https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/britains-worst-ever-child-grooming-12165527
Britain’s worst ever child grooming scandal exposed: Hundreds of young girls raped, beaten, sold for sex and some even killed. SPECIAL SUNDAY MIRROR INVESTIGATION: Authorities failed to act over 40 years – despite repeated warnings to social workers – with up to 1,000 girls, some as young as 11, abused in Telford
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5589835/Victim-Rotherham-child-abuse-ringleader-reveals-social-workers-police-did-nothing.html?ito=social-facebook
Picked off by a pedophile gang, plied with drink, repeatedly raped and pregnant by 14: Victim of Rotherham child abuse ringleader reveals social workers and police did nothing despite knowing about her ordeal.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/5a0b939ee4b00652392184b7
Family Courts: They Hurt Children: Protective mothers and the professionals who have sacrificed so much to support them have said for years that the flawed practices in family courts hurt children. Most court officials have reacted defensively, often responding with victim-blaming approaches. Over the years more and more research has become available that supports protective mothers. We have now reached a point where the evidence is overwhelming and the scientific findings, which come from the most credible possible sources, are compatible with the belief that the courts are not effectively protecting children.
http://www.ibtimes.com/women-who-allegedly-kept-children-boxes-face-attempted-murder-charges-2641530
These two women/sisters had been investigated (by child protection services) for possible mistreatment of the children FIVE (5) times before.
Two sisters in Edmonton are now charged with attempted murder, abandonment, unlawful confinement, criminal negligence by not providing medical attention and failure to provide the necessaries of life. The two women hired a babysitter Dec. 16 and told her to watch AM’s three children upstairs and not to worry about JL’s two daughters, who were downstairs. After the women left, the babysitter thought the children appeared to be malnourished and decided to check on the children downstairs. The babysitter had to move a piece of furniture that blocked a door to get to the children. The babysitter discovered the two girls in closed furniture boxes in a dark room, according to the CBC. The girls both had broken bones and the 3-year-old appeared to have resorted to eating her old hair. The 6-year-old was unconscious.
https://www.maitlandmercury.com.au/story/5565733/facs-refuses-to-comment-on-death-of-tarro-toddler/
The Department of Family and Community Services has refused to comment on why a toddler killed at Tarro was allowed to return to her family home after she was hospitalised in the weeks preceding her death.
The 20-month-old girl died on June 19 after suffering numerous serious injuries, including facial, head, and torso bruising, abrasions, and lacerations; broken ribs, a collapsed lung, and internal bleeding.
But police claim the incident wasn’t isolated.
Police said the girl had been admitted to hospital with other injuries in the weeks before her death, then returned to her family home upon discharge.
A Family and Community Services (FACS) spokesperson wouldn’t comment when asked about the department’s involvement with the family and what actions it took, but said they were saddened to hear about the young girl’s death.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/social-workers-sent-raped-beaten-11425015
Vile Colin Potter was jailed twice for beating his tiny daughter black and blue, starting at just five weeks old.
And twice little Katie was given back to him by social workers.
This week Katie, now 29, finally saw her father put behind bars for 22 years – three years LESS than she spent being raped and tortured in his sadistic clutches.
Despite having taken her into foster care immediately after the second attack, the authorities had returned her to her family.
“I can’t understand why my social workers sent me back to live with my parents when they knew how bad the physical abuse was.
“I could have died. The sexual abuse was horrendous but I didn’t dare protest because I’d have been beaten to a pulp.”
Her mum, who is 48, has cut ties with Katie, choosing instead to stand by Potter.
Her daughter’s care file, seen by the Sunday People, shows she was aware of the physical abuse Katie endured. Potter banned his daughter from socialising with her school friends. He flew into rages and beat her if she defied him.
She recalled: “It was terrifying, I walked on eggshells…” If I was naughty he’d make me hold a book above my head for hours.
“He didn’t allow me to have friends. I wasn’t allowed out of his sight.”
Her misery was compounded when she was sexually assaulted by a family friend. She said: “Dad made out like he was angry but he didn’t do anything about it. He told me that if the case went to court my name would be in the papers and I’d be bullied.
Yet the worst was still to come. In 2000, when Katie was 12, social workers at Caerphilly County Borough Council ended their involvement with the family.
That meant no checks were carried out on Potter. Months later he began sexually abusing and raping his daughter.
http://www.theneonnettle.com/news/2715-pedophile-who-raped-own-daughter-set-free-by-judge-prison-would-be-unfair-
After a pedophile pleaded guilty in court to raping his own 12-year-old daughter, a judge overturned his 25-year jail sentence, agreed to in a plea deal, and set him free saying that “prison would be unfair”.40-year-old Martin Blake’s lawyers had negotiated a plea deal with prosecutors, that meant he would serve a minimum of 25 years behind bars for incest rape, but Judge John C. McKeon stunned the court with a complete U-turn on the “unfair” sentence and let him go free, saying: “I do not feel 25 years in prison is necessarily the best way for the defendant to pay for what he has done.”The defendant made a horrible choice. He needs help – not to spend 25 years locked up.” Blake from Glasgow, Montana, walked free from the Valley County District Court, despite pleading guilty to sexually assaulting the child, on a 30-year probation.Judge McKeon told Blake he will be placed on the sex offenders register and will have his internet access limited, but made no mention of limiting contact with his own children.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-social-worker-charges-20170320-story.html
4 L.A. County social workers to face trial in horrific death of 8-year-old boy
Gabriel (8) died after months of torture and abuse, prosecutors say. The boy’s mother and her boyfriend are awaiting trial on capital murder charges and have pleaded not guilty.
But the case took a highly unusual turn last year when prosecutors accused the four former Department of Children and Family Services employees of felony child abuse and falsifying public records.
