new address. Marie Buie surrendered to police for allegedly causing harm to Kenai Whyte, who died Feb. 2.
And she wasn’t the only one afraid of him. Police called to Whyte’s home in August of 2013 reported that he had pulled Buie’s hair and cut her hand. A year later, he was charged with assault and battery after he grabbed Buie by the throat. His mother, too, took out a restraining order against Whyte around the same time, saying her son had threatened to kill her.
Buie was trouble, too, according to police reports. She was twice arrested for assault and battery: once for stabbing a neighbor and once for hitting Whyte with a bottle, biting him, and pushing him down some stairs because, she told police, she was frustrated that he had left her to care for Kenai alone.
As ever in these impossible cases, it fell to the state to find a path for Kenai through the morass. The Department of Children and Families had been watching him since he was a baby, and checkups showed he was doing fine. A spokeswoman would not say whether DCF ran criminal background checks on the parents’ partners, citing privacy concerns. New rules announced Monday will make those checks mandatory.
If the probate judges mediating custody disputes between Young and Whyte knew about the father’s propensity for violence, they were apparently unperturbed by it. Whyte was granted full legal custody and half-physical custody of Kenai. Young, representing herself before the court (Whyte had an attorney), tried to change that late last year, but she missed a court date after her baby was born prematurely. So Whyte prevailed.
It is possible that, presented with this cavalcade of dysfunction, the court came to the measured (but mistaken) conclusion that Kenai was safe in his father’s home. It is possible, too, that what happened here is what happens too often when family court judges are presented with allegations of domestic abuse: The victim of the abuse is disbelieved and penalized. Their fragile state in the courtroom can make them seem disruptive or irrational. Worse, abusers can convince judges that the victims are using abuse claims to gain greater custody rights.
Courts can focus too hard on the breach between the parents, losing track of who is hitting whom — and whether the violence also endangers the child.
“Judges seem to care more about parental alienation,” said David Adams, head of Emerge, a counseling program for abusers. “So much so, that some victims’ attorneys aren’t even raising domestic violence in custody disputes.”
Whatever the reason, Young lost her bid to have her son spend less time in his father’s home. So there Kenai was, alone with Buie on the January night prosecutors say she brutally beat him.
You would like to think his parents fought this hard over their child because they both treasured him and wanted to protect him. But then you have to confront the realization that even a little boy as loved as Kenai Whyte seems to have been left in harm’s way to die.
If this had been a custodial mother, she would be accused of failure to protect and end up doing hard time. But since it's a dad, well, he'll probably just play the Clueless Dad card and pay no penalty whatsoever.
By the way, this is a familiar theme with abusive custodial fathers. Since their motivations are all about punishment/control of the mother, and not about what's best fot the child or any desire to actively parent, they frequently dump the child on the new (resentful) wife or girlfriend.
Dad is identified as DAVE WHYTE.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/03/30/kenai-whyte-was-child-left-danger/ApI0rd9rADTrExHytGR5eP/story.html?event=event25
Kenai Whyte was a child left in danger
SUZANNE KREITER/GLOBE STAFF
Ashley Young is the mother of 3-year-old Kenai Whyte.
By Yvonne Abraham globe columnist
March 30, 2016
Ashley Young knew her son was in danger of being hurt. She was wrong, it seems, about who would do the hurting.
Young thought little Kenai Whyte’s father, Dave Whyte, was a danger to him — and she had good reason to think so. But prosecutors say it was Whyte’s wife, Marie Buie, who beat the child horribly on Jan. 31. The 3-year-old died two days later.
The court documents and police reports are gut-wrenching reading. From the day he was born, the toddler who loved firetrucks and Lightning McQueen was surrounded by threats and fear, the adults in his life battling and abusing each other, sometimes over him.
“I feel as if my child is in danger with his father,” Young wrote in a 2013 filing. “If he can beat on me and abuse me, I feel he can do the same to my son.”
Kenai’s father left a trail of police reports and restraining orders testifying to his abusiveness. Young said Whyte’s violence drove her to a shelter for domestic abuse victims. And later, she took out restraining orders against Whyte for pushing her against a wall and for visiting Kenai’s day care center to try to get her new address. Marie Buie surrendered to police for allegedly causing harm to Kenai Whyte, who died Feb. 2.
And she wasn’t the only one afraid of him. Police called to Whyte’s home in August of 2013 reported that he had pulled Buie’s hair and cut her hand. A year later, he was charged with assault and battery after he grabbed Buie by the throat. His mother, too, took out a restraining order against Whyte around the same time, saying her son had threatened to kill her.
Buie was trouble, too, according to police reports. She was twice arrested for assault and battery: once for stabbing a neighbor and once for hitting Whyte with a bottle, biting him, and pushing him down some stairs because, she told police, she was frustrated that he had left her to care for Kenai alone.
As ever in these impossible cases, it fell to the state to find a path for Kenai through the morass. The Department of Children and Families had been watching him since he was a baby, and checkups showed he was doing fine. A spokeswoman would not say whether DCF ran criminal background checks on the parents’ partners, citing privacy concerns. New rules announced Monday will make those checks mandatory.
If the probate judges mediating custody disputes between Young and Whyte knew about the father’s propensity for violence, they were apparently unperturbed by it. Whyte was granted full legal custody and half-physical custody of Kenai. Young, representing herself before the court (Whyte had an attorney), tried to change that late last year, but she missed a court date after her baby was born prematurely. So Whyte prevailed.
It is possible that, presented with this cavalcade of dysfunction, the court came to the measured (but mistaken) conclusion that Kenai was safe in his father’s home. It is possible, too, that what happened here is what happens too often when family court judges are presented with allegations of domestic abuse: The victim of the abuse is disbelieved and penalized. Their fragile state in the courtroom can make them seem disruptive or irrational. Worse, abusers can convince judges that the victims are using abuse claims to gain greater custody rights.
Courts can focus too hard on the breach between the parents, losing track of who is hitting whom — and whether the violence also endangers the child.
“Judges seem to care more about parental alienation,” said David Adams, head of Emerge, a counseling program for abusers. “So much so, that some victims’ attorneys aren’t even raising domestic violence in custody disputes.”
Whatever the reason, Young lost her bid to have her son spend less time in his father’s home. So there Kenai was, alone with Buie on the January night prosecutors say she brutally beat him.
You would like to think his parents fought this hard over their child because they both treasured him and wanted to protect him. But then you have to confront the realization that even a little boy as loved as Kenai Whyte seems to have been left in harm’s way to die.
Sunday, February 7, 2016
3-year-old boy beaten to death at home of custodial dad with history of DV--just hours after CPS said he was well-fed and clean (Revere, Massachusetts)
My heart just sobs for this mother.
This little boy's death was absolutely preventable. But this is what happens when the legal system refuses to take men's violence against women seriously, when criminals are allowed to have domestic violence charges dismissed multiple times. This is what happens when mothers are punished for being the victim of a crime, and not the criminal, and are forced into homelessness. And most of all, this is the logical result of the INSANE FATHER'S RIGHTS-INSPIRED POLICY OF GIVING WIFE BEATERS CUSTODY OF YOUNG CHILDREN. What the hell do they think is going to happen when these violent men are given custody of babies, toddlers, and preschoolers?
Dad is identified as DAVE WHYTE JR. See the Killer Dads and Custody list for Massachusetts.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/02/05/governor-baker-dcf-working-with-district-attorney-death-year-old/wLvc9mktekovymwv2XsuOK/story.html
Mother of toddler who died shares his final days
Revere, MA., 02/05/16, Ashely Young describes the condition her son was in when taken from her ex-husband's house. She is the mother of the three year old Kenai who died after being in the custody of her ex-husband. After his death DCF took her other 2 children from her.
Suzanne Kreiter/Globe staff
Ashely Young is the mother of 3-year-old Kenai Whyte, who died Tuesday.
By Evan Allen Globe Staff
February 05, 2016
Ashley Young slipped into her son’s hospital bed Monday afternoon, kissed his face and hands, and sang him the songs he had always loved to dance to.
“Pooh Bear, Pooh Bear, I love my Pooh Bear.”
She said she told the toddler that he had to wake up: They had to decorate his bedroom and they had a trip planned to Disney World.
But 3-year-old Kenai Whyte did not move. His body was bruised, cut, scraped, and swollen, and the doctors said he could not hear her, she said. He died Tuesday, his mother curled at his side.
“Mommy will find out what happened to you,” Young, 27, said she promised him. On Sunday night, Kenai Whyte’s battered body was found in his father’s home. He died from his injuries on Tuesday.
Kenai’s death is under investigation, and police have released few details about the surrounding circumstances. The boy was found unresponsive at his father’s house on Alpine Street in Roxbury Sunday night, just days after a Department of Children and Families social worker reported that he was well-fed and clean.
Officials have not yet determined what killed him. Young said the doctors told her it appeared as though the child had been beaten. Police declined to comment.
Governor Charlie Baker said Friday that the DCF is working with the Suffolk district attorney’s office to determine what happened during the two days between a social worker’s check on Kenai and the moment he was rushed to a hospital on the verge of death.
“In the short term, the big issue is: What happened between between the 29th and the 31st?” Baker told reporters Friday.
The department is reviewing its handling of the case.
In the wake of the boy’s death, DCF removed another child from his father’s house, DCF has said, and Young said the agency also took her two daughters, an infant and a 6-year-old.
In the same breath, Young said, she had to tell her older daughter that her brother had died and that she couldn’t come home with Young and her fiance. Young said she had not been given an explanation for why her daughters were taken. The DCF declined to comment on any aspect of the case.
On Friday night, Young sat in her Revere apartment assembling a memorial for her son, fitting pictures of his smiling face into frames. He was a rambunctious child who couldn’t wait to be a “big boy” and loved to do everything by himself, she said. He was proud to be a big brother and nicknamed his baby sister “Peanuts.”
“It hurts that nobody knows what happened to him,” Young said.
The boy’s short life was marked by upheaval. Young fled her marriage to Kenai’s father, Dave Whyte Jr., when their son was just 3 months old, according to Young and court documents, which allege that Whyte abused her. They lived in a domestic violence shelter with Young’s older daughter for another three months, she said, then spent a year living with Young’s mother before moving to another shelter, then a motel. She had been in her apartment less than a month when Kenai died.
The DCF was involved from the time the boy was a baby, according to court documents. Young shared physical custody of Kenai with the boy’s father, who had legal custody. Whyte’s criminal record includes multiple dismissed charges of domestic violence against women. Reached by phone, he declined to comment.
But in the last month, Young said, things were looking up.
She moved into the new apartment with her children and her fiance, and Kenai was excited about decorating his bedroom with characters from “PAW Patrol,” a TV show he loved. It was the first time he had a space of his own.
Young’s infant daughter, born prematurely in November, was finally home from the hospital. Snow was coming, and Young bought a snowman-making kit. She got Kenai a snowsuit. They got Internet service. The apartment felt like home.
Last Thursday, when Young went to drop Kenai off at day care, where his father would pick him up later, the boy asked if he could stay home with her, she said.
“Mommy will see you soon,” she told him.
Young can’t bear to open her day planner and see the list of pants, shirts, and sneakers to buy for Kenai and her daughters. She went grocery shopping and found herself unable to buy strawberries or doughnuts — Kenai’s favorite. Her fiance offered her an orange, and she broke down sobbing: Kenai loved oranges. Her fiance threw out every orange in the apartment.
“When I get the kids back . . . my son won’t be here,” Young said.
On the dresser in his bedroom, where she said she goes twice a day to say good morning and good night to Kenai,
Young has a print of his hand and foot, taken in the moments after the doctors declared him dead. A wisp of his baby-fine hair lies in a bag in a cushioned blue box. The prayer blanket they covered him with in the hospital is folded neatly; the two bears he was holding when he died sit on the dresser and on his bed. She will keep one and bury the other with her child. Young has not been able to make funeral plans yet, she said.
“He is my world; he is my king,” she said, and with a gasp caught herself speaking in the present tense. She started to correct herself, then shook her head. “No — he is. I’m gonna keep it that way. He still will always be.”
This little boy's death was absolutely preventable. But this is what happens when the legal system refuses to take men's violence against women seriously, when criminals are allowed to have domestic violence charges dismissed multiple times. This is what happens when mothers are punished for being the victim of a crime, and not the criminal, and are forced into homelessness. And most of all, this is the logical result of the INSANE FATHER'S RIGHTS-INSPIRED POLICY OF GIVING WIFE BEATERS CUSTODY OF YOUNG CHILDREN. What the hell do they think is going to happen when these violent men are given custody of babies, toddlers, and preschoolers?
Dad is identified as DAVE WHYTE JR. See the Killer Dads and Custody list for Massachusetts.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/02/05/governor-baker-dcf-working-with-district-attorney-death-year-old/wLvc9mktekovymwv2XsuOK/story.html
Mother of toddler who died shares his final days
Revere, MA., 02/05/16, Ashely Young describes the condition her son was in when taken from her ex-husband's house. She is the mother of the three year old Kenai who died after being in the custody of her ex-husband. After his death DCF took her other 2 children from her.
Suzanne Kreiter/Globe staff
Ashely Young is the mother of 3-year-old Kenai Whyte, who died Tuesday.
By Evan Allen Globe Staff
February 05, 2016
Ashley Young slipped into her son’s hospital bed Monday afternoon, kissed his face and hands, and sang him the songs he had always loved to dance to.
“Pooh Bear, Pooh Bear, I love my Pooh Bear.”
She said she told the toddler that he had to wake up: They had to decorate his bedroom and they had a trip planned to Disney World.
But 3-year-old Kenai Whyte did not move. His body was bruised, cut, scraped, and swollen, and the doctors said he could not hear her, she said. He died Tuesday, his mother curled at his side.
“Mommy will find out what happened to you,” Young, 27, said she promised him. On Sunday night, Kenai Whyte’s battered body was found in his father’s home. He died from his injuries on Tuesday.
Kenai’s death is under investigation, and police have released few details about the surrounding circumstances. The boy was found unresponsive at his father’s house on Alpine Street in Roxbury Sunday night, just days after a Department of Children and Families social worker reported that he was well-fed and clean.
Officials have not yet determined what killed him. Young said the doctors told her it appeared as though the child had been beaten. Police declined to comment.
Governor Charlie Baker said Friday that the DCF is working with the Suffolk district attorney’s office to determine what happened during the two days between a social worker’s check on Kenai and the moment he was rushed to a hospital on the verge of death.
“In the short term, the big issue is: What happened between between the 29th and the 31st?” Baker told reporters Friday.
The department is reviewing its handling of the case.
In the wake of the boy’s death, DCF removed another child from his father’s house, DCF has said, and Young said the agency also took her two daughters, an infant and a 6-year-old.
In the same breath, Young said, she had to tell her older daughter that her brother had died and that she couldn’t come home with Young and her fiance. Young said she had not been given an explanation for why her daughters were taken. The DCF declined to comment on any aspect of the case.
On Friday night, Young sat in her Revere apartment assembling a memorial for her son, fitting pictures of his smiling face into frames. He was a rambunctious child who couldn’t wait to be a “big boy” and loved to do everything by himself, she said. He was proud to be a big brother and nicknamed his baby sister “Peanuts.”
“It hurts that nobody knows what happened to him,” Young said.
The boy’s short life was marked by upheaval. Young fled her marriage to Kenai’s father, Dave Whyte Jr., when their son was just 3 months old, according to Young and court documents, which allege that Whyte abused her. They lived in a domestic violence shelter with Young’s older daughter for another three months, she said, then spent a year living with Young’s mother before moving to another shelter, then a motel. She had been in her apartment less than a month when Kenai died.
The DCF was involved from the time the boy was a baby, according to court documents. Young shared physical custody of Kenai with the boy’s father, who had legal custody. Whyte’s criminal record includes multiple dismissed charges of domestic violence against women. Reached by phone, he declined to comment.
But in the last month, Young said, things were looking up.
She moved into the new apartment with her children and her fiance, and Kenai was excited about decorating his bedroom with characters from “PAW Patrol,” a TV show he loved. It was the first time he had a space of his own.
Young’s infant daughter, born prematurely in November, was finally home from the hospital. Snow was coming, and Young bought a snowman-making kit. She got Kenai a snowsuit. They got Internet service. The apartment felt like home.
Last Thursday, when Young went to drop Kenai off at day care, where his father would pick him up later, the boy asked if he could stay home with her, she said.
“Mommy will see you soon,” she told him.
Young can’t bear to open her day planner and see the list of pants, shirts, and sneakers to buy for Kenai and her daughters. She went grocery shopping and found herself unable to buy strawberries or doughnuts — Kenai’s favorite. Her fiance offered her an orange, and she broke down sobbing: Kenai loved oranges. Her fiance threw out every orange in the apartment.
“When I get the kids back . . . my son won’t be here,” Young said.
On the dresser in his bedroom, where she said she goes twice a day to say good morning and good night to Kenai,
Young has a print of his hand and foot, taken in the moments after the doctors declared him dead. A wisp of his baby-fine hair lies in a bag in a cushioned blue box. The prayer blanket they covered him with in the hospital is folded neatly; the two bears he was holding when he died sit on the dresser and on his bed. She will keep one and bury the other with her child. Young has not been able to make funeral plans yet, she said.
“He is my world; he is my king,” she said, and with a gasp caught herself speaking in the present tense. She started to correct herself, then shook her head. “No — he is. I’m gonna keep it that way. He still will always be.”
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Dad with CONFIRMED history of domestic violence, severe mental illness, and child sexual abuse GETS CUSTODY OF NEWBORN and 2-year old; kills baby within two months (Denver, Colorado)
Just unbelievable incompetence and abuser father coddling.
Dad is identified as MICHAEL HERRON.
See the Killer Dads and Custody list for Colorado.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/call7-investigators/childs-death-after-being-placed-with-troubled-dad-raises-new-questions-about-denver-human-services
Child's death after being placed with troubled dad raises new questions about Denver Human Services
By: John Ferrugia Posted: 10:55 AM, May 1, 2015
DENVER - Two month D'anthony Herron arrived at the Denver Health emergency room near death, with horrific trauma to his head.
His father, Michael Herron, who was caring for the baby and his two year old brother alone, claimed the infant had fallen off a counter while he was giving D’Anthony a bath.
Herron called his girlfriend and mother of the children telling her there had been an accident.
“I get to the hospital…and they have D'anthony hooked up to all these wires already,” said Amber Lucero, “And they have his head wrapped. And he wasn't even conscious.”
The scene overwhelmed her. “I just broke down and I couldn't believe it,” she said.
Doctors told Amber that her two month old baby had likely been abused by her boyfriend and that his story didn’t match the grave injuries her son had suffered.
“He had a skull fracture,” she said. “He had bleeding in the brain and his brain was swollen and his skull was pushed up and he had suffered from seizures and a stroke.”
Doctors told her there was no hope of saving this tiny child who had been born bright-eyed and healthy.
Now, her baby had nearly no brain function and simply could not survive.
Amber and her mother held the baby for two hours after nurses un-hooked him from life support. “He finally took his last breath,” she said, “And I just remember he went (soft breath) and his had just rolled to the side ... And that is when we just knew."
“Do you think Michael should have had those children by himself?” asked CALL7 Investigator John Ferrugia.
“No,” she said through tears, “No.”
A CALL7 investigation has found that Michael Herron had a long history of mental illness, a police record that includes domestic violence and drug use, and a list of referrals -- or complaints -- to Denver Human Services that stretches back to 2002.
In fact, a complaint was made to DHS when D'anthony was born in May of 2014. At the time, the parents were living apart, Michael in transitional housing and Amber in a motel with her mother.
The morning after D’Anthony’s birth, Amber says Michael was in her hospital room.
“He started calling me names. He started calling my mom names. He started getting loud. So security came in,” she said. “Hospital security?” asked Ferrugia.
“Yeah”, she replied, "And he was threatening to take D’Anthony and just leave that day.”
“That's when the social worker came in,” she said.
According to D-H-S documents submitted to juvenile court -- and obtained from the family -- that social worker called DHS.
"Hospital staff concerned about Mr. Herron’s ability to care for D’Anthony and was very angry at the hospital," the document reads.
And there was a second call the following day by an unlisted party.
Records show the complaints were "not accepted" and determined to be "unfounded."
Michael Herron took home the newborn to care for him and their other two-year old son.
Amber says, at the time, she believed the child was given to Michael because he was living in transitional housing at Decatur House, a Mercy Housing Project in Denver.
But she says she was concerned about the children’s safety.
“Because of the way he was with his temper and attitude, I don't think he should have the kids," she said.
Records show that on July 15th, 2014 DHS was called again.
The complaint, or "referral," read: "Heard Mr. Herron screaming at the kids. The next day (his two year old son) had a scratch on his face."
Sources familiar with the investigation tell CALL7 Investigator John Ferrugia that there was also concern by the caller that Michael Herron was overwhelmed by caring for the newborn and the two-year old.
Despite all the apparent red flags and concerns about child safety, DHS left the kids with him.
Heron is accused of beating D’Anthony five days later, and doctors found it wasn't the first time the baby had been injured.
"He had previous injuries that were already healing," said Amber. "His ribs were broken."
That is confirmed by the autopsy report obtained by the CALL7 Investigators.
Records confirm that DHS caseworkers and supervisors knew Michael Herron was a serious risk.
In 2013 a complaint was "founded" - or confirmed - for domestic violence. "Mr. Herron was punching and choking Ms. Lucero," the report read.
Again in 2013 a complaint called in was "not accepted."
"Mr. Herron screaming at Ms. Lucero and pushing her,” read the report. “Mr. Herron reports that he does not know how to calm a crying baby.”
In 2009 a complaint was "founded" for "sex abuse."
Michael Herron was arrested for sexually assaulting his daughter by a previous marriage.
The child was 7-years old, and had significant health problems.
While D-H-S was convinced the assault occurred, the charges were dropped as the child may have been too young to testify.
In 2004 D-H-S records show that caseworkers and supervisors knew Michael Herron suffered from mental illness.
"Mr. Herron is bipolar," read he report.
Herron’s father, Danny Herron, told CALL7 Investigator John Ferrugia that his son has long suffered from mental problems.
“He started writing suicide notes when he was about seventeen, maybe 18 talking about how he's going to kill himself”, said Danny Herron “So I called the police and they came and got him and took him to this mental hospital,” he said.
“And that's when they diagnosed that he had bi-polar “.
“He had bi-polar disorder?" asked Ferrugia.
Danny Herron nod his head.
Danny Herron is guardian of his granddaughter who made the sexual abuse complaint against Michael Herron when she was 7 years old.... The claim "founded" by DHS.
“Danny, does it make any sense to you that human services, knowing what they knew, gave him children?” asked Ferrugia.
“No, no”, he said. “I don't see why they would have did that at all.”
What's more, amber claims when she and Michael applied for food stamps in 2013 for one of their children, Michael was referred to a mental health facility by DHS for an evaluation.
“He told me they were talking about putting him on medication for being bipolar and schizophrenic,” she said.
Records make clear, and amber admits, the couple was often violent with one another.
In the past, Amber has also pled guilty to domestic violence against Michael Herron and had a protection order filed against her.
But despite all the referrals and complaints to DHS during their tumultuous relationship she says that, other than at the hospital when D’Anthony was dying she has not been interviewed by DHS.
“Have you ever seen a caseworker from Denver Human Services?” asked Ferrugia
“No,” Amber replied.
“Never?" Ferrugia asked.
“No,” she replied.
A spokesman for the Denver Department of Human Services says DHS officials have no comment on the case as they claim they are legally prohibited from talking about the case.
Michael Herron remains in jail, charged with the murder of his two-month old son.
This is yet another case uncovered by an ongoing CALL7 investigation that raises questions about DHS practice, supervision of caseworkers, and judgment in the placement of vulnerable children.
Dad is identified as MICHAEL HERRON.
See the Killer Dads and Custody list for Colorado.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/call7-investigators/childs-death-after-being-placed-with-troubled-dad-raises-new-questions-about-denver-human-services
Child's death after being placed with troubled dad raises new questions about Denver Human Services
By: John Ferrugia Posted: 10:55 AM, May 1, 2015
DENVER - Two month D'anthony Herron arrived at the Denver Health emergency room near death, with horrific trauma to his head.
His father, Michael Herron, who was caring for the baby and his two year old brother alone, claimed the infant had fallen off a counter while he was giving D’Anthony a bath.
Herron called his girlfriend and mother of the children telling her there had been an accident.
“I get to the hospital…and they have D'anthony hooked up to all these wires already,” said Amber Lucero, “And they have his head wrapped. And he wasn't even conscious.”
The scene overwhelmed her. “I just broke down and I couldn't believe it,” she said.
Doctors told Amber that her two month old baby had likely been abused by her boyfriend and that his story didn’t match the grave injuries her son had suffered.
“He had a skull fracture,” she said. “He had bleeding in the brain and his brain was swollen and his skull was pushed up and he had suffered from seizures and a stroke.”
Doctors told her there was no hope of saving this tiny child who had been born bright-eyed and healthy.
Now, her baby had nearly no brain function and simply could not survive.
Amber and her mother held the baby for two hours after nurses un-hooked him from life support. “He finally took his last breath,” she said, “And I just remember he went (soft breath) and his had just rolled to the side ... And that is when we just knew."
“Do you think Michael should have had those children by himself?” asked CALL7 Investigator John Ferrugia.
“No,” she said through tears, “No.”
A CALL7 investigation has found that Michael Herron had a long history of mental illness, a police record that includes domestic violence and drug use, and a list of referrals -- or complaints -- to Denver Human Services that stretches back to 2002.
In fact, a complaint was made to DHS when D'anthony was born in May of 2014. At the time, the parents were living apart, Michael in transitional housing and Amber in a motel with her mother.
The morning after D’Anthony’s birth, Amber says Michael was in her hospital room.
“He started calling me names. He started calling my mom names. He started getting loud. So security came in,” she said. “Hospital security?” asked Ferrugia.
“Yeah”, she replied, "And he was threatening to take D’Anthony and just leave that day.”
“That's when the social worker came in,” she said.
According to D-H-S documents submitted to juvenile court -- and obtained from the family -- that social worker called DHS.
"Hospital staff concerned about Mr. Herron’s ability to care for D’Anthony and was very angry at the hospital," the document reads.
And there was a second call the following day by an unlisted party.
Records show the complaints were "not accepted" and determined to be "unfounded."
Michael Herron took home the newborn to care for him and their other two-year old son.
Amber says, at the time, she believed the child was given to Michael because he was living in transitional housing at Decatur House, a Mercy Housing Project in Denver.
But she says she was concerned about the children’s safety.
“Because of the way he was with his temper and attitude, I don't think he should have the kids," she said.
Records show that on July 15th, 2014 DHS was called again.
The complaint, or "referral," read: "Heard Mr. Herron screaming at the kids. The next day (his two year old son) had a scratch on his face."
Sources familiar with the investigation tell CALL7 Investigator John Ferrugia that there was also concern by the caller that Michael Herron was overwhelmed by caring for the newborn and the two-year old.
Despite all the apparent red flags and concerns about child safety, DHS left the kids with him.
Heron is accused of beating D’Anthony five days later, and doctors found it wasn't the first time the baby had been injured.
"He had previous injuries that were already healing," said Amber. "His ribs were broken."
That is confirmed by the autopsy report obtained by the CALL7 Investigators.
Records confirm that DHS caseworkers and supervisors knew Michael Herron was a serious risk.
In 2013 a complaint was "founded" - or confirmed - for domestic violence. "Mr. Herron was punching and choking Ms. Lucero," the report read.
Again in 2013 a complaint called in was "not accepted."
"Mr. Herron screaming at Ms. Lucero and pushing her,” read the report. “Mr. Herron reports that he does not know how to calm a crying baby.”
In 2009 a complaint was "founded" for "sex abuse."
Michael Herron was arrested for sexually assaulting his daughter by a previous marriage.
The child was 7-years old, and had significant health problems.
While D-H-S was convinced the assault occurred, the charges were dropped as the child may have been too young to testify.
In 2004 D-H-S records show that caseworkers and supervisors knew Michael Herron suffered from mental illness.
"Mr. Herron is bipolar," read he report.
Herron’s father, Danny Herron, told CALL7 Investigator John Ferrugia that his son has long suffered from mental problems.
“He started writing suicide notes when he was about seventeen, maybe 18 talking about how he's going to kill himself”, said Danny Herron “So I called the police and they came and got him and took him to this mental hospital,” he said.
“And that's when they diagnosed that he had bi-polar “.
“He had bi-polar disorder?" asked Ferrugia.
Danny Herron nod his head.
Danny Herron is guardian of his granddaughter who made the sexual abuse complaint against Michael Herron when she was 7 years old.... The claim "founded" by DHS.
“Danny, does it make any sense to you that human services, knowing what they knew, gave him children?” asked Ferrugia.