Prosecutors alleged that caseworkers Clement and Stefanie Rodriguez and supervisors Kevin Bom and Gregory Merritt ignored evidence of repeated abuse and minimised Gabriel’s injuries. They each face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
http://calgaryherald.com/news/politics/flags-raised-over-return-of-children-to-mother-accused-in-slaying
Maskwacis RCMP have charged a 28-year-old woman, Florencine Leandra Potts with second-degree murder of her 15-month-old son, Jay, whom she beat to death 5 Dec 2015. Previously Baby Jay and his five siblings were apprehended by the province for their own safety in August 2014, and placed in the care of three foster families, sources say. The children were returned over the objections of the foster parents Oct. 8, just days after their mother had a seventh child.
“Jay’s death could have been 100 per cent prevented if they would have just listened,” said the toddler’s foster mother. “I just want to see changes. I don’t want to see this ever happen to another little boy again.”
She said the “happy-go-lucky” child came back “screaming” with a broken leg after one visit to the home, while his six-year-old brother, also in her care, required hospital treatment for an asthma attack. She said the older child told her he huddled under a blanket one night, scared by gunshots.
“We said the boys are scared to go home, and no one listened to us,” she said. “It was just horrible.”
Another foster parent said the siblings he and his wife cared for were distressed about returning to the home of their biological parents where they slept three to a bed and sometimes went hungry.
He said no one has advised him what has happened to the children now that the mother is in custody, but he and the other foster parents want to take them back at least for Christmas.
A spokeswoman for Alberta Human Services said Thursday the ministry can’t speak to the specifics of any case due to the privacy provisions.
http://www.thestate.com/news/local/article73975777.html
The lawsuit gives this version of events:
In 2000, Timothy Jones was discharged from the Navy for substance abuse problems.
In 2001, Jones was convicted of various criminal offences, including possession of cocaine and car theft, and served time in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
In 2004, Jones married Amber Jones, then 19, and they began to have children.
In July 2009, the Joneses moved to Batesburg-Leesville.
In September 2011, Lexington County Department of Social Services received reports on the Jones family, alleging that filthy trash was seen around their home and that Jones had threatened to shoot a neighbour’s dog.
In late September 2011, after receiving a report that Jones was trying to buy a gun on the black market, a DSS caseworker visited the family. The caseworker found power tools accessible to the children. A “safety plan” was begun.
Between Sept. 30 and Oct. 21, 2011, DSS made three additional visits to the house but took no further action.
On Oct. 28, 2011, after a caseworker made an unannounced visit, Jones became hostile, accused the worker of “ruining peoples’ lives” and law enforcement was called.
That day, the caseworker determined that “the children were suffering from maltreatment and neglect that presented a substantial risk of physical injury … dangerous chemicals were left within the reach of the children.”
Although on Nov. 11, 2011, DSS developed a treatment plan, the plan “resulted in no action to protect the children.”
In December 2011, the children’s case was transferred to a new caseworker, who “took no action to assess the children’s safety.”
On Jan. 13, 2012, DSS caseworkers completed a “comprehensive safety and risk assessment” of the Jones family that documented the physical violence and neglect at the home.
In May 2012, Amber Jones filed a criminal domestic violence complaint against her husband, alleging he had threatened to “snap her neck” and shoot the neighbours. Jones also, while driving, “played chicken” with an 18-wheeler while Amber Jones and the children were in the car, then “head-butted Ms. Jones and spit in her face.”
Amber Jones reported her complaint to DSS, which “adopted a fifth safety plan, but took no action.”
On June 18, 2012, Amber Jones contacted DSS to report that her husband has kidnapped the children and taken them to Mississippi, where his parents live. A caseworker advises Jones to contact a family lawyer.
In August and October 2012, despite continuing evidence that the children were still at risk, DSS closed the Jones’ children’s case, ruling that “risk has been reduced and services are no longer needed.”
On March 7, 2013, a school teacher contacted Lexington County DSS to report that Timothy Jones had considered using kerosene and a heat gun to rid one of his children of head lice.
On Sept. 30, 2013, the Joneses divorced. Timothy Jones was awarded primary custody of the five children.
In April and May 2013, school officials made two reports of suspected child abuse, including repeated spankings with a belt, to DSS.
After those allegations, Lexington County DSS “drafted a sixth safety plan,” and during a caseworker’s home visit on June 17, 2014, bruises were noted on one child’s face.
On July 15, 2014, a teacher made yet another abuse report to DSS after seeing bruises “all over” three of the five children.
On July 24, 2014, a DSS supervisor “completed a review of the children’s case and closed the file,” even though the children “continued to be abused and neglected.”
On Aug. 7, 2014, an anonymous caller reported physical abuse of one of the children to DSS. A caseworker and a sheriff’s deputy found a child with a bandaged eye. A babysitter also reported that Jones had been abusive, withheld food from them and was planning to take the children out of state.
The caseworker then made a report noting “substantial risk of physical abuse” to the children, but no action was taken to remove the children from the home.
“Instead, on Aug. 8, 2014, Lexington County DSS referred the case to law enforcement, citing Mr. Jones’s conduct of beating and bruising one of the children, his failure to properly feed the children and his failure to return the children to school,” the lawsuit continued.
The lawsuit also said that on Aug. 28, 2014, Mr. Jones picked up all five children from school and daycare and took them home to their deaths.
“He killed four of the children, one-by-one, strangling each child at the neck with his bare hands until dead,” the lawsuit said. “He beats the fifth child causing his gradual and painful death. ”
http://www.koat.com/article/cyfd-releases-documents-in-victoria-martens-case/8622754
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —
It’s one of the most horrific crimes in New Mexico’s history: 10-year-old Victoria Martens [drugged, sex trafficked] raped, mutilated and killed last year, allegedly by her mother Michelle Martens, her boyfriend Fabian Gonzales, and his cousin Jessica Kelley.
New Mexico Children, Youth, and Families Department CYFD revealed they received 5 calls since 2015 about Victoria and her younger brother. Most of those came from Michelle Martens herself, accusing her ex-husband of neglect, like poor hygiene or babysitter concerns.
The department said they did investigate and interviewed both children separately, but in the end, could not substantiate any of the claims.
“They were complete and thorough investigations,” she said. “We had no proof that any sort of abuse or neglect had occurred.”
But Jacobson admitted they did not investigate the one call from March 2016, five months before Victoria’s death. A caller claimed Michelle’s ex-boyfriend tried to kiss Victoria.
New Mexico Children, Youth, and Families Department CYFD said state law only allows them to investigate if a parent, guardian, or custodian harms a child so they turned the case over to Albuquerque Police.
New Mexico Children, Youth, and Families Department CYFD also conducted an internal review of how this case was handled. It found workers followed the rules and investigated the allegations thoroughly.
http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/FosterCare/story?id=2058803&page=1
October in Los Angeles, an injured 2-year-old girl, Sarah Chavez, entered Garfield Medical Center in the arms of a woman, Francis……. Sarah’s upper arm had been broken. What nobody knew was the extent of her brutal internal injuries. Assault had severed her intestine from its connection to her stomach, threatening her life.
Sarah’s biological mother, Sophia Chavez, became addicted to a powerful pain killer called Vicodin after taking it for a medical condition. Sarah was born with Vicodin in her system. Another social worker had opened a file on the infant at 2 days old but failed to properly follow up on the case. Sarah ended up staying with a great-aunt, Frances Abundis. When social workers visited the home early in 2006, they reported the little girl had two black eyes and a cut on her nose. The social worker was uncomfortable leaving the child with Frances and ordered Sarah taken into protective custody.
Dianne Hardy-Garcia and her partner, Corri Planck, became Sarah’s foster parents.
“You could tell that Sarah had been exposed to explosive violence,” Dianne said. “The first thing that alarmed us was that she knew how to choke with both hands. And she had terrible nightmares that showed us that she had been through trauma. … She knew how to curse.”
And Dianne and Corri said, even more troubling, were signs of sexual abuse. Suspecting serious abuse, they reported their concerns to the social worker.
Week after week, Dianne said she asked the social worker to arrange a specific medical exam designed to detect evidence of abuse.
After nothing happened, the two women started to worry that the social workers were not addressing the issues they raised.
In Children’s court, Frances Abundis was asking for custody of Sarah. According to ABC’s review of Sarah Chavez’ confidential court record, the social workers documented Dianne and Corri’s complaints in reports, but that information was not passed along to court files, as regulations require.
Then there was a slip up on the part of the legal agency that represents foster children, and the standard letter notifying foster parents how to contact their attorney was never sent.
Sarah was one of 165 clients her lawyer represented simultaneously. Although the lawyer represented Sarah in multiple court hearings, she never visited her in person, nor did she call to consult with foster parents Dianne and Corri.
Despite of the report of black eyes when Sarah last stayed with them, the judge order Sarah into the care of Frances and her husband, Armando. Before criminal background checks and a home inspection were completed and the same home where four months before a social worker had felt uncomfortable leaving the girl. Corri said that the same social worker who saw Sarah doing well at her and Dianne’s home saw Sarah deteriorate when living with the Abundises, but took no action. Frances later said Armando’s behaviour began to frighten her — especially the way he would scream at the children. She says only later did she learn the situation was worse than she knew.
“My son was afraid of his father. There was hitting going on when I wasn’t home. My son said that I used to protect him,” she said.
Frances claimed she was unaware at the time that her son was witness to much more — she says A.J. later told police that Armando would take Sarah into their room, and the little boy would hear her screams from behind a closed door. Frances said that when she returned home, something was clearly wrong. Sarah’s arm had been brutally fractured above her elbow, where pieces of jagged bone kept it disconnected and hanging limply at her side.
Although Frances lived walking distance from a hospital, she decided not to go there right away. Instead she picked up her mother and drove to visit a sobadora, or healer, a Mexican woman.
Frances is eventually seen on a hospital surveillance tape walking Sarah into the hospital. She left the hospital after four hours with Sarah. That medical form, signed by Frances, warned that Sarah could have “other injuries” or might “lose limb or life.” The next morning Sarah was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead. The coroner concluded that Sarah died from internal injuries caused by a beating at the hands of an adult — injuries that could not have been caused by a fall.
Armando and Frances Abundis were arrested and are still in jail awaiting trial, charged with murder, child abuse and related charges of neglect. The couple’s own son, 5-year-old, who was then interviewed, told police that on the day of the incident “his dad hit Sarah” and “Sarah slapped Armando back.” A.J. also said that night “Sarah cried because of her arm, because the bone was pointing out.” He also told police that Armando would hit Sarah with a closed fist.
State regulators sanctioned the hospital for numerous mistakes, including failing to diagnose the serious internal injuries that led to Sarah’s death.
http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/dallas-county/grandfather-urges-texas-to-adopt-federal-foster-care-recommendations/355453412
Grandfather John Winkler saw the signs of abuse – bruising on his little grandson’s arms and deep scratches. He did the right thing. He reported the injuries on 2-year old Adrian Langlais to CPS in January 2015.
His complaint was closed a few weeks later. Adrian Langlais died from several physical abuse in March 2015.
“They blew me off and it cost Adrian his life,” Winkler said.
Adrian’s mother’s boyfriend was arrested and charged with murder. Christian Tyrrell goes on trial for Adrian’s death in January in Tarrant County.