“No, no”, he said. “I don't see why they would have did that at all.”
What's more, amber claims when she and Michael applied for food stamps in 2013 for one of their children, Michael was referred to a mental health facility by DHS for an evaluation.
“He told me they were talking about putting him on medication for being bipolar and schizophrenic,” she said.
Records make clear, and amber admits, the couple was often violent with one another.
In the past, Amber has also pled guilty to domestic violence against Michael Herron and had a protection order filed against her.
But despite all the referrals and complaints to DHS during their tumultuous relationship she says that, other than at the hospital when D’Anthony was dying she has not been interviewed by DHS.
“Have you ever seen a caseworker from Denver Human Services?” asked Ferrugia
“No,” Amber replied.
“Never?" Ferrugia asked.
“No,” she replied.
A spokesman for the Denver Department of Human Services says DHS officials have no comment on the case as they claim they are legally prohibited from talking about the case.
Michael Herron remains in jail, charged with the murder of his two-month old son.
This is yet another case uncovered by an ongoing CALL7 investigation that raises questions about DHS practice, supervision of caseworkers, and judgment in the placement of vulnerable children.
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Suit: DCFS contractor negligent before dad set two kids on fire (Cook County, Illinois)
Another case where the dad's rights trumped the rights of everybody else.
Dad is identified as NATHANIEL BELER.
http://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/7/71/245088/suit-dcfs-contractor-negligent-father-set-two-children-fire
Suit: DCFS contractor negligent before father set two children on fire
Posted: 12/29/2014, 08:07pm | Sam Charles
The county-appointed public guardian of a boy and girl who were set on fire by their father in late 2012 is suing a DCFS-contracted welfare agency, alleging its negligence led to the death of one child and the severe, ongoing injuries of the other.
Robert F. Harris, the appointed estate administrator of Nariyah Beler and the public guardian of her brother Naciere, filed the lawsuit Monday in Cook County Circuit Court against the Humboldt Park-based welfare agency Association House.
On Dec. 28, 2012, Nathaniel Beler set his two children, their mother and himself on fire at his mother’s West Side home, the suit stated. His daughter, 4-year-old Nariyah, and her mother, Taniya Johnson, died. His son Naciere, then 9, suffered burns to more than 40 percent of his body.
Beler’s death was ruled a suicide by self-immolation, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
In the months that led up to the fatal arson, Harris alleges, Association House and several of its employees breached duties that could have prevented Nariyah’s death and Naciere’s injuries.
DCFS recommended that Beler – a diagnosed schizophrenic and PCP addict with a history of going off his medication – should see his two children only in the company of a caseworker and in a “neutral” public place, the suit stated.
Under pressure from Beler, the assigned Association House caseworker allowed him to see his children at his mother’s house, the eventual scene of the fatal fire, the suit stated.
“Association House ignored or downplayed the severe danger that Mr. Beler posed,” the suit claims.
During an argument with Johnson in September 2012, Beler threatened to kill himself and his two children by pouring gasoline on them and lighting a match, the suit stated. Beler showed her two cans of gasoline, but she persuaded him to let her leave the home and go to work.
Once Johnson – who left her two children alone with Beler – got to work, her co-workers told her to call the police, leading to a standoff that eventually resulted in the safe release of both children and Beler’s involuntary commitment to a psychiatric hospital, the suit stated. There was enough gasoline in the home’s bathtub “to level the building.”
Association House knew Beler had a history of violent, erractic behavior when he was off his medication and no one from the agency ever tried to determine if he still was taking his prescriptions, the suit claims.
The agency also took Beler at his word when he said he was no longer using PCP and did not ever screen his urine to confirm he wasn’t using drugs, the suit alleges.
A representative from Association House could not be reached for comment Monday evening.
The six-count wrongful death and negligence suit seeks an unspecified amount in damages.
Dad is identified as NATHANIEL BELER.
http://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/7/71/245088/suit-dcfs-contractor-negligent-father-set-two-children-fire
Suit: DCFS contractor negligent before father set two children on fire
Posted: 12/29/2014, 08:07pm | Sam Charles
The county-appointed public guardian of a boy and girl who were set on fire by their father in late 2012 is suing a DCFS-contracted welfare agency, alleging its negligence led to the death of one child and the severe, ongoing injuries of the other.
Robert F. Harris, the appointed estate administrator of Nariyah Beler and the public guardian of her brother Naciere, filed the lawsuit Monday in Cook County Circuit Court against the Humboldt Park-based welfare agency Association House.
On Dec. 28, 2012, Nathaniel Beler set his two children, their mother and himself on fire at his mother’s West Side home, the suit stated. His daughter, 4-year-old Nariyah, and her mother, Taniya Johnson, died. His son Naciere, then 9, suffered burns to more than 40 percent of his body.
Beler’s death was ruled a suicide by self-immolation, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
In the months that led up to the fatal arson, Harris alleges, Association House and several of its employees breached duties that could have prevented Nariyah’s death and Naciere’s injuries.
DCFS recommended that Beler – a diagnosed schizophrenic and PCP addict with a history of going off his medication – should see his two children only in the company of a caseworker and in a “neutral” public place, the suit stated.
Under pressure from Beler, the assigned Association House caseworker allowed him to see his children at his mother’s house, the eventual scene of the fatal fire, the suit stated.
“Association House ignored or downplayed the severe danger that Mr. Beler posed,” the suit claims.
During an argument with Johnson in September 2012, Beler threatened to kill himself and his two children by pouring gasoline on them and lighting a match, the suit stated. Beler showed her two cans of gasoline, but she persuaded him to let her leave the home and go to work.
Once Johnson – who left her two children alone with Beler – got to work, her co-workers told her to call the police, leading to a standoff that eventually resulted in the safe release of both children and Beler’s involuntary commitment to a psychiatric hospital, the suit stated. There was enough gasoline in the home’s bathtub “to level the building.”
Association House knew Beler had a history of violent, erractic behavior when he was off his medication and no one from the agency ever tried to determine if he still was taking his prescriptions, the suit claims.
The agency also took Beler at his word when he said he was no longer using PCP and did not ever screen his urine to confirm he wasn’t using drugs, the suit alleges.
A representative from Association House could not be reached for comment Monday evening.
The six-count wrongful death and negligence suit seeks an unspecified amount in damages.
Friday, December 26, 2014
Custodial dad loses parental rights due to abuse; later arrested for abducting two kids--what happened to Mom? (Ithanca, New York)
The great unanswered question here: how did this abusive father with a history of substance abuse get custody of two young children to begin with? And what happened to the mother of these kids?
Dad is identified as LEONARD L. THORNE.
http://www.ithacajournal.com/story/news/public-safety/2014/12/24/tompkins-children-abducted-suspect-father/20860645/
Enfield father arraigned on abduction charges
Andrew Casler, 12:09 p.m. EST December 25, 2014
ITHACA – Leonard L. Thorne, 38, of Enfield, was arraigned Wednesday for allegedly abducting his two children after losing parental custody, a Tompkins County Sheriff's Office news release said.
Sheriff's Deputies said Thorne abducted the children, ages 2 and 4, around 4 p.m. Tuesday on Heron Drive. He had recently learned of a court order that removed the kids from his custody, and that he had an arrest warrant for child neglect, a news release said.
The Sheriff's Office issued an AMBER Alert for the children on Wednesday morning, and Thorne was found riding a Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit Bus with the children around 1:15 p.m.
A TCAT bus driver identified Thorne from the AMBER Alert, and the driver held the bus on Cornell University's campus while area police converged on the area, a TCAT news release said.
Cornell University Police took Thorne into custody without incident, and the children were unharmed. Tompkins County Department of Social Services has taken custody of the children. Thorne was arraigned before Tompkins County Court Judge Rowley on Wednesday.
The children had been removed from Thorne's custody due to substance abuse, child abuse and neglect history, according to the Tompkins County Sheriff's Office.
Dad is identified as LEONARD L. THORNE.
http://www.ithacajournal.com/story/news/public-safety/2014/12/24/tompkins-children-abducted-suspect-father/20860645/
Enfield father arraigned on abduction charges
Andrew Casler, 12:09 p.m. EST December 25, 2014
ITHACA – Leonard L. Thorne, 38, of Enfield, was arraigned Wednesday for allegedly abducting his two children after losing parental custody, a Tompkins County Sheriff's Office news release said.
Sheriff's Deputies said Thorne abducted the children, ages 2 and 4, around 4 p.m. Tuesday on Heron Drive. He had recently learned of a court order that removed the kids from his custody, and that he had an arrest warrant for child neglect, a news release said.
The Sheriff's Office issued an AMBER Alert for the children on Wednesday morning, and Thorne was found riding a Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit Bus with the children around 1:15 p.m.
A TCAT bus driver identified Thorne from the AMBER Alert, and the driver held the bus on Cornell University's campus while area police converged on the area, a TCAT news release said.
Cornell University Police took Thorne into custody without incident, and the children were unharmed. Tompkins County Department of Social Services has taken custody of the children. Thorne was arraigned before Tompkins County Court Judge Rowley on Wednesday.
The children had been removed from Thorne's custody due to substance abuse, child abuse and neglect history, according to the Tompkins County Sheriff's Office.
Friday, December 5, 2014
Dad granted unsupervised access to kids he molested; convinced authorities that Mom was "crazy" (British Columbia, Canada)
Sickening, but all to typical of the way mothers are treated as crazy and/or liars by the police, family courts, and others in authority--all so Daddy can have unfettered access to his victims.
UNNAMED DAD
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/father-given-unsupervised-access-to-children-he-molested-1.2442896
Exclusive
Father given unsupervised access to children he molested
Woman discovered spouse was sexually abusing their kids, but he convinced authorities she was 'crazy'
CBC News Posted: Nov 28, 2013 5:30 PM PT| Last Updated: Nov 28, 2013 8:16 PM PT
A B.C. Supreme Court judge reviewing evidence from a custody dispute determined that the father of four children sexually and physically abused three of them, contrary to the findings of a flawed Vancouver Police Department investigation.
The mother of the children, who was awarded sole guardianship and custody in the 2012 court judgment, is now suing the province, saying it was negligent and acted in bad faith in allowing her former partner unsupervised access to the children during the dispute.
The mother's lawsuit against the province is currently on trial at B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver and has already gone on for more than 80 days. #In addition, the mother is asking the Vancouver Police Department to reopen its investigation into allegations her former partner sexually abused their three children. The department closed its investigation in 2010.
"I want what is proper law. It's nothing vindictive, or anything like that," said the woman, whose identity cannot be revealed in order to protect her children.
"My ex is — he obviously is a very dangerous person. Like he didn't stop. I would like to see him properly prosecuted... That's all, because there's no sign that he's gonna stop unless something like that happens."
She says her world was flipped upside down two months after she and her husband separated in the fall of 2009 when, acting on only slight suspicion, she asked her three eldest children whether their father ever did anything to them.
She said she was expecting her children to respond with blank looks and confusion, but instead they began blurting out disturbing allegations that shocked her.
"The only thing I can think of now is Jekyll and Hyde, because… I just actually never could have fathomed what he was doing," she told CBC News in an exclusive interview.
A 'Kafkaesque' nightmare
She called the Ministry of Children and Family Development's helpline the next day, and called the Vancouver Police Department several times to seek assistance.
An order of the court was issued in October of that year, restraining the father from any contact with the mother or the children.
However, in December 2009, Justice Paul Walker — the same judge who ruled in the couple's later custody dispute — varied this order to allow the father supervised access to the children for specific hours.
Throughout this period, the father, along with his family and friends, made calls to Ministry workers and eventually the police, registering concerns about the mother's mental capacity.
In his custody dispute judgment three years later, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Paul Walker deemed the behaviour "a baseless attempt to discredit her."
However, at the time, the authorities decided the frantic mother was unreliable, and also likely in need of a mental assessment.
The Ministry took the kids away from their apparently unstable mom, and placed them in foster care, with an aunt and uncle, in December 2009.
After a series of interviews with the parents and children that December and January 2010, the senior investigating VPD officer, along with officers from the RCMP Behavioural Sciences unit, determined that the allegations against the father were unfounded, and closed the investigation.
Later that year, a social worker began allowing the father unsupervised access, contrary to the original 2009 court order, which their mom says allowed the abuse to continue.
'The more she protested, the more she was labelled as being crazy.' - Jack Hittrich, lawyer for the mother
"It was, it was like, one professional described it: 'Kafkaesque' is the best term that comes to mind. It's as if the people involved were just twisting everything," the mother said.
Jack Hittrich, the mother's lawyer, says the Ministry of Children and Family Development was negligent, reckless, and acted in bad faith.
"When mom was frantically trying to convince the ministry that the sexual abuse allegations were real, they basically labelled her as crazy. And the more she protested, the more she was labelled as being crazy," he said. "It's a horrific nightmare." Hittrich doesn't think the mother could have accomplished more by protesting more, and that institutional failures must be corrected.
"Until the child sex abuse lens is refined and there's more sensitive processes in place, children are at risk," he said.
VPD officer 'smitten' with father
A former RCMP superintendent who reviewed the police interrogation videos, testified in court that the VPD investigation was deeply flawed.
"I think the police formed the opinion that the mother had no credibility, therefore they didn't react and follow the investigation the way it should have been followed," said Glenn Woods, who worked for the RCMP for 35 years.
Woods, who spent 11 career years as a criminal profiler, said after watching the footage, he believes the senior officer involved in the case developed negative attitudes early on about the mother — and positive feelings about the dad.
"I used the word 'smitten.' I just got a sense that the interaction between the officer and the father was almost at times kind of a social interaction, as opposed to a police interview or interrogation."
Woods told the CBC that Vancouver Police should have fresh eyes look at the file, saying "I think an effort has to be made to take another look at this case."
In his judgment on the custody dispute last year, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Paul Walker agreed with Woods' critique of the police interrogation, writing "I was struck by how quickly and easily [the father] took control of the interview. It appeared to me that the officer was enamoured of (the father) in some way."
In his conclusion after reviewing footage of what he characterized as several flawed interviews, Walker wrote "I have determined that I can place no weight on the conclusions reached by the VPD… that there was no merit in the sexual abuse allegations."
Walker also determined, from the evidence presented, that the father sexually abused three of his children, exposed them to inappropriate sexualized knowledge, and physically assaulted them and their mother.
He gave full custody to the exonerated mother, and said a restraining order would be required against the father.
Father maintains innocence
CBC News spoke with the father, who maintains that his ex-wife fabricated the sex abuse claims in order to gain sole custody of their children.