The resulting CPS investigation found multiple missed opportunities to intervene to prevent abuse in Adrian’s case but failed to do so. The caseworker was fired.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4853348/Social-workers-missed-danger-signs-Ayeeshia-Smith.html
Social workers missed signs that could have saved 21-month-old girl who died when her mother stamped on her so hard her heart tore says official report
• Ayeeshia-Jayne Smith was 21 months old when she was murdered by her mum
• Kathryn Smith was jailed for 19 years
• Ayeeshia-Jayne Smith’s biological father Ricky reported abuse allegations twice to social services
• His daughter was put in care only to be returned to her drug addict mother
• Serious case review finds failings, but claims death could not have been predicted.
Derbyshire County Council knew of drug use, violence and child neglect at the home where the toddler lived but mother and daughter were kept together until she died in May 2014 because her needs ‘overshadowed’ Ayeeshia’s.
‘AJ’, as her loved ones called her, had been taken into foster care where she put on weight, started using words and her hair grew back.
But she was then given back to her mother because care professionals believed her parenting skills were ‘more than adequate’, the report said.
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Boys-Death-Prompts-Review-of-Foster-Care-System-394213571.html
Published at 6:23 PM PDT on Sep 20, 2016
Records provided to the Los Angeles Times by DCFS show that Yonatan’s risk of abuse at home had been marked as “high” four times from 2009 to 2012 by DCFS workers.
11-year-old boy Yonatan’s 34-pound dead body was found on Aug. 22, wrapped in a blanket inside a closet, by his stepfather.
https://www.csmonitor.com/1988/0927/award2.html
Charlie Wright was seven years old when he died last year after a beating inflicted by his mother’s live-in boyfriend. Charlie had been in foster care three times because of neglect, but in each instance the Children Services Board in Akron, Ohio, shuttled the boy back to his prostitute mother in the interest of reuniting the family. The board cleared itself of blame in an internal investigation, but added that Charlie should have been removed permanently from the family years before.
https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/horrific-details-emerge-in-tiny-toddlers-murder-trial-418576953.html
Signs of abuse not apparent to CFS workers during frequent visits
http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/01/oregons_child_welfare_agency_i.html
Hayden James Henry, age 2, died in his Monmouth home in October of 2014. The boy was covered in bruises and scrapes, including many on his face and skull. His mother and his father separately alerted police and child welfare workers to bruising on his face and neck in the weeks leading up to his death. His stepfather, Richard Tyle, a thrice-convicted felon who had assaulted and strangled people in previous households, pled guilty to manslaughter for causing the boy’s death.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5xb7wEAoVk
Cook Family vs. CPS (13:53)
Published on Dec 12, 2014
Texas CPS falsely accused, [ignoring evidence, falsifying documents and fabricating evidence] Angel and David Cook of child abuse and murder in the death of adopted son Buddy – who, it was determined, died of a stomach virus. Subsequently their own seven children were put in foster care. They were cleared of the charges, but they are still trying to pick up the pieces of physical emotional and sexual abuse they and their children suffered via the child “protection” system. But these foster parents’ severe abuse on the Cook’s children were completely ignored by CPS. Other foster children are still placed in those abusive foster homes. Here is their story. Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Rodger Mallison
http://www.king5.com/article/news/local/investigations/lawsuit-wa-failed-to-protect-starved-beaten-vancouver-kids/281-307797183
The parents — Sandra and Jeff Weller — were sentenced last March to 20 years in prison each after being found guilty of 14 counts of abuse.
Warnings received by state/CPS
Records show that Child Protective Services in Vancouver began receiving tips about the Weller children’s treatment in 2003 — 8 years before any action was taken. Here is a list of the referrals based on available records:
* 1/7/2003 An unidentified caller reports suspicions of physical neglect.
* 12/4/03 An unidentified caller reports that Sandra Weller is physically neglecting and abusing her children.
* 4/7/04 A relative reports he s concerned for the children based on their mother’s parenting.
* 4/9/04 A relative reports the mother is emotionally abusing the children and requests CPS ask for a welfare check by Vancouver Police.
* 6/15/04 An unidentified caller reports that Jeff Weller is physically abusing his children.
* 7/24/04 An unidentified caller accuses the mother of physical neglect and sexual abuse.
* 8/1/04 An unidentified caller suspects the mother of physical neglect and abuse.
* 9/27/04 An unidentified caller is concerned food is being withheld from the children, that food is locked up in the home, and that the mother locks children in their rooms for two days.
* 1/3/05 and 1/8/05 An unidentified caller reports the mother is physically neglecting her children.
* 3/4/05 An unidentified caller reports the mother is physically neglecting her children.
* 5/5/05 A relative calls with concerns about the children and the CPS investigation. He s told the case is closed and the social worker will not be calling him back.
* 5/11/05 A school nurse calls with concerns about the children s hunger and the mother s emotional abuse of the children. She reports that Sandra Weller chastised the children in public, calling them criminals, con artists, thieves … who ruined her life, (are) wrecking her marriage and her house.
* 5/13/05 A school secretary calls with concerns of mental abuse. She reports the mother accused her daughter of stealing $400 worth of meat and refuses to pack a lunch for the child because she will hog it down and stash it up (her) sleeve for later.
* 9/6/05 A medical professional calls with concerns of emotional abuse. She reports that Sandra Weller described her daughter as being a monster and evil and does not exhibit any type of nurturing toward the child.
* 9/7/05 A medical professional reports concerns that one of the children has not put on any weight in a year and that the child is 10 but appears to be only 5 years old.
* 2/5/06 An unidentified caller reports the mother is physically neglecting her children.
* 2/10/06 A teacher calls with extreme concerns that the children are not fed at home and that the mother calls the children stupid, retarded, thieves. The teacher reports he is 100% certain the children are not safe at home.
* 2/13/06 A teacher reports the mother has stated several times that she d love to get rid (of her two adopted children) but that she gets the adoption support (money) and she needs it.
* 7/17/06 – An unidentified caller reports the mother is physically neglecting her children.
* 12/31/07 A child specialist reports that the children complain of receiving very little food, that this has been a long time concern and that the parents placed a lock on their refrigerator door.
* 1/4/08 The youngest child, 9-years-old at the time, tells a social worker he had to stand in the corner for a couple of days as punishment, that he is hit with a belt for lying, and that he goes without food. The social worker writes in his report that he told the child he didn’t believe him and that the child is manipulative.
They (state workers) should have intervened. They should have taken the children from the home and at a minimum they were required under Washington law to call law enforcement. They didn’t do any of those things, said attorney Ian Bauer.
A DSHS spokesperson said the department cannot comment on pending litigation.
Secret note
On October 4, 2011, the oldest daughter, 16-years-old at the time, took the step that led to the children s rescue. She left a scribbled note in her counsellors office begging for help.
https://www.theindychannel.com/news/national/prosecutor-social-worker-accepted-bribe-to-look-the-other-way-before-5-year-old-boy-s-death
CLEVELAND – An Ohio social worker accepted a bribe to “look the other way” before a 5-year-old boy was found buried in the backyard of a Cleveland home last month, prosecutors claim. The prosecutor also announced Wednesday the arrest of a second person in connection to 5-year-old Jordan Rodriguez’s death. The boy’s mother, 34-year-old Larissa Rodriguez, was already charged with murder. Now her boyfriend, Christopher Rodriguez, is also facing a murder charge.
According to the prosecutor’s office, the social worker, Nancy Caraballo, 45, would report to the home but, rather than going inside, she would accept a food stamp card from Larissa Rodriguez. The social worker, Nancy Caraballo, would then go and purchase goods with the card and return the card to her afterward. Authorities say the social worker purchased the food stamps, that were meant to feed the children, for 50 cents on the dollar.
Officials said in the news conference Wednesday that the social worker was associated with an educational service company called Bright Beginnings. The director for Bright Beginnings in turn said in a statement that the woman was employed by one of their contracted providers, Catholic Charities.
http://tucson.com/news/local/ex-foster-child-of-convicted-sierra-vista-pedophile-files-m/article_9f3986c0-8f05-5ec3-9562-ade05a18be1c.html
In December 2016, Frodsham was sentenced to 17 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of child sexual abuse and pornography. John Doe was identified as one of the victims in the federal case.
“David Frodsham utilised the State of Arizona and the foster care system to funnel innocent, vulnerable children into his home, so he could run a pedophile ring,” the claim said.
Frodsham physically and sexually abused John Doe “countless times” and also acted as the young man’s pimp, prostituting John Doe to other men in exchange for money. The claim said Frodsham often participated in the sexual encounters as well and “helped enable a network of pedophiles in the Sierra Vista area” who repeatedly abused John Doe.
In addition to physical abuse by Frodsham, John Doe also endured beatings and neglect by Frodsham’s wife, the claim said.
“(Frodsham’s wife) knew the sexual abuse was occurring, at times walking into the room as it was happening, yet took no steps to stop it,” the claim said. The claim said Frodsham’s wife routinely beat John Doe.
She refused to buy clothes for John Doe or feed him, screaming at him every time he would complain or try to protect himself, according to the claim.
The Frodshams forced John Doe to live outside the house most of the time, and when they left for work, they’d lock him out of the house. He was left with a bike to travel to a convenience store in case he needed to use the restroom, the claim said.
The neglect and abuse was documented by DCS, but still continued, the claim said.
“The foster and other children … were forced to eat hot sauce as punishment, handcuffed to the bed all night, locked outside the home and locked in closets,” the claim said. “John Doe and the other boys were beaten with fists, brooms, belts and other objects to the extent that medical care was frequently required.”
In an internal DCS document obtained by the Star, one caseworker noted in March 2007 that the Frodshams admitted to handcuffing John Doe one night, after he had gotten out of his room.
“The Frodshams did not hide the fact that they used the handcuffs and notified the agency immediately,” the progress report said, adding that the only “corrective action” to be taken against the Frodshams would be a review of policies and a “stern warning that this is inappropriate behaviour and against policy.”
The progress notes document other instances of abuse, with witnesses reporting seeing Frodsham’s wife slapping her foster children in the face and forcing them to go to bed without dinner. DCS had access to more than 38 police reports from the Frodsham house, dated between 2002 and 2016 — all prior to Frodsham’s arrest for child abuse. “The state should have reviewed these as part of their licensing of the foster/adoptive parent program,” the claim says. “John Doe complained to (DCS) over 16 times and nothing was done.”
DCS also documented at least 10 abuse and neglect complaints against the Frodshams foster home between 2002 and 2015.
“Children in abusive homes rarely can report the abuse, as if they do they are beaten again,” the claim said. “This is exactly what happened to John Doe.”
In addition to police reports and DCS documents, there was also information that showed that Frodsham was an unsuitable foster and adoptive parent, the claim said.
Frodsham briefly worked with the Department of Defence in Afghanistan, but was kicked out and relieved from duty due to sexual harassment and a military assessment that shows he had an “unalterable personality disorder,” according to the claim.
“Instead, the state left John Doe in the foster/adoptive home, and the Frodshams received a monthly stipend from the state to abuse him,” the claim said.