"By itself, that allegation is nuclear. You light off that allegation and there's radioactivity forever. It never, ever goes away," he said.
The senior Vancouver Police officer who cleared the father refused comment, referring CBC News to the department.
Sgt. Randy Fincham, media relations officer for the department, wrote to the CBC in an email, "The judge is more than entitled to have an opinion about the quality of the police investigation" and "in the event that new evidence is brought forward in any investigation, the police retain the ability to reopen, continue or advance their investigation."
Beyond that, he stated the department "is not at liberty to discuss an ongoing court process, as it may impact the final outcome of the proceedings."
Mr. Justice Walker's decision was rendered last year. The Vancouver police are not party to the current negligence lawsuit against the province.
Sgt. Fincham did not answer questions about whether the case merits a review, or what should be done about the father in the community, given the judge's finding that he sexually abused his three children.
The Minister of Children and Family Services, Stephanie Cadieux, wrote in an email it would be inappropriate for her to comment on the case, as it is before the courts, stating "the safety and well-being of children is always the Ministry's first priority."
UNNAMED DAD
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/father-given-unsupervised-access-to-children-he-molested-1.2442896
Exclusive
Father given unsupervised access to children he molested
Woman discovered spouse was sexually abusing their kids, but he convinced authorities she was 'crazy'
CBC News Posted: Nov 28, 2013 5:30 PM PT| Last Updated: Nov 28, 2013 8:16 PM PT
A B.C. Supreme Court judge reviewing evidence from a custody dispute determined that the father of four children sexually and physically abused three of them, contrary to the findings of a flawed Vancouver Police Department investigation.
The mother of the children, who was awarded sole guardianship and custody in the 2012 court judgment, is now suing the province, saying it was negligent and acted in bad faith in allowing her former partner unsupervised access to the children during the dispute.
The mother's lawsuit against the province is currently on trial at B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver and has already gone on for more than 80 days. #In addition, the mother is asking the Vancouver Police Department to reopen its investigation into allegations her former partner sexually abused their three children. The department closed its investigation in 2010.
"I want what is proper law. It's nothing vindictive, or anything like that," said the woman, whose identity cannot be revealed in order to protect her children.
"My ex is — he obviously is a very dangerous person. Like he didn't stop. I would like to see him properly prosecuted... That's all, because there's no sign that he's gonna stop unless something like that happens."
She says her world was flipped upside down two months after she and her husband separated in the fall of 2009 when, acting on only slight suspicion, she asked her three eldest children whether their father ever did anything to them.
She said she was expecting her children to respond with blank looks and confusion, but instead they began blurting out disturbing allegations that shocked her.
"The only thing I can think of now is Jekyll and Hyde, because… I just actually never could have fathomed what he was doing," she told CBC News in an exclusive interview.
A 'Kafkaesque' nightmare
She called the Ministry of Children and Family Development's helpline the next day, and called the Vancouver Police Department several times to seek assistance.
An order of the court was issued in October of that year, restraining the father from any contact with the mother or the children.
However, in December 2009, Justice Paul Walker — the same judge who ruled in the couple's later custody dispute — varied this order to allow the father supervised access to the children for specific hours.
Throughout this period, the father, along with his family and friends, made calls to Ministry workers and eventually the police, registering concerns about the mother's mental capacity.
In his custody dispute judgment three years later, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Paul Walker deemed the behaviour "a baseless attempt to discredit her."
However, at the time, the authorities decided the frantic mother was unreliable, and also likely in need of a mental assessment.
The Ministry took the kids away from their apparently unstable mom, and placed them in foster care, with an aunt and uncle, in December 2009.
After a series of interviews with the parents and children that December and January 2010, the senior investigating VPD officer, along with officers from the RCMP Behavioural Sciences unit, determined that the allegations against the father were unfounded, and closed the investigation.
Later that year, a social worker began allowing the father unsupervised access, contrary to the original 2009 court order, which their mom says allowed the abuse to continue.
'The more she protested, the more she was labelled as being crazy.' - Jack Hittrich, lawyer for the mother
"It was, it was like, one professional described it: 'Kafkaesque' is the best term that comes to mind. It's as if the people involved were just twisting everything," the mother said.
Jack Hittrich, the mother's lawyer, says the Ministry of Children and Family Development was negligent, reckless, and acted in bad faith.
"When mom was frantically trying to convince the ministry that the sexual abuse allegations were real, they basically labelled her as crazy. And the more she protested, the more she was labelled as being crazy," he said. "It's a horrific nightmare." Hittrich doesn't think the mother could have accomplished more by protesting more, and that institutional failures must be corrected.
"Until the child sex abuse lens is refined and there's more sensitive processes in place, children are at risk," he said.
VPD officer 'smitten' with father
A former RCMP superintendent who reviewed the police interrogation videos, testified in court that the VPD investigation was deeply flawed.
"I think the police formed the opinion that the mother had no credibility, therefore they didn't react and follow the investigation the way it should have been followed," said Glenn Woods, who worked for the RCMP for 35 years.
Woods, who spent 11 career years as a criminal profiler, said after watching the footage, he believes the senior officer involved in the case developed negative attitudes early on about the mother — and positive feelings about the dad.
"I used the word 'smitten.' I just got a sense that the interaction between the officer and the father was almost at times kind of a social interaction, as opposed to a police interview or interrogation."
Woods told the CBC that Vancouver Police should have fresh eyes look at the file, saying "I think an effort has to be made to take another look at this case."
In his judgment on the custody dispute last year, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Paul Walker agreed with Woods' critique of the police interrogation, writing "I was struck by how quickly and easily [the father] took control of the interview. It appeared to me that the officer was enamoured of (the father) in some way."
In his conclusion after reviewing footage of what he characterized as several flawed interviews, Walker wrote "I have determined that I can place no weight on the conclusions reached by the VPD… that there was no merit in the sexual abuse allegations."
Walker also determined, from the evidence presented, that the father sexually abused three of his children, exposed them to inappropriate sexualized knowledge, and physically assaulted them and their mother.
He gave full custody to the exonerated mother, and said a restraining order would be required against the father.
Father maintains innocence
CBC News spoke with the father, who maintains that his ex-wife fabricated the sex abuse claims in order to gain sole custody of their children.
"By itself, that allegation is nuclear. You light off that allegation and there's radioactivity forever. It never, ever goes away," he said.
The senior Vancouver Police officer who cleared the father refused comment, referring CBC News to the department.
Sgt. Randy Fincham, media relations officer for the department, wrote to the CBC in an email, "The judge is more than entitled to have an opinion about the quality of the police investigation" and "in the event that new evidence is brought forward in any investigation, the police retain the ability to reopen, continue or advance their investigation."
Beyond that, he stated the department "is not at liberty to discuss an ongoing court process, as it may impact the final outcome of the proceedings."
Mr. Justice Walker's decision was rendered last year. The Vancouver police are not party to the current negligence lawsuit against the province.
Sgt. Fincham did not answer questions about whether the case merits a review, or what should be done about the father in the community, given the judge's finding that he sexually abused his three children.
The Minister of Children and Family Services, Stephanie Cadieux, wrote in an email it would be inappropriate for her to comment on the case, as it is before the courts, stating "the safety and well-being of children is always the Ministry's first priority."
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Dad kidnaps son during visitation, kept him hidden from Mom for 4 years (Clayton County, Georgia)
Notice how many paragraphs we have to get through to find out who was responsible for this boy being missing--i.e. his father. Dad is identified as GREGORY JEAN.
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/missing-boy-rescued-after-4-years-clayton-county/njHnB/
Updated: 1:44 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 29, 2014 | Posted: 7:18 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 29, 2014
Missing boy rescued after 4 years in Clayton County
CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — Clayton County police say they rescued a 13-year-old boy who has been reported missing for four years Saturday morning.
Clayton County police Sgt. Kevin Hughes said officers first went to the home near Jonesboro about 11 p.m. Friday to conduct a welfare check on a child.
“Upon initial arrival, responding officers made contact with several occupants at the location who denied having knowledge of any information concerning the victim,” Hughes said. “After a brief search of the premises, the officers left without locating the victim.”
At about 2 a.m., police said they received a second call about the boy and returned to the house. When officers arrived and after several minutes of questioning adults in the house, officers found the child hidden behind a panel behind a linen closet in an insulation area in the garage.
“While at the location during the second call, the victim was able to establish phone contact with his mother and she in turn passed on additional information to the officers on the scene,” Clayton County police Sgt. Kevin Hughes said. “The victim was found behind a false wall within the residence.”
The boy repeatedly thanked the officers, police said.
Police arrested five people at the home, including the boy’s father, 37-year-old Gregory Jean, and 42-year-old Samantha Joy Davis, and charged them with false imprisonment, cruelty to children and obstruction. The other three people arrested were juveniles, Hughes said.
Authorities said the boy was visiting his father from Florida in 2010 and refused to return him to his mother.
The boy told authorities he used an app on a cell phone to get in touch with his mother.
The boy was reunited with his mother just after 11 a.m. at the Clayton County police department.
A neighbor told Winne the boy was frequently outside the house, mostly doing yard work but sometimes playing.
Authorities say they have a lot of unanswered questions and they are working with the boy's mother.
Authorities said the child’s mother apparently reported the boy missing to child welfare authorities but not previously to police possibly because she’s an immigrant unfamiliar with the system.
Deputy Chief Mike register there were too many unanswered questions this morning as to who has custody and why police weren’t brought in earlier. The boy will likely stay in the custody of Division of Family and Children Services to ensure the child’s safety, the police department’s primary concern.
Police told Channel 2 Action News they believe Davis was convicted of child cruelty charge in Henry County in 2006. We're working on investigating the alleged charge.
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/missing-boy-rescued-after-4-years-clayton-county/njHnB/
Updated: 1:44 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 29, 2014 | Posted: 7:18 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 29, 2014
Missing boy rescued after 4 years in Clayton County
CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — Clayton County police say they rescued a 13-year-old boy who has been reported missing for four years Saturday morning.
Clayton County police Sgt. Kevin Hughes said officers first went to the home near Jonesboro about 11 p.m. Friday to conduct a welfare check on a child.
“Upon initial arrival, responding officers made contact with several occupants at the location who denied having knowledge of any information concerning the victim,” Hughes said. “After a brief search of the premises, the officers left without locating the victim.”
At about 2 a.m., police said they received a second call about the boy and returned to the house. When officers arrived and after several minutes of questioning adults in the house, officers found the child hidden behind a panel behind a linen closet in an insulation area in the garage.
“While at the location during the second call, the victim was able to establish phone contact with his mother and she in turn passed on additional information to the officers on the scene,” Clayton County police Sgt. Kevin Hughes said. “The victim was found behind a false wall within the residence.”
The boy repeatedly thanked the officers, police said.
Police arrested five people at the home, including the boy’s father, 37-year-old Gregory Jean, and 42-year-old Samantha Joy Davis, and charged them with false imprisonment, cruelty to children and obstruction. The other three people arrested were juveniles, Hughes said.
Authorities said the boy was visiting his father from Florida in 2010 and refused to return him to his mother.
The boy told authorities he used an app on a cell phone to get in touch with his mother.
The boy was reunited with his mother just after 11 a.m. at the Clayton County police department.
A neighbor told Winne the boy was frequently outside the house, mostly doing yard work but sometimes playing.
Authorities say they have a lot of unanswered questions and they are working with the boy's mother.
Authorities said the child’s mother apparently reported the boy missing to child welfare authorities but not previously to police possibly because she’s an immigrant unfamiliar with the system.
Deputy Chief Mike register there were too many unanswered questions this morning as to who has custody and why police weren’t brought in earlier. The boy will likely stay in the custody of Division of Family and Children Services to ensure the child’s safety, the police department’s primary concern.
Police told Channel 2 Action News they believe Davis was convicted of child cruelty charge in Henry County in 2006. We're working on investigating the alleged charge.
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Dad wins custody battle after being "falsely" accused of sexually abusing 9-year-old daughter (United Kingdom)
If this is typical of most of these so-called "investigations," the authorities in question just assumed that the mother was a crazy vindictive liar ("delusional") and any evidence that contradicted that was minimized, ignored, or conveniently lost. Even if the charges were not true, but were made in good faith, the message is still clear: Don't you dare accuse the father of your kids of sexually abusing them because you will be punished with loss of custody.
Notice that it's not simply asserted that the accusations are "false." The mother must be smeared as having a "disturbed emotional history" so anything she says is automatically dismissed. Even her efforts to act as an advocate for her daughter bring down nothing but condemnation.
That's why I suspect that UNNAMED DAD IS a molester. If he wasn't, you wouldn't see the same tar-and-feather effort to destroy the mother's credibility in every way. So now Daddy has 24/7 access to his victim. I'm sure he's very happy now.
So much for daddies being discriminated against....
Notice that this cold, unfeeling judge also dismisses the mother's grief at losing her daughter by just telling her to "move on." Sickening.
JUDGE JANE MILLER IS A TOTAL JOKE AND NEEDS TO BE REMOVED FROM THE BENCH.
And once again I am further convinced that no mother should be subjected to mandatory shared custody of child, especially from infancy. If mothers had full decision making power about who is allowed to do caretaking of their child and under what circumstances, this "custody battle" would never have had a chance.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/11166564/Father-wins-custody-battle-after-being-falsely-accused-of-sexually-abusing-his-daughter.html
Father wins custody battle after being falsely accused of sexually abusing his daughter
Judge rules that the nine-year-old girl, from Hampshire, should live with her father after concluding the woman's allegations were untrue
Judge Miller has not identified the family
By Agency 10:51AM BST 16 Oct 2014
A father has won custody of his daughter after his former partner falsely accused him of sexually abusing their child.
The man was investigated by police and social workers after the woman said her daughter had made "disclosures of sexual abuse".
But Judge Jane Miller has ruled that the girl, now nine, should live with her father after concluding the woman's allegations were untrue.
Detail emerged in a written ruling by the judge - published on a legal website - following a family court hearing in Basingstoke, Hampshire.
Judge Miller did not identify the family involved, but she said the man and woman were both in their 40s and the local authority with responsibility for the welfare of the girl was Hampshire County Council.
She said the pair separated when the girl was a baby. A shared residence order was made under which the youngster lived with her mother five days a week and her father for two.
Nearly three years ago the mother told social workers and police that the girl had spoken of "inappropriate sexual behaviour" by her father.
The judge said she had concluded that the allegations were untrue at a hearing in December and ruled that the youngster should move in with her father on a temporary basis.