“There were numerous deliberate and negligent failings in the state in this case, as despite constant DCS presence and reports and complaints, the Frodshams were allowed to traffic their foster children for sex and pornography, abuse and beat the foster children in horrific ways, and yet blame it all on the children,” the claim said.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-11626806
An account of the developments surrounding the case of 17-month-old boy Baby Peter who died in Haringey, north London, in August 2007 after suffering a series of injuries:
1 March 2006: Baby Peter is born to Tracey Connelly.
June 2006: Connelly begins a relationship with a new boyfriend Steven Barker.
November 2006: Barker moves into Connelly’s home.
December 2006: Connelly is arrested after bruises are spotted on the boy’s face and chest by a GP.
January 2007: The boy is returned home five weeks after being put in the care of a family friend.
February 2007: A whistle-blower, former social worker Nevres Kemal, sends a letter about her concerns over alleged failings in child protection in Haringey to the Department of Health.
12 March 2007: Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) inspectors meet Haringey officials to discuss concerns raised by Ms Kemal in the letter sent by her lawyer, which was dated 16 February 2007.
April 2007: Baby Peter is admitted to North Middlesex hospital with bruises, two black eyes and swelling on the left side of his head.
1 April 2007: Ofsted takes over responsibility for inspecting children’s services from the CSCI.
May 2007: After seeing marks on the boy’s face, a social worker sends Baby Peter to the North Middlesex where 12 areas of bruises and scratches are found. Connelly is re-arrested.
June 2007: Barker’s brother, Jason Owen, moves into the home with a 15-year-old girl.
30 July 2007: Injuries to Baby Peter’s face and hands are missed by a social worker. The boy is smeared in chocolate.
1 August 2007: The boy is examined at a child development clinic.
2 August 2007: Police tell Connelly she will not be prosecuted after her case is considered by the Crown Prosecution Service.
3 August 2007: Baby Peter is found dead in his cot.
11 November 2008: Owen, 36, from Bromley, and Barker, then 32, are found guilty of causing the death of Baby Peter. Connelly had pleaded guilty to the same charge.
13 November 2008: Children’s Minister Ed Balls orders an inquiry into the role of the local authority, the health authority and the police in the case of Baby Peter.
14 November 2008: Downing Street denies accusations of “buck-passing” after details of whistle-blower Nevres Kemal’s letter about Haringey’s failings emerge.
1 December 2008: Following a report into Haringey Children’s Services, its leader George Meehan and cabinet member for children and young people Liz Santry resign. Sharon Shoesmith is removed as the local authority’s director of children’s services.
8 December 2008: Ms Shoesmith is sacked by a panel of councillors with immediate effect.
7 February 2009: Ms Shoesmith says the way ministers handled the Baby Peter case was “breathtakingly reckless”.
19 February 2009: Dr Jerome Ikwueke, a GP who saw Baby Peter 14 times before his death, is suspended by the General Medical Council.
9 March 2009: Ms Shoesmith lodges an employment tribunal claim against Haringey Council.
15 March 2009: A leaked report into the death of Baby Peter suggests there were further missed opportunities to save him from abuse.
29 April 2009: Haringey Council dismisses a social worker and three managers for failings in the care of Baby Peter.
1 May 2009: Barker is convicted of raping a two-year-old girl in north London. The crime came to light after he was arrested over Baby Peter’s death. The Old Bailey jury cleared Connelly of cruelty to the girl. Baby Peter’s name is revealed at the request of his family.
13 May 2009: The NHS is criticised by the Care Quality Commission for failing in the care given to Baby Peter.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5392569/Inside-drug-den-two-girls-died-care-ice-addict.html
Reports made to the Department of Family Services about the ice-addict mother and grandmother
Child KD – born July 2009
August 2010: Reports of limited food, and drug paraphernalia, dirty nappies and rubbish on the floor – NO RESPONSE
September 2010: Child KD found ‘chewing on cigarettes’ in his grandmother’s car – NO RESPONSE
January 13 2011: Reports of ice use at the home – DEEMED A NON-RISK
January 25 2011: Police called over shooting at the home – NO RESPONSE
February 26 2011: Police report finding drug paraphernalia and filthy conditions inside the home – NO RESPONSE
May 2011: Officer find no food, toys or bed for child KD, allege mother dropped child during arrest of her boyfriend – NO RESPONSE
February 2012: Family evicted for not paying rent and request accommodation – NO RESPONSE
December 2013: Child KD yelled at and called names while mother was eight-months pregnant – CASE CLOSED
BH – born November 2012
November 2012: Mother living out of car with her children
September 2013: Children playing unsupervised in driveway
November 2013: CASE CLOSED COMPLETELY
Child BLGN – born January 2014
February 2014: Reports of ice smoking in front of children, child KD burnt with a ‘crack pipe’ – NO RESPONSE
March 2014: Reports of unsupervised children while grandmother ‘off her face’ on drugs – NO RESPONSE
April 2014: Reports family to be evicted for not paying rent – NO RESPONSE
Child BLGN dies at three months old in 2014.
Around six months after BLGN’s death, the mother was pregnant again and high on ice when she was taken to hospital after a serious high-speed car accident, the court heard.
Child DG, who the court heard had a heart abnormality, was taken into care but died within three weeks of being born in 2015.
Documents from the Department of Family and Community Services (FACS) reveal 24 reports were made about the home,The Daily Telegraph reported.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/gizzell-fords-family-will-continue-lawsuit-against-dcfs-doctor/
Mother, Sandra Mercados, claim that Gizzell, an 8-year-old honour student, was living happily with her and an infant sibling at her grandfather’s house in Melrose Park in 2010, before the start of a custody battle between her and Gizzell’s father, Andre Ford. Andre Ford hadn’t seen his daughter for 12 month when he made a bogus claim in court that Gizzell’s mother Sandra Mercado was homeless, the lawsuit states. Ford petitioned the family court for full custody of Gizzell, and while Sandra said she or Gizzell never moved from her father’s home, Sandra Mercado said she also didn’t receive any court notices about custody hearings for her daughter Gizzell.
In Gizzell’s mother’s absence, a family court judge awarded custody to Andre Ford in November 2012, despite the fact that he was living off disability checks, was a convicted felon and was suffering from a chronic illness that was so severe he was using a wheelchair.
On Nov. 20, the Andre and his mother Helen Ford showed up at Gizzell’s elementary school in Melrose Park with the judges custody order in hand. School officials had to call a social worker to calm Gizzell down, but eventually the girl went with her father. At a court hearing two weeks after the Fords took custody of Gizzell, Juan Mercado told investigators Gizzell had been living with him and her mother in his house Melrose Park, and had never been homeless. But the judge, (having accepted lies) left Gizzell in the Fords’ custody, and ordered the mother Sandra Mercado to undergo a psychiatric evaluation and take parenting classes. During the months Gizzell lived with the Fords, a lawsuit claims DCFS case workers and a paediatrician who examined the girl never acted on evidence that Gizzell was being abused while living with the Fords.
A doctor assigned to evaluate Gizzell less than a month before she died, the lawsuit notes, noticed Gizzell had injuries from being hit with a strap. While his observation was recorded in Gizzell’s file, the doctor either failed to report them to DCFS or caseworkers did nothing. A caseworker also failed to investigate for abuse after learning that the Fords forced Gizzell to do “squats” and other military-style exercises as punishment.
She was found dead inside her father and paternal grandmother’s house in Chicago seven months later, covered head to toe in bruises.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4581906/Grandmother-sentenced-death-granddaughter.html
The father and paternal grandmother tortured Gizzell by pulling clumps of her hair out and beating her. When paramedics forced their way into the home, July 2013, after receiving an anonymous report of a girl who was not breathing, they found Gizzell lying face down on a bloody pillow wearing just a pair of ripped green underwear.
A gaping wound at the back of her head was infested with maggots and the cause of death was given as strangulation. She had ligature marks on her hands and legs and traces of semen were also found on her body. Andre Ford was charged with murder along with his mother, but he died in police custody in 2014.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2724905/Monster-father-beat-death-7-year-old-Nixzmary-Brown-yogurt-ordered-young-brother-rape-relative.html
Monster father who beat seven-year-old Nixzmary Brown to death over a yogurt ‘ordered’ her young brother to rape a relative
The agency’s case workers had received numerous reports of mistreatment in the family but failed to act.
http://nationalpost.com/news/canada/jeffrey-baldwin
Elva Bottineau and Norman Kidman were already convicted child abusers when they were granted custody of Jeffrey and three other grandchildren in 2002.
But the Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Toronto did not look at those records until after Jeffrey’s death.
Bottineau had a Grade 8 education, an IQ of 69, and even by her lawyer’s assessment was “wholly unqualified to raise children.”
Experts at the trial likened Jeffrey’s body to that of a starving child in a third-world country.
“He was just emaciated,” said Davis, who is now a private investigator. “His ribs were exposed. I mean, just the overall appearance of him was horrific…I don’t know what to think of those that may have seen that and just turned a blind eye.”
Six adults and six children under 10 years old were living in the east-end Toronto home when Jeffrey died
Jeffrey and one of his sisters were treated worse than dogs, while the other children were apparently well looked after.
The overall appearance of him was horrific
Jeffrey and his sister were confined for up to 14 hours a day to their unheated bedroom, which was soaked with urine, stained with feces and littered with bags of filthy diapers throughout with no toys in sight, while the rest of the house was spotless.
Mills, who enjoyed free meals and board while living in the house with his girlfriend, admitted at trial that he didn’t want to jeopardise his easy lifestyle by fighting for the emaciated boy’s welfare.
Bottineau and Kidman used the children as a source of income, collecting government support cheques in their names, the trial was told.
http://www.chicagonow.com/chicago-on-the-radar/2017/05/we-shouldnt-rush-to-blame-dcfs-for-semaj-crosbys-death/
The toddler lived in a rental home with her mother, siblings, and several others described as “squatters,” probably friends and relatives who had nowhere else to live. Investigators reported that, at times, there may have been as many as 15 people living there. They were known to come and go, so I’m not sure how many may have been living there when Semaj’s body was discovered.
The family lived in squalor. Caseworkers from the Department of Children and Family Services noted that the home was littered with piles of clothing and trash. Exits were blocked by storage containers and other items. The home was later declared uninhabitable because it lacked a working stove. Cockroaches crawled along the walls.
A child welfare worker had been on a home visit there just hours before the girl was reported missing.
It’s easy, in hindsight, to ask why the worker did not remove the child from the home, at that point, or even earlier, as DCFS had been to the home over a dozen times in the past year, investigating allegations of neglect.
Many shake their heads and ask how a child could have been permitted to stay in a crowded, cockroach-infested dwelling.
DCFS pointed out that the agency doesn’t remove children from their parents just because they live in a dirty home. Nor do they take children away because of poverty.
http://tucson.com/news/local/crime/ajo-toddler-lives-dies-in-squalor/article_e682f88e-74ed-514a-98ef-7d1e894540c7.html
The 17-month-old girl, VictoriaLynn Heredia-Manuel, spent her final weeks in a trailer filled with rotting garbage and drug paraphernalia, newly released documents show. Her mother’s boyfriend — who was her unofficial caregiver between Starlynn Manuel, the mother’s arrest in April 2016 and VictoriaLynn’s death in June 2016 — used to cook heroin. The toddler ate half of a marijuana joint and tried to swallow the heroin cooking foil of her mother’s boyfriend. Neighbours later reported pulling garbage from her small hands and broken glass from her mouth. They noticed the girl’s horrible diaper rashes and knew she was not being fed regularly. In June 2014, Manuel’s mother filed a motion in Pima County Superior Court seeking custody of Starlynn Manuel’s 7-year-old daughter.