But she said the woman had gone on to repeat the allegations, and at one stage a vicar got up a petition calling for the girl to be returned to her mother.
Judge Miller said woman had a "disturbed emotional history", was "delusional", had suffered from depression and had been treated for alcoholism several years ago..
She added that the girl's move to her father's home had been an "unqualified success".
The judge said everything was in favour of the girl being placed with her father, who struck her as "sensitive and child focused", and she added that the youngster was doing "remarkably well" in his care.
Judge Miller said the woman's family had been unable to accept her judgment and help the woman "move on".
The man said some of the evidence he had heard from maternal relatives made him "feel nauseated".
Judge Miller added: "He said that while the injustice of the allegations still rankles with him, he has come a long way, and, 'it's joyous to have (my daughter) with me'."
Notice that it's not simply asserted that the accusations are "false." The mother must be smeared as having a "disturbed emotional history" so anything she says is automatically dismissed. Even her efforts to act as an advocate for her daughter bring down nothing but condemnation.
That's why I suspect that UNNAMED DAD IS a molester. If he wasn't, you wouldn't see the same tar-and-feather effort to destroy the mother's credibility in every way. So now Daddy has 24/7 access to his victim. I'm sure he's very happy now.
So much for daddies being discriminated against....
Notice that this cold, unfeeling judge also dismisses the mother's grief at losing her daughter by just telling her to "move on." Sickening.
JUDGE JANE MILLER IS A TOTAL JOKE AND NEEDS TO BE REMOVED FROM THE BENCH.
And once again I am further convinced that no mother should be subjected to mandatory shared custody of child, especially from infancy. If mothers had full decision making power about who is allowed to do caretaking of their child and under what circumstances, this "custody battle" would never have had a chance.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/11166564/Father-wins-custody-battle-after-being-falsely-accused-of-sexually-abusing-his-daughter.html
Father wins custody battle after being falsely accused of sexually abusing his daughter
Judge rules that the nine-year-old girl, from Hampshire, should live with her father after concluding the woman's allegations were untrue
Judge Miller has not identified the family
By Agency 10:51AM BST 16 Oct 2014
A father has won custody of his daughter after his former partner falsely accused him of sexually abusing their child.
The man was investigated by police and social workers after the woman said her daughter had made "disclosures of sexual abuse".
But Judge Jane Miller has ruled that the girl, now nine, should live with her father after concluding the woman's allegations were untrue.
Detail emerged in a written ruling by the judge - published on a legal website - following a family court hearing in Basingstoke, Hampshire.
Judge Miller did not identify the family involved, but she said the man and woman were both in their 40s and the local authority with responsibility for the welfare of the girl was Hampshire County Council.
She said the pair separated when the girl was a baby. A shared residence order was made under which the youngster lived with her mother five days a week and her father for two.
Nearly three years ago the mother told social workers and police that the girl had spoken of "inappropriate sexual behaviour" by her father.
The judge said she had concluded that the allegations were untrue at a hearing in December and ruled that the youngster should move in with her father on a temporary basis.
But she said the woman had gone on to repeat the allegations, and at one stage a vicar got up a petition calling for the girl to be returned to her mother.
Judge Miller said woman had a "disturbed emotional history", was "delusional", had suffered from depression and had been treated for alcoholism several years ago..
She added that the girl's move to her father's home had been an "unqualified success".
The judge said everything was in favour of the girl being placed with her father, who struck her as "sensitive and child focused", and she added that the youngster was doing "remarkably well" in his care.
Judge Miller said the woman's family had been unable to accept her judgment and help the woman "move on".
The man said some of the evidence he had heard from maternal relatives made him "feel nauseated".
Judge Miller added: "He said that while the injustice of the allegations still rankles with him, he has come a long way, and, 'it's joyous to have (my daughter) with me'."
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Custodial dad arrested for abusing 9- and 11-year-old sons; DCF takes custody, but what happened to mom? (Gainesville, Florida)
Read this account carefully, and it is evident (though NOT spelled out clearly) that dad UNNAMED DAD is custodial and remained custodial despite "numerous" child abuse reports. All he had to do was complete a (meaningless) "case plan" and he got the kids back.
This is a very typical story for Florida, which has a long and entrenched tradition of favoring fathers "rights" and discounting the rights of children and mothers. And notice that the mother has been totally erased from this story. We are given absolutely no indication of whatever happened to her or how the father took full possession of these kids. This is a very important question to ask in cases like this, as chances are VERY HIGH that whatever treatment he has dished out to the kids, he dished out to her. So is she deceased? If so, from natural causes? Is she "missing"? That should raise red flags automatically. Or was she outgunned by this POS in family court? Of course, the media maintains full silence on these matters, so we have no idea who enabled this violent father to maintain abusive control over these kids for so long.
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20141004/ARTICLES/141009811
Dad arrested; DCF takes custody of sons
By Cindy Swirko
Staff writer
Published: Saturday, October 4, 2014 at 5:19 p.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, October 4, 2014 at 5:19 p.m.
A Gainesville man was arrested Friday on a child abuse charge after a medical exam of his two sons found marks consistent with their statements that the dad hit them with cords, according to an Alachua County Sheriff's Office arrest report.
The two boys, ages nine and 11, and their older brother were taken from the home by the state Department of Children and Families, the report states. The report states that DCF has numerous child abuse reports on the father.
On Friday, DCF got a report from a school staff member about possible abuse in the home. DCF interviewed the boys at the home and was told that the father, age 65, hit them with a black cord.
The children were taken to the Child Protection Team for a medical examination, which found an abrasion, including broken skin, on one boy and red marks on the other.
Sheriff's officials reported the boys said they were hit with the cord repeatedly because they did not clean their room. The children had been removed from the man's care in 2010 after he was arrested on a charge of physically abusing a different child. They were returned to his custody after he completed a case plan, the report states.
Under questioning by sheriff's officials Friday, the father said he took medication that made him "out of it" and that he didn't remember hitting the children.
This is a very typical story for Florida, which has a long and entrenched tradition of favoring fathers "rights" and discounting the rights of children and mothers. And notice that the mother has been totally erased from this story. We are given absolutely no indication of whatever happened to her or how the father took full possession of these kids. This is a very important question to ask in cases like this, as chances are VERY HIGH that whatever treatment he has dished out to the kids, he dished out to her. So is she deceased? If so, from natural causes? Is she "missing"? That should raise red flags automatically. Or was she outgunned by this POS in family court? Of course, the media maintains full silence on these matters, so we have no idea who enabled this violent father to maintain abusive control over these kids for so long.
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20141004/ARTICLES/141009811
Dad arrested; DCF takes custody of sons
By Cindy Swirko
Staff writer
Published: Saturday, October 4, 2014 at 5:19 p.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, October 4, 2014 at 5:19 p.m.
A Gainesville man was arrested Friday on a child abuse charge after a medical exam of his two sons found marks consistent with their statements that the dad hit them with cords, according to an Alachua County Sheriff's Office arrest report.
The two boys, ages nine and 11, and their older brother were taken from the home by the state Department of Children and Families, the report states. The report states that DCF has numerous child abuse reports on the father.
On Friday, DCF got a report from a school staff member about possible abuse in the home. DCF interviewed the boys at the home and was told that the father, age 65, hit them with a black cord.
The children were taken to the Child Protection Team for a medical examination, which found an abrasion, including broken skin, on one boy and red marks on the other.
Sheriff's officials reported the boys said they were hit with the cord repeatedly because they did not clean their room. The children had been removed from the man's care in 2010 after he was arrested on a charge of physically abusing a different child. They were returned to his custody after he completed a case plan, the report states.
Under questioning by sheriff's officials Friday, the father said he took medication that made him "out of it" and that he didn't remember hitting the children.
Friday, September 26, 2014
Dad accused of using cattle prod on 9-year-old daughter (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
Notice that the mother has lost custody though there is no suggestion in this article that she used a cattle prod on any of the children, approved of its usage on the children, or even knew of its usage on the children. Yet another example of how mothers are punished and made responsible for the crimes of fathers. Dad is identified as ELDEN C. BEGAY.
http://www.abqjournal.com/468329/abqnewsseeker/man-accused-of-using-cattle-prod-on-9-year-old-daughter.html
Man accused of using cattle prod on 9-year-old daughter
ABQnews Seeker
By Rosalie Rayburn / Journal Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: Thursday, September 25, 2014 at 8:27 pm
Albuquerque police have arrested a man whose young daughters say he shocked or threatened them and their small dogs with a device he used on horses and bulls and which the manufacturers say is never supposed to be used on humans.
Elden C. Begay faces a charge of child abuse without great bodily harm and a felony charge of extreme cruelty to animals, according to a criminal complaint.
One of the girls, aged 9, told a staffer at Kirtland Elementary School that her father woke her on Aug. 20 with what she called a “horse shocking thing” when she failed to get up, and complained that it still hurt.
A report filed by the state Children, Youth and Families Department identified the father as Elden Begay. An officer with the police Crimes Against Children Unit reviewed the report and interviewed the girl at the school.
The girl told the officer that her father shocked her on the torso after she begged him not to. The girl showed the area where she had been shocked and said it “hurts so freaking bad”, although there was no mark.
Based on the girl’s description the officer thought the device might be a cattle prod.
The officer then talked to the girl’s siblings, aged 8 years and 6 years old, who said they’d seen Begay use the device on their sister. They said he also used it to scare them and other children in the home.
The 8-year-old told the officer that her father and mother used the device on “uncooperative bulls” in Gallup.
A 13-year old sibling told the officer that their father had also shocked the family’s three dogs. “They’re like very tiny … they just cry,” one of the girls said in an interview, according to the complaint.
After speaking with the girls at the school, the officer signed an emergency order placing all of the children in the family into the temporary custody of CYFD. The order included four more he found at the family home in Southeast Albuquerque.
Executing a search warrant, police searched the home on Aug. 22 and found a “Hot Shot” electric livestock prod in the garage. The device was marked with warnings saying “use on livestock only” and “keep away from children.”
The officer contacted the device manufacturer, Miller Manufacturing who informed him that it generates about 9,000 volts. A Miller Manufacturing representative told the officer by email that “Hot Shot” prods should “never be used on a human,” the complaint said.
http://www.abqjournal.com/468329/abqnewsseeker/man-accused-of-using-cattle-prod-on-9-year-old-daughter.html
Man accused of using cattle prod on 9-year-old daughter
ABQnews Seeker
By Rosalie Rayburn / Journal Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: Thursday, September 25, 2014 at 8:27 pm
Albuquerque police have arrested a man whose young daughters say he shocked or threatened them and their small dogs with a device he used on horses and bulls and which the manufacturers say is never supposed to be used on humans.
Elden C. Begay faces a charge of child abuse without great bodily harm and a felony charge of extreme cruelty to animals, according to a criminal complaint.
One of the girls, aged 9, told a staffer at Kirtland Elementary School that her father woke her on Aug. 20 with what she called a “horse shocking thing” when she failed to get up, and complained that it still hurt.
A report filed by the state Children, Youth and Families Department identified the father as Elden Begay. An officer with the police Crimes Against Children Unit reviewed the report and interviewed the girl at the school.
The girl told the officer that her father shocked her on the torso after she begged him not to. The girl showed the area where she had been shocked and said it “hurts so freaking bad”, although there was no mark.
Based on the girl’s description the officer thought the device might be a cattle prod.
The officer then talked to the girl’s siblings, aged 8 years and 6 years old, who said they’d seen Begay use the device on their sister. They said he also used it to scare them and other children in the home.
The 8-year-old told the officer that her father and mother used the device on “uncooperative bulls” in Gallup.
A 13-year old sibling told the officer that their father had also shocked the family’s three dogs. “They’re like very tiny … they just cry,” one of the girls said in an interview, according to the complaint.
After speaking with the girls at the school, the officer signed an emergency order placing all of the children in the family into the temporary custody of CYFD. The order included four more he found at the family home in Southeast Albuquerque.
Executing a search warrant, police searched the home on Aug. 22 and found a “Hot Shot” electric livestock prod in the garage. The device was marked with warnings saying “use on livestock only” and “keep away from children.”
The officer contacted the device manufacturer, Miller Manufacturing who informed him that it generates about 9,000 volts. A Miller Manufacturing representative told the officer by email that “Hot Shot” prods should “never be used on a human,” the complaint said.
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Custodial dad charged with 1st-degree murder in brutal beating death of 4-year-old daughter (Cherokee, North Carolina)
As is often the case in these stories, there are a lot of buried facts and things that are not explained at all.
1) A careful reading shows that this vicious killer was in fact a custodial father. He also had custody of a son.
2) The murdered girl apparently lived with both parents back in New Jersey. There were apparently concerns about her being malnourished then. Was this the mother's fault? Apparently, not as the problem PERSISTED after Daddy got hold of her and moved out of state, and in fact seemingly got WORSE.
3) How did this father get custody? Who gave it to him? Why was he allowed to cut off all contact with the mother (this often happens with abusive control freak fathers, contrary to what the FR folks tell you about "gatekeeping" mothers)? Who allowed him to move out of state, when mothers are routinely forbidden by the family courts to do the same?
4) The son reported abuse by the father to social workers before, and had documentable bruising. Why was there no follow up?
Lots of unanswered questions here.
Dad is identified as ERIC DAVIS.
http://www.thesylvaherald.com/top_stories/article_76cfbe88-336d-11e4-af1d-0017a43b2370.html
Autopsy report reveals extent of murdered child’s injuries
Posted: Wednesday, September 3, 2014 2:00 pm
By Quintin Ellison
When a pathologist examined Erica Davis, practically the only parts of her body not broken, bruised or fractured were the little girl’s legs, according to a lengthy autopsy report released last week by Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
The 4-year-old child’s father, Eric Davis, 24, remains jailed on charges he abused his daughter and son Oct. 11, 2013, in a room at the Qualla Motel near Cherokee. Erica died Oct. 12 at Asheville’s Mission Hospital after she was taken off life support.
Davis is charged with first-degree murder and two counts of intentional child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury. Deemed unable to pay for legal help, he has been assigned two lawyers by the state’s Office of Indigent Defense Services. Having two lawyers – a more-experienced first chair and a second chair – is standard practice when it appears reasonably likely that prosecutors will seek the death penalty.
That isn’t certain. A required pretrial hearing (rule 24) to determine whether the state intends to proceed with a capital case hasn’t been held. Davis is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 9.
State law passed in 2001 gives a prosecutor the discretion to try a first-degree murder case without seeking the death penalty, even if aggravating circumstances exist to support a death sentence. These are factors that increase the severity or culpability of the alleged criminal act.
Last November, District Attorney Mike Bonfoey declined to comment on the case.
One aggravating circumstance under North Carolina law is whether “the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, cruel or depraved (or involved torture).”
The autopsy lists the official cause of Erica’s death as “acute intracranial injury with subdural hematoma and cerebral edema” due to blunt trauma to the head.
Erica was struck repeatedly, including with a cylindrical object; multiple contusions and several lacerations were found. There was blunt trauma to her thorax, abdomen, back and pelvis; three of her ribs were fractured.
Erica was very underweight for her age, just 29 pounds (less than the fifth percentile, the pathologist, Dr. Patrick Lantz, wrote). She was wearing a disposable diaper, unusual for a child that age. Social workers in New Jersey, where her parents initially lived, had reported in 2009 to a judge that Erica, then an infant, appeared malnourished. The little girl was later returned to the custody of her mother and father, both 19 at the time. In an October, 2013, interview, Erica’s mother told The Herald she had last seen her daughter in July 2011.
In a summary of his findings, the pathologist wrote that Erica had been living at the Qualla Motel with her father, brother and aunt, according to investigative reports he reviewed.
“The father called 911 stating that (Erica) was choking on water. When paramedics arrived, she was unresponsive,” the pathologist said. Law enforcement officers were called to the scene.
Davis’ son, then age 3, told a Jackson County social worker that his father “made the boo-boos,” according to court documents used to support a search warrant. The boy’s buttocks were heavily bruised and there were handprint marks on both sides of his face.
1) A careful reading shows that this vicious killer was in fact a custodial father. He also had custody of a son.
2) The murdered girl apparently lived with both parents back in New Jersey. There were apparently concerns about her being malnourished then. Was this the mother's fault? Apparently, not as the problem PERSISTED after Daddy got hold of her and moved out of state, and in fact seemingly got WORSE.
3) How did this father get custody? Who gave it to him? Why was he allowed to cut off all contact with the mother (this often happens with abusive control freak fathers, contrary to what the FR folks tell you about "gatekeeping" mothers)? Who allowed him to move out of state, when mothers are routinely forbidden by the family courts to do the same?
4) The son reported abuse by the father to social workers before, and had documentable bruising. Why was there no follow up?
Lots of unanswered questions here.
Dad is identified as ERIC DAVIS.
http://www.thesylvaherald.com/top_stories/article_76cfbe88-336d-11e4-af1d-0017a43b2370.html
Autopsy report reveals extent of murdered child’s injuries
Posted: Wednesday, September 3, 2014 2:00 pm
By Quintin Ellison
When a pathologist examined Erica Davis, practically the only parts of her body not broken, bruised or fractured were the little girl’s legs, according to a lengthy autopsy report released last week by Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
The 4-year-old child’s father, Eric Davis, 24, remains jailed on charges he abused his daughter and son Oct. 11, 2013, in a room at the Qualla Motel near Cherokee. Erica died Oct. 12 at Asheville’s Mission Hospital after she was taken off life support.
Davis is charged with first-degree murder and two counts of intentional child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury. Deemed unable to pay for legal help, he has been assigned two lawyers by the state’s Office of Indigent Defense Services. Having two lawyers – a more-experienced first chair and a second chair – is standard practice when it appears reasonably likely that prosecutors will seek the death penalty.
That isn’t certain. A required pretrial hearing (rule 24) to determine whether the state intends to proceed with a capital case hasn’t been held. Davis is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 9.
State law passed in 2001 gives a prosecutor the discretion to try a first-degree murder case without seeking the death penalty, even if aggravating circumstances exist to support a death sentence. These are factors that increase the severity or culpability of the alleged criminal act.
Last November, District Attorney Mike Bonfoey declined to comment on the case.
One aggravating circumstance under North Carolina law is whether “the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, cruel or depraved (or involved torture).”
The autopsy lists the official cause of Erica’s death as “acute intracranial injury with subdural hematoma and cerebral edema” due to blunt trauma to the head.
Erica was struck repeatedly, including with a cylindrical object; multiple contusions and several lacerations were found. There was blunt trauma to her thorax, abdomen, back and pelvis; three of her ribs were fractured.
Erica was very underweight for her age, just 29 pounds (less than the fifth percentile, the pathologist, Dr. Patrick Lantz, wrote). She was wearing a disposable diaper, unusual for a child that age. Social workers in New Jersey, where her parents initially lived, had reported in 2009 to a judge that Erica, then an infant, appeared malnourished. The little girl was later returned to the custody of her mother and father, both 19 at the time. In an October, 2013, interview, Erica’s mother told The Herald she had last seen her daughter in July 2011.
In a summary of his findings, the pathologist wrote that Erica had been living at the Qualla Motel with her father, brother and aunt, according to investigative reports he reviewed.
“The father called 911 stating that (Erica) was choking on water. When paramedics arrived, she was unresponsive,” the pathologist said. Law enforcement officers were called to the scene.
Davis’ son, then age 3, told a Jackson County social worker that his father “made the boo-boos,” according to court documents used to support a search warrant. The boy’s buttocks were heavily bruised and there were handprint marks on both sides of his face.
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Dad convicted of felony child abuse for sticking his finger down the throat of 3-month-old daughter (James City, Virginia)
Dad is identified as ROBERT EARL HAAS IV.
http://www.vagazette.com/news/va-vg-haas-jury-trial-0730-20140729,0,6705205.story
James City father convicted for child abuse
By Susan Robertson, The Virginia Gazette 7:21 p.m. EDT, July 29, 2014
WILLIAMSBURG — A James City man whom police say stuck his finger down his baby's throat in February was convicted Tuesday on a felony child abuse charge.
After more than two hours of deliberation. the jury of nine women and three men found Robert Earl Haas IV, 27, guilty on the sole felony count. The members returned a sentencing recommendation of 21/2 years in prison and a $1,000 fine less than 15 minutes later.
Over the course of the nearly eight hour trial, defense attorney Patrick Bales argued the Feb. 8 incident was a first-aid attempt gone wrong. He said at closing that Haas had "perfect intentions and imperfect actions" when he believed his daughter was choking. Haas did not testify.
Maureen Kufro, assistant commonwealth's attorney, told the court that as the 3-month-old girl cried out for comfort, Haas responded by "shoving his finger down her throat." She recounted witness testimony that Haas told the child's mother not to call 911 when the girl was coughing up blood, and did not tell anyone until days after the incident that he had stuck his fingers down the baby's throat.
"If help is what he was trying to give her," Kufro said, "help is what he would have tried to get her."
Danny Hunt, the child's mother, testified on the day of the incident that her daughter was napping on the bed while she took a shower. She said she asked Haas to take their little girl into the living room while she got ready for work. "
After a minute or two, I heard her start to cough," she said.
As Hunt got to the living room she saw her daughter in Haas's arms coughing up blood, according to her testimony. She said Haas told her not to call 911, noting his tone was angry, but she called anyway.
Amber Hallman, a paramedic in James City, testified that when the ambulance arrived she found a man standing outside of the apartment building smoking a cigarette. She said Haas told her the baby was upstairs, describing his demeanor as "nonchalant."
She told the court the baby had dried blood on her forehead, around her lips and inside her mouth. She added that, when laid back, the baby's breathing became labored.
Kufro questioned Hallman about what steps to take if it's believed a baby is choking. Hallman said at no point would you stick a finger down a child's throat is appropriate action.
Haas didn't say anything about why the baby was coughing blood until the couple arrived at the hospital, according to Hunt. Bales asserted that because Haas went downstairs to wait for paramedics then drove separately to the hospital that he did not have an opportunity to tell Hunt what happened.
Kufro said paramedics were at the apartment for seven minutes and during that time Haas did not what caused the baby to begin coughing up blood.
Hunt said Haas told her at the hospital he thought their daughter was choking on something and tried to clear her airway, according to Hunt's testimony. She added that he told her the baby was bleeding before he attempted to clear the child's airway.
Kristin Ashe, a registered nurse at Sentara Williamburg Regional Medical Center, said she was assigned as the baby's primary nurse Feb. 8 when she arrived at the hospital. She said the baby was making gurgling sounds and needed her throat suctioned about every 15 minutes.
The child's mother and father, whom she identified as Haas, were present, Ashe said. Ashe recalled the mother was tearful when the baby was transferred to Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters in Norfolk, but Haas was unemotional.
Hunt said that at the time of the transfer, there was still no indication of what had caused the bleeding.
Dr. Norrell Atkinson, a former child abuse pediatrician at CHKD who was qualified as an expert in court, said she saw the 3-month-old girl Feb. 9 after she was transferred. She said the baby presented as unstable in the emergency room and began developing a fever during her first night there.
A diagnostic procedure, in which the baby's throat was "scoped" with a small camera, revealed the root cause of the bleeding as a 11/2 centimeter laceration to the throat muscle, Atkinson said, calling it a significant injury. She said the injury was the result of blunt force trauma to the back of the throat.
Atkinson explained that the injury was significant because the throat muscle has to be tough enough to protect people from sharp things that inadvertently swallow, such as bones. Asked by Kufro if the baby could have inflicted those injuries on herself, Atkinson said "absolutely not."
Hunt told the court that while at CHKD Haas became nervous, saying to her, "it's all my fault." She said he later admitted he thought the girl was choking and stuck his finger down her throat. Hunt noted she then told her daughter's doctor.
Asked by Kufro if it was days later that Haas was crying and "torn up" over what had happened, Hunt said yes.
Tina Sawyer with James City County Social Services said on Feb. 11 Haas recounted the incident, remarking he felt the baby was choking.
She testified he told her he stuck his finger down the little girl's throat to induce vomiting. Haas told her he felt a round, "plasticy" object in the baby's throat, Sawyer said. She said when he was asked by a police officer if the motion was forceful, Haas said yes.
He later said he was attempted to perform a "finger swipe" to clear the blockage, Sawyer said. She added that Haas stated sticking his finger down the baby's throat is what caused her to bleed.
Haas will be formally sentenced in October.
http://www.vagazette.com/news/va-vg-haas-jury-trial-0730-20140729,0,6705205.story
James City father convicted for child abuse
By Susan Robertson, The Virginia Gazette 7:21 p.m. EDT, July 29, 2014
WILLIAMSBURG — A James City man whom police say stuck his finger down his baby's throat in February was convicted Tuesday on a felony child abuse charge.
After more than two hours of deliberation. the jury of nine women and three men found Robert Earl Haas IV, 27, guilty on the sole felony count. The members returned a sentencing recommendation of 21/2 years in prison and a $1,000 fine less than 15 minutes later.
Over the course of the nearly eight hour trial, defense attorney Patrick Bales argued the Feb. 8 incident was a first-aid attempt gone wrong. He said at closing that Haas had "perfect intentions and imperfect actions" when he believed his daughter was choking. Haas did not testify.
Maureen Kufro, assistant commonwealth's attorney, told the court that as the 3-month-old girl cried out for comfort, Haas responded by "shoving his finger down her throat." She recounted witness testimony that Haas told the child's mother not to call 911 when the girl was coughing up blood, and did not tell anyone until days after the incident that he had stuck his fingers down the baby's throat.
"If help is what he was trying to give her," Kufro said, "help is what he would have tried to get her."
Danny Hunt, the child's mother, testified on the day of the incident that her daughter was napping on the bed while she took a shower. She said she asked Haas to take their little girl into the living room while she got ready for work. "
After a minute or two, I heard her start to cough," she said.
As Hunt got to the living room she saw her daughter in Haas's arms coughing up blood, according to her testimony. She said Haas told her not to call 911, noting his tone was angry, but she called anyway.
Amber Hallman, a paramedic in James City, testified that when the ambulance arrived she found a man standing outside of the apartment building smoking a cigarette. She said Haas told her the baby was upstairs, describing his demeanor as "nonchalant."
She told the court the baby had dried blood on her forehead, around her lips and inside her mouth. She added that, when laid back, the baby's breathing became labored.
Kufro questioned Hallman about what steps to take if it's believed a baby is choking. Hallman said at no point would you stick a finger down a child's throat is appropriate action.
Haas didn't say anything about why the baby was coughing blood until the couple arrived at the hospital, according to Hunt. Bales asserted that because Haas went downstairs to wait for paramedics then drove separately to the hospital that he did not have an opportunity to tell Hunt what happened.
Kufro said paramedics were at the apartment for seven minutes and during that time Haas did not what caused the baby to begin coughing up blood.
Hunt said Haas told her at the hospital he thought their daughter was choking on something and tried to clear her airway, according to Hunt's testimony. She added that he told her the baby was bleeding before he attempted to clear the child's airway.
Kristin Ashe, a registered nurse at Sentara Williamburg Regional Medical Center, said she was assigned as the baby's primary nurse Feb. 8 when she arrived at the hospital. She said the baby was making gurgling sounds and needed her throat suctioned about every 15 minutes.
The child's mother and father, whom she identified as Haas, were present, Ashe said. Ashe recalled the mother was tearful when the baby was transferred to Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters in Norfolk, but Haas was unemotional.
Hunt said that at the time of the transfer, there was still no indication of what had caused the bleeding.
Dr. Norrell Atkinson, a former child abuse pediatrician at CHKD who was qualified as an expert in court, said she saw the 3-month-old girl Feb. 9 after she was transferred. She said the baby presented as unstable in the emergency room and began developing a fever during her first night there.
A diagnostic procedure, in which the baby's throat was "scoped" with a small camera, revealed the root cause of the bleeding as a 11/2 centimeter laceration to the throat muscle, Atkinson said, calling it a significant injury. She said the injury was the result of blunt force trauma to the back of the throat.
Atkinson explained that the injury was significant because the throat muscle has to be tough enough to protect people from sharp things that inadvertently swallow, such as bones. Asked by Kufro if the baby could have inflicted those injuries on herself, Atkinson said "absolutely not."
Hunt told the court that while at CHKD Haas became nervous, saying to her, "it's all my fault." She said he later admitted he thought the girl was choking and stuck his finger down her throat. Hunt noted she then told her daughter's doctor.
Asked by Kufro if it was days later that Haas was crying and "torn up" over what had happened, Hunt said yes.
Tina Sawyer with James City County Social Services said on Feb. 11 Haas recounted the incident, remarking he felt the baby was choking.
She testified he told her he stuck his finger down the little girl's throat to induce vomiting. Haas told her he felt a round, "plasticy" object in the baby's throat, Sawyer said. She said when he was asked by a police officer if the motion was forceful, Haas said yes.
He later said he was attempted to perform a "finger swipe" to clear the blockage, Sawyer said. She added that Haas stated sticking his finger down the baby's throat is what caused her to bleed.
Haas will be formally sentenced in October.
Monday, May 19, 2014
Dad charged with abusing infant son; baby has multiple fractures, bite marks (Badin, Indiana)
Another case where the healing injuries suggest that Daddy had been abusing this baby virtually from birth.
Dad is identified as ALVIN RAT BASKINS JR.
http://www.thesnaponline.com/x1396854205/Father-faces-charges-of-abuse-on-son
May 19, 2014
Father faces charges of abuse on son
Police say arms, ribs fractured, 6 week old bitten
By Ritchie Starnes, News Editor CNHI
The Stanly News & Press
Mon May 19, 2014, 10:44 AM EDT Sunday, May 19, 2014 — A Badin man is in jail accused of fracturing his infant son’s arms, ribs and biting him on the legs.
Alvin Ray Baskins Jr. remains jailed on felonious charges of child abuse inflicting serious personal injury and assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, according to Badin police Sgt. Scott Williams.
The alleged incidents occurred between Dec. 31 and March 14, with the more serious injuries occurring when the infant was 6 weeks old, Williams said. The boy was born Nov. 5.
In addition to fractured bones in each arm, the infant suffered four fractured ribs, Williams said. There were multiple bite marks on the boy’s legs, including some that appeared to have been older. The Department of Social Services was first to intervene and contact police. DSS removed the child from the home of his father. The boy and his mother have been residing with the maternal grandmother in Norwood while Baskins, 27, remained at his Badin residence.
Since Baskins’ May 5 arrest, the child and his mother have returned to the Badin residence they shared with Baskins.
Baskins was jailed under a $10,000 bail. He has yet to post bail as of Friday.
If Baskins makes bail and returns home, DSS requires the boy to be separated from the same residence of his father. Any visits between Baskins and his son must be supervised, Williams said.
Police are investigating whether Baskins has other children in Indiana that may have also suffered abuse.
Dad is identified as ALVIN RAT BASKINS JR.
http://www.thesnaponline.com/x1396854205/Father-faces-charges-of-abuse-on-son
May 19, 2014
Father faces charges of abuse on son
Police say arms, ribs fractured, 6 week old bitten
By Ritchie Starnes, News Editor CNHI
The Stanly News & Press
Mon May 19, 2014, 10:44 AM EDT Sunday, May 19, 2014 — A Badin man is in jail accused of fracturing his infant son’s arms, ribs and biting him on the legs.
Alvin Ray Baskins Jr. remains jailed on felonious charges of child abuse inflicting serious personal injury and assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, according to Badin police Sgt. Scott Williams.
The alleged incidents occurred between Dec. 31 and March 14, with the more serious injuries occurring when the infant was 6 weeks old, Williams said. The boy was born Nov. 5.
In addition to fractured bones in each arm, the infant suffered four fractured ribs, Williams said. There were multiple bite marks on the boy’s legs, including some that appeared to have been older. The Department of Social Services was first to intervene and contact police. DSS removed the child from the home of his father. The boy and his mother have been residing with the maternal grandmother in Norwood while Baskins, 27, remained at his Badin residence.
Since Baskins’ May 5 arrest, the child and his mother have returned to the Badin residence they shared with Baskins.
Baskins was jailed under a $10,000 bail. He has yet to post bail as of Friday.
If Baskins makes bail and returns home, DSS requires the boy to be separated from the same residence of his father. Any visits between Baskins and his son must be supervised, Williams said.
Police are investigating whether Baskins has other children in Indiana that may have also suffered abuse.
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Protective mom sues DHS after 15-year-old daughter raped by dad during "supervised" visitation (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
This kind of sickening stuff happens way too often. Contrary to the fathers rights propagandists, fathers lie much more often than mothers in cases involving sexual abuse.
And these so-called child protection agencies more often protect abuser daddies than anybody else. This guy was catered to from beginning to end. And now he has the freaking nerve to CONTINUE LYING when even the DNA evidence shows that he was the father of his own grandchild. SICK.
UNNAMED DAD.
http://m.newson6.com/story.aspx?story=25278642&catId=112042
Tulsa Mother Sues DHS After Daughter Gives Birth To Father's Baby
Posted: Apr 17, 2014 6:27PM CDT
Lori Fullbright, News On 6
A Tulsa mother is suing the Department of Human Services. She says DHS made a series of mistakes that led to her daughter being sexually abused, and impregnated, by her own father.
This lawsuit is about a young girl we'll call K.B. The suit says it began when the girl's father convinced her to make up a story that her mother was allowing her to have sex with men for money, but, two separate investigations showed that wasn't true.
However, while DHS was investigating the claim, they removed K.B. from both parents, to be safe.
According to the suit, K.B. was placed with a temporary foster parent, an employee of a north Tulsa church where her father is the pastor.
"How much sense does that make? Zero," said attorney Paul DeMuro.
The lawsuit says the employee allowed the father to see K.B. alone, even though his visits were supposed to be supervised. It says during those visits, he was forcing his daughter to have sex with him.
"To me, it's shocking," DeMuro said.
The suit says even after a school social worker told DHS the father was spending time alone with her and sexually abusing her, that DHS workers waited another 11 days before removing her and put her back with her mother.
"Any parent would be aghast at that situation. What's going on inside DHS that would permit that series of mistakes," DeMuro asked.
The suit says by then, the 15-year-old was already pregnant with her father's child.
Police were contacted and arrested the pastor.
He's charged with lewd molestation and rape in Tulsa and Osage County, because police say the abuse happened both at his home and at the church. He has pleaded not guilty and those cases are still pending.
The suit says K.B. was 16 when she gave birth to a baby boy, and DNA testing confirmed her father was the baby's father.
The attorney told me she gave the baby up for adoption.
In addition to suing several people at DHS, K.B.'s mother is also suing the father and his church.
DHS sent me a statement that says, "The Department of Human Services disagrees with the allegations being made in this suit and will vigorously defend the agency and its employees named."
A message was left with the father's attorney, but, we haven't heard back.
And these so-called child protection agencies more often protect abuser daddies than anybody else. This guy was catered to from beginning to end. And now he has the freaking nerve to CONTINUE LYING when even the DNA evidence shows that he was the father of his own grandchild. SICK.
UNNAMED DAD.
http://m.newson6.com/story.aspx?story=25278642&catId=112042
Tulsa Mother Sues DHS After Daughter Gives Birth To Father's Baby
Posted: Apr 17, 2014 6:27PM CDT
Lori Fullbright, News On 6
A Tulsa mother is suing the Department of Human Services. She says DHS made a series of mistakes that led to her daughter being sexually abused, and impregnated, by her own father.
This lawsuit is about a young girl we'll call K.B. The suit says it began when the girl's father convinced her to make up a story that her mother was allowing her to have sex with men for money, but, two separate investigations showed that wasn't true.
However, while DHS was investigating the claim, they removed K.B. from both parents, to be safe.
According to the suit, K.B. was placed with a temporary foster parent, an employee of a north Tulsa church where her father is the pastor.
"How much sense does that make? Zero," said attorney Paul DeMuro.
The lawsuit says the employee allowed the father to see K.B. alone, even though his visits were supposed to be supervised. It says during those visits, he was forcing his daughter to have sex with him.
"To me, it's shocking," DeMuro said.
The suit says even after a school social worker told DHS the father was spending time alone with her and sexually abusing her, that DHS workers waited another 11 days before removing her and put her back with her mother.
"Any parent would be aghast at that situation. What's going on inside DHS that would permit that series of mistakes," DeMuro asked.
The suit says by then, the 15-year-old was already pregnant with her father's child.
Police were contacted and arrested the pastor.
He's charged with lewd molestation and rape in Tulsa and Osage County, because police say the abuse happened both at his home and at the church. He has pleaded not guilty and those cases are still pending.
The suit says K.B. was 16 when she gave birth to a baby boy, and DNA testing confirmed her father was the baby's father.
The attorney told me she gave the baby up for adoption.
In addition to suing several people at DHS, K.B.'s mother is also suing the father and his church.
DHS sent me a statement that says, "The Department of Human Services disagrees with the allegations being made in this suit and will vigorously defend the agency and its employees named."
A message was left with the father's attorney, but, we haven't heard back.
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
"Relative" finds dad passed out from narcotics with crying baby (Myrtle Creek, Oregon)
Don't you just love the vague way these stories are written?
Who the heck is this "relative" who is poking around at 6 AM so she or he can pick up the baby?
And where the heck is the mother?
It sure doesn't sound like the mother lives under the same roof. I would just about bet that CHRISTOPHER SETH HOUX is a single father.
But why does this dysfunctional meth head have possession of this baby? Who gave him access and why? Is this a visitation situation? Joint custody? FULL CUSTODY?
Don't tell me that nobody knew Daddy had a drug problem before. Somebody is responsible for providing this idiot with the opportunity to traumatize and neglect an infant, but of course, that person is not identified. They seldom are.
http://www.kpic.com/news/local/Police-Dad-passed-out-with-crying-baby-255212821.html
Police: Dad passed out with crying baby
By News Staff
Published: Apr 14, 2014 at 1:00 PM PDT Last Updated: Apr 14, 2014 at 1:18 PM PDT
MYRTLE CREEK, Ore. -- Police in Myrtle Creek say a relative took a baby from an apartment where the infant's father was passed out after being under the influence of narcotics.
Chief Don Brown from the Myrtle Creek Police Department says officers went to an apartment in the 700 block of Johnson Street Saturday afternoon, after a relative reported the incident to police.
Brown says a relative of the infant went to the apartment at about 6:00 am on Saturday to pick the child up, and heard the baby crying inside.
Police say after knocking on the door, the relative had to get the apartment manager to let her in, where she says she found Christopher Seth Houx, 27, breathing but unresponsive on the couch with the baby nearby.
The relative took the baby and police say it was at least two hours before Houx contacted relatives to find out where the child was.
Chief Brown says officers contacted Houx at the apartment around 3:00 pm and found him under the influence of narcotics.
A search of the residence turned up a small amount of meth, police said.
Houx was arrested and charged by police with possession of meth, second degree child neglect, endangering the welfare of a minor and recklessly endangering another person.
Police lodged Houx in the Douglas County Jail, where his bail was set at $68,750.
Chief Brown says the case has been sent to the Department of Human Services and the investigation is continuing.
Who the heck is this "relative" who is poking around at 6 AM so she or he can pick up the baby?
And where the heck is the mother?
It sure doesn't sound like the mother lives under the same roof. I would just about bet that CHRISTOPHER SETH HOUX is a single father.
But why does this dysfunctional meth head have possession of this baby? Who gave him access and why? Is this a visitation situation? Joint custody? FULL CUSTODY?
Don't tell me that nobody knew Daddy had a drug problem before. Somebody is responsible for providing this idiot with the opportunity to traumatize and neglect an infant, but of course, that person is not identified. They seldom are.
http://www.kpic.com/news/local/Police-Dad-passed-out-with-crying-baby-255212821.html
Police: Dad passed out with crying baby
By News Staff
Published: Apr 14, 2014 at 1:00 PM PDT Last Updated: Apr 14, 2014 at 1:18 PM PDT
MYRTLE CREEK, Ore. -- Police in Myrtle Creek say a relative took a baby from an apartment where the infant's father was passed out after being under the influence of narcotics.
Chief Don Brown from the Myrtle Creek Police Department says officers went to an apartment in the 700 block of Johnson Street Saturday afternoon, after a relative reported the incident to police.
Brown says a relative of the infant went to the apartment at about 6:00 am on Saturday to pick the child up, and heard the baby crying inside.
Police say after knocking on the door, the relative had to get the apartment manager to let her in, where she says she found Christopher Seth Houx, 27, breathing but unresponsive on the couch with the baby nearby.
The relative took the baby and police say it was at least two hours before Houx contacted relatives to find out where the child was.
Chief Brown says officers contacted Houx at the apartment around 3:00 pm and found him under the influence of narcotics.
A search of the residence turned up a small amount of meth, police said.
Houx was arrested and charged by police with possession of meth, second degree child neglect, endangering the welfare of a minor and recklessly endangering another person.
Police lodged Houx in the Douglas County Jail, where his bail was set at $68,750.
Chief Brown says the case has been sent to the Department of Human Services and the investigation is continuing.
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Dad charged with assault for beating, choking son (Saucier, Mississippi)
Dad is identified as KELTON MCCUIEN. Notice that Human Services as taken all the kids out of the home, and that there is no mention of a mother anywhere. Single dad?
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2014/04/10/miss-father-charged-child-abuse/7542019/
Miss. father faces assault charge over son’s injuries
Associated Press, @ap 8:21 a.m. CDT April 10, 2014
SAUCIER, Miss. – Officials say a 40-year-old Saucier man was arrested on a felony assault charge after he allegedly took a belt to the back of his child’s legs and picked the boy up by the neck and choked him.
Harrison County sheriff’s Maj. Ron Pullen tells The Sun Herald Kelton McCuien assaulted the child April 2 after learning the boy had gotten in trouble at school.
School officials notified deputies of the boy’s injuries April 3 and investigators arrested McCuien on Tuesday.
The Mississippi Department of Human Services took the boy and his siblings into protective custody pending a judge’s ruling.
McCuien is being held at the Harrison County jail on a $35,000 bond.
He faces a charge of aggravated domestic assault.
It was unclear whether McCuien has an attorney.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2014/04/10/miss-father-charged-child-abuse/7542019/
Miss. father faces assault charge over son’s injuries
Associated Press, @ap 8:21 a.m. CDT April 10, 2014
SAUCIER, Miss. – Officials say a 40-year-old Saucier man was arrested on a felony assault charge after he allegedly took a belt to the back of his child’s legs and picked the boy up by the neck and choked him.
Harrison County sheriff’s Maj. Ron Pullen tells The Sun Herald Kelton McCuien assaulted the child April 2 after learning the boy had gotten in trouble at school.
School officials notified deputies of the boy’s injuries April 3 and investigators arrested McCuien on Tuesday.
The Mississippi Department of Human Services took the boy and his siblings into protective custody pending a judge’s ruling.
McCuien is being held at the Harrison County jail on a $35,000 bond.
He faces a charge of aggravated domestic assault.
It was unclear whether McCuien has an attorney.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Dad charged with felony child abuse of 5-week-old son (Forsyth County, North Carolina)
Dad is identified as EDWIN DOUGLAS ALLEN. No mention of a mother in the home. Was there one? What happened to her? At any rate, she no longer has custody either, even though she is apparently not charged with anything. Why?
http://www.journalnow.com/news/local/father-faces-felony-charges-in-injuring-of-baby/article_9c328e38-b07a-11e3-b352-001a4bcf6878.htm
Father faces felony charges in injuring of baby
Posted: Thursday, March 20, 2014 5:57 pm
MEGHANN EVANS/Winston-Salem Journal
Investigators with the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office have charged a 22-year-old man with two counts of felony child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury after his 5-week-old child was hospitalized.
Officers on Thursday arrested Edwin Douglas Allen, 22, of the 6000 block of Cain Forest Drive in Walkertown. He is being held in the Forsyth County Jail with his bond set at $1 million.
According to a news release from the Sheriff’s Office, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center contacted the Sheriff’s Office on Monday night to report suspected child abuse involving a 5-week-old boy. Officials say the infant arrived at Brenner’s Emergency Department by ambulance after an emergency referral from the child’s pediatrician.
The child’s injuries include multiple fractures, bleeding on and within the brain, respiratory distress and other injuries. The infant remains in the hospital, and the Department of Social Services has assumed emergency custody.
http://www.journalnow.com/news/local/father-faces-felony-charges-in-injuring-of-baby/article_9c328e38-b07a-11e3-b352-001a4bcf6878.htm
Father faces felony charges in injuring of baby
Posted: Thursday, March 20, 2014 5:57 pm
MEGHANN EVANS/Winston-Salem Journal
Investigators with the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office have charged a 22-year-old man with two counts of felony child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury after his 5-week-old child was hospitalized.
Officers on Thursday arrested Edwin Douglas Allen, 22, of the 6000 block of Cain Forest Drive in Walkertown. He is being held in the Forsyth County Jail with his bond set at $1 million.
According to a news release from the Sheriff’s Office, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center contacted the Sheriff’s Office on Monday night to report suspected child abuse involving a 5-week-old boy. Officials say the infant arrived at Brenner’s Emergency Department by ambulance after an emergency referral from the child’s pediatrician.
The child’s injuries include multiple fractures, bleeding on and within the brain, respiratory distress and other injuries. The infant remains in the hospital, and the Department of Social Services has assumed emergency custody.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
State declares low risk for 3-year-old boy; 5 days later killed by custodial father, step (Jefferson City, Missouri)
We first reported on this case in 2012. At that time it wasn't clear what the custodial arrangement was. Now it is pretty clear--though not stated explicitly--that JUSTIN WEBB was a custodial dad.
So how did this violent creep and the equally creepy step get custody of this child? Who gave it to them? What happened to this child's mother?
As we have stated time and time again, whenever a father has gained custody of a child (only to murder said child), the status of the mother needs to be investigated. Dead, "missing", outgunned in family court by an aggressive abuser intent on punishing her? What?
http://www.kctv5.com/story/22304869/state-declares-risk-low-for-preschooler-5-days-later-he-was-dead
State declares risk low for preschooler, 5 days later he was dead
Posted: May 21, 2013 2:02 AM EDT
Updated: Jul 20, 2013 2:10 AM EDT
By DeAnn Smith, Digital Content Manager
By Betsy Webster, News Reporter
JEFFERSON CITY, MO (KCTV) - For months, concerns had been raised about the welfare of Lucas Webb.
Authorities have arrested a father and stepmother after a 4-year-old boy died from being kicked in the stomach.
Clinton County prosecutors charged Lucas Webb's father, 34-year-old Justin Webb, and his stepmother, Melissa Webb, 32, with second-degree murder and felony child abuse. Both are being held at the Clinton County Jail on $500,000 bond each.
Born Jan. 3, 2008, Lucas knew much pain and suffering in his four short years. Missouri social workers either dismissed or overlooked signs that he was abused, including comments made by the little boy himself.
On Oct. 10, 2012, state social workers closed an investigation, saying that they had determined "the risk level is low for current parents."
On Oct. 16, 2012, state social workers, using Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon's letterhead, would write to Justin Webb that they had investigated a Sept. 7 report that his son had bruises, welts, red marks, was malnourished and had other signs of abuse.
"There is insufficient evidence," to determine that Lucas was being abused, the letter to Webb stated. State social workers accepted Webb's contention that his son was "clumsy" and "bruised easily."
Lucas died on Oct. 15, 2012, and Webb and Lucas' stepmother, Melissa Webb, were charged with second-degree murder.
His death is one of several recent cases that have raised questions about how Missouri social workers respond to allegations of abuse and neglect involving children. Under pressure from state lawmakers, the state released on Monday hundreds of pages about their handling of the case to news media outlets that had first sought them months ago.
The first allegations about Lucas being abused came in 2009, according to the state records released Monday. More allegations were filed in January 2012, when he turned four.
By that summer, the allegations would intensify with workers at a daycare that he attended sharing their concerns with a confidential hotline to state social workers.
A Missouri Department of Social Services spokeswoman told KCTV5 that staff members had violated agency policy while handling the allegations involving the little boy.
"As a result, appropriate personnel actions was (sic) taken and two employees are no longer working for the Department of Social Services," DSS Department spokeswoman Rebecca Woelfel wrote in an email to KCTV5.
She offered her regrets.
"The death of any child is a tragedy and the Department of Social Services deeply regrets the death of Lucas," she wrote.
Lucas told an adult that his stepmother had kicked him in the stomach with her foot, according to the records released Monday. He described being deprived of food and being locked out of the house.
Daycare workers were worried about his frail condition, his lethargy, his distended stomach and absenteeism from the class. One worker said that Lucas claimed his father was mean to him and made him eat pencils.
But social workers concluded he wasn't required to go to class, so it wasn't a big enough issue for them. This came after they twice visited the home and determined food was present and Lucas suffered from typical childhood bruises.
KCTV5 interviewed a former Children's Division investigations manager on Monday. She honed in on two major mistakes that she said allowed Lucas to slip through the cracks. This included failing to hone in on the daycare workers' specific concerns about his physical appearance and Lucas describing the physical abuse.
The state worker also had concerns that on Oct. 10 a school official reported that Lucas had missed nearly three weeks of school (coinciding with the first report to the state hotline), and no call was made by the parents.
An autopsy found that Lucas died from blunt-force trauma to his abdomen. He also had fractured ribs and healed injuries.
Webb's next court appearance is July 9. Melissa Webb is due back in court on June 6.
So how did this violent creep and the equally creepy step get custody of this child? Who gave it to them? What happened to this child's mother?
As we have stated time and time again, whenever a father has gained custody of a child (only to murder said child), the status of the mother needs to be investigated. Dead, "missing", outgunned in family court by an aggressive abuser intent on punishing her? What?
http://www.kctv5.com/story/22304869/state-declares-risk-low-for-preschooler-5-days-later-he-was-dead
State declares risk low for preschooler, 5 days later he was dead
Posted: May 21, 2013 2:02 AM EDT
Updated: Jul 20, 2013 2:10 AM EDT
By DeAnn Smith, Digital Content Manager
By Betsy Webster, News Reporter
JEFFERSON CITY, MO (KCTV) - For months, concerns had been raised about the welfare of Lucas Webb.
Authorities have arrested a father and stepmother after a 4-year-old boy died from being kicked in the stomach.
Clinton County prosecutors charged Lucas Webb's father, 34-year-old Justin Webb, and his stepmother, Melissa Webb, 32, with second-degree murder and felony child abuse. Both are being held at the Clinton County Jail on $500,000 bond each.
Born Jan. 3, 2008, Lucas knew much pain and suffering in his four short years. Missouri social workers either dismissed or overlooked signs that he was abused, including comments made by the little boy himself.
On Oct. 10, 2012, state social workers closed an investigation, saying that they had determined "the risk level is low for current parents."
On Oct. 16, 2012, state social workers, using Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon's letterhead, would write to Justin Webb that they had investigated a Sept. 7 report that his son had bruises, welts, red marks, was malnourished and had other signs of abuse.
"There is insufficient evidence," to determine that Lucas was being abused, the letter to Webb stated. State social workers accepted Webb's contention that his son was "clumsy" and "bruised easily."
Lucas died on Oct. 15, 2012, and Webb and Lucas' stepmother, Melissa Webb, were charged with second-degree murder.
His death is one of several recent cases that have raised questions about how Missouri social workers respond to allegations of abuse and neglect involving children. Under pressure from state lawmakers, the state released on Monday hundreds of pages about their handling of the case to news media outlets that had first sought them months ago.
The first allegations about Lucas being abused came in 2009, according to the state records released Monday. More allegations were filed in January 2012, when he turned four.
By that summer, the allegations would intensify with workers at a daycare that he attended sharing their concerns with a confidential hotline to state social workers.
A Missouri Department of Social Services spokeswoman told KCTV5 that staff members had violated agency policy while handling the allegations involving the little boy.
"As a result, appropriate personnel actions was (sic) taken and two employees are no longer working for the Department of Social Services," DSS Department spokeswoman Rebecca Woelfel wrote in an email to KCTV5.
She offered her regrets.
"The death of any child is a tragedy and the Department of Social Services deeply regrets the death of Lucas," she wrote.
Lucas told an adult that his stepmother had kicked him in the stomach with her foot, according to the records released Monday. He described being deprived of food and being locked out of the house.
Daycare workers were worried about his frail condition, his lethargy, his distended stomach and absenteeism from the class. One worker said that Lucas claimed his father was mean to him and made him eat pencils.
But social workers concluded he wasn't required to go to class, so it wasn't a big enough issue for them. This came after they twice visited the home and determined food was present and Lucas suffered from typical childhood bruises.
KCTV5 interviewed a former Children's Division investigations manager on Monday. She honed in on two major mistakes that she said allowed Lucas to slip through the cracks. This included failing to hone in on the daycare workers' specific concerns about his physical appearance and Lucas describing the physical abuse.
The state worker also had concerns that on Oct. 10 a school official reported that Lucas had missed nearly three weeks of school (coinciding with the first report to the state hotline), and no call was made by the parents.
An autopsy found that Lucas died from blunt-force trauma to his abdomen. He also had fractured ribs and healed injuries.
Webb's next court appearance is July 9. Melissa Webb is due back in court on June 6.
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Dad charged with felony child endangerment after kids left in car for 15 hours with no food, water (Milpitas, California)
Once again we see all the tell-tale signs of a custody/visitation situation.
Dad is identified as JULIO REYES.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_24428783/milpitas-father-arrested-felony-child-endangerment-after-children
Father arrested for felony child endangerment after children are left in car in Milpitas for 15 hours
by Robert J. Devincenzi and Ian Bauer, Milpitas Post
Posted: 10/31/2013 02:42:25 PM PDT | Updated: a day ago
Milpitas father arrested for leaving children in car overnight.
Julio Reyes, a 29-year-old San Jose resident, was arrested last night after allegedly leaving his two young children alone in a parked car for about 15 hours, until a resident saw movement in the vehicle and called Milpitas Police Department to investigate.
On Wednesday at 12:42 p.m., Milpitas police received a 911 call from a resident on the 200 block of North Hillview Drive reporting a suspicious vehicle parked across from her house all night, which she first thought was empty, had people in it.
Arriving officers discovered a 10-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy, both of San Jose, alone inside of the vehicle, a maroon Ford Explorer.
Police say the children had been left alone in the vehicle since 10 p.m. the previous night by their father, Reyes. Investigating officers conducted surveillance on the vehicle and later had it towed, but were unable to locate the dad.
At 11:22 p.m. last night, about 25 hours after leaving the vehicle, Reyes called Milpitas Police Department to report his vehicle and children were missing.
"He knew that he left them in that location ... he went to visit a friend," Maharaj said.
Reyes was interviewed and subsequently arrested. He was booked into Santa Clara County Main Jail on felony child endangerment charges.
The children were taken into protective custody and later transferred to the custody of the Department of Family and Children's Services.
Maharaj said the children appeared unkempt.
"They were disheveled; they were hungry and dehydrated. We got them McDonald's food," Maharaj said, adding the children looked like they had not bathed in a few days. "At least that's what it looked like."
Later, their mother, also San Jose resident, appeared at the police station, after being contacted by police.
Maharaj said the case has been filed with the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office.
Anyone with any information regarding this investigation can call the Milpitas Police Department at (408) 586-2400.
Information can be given anonymously by calling the Crime Tip Hotline at (408) 586-2500 or visit ci.milpitas.ca.gov/government/police/crime_tip.asp.
Dad is identified as JULIO REYES.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_24428783/milpitas-father-arrested-felony-child-endangerment-after-children
Father arrested for felony child endangerment after children are left in car in Milpitas for 15 hours
by Robert J. Devincenzi and Ian Bauer, Milpitas Post
Posted: 10/31/2013 02:42:25 PM PDT | Updated: a day ago
Milpitas father arrested for leaving children in car overnight.
Julio Reyes, a 29-year-old San Jose resident, was arrested last night after allegedly leaving his two young children alone in a parked car for about 15 hours, until a resident saw movement in the vehicle and called Milpitas Police Department to investigate.
On Wednesday at 12:42 p.m., Milpitas police received a 911 call from a resident on the 200 block of North Hillview Drive reporting a suspicious vehicle parked across from her house all night, which she first thought was empty, had people in it.
Arriving officers discovered a 10-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy, both of San Jose, alone inside of the vehicle, a maroon Ford Explorer.
Police say the children had been left alone in the vehicle since 10 p.m. the previous night by their father, Reyes. Investigating officers conducted surveillance on the vehicle and later had it towed, but were unable to locate the dad.
At 11:22 p.m. last night, about 25 hours after leaving the vehicle, Reyes called Milpitas Police Department to report his vehicle and children were missing.
"He knew that he left them in that location ... he went to visit a friend," Maharaj said.
Reyes was interviewed and subsequently arrested. He was booked into Santa Clara County Main Jail on felony child endangerment charges.
The children were taken into protective custody and later transferred to the custody of the Department of Family and Children's Services.
Maharaj said the children appeared unkempt.
"They were disheveled; they were hungry and dehydrated. We got them McDonald's food," Maharaj said, adding the children looked like they had not bathed in a few days. "At least that's what it looked like."
Later, their mother, also San Jose resident, appeared at the police station, after being contacted by police.
Maharaj said the case has been filed with the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office.
Anyone with any information regarding this investigation can call the Milpitas Police Department at (408) 586-2400.
Information can be given anonymously by calling the Crime Tip Hotline at (408) 586-2500 or visit ci.milpitas.ca.gov/government/police/crime_tip.asp.
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