The motion alleged that Manuel’s boy friend was a sex offender and may have requested food stamps on behalf of the child. Two months later, Manuel’s mother withdrew the request. DCS would not comment on the older girl’s whereabouts. Manuel was arrested in April and, on July 25, was sentenced to six to seven months in prison on drug related charges. No one called for help on the child’s behalf — not even a Pima County Sheriff’s deputy who left her with neighbours hours before she died.
https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/local-news/how-one-woman-survived-terrifying-1268594
As someone who both lived in and inspected children’s homes in Nottingham, Joni Cameron-Blair has a unique viewpoint on the scandal of mistreatment in those homes. Here she tells her story – and reveals her hopes for the full inquiry taking place later this year. She had been admitted to Beechwood after it was decided that it wasn’t safe for her to stay at her family home with her violent father. “I was taken into the QMC. I’d been hit with the blunt part of an axe on the back of my skull, and I’d been unconscious. “So they hospitalised me, during which time I saw a social worker. And this social worker referred me onto another social worker, who collected me from hospital, and took me to the police station.”
Joni says that, while being interviewed about her father’s assault on her, she was made to strip so the police officer could see her injuries, and was then sexually assaulted by the officer.
“The social worker then came into the room, and I was taken back into his office. I was told I was being taken into a home called Beechwood.”
But what happened next at the home in Woodborough Road made her own violent and threatening house seem like the safest of havens in comparison.
“It was the most terrifying ordeal I have ever had,” she says. “There was so much violence, it was just normal.
“Staff would routinely punch children in the face. They would kick children down the stairs, spit in their food, spit in their faces, pull children round by the hair. That’s just the way it was.”
She says that over the following days and weeks, getting out of the room depended on whether she was being taken to school that day, and sometimes who was on duty.
And if the physical abuse was shocking, Joni says there was also sexual abuse within the home.
Children did try to abscond, but when they did so they would be brought back and face further humiliation and physical punishment from the staff.
“I told my social worker how frightened I was. I told a psychiatrist how frightened I was of the violence going on in the unit. But nobody did anything.”
In 1994 as an adult she started working for the Service Standards Unit – an arms-length inspection unit based in Waverley Street – as part of three-person teams inspecting both adult and children’s homes in the city and county. It was a voluntary role to start with, although she later became paid.
Part of her role was to interview the residents and their families.
But she says she saw “very soon” that there was something wrong in many of the children’s homes she inspected.
Children told her they were being abused, and she says she documented her concerns that different forms of abuse were taking place, but she felt her concerns often didn’t make it into the final written versions of the inspection reports.
She says that at one home, the mother of a disabled girl told her that her daughter had been raped in the home, and Joni took a full statement from the mother; but that the only action taken was that the girl was bathed and the sheets on her bed were changed.
She says she challenged why her concerns were not being published, with various people within the Service Standards Unit, and was told to take it to a higher level.
“They all got sick and tired of me,” she says. “I didn’t share the same opinion as the majority of inspectors.
“But then I would go back to that home and I’d see a particular member of staff still employed.
“The same things happened over and over again. I was just repeating myself the whole time. And the picture began to emerge that nothing was actually happening.”
https://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20160102/janiya-thomas-a-life-cut-short-a-timeline-of-events
Dec. 7, 1983: Keishanna Thomas is born.
1999: Thomas gives birth to her first child, a daughter. Before that, a Manatee County School District spokesman said, she attended Bayshore High School and the PAL Charter School.
June 2002: Thomas, 18, is charged with a misdemeanor count of prostitution.
2003: Thomas gives birth to her second child, a son.
Aug. 29, 2004: Janiya Thomas is born.
Fall 2004: Intake reports show a caller reported that Thomas picked up her child off the toilet and choked her. The reports also include concerns that Thomas fed her children one meal a day and kept a house full of roaches, trash and rats. The same report includes concerns that Thomas may have given her child 22 scars. Investigators remove the eldest child from the home.
October/November 2005: Thomas gives birth prematurely to her third daughter.
Fall 2007: Investigators question why one of Thomas’ children has a bruise and marks like fingernail scratches on her face after a teacher reported that the child said her mom pushed her. But the child won’t talk to authorities and other family members told investigators the child fell on her own. “Children are seen by family and friends,” an investigator wrote. “There are no behaviours exhibited that may be indicative of abuse/neglect.”
May 2012: Child protection authorities are notified when the eldest Thomas child has burns on her arm, leg and ankle, 13 absences from school and consistent hygiene issues. Investigators interviewed a live-in girlfriend, who said Thomas did not spank her children and kept the house clean. A doctor says there is no signs of abuse and several family members say the burn was an accident from hot soup and happened at Thomas’ grandmother’s house. “Mom has adequate problem solving skills,” an investigator wrote. “She has adequate support system and a willingness to follow through on current safety plan.”
November 2013: Thomas reportedly throws a phone at a friend’s head. In the past, this report notes, she discoulored Janiya’s skin by dropping bleach on her. Thomas told investigators she and her friend fought and that the friend as no longer living with her and not be allowed to return. Investigators ruled children were unharmed because they were in their rooms.
March 2014: One of Thomas’ children tells an apartment manager that his mother hit his butt and forearm with an electrical cord. “This has not happened in the past,” an investigator noted. The boy tells investigators that Thomas usually punches him in the chest or hits him with an extension cord when she’s mad. Thomas said she spanked him with an open hand. A doctor said injuries were likely caused by the cord. Risk to children is noted as “intermediate.”
April 14, 2014: According to a completed Safe Children Coalition form, Janiya Thomas is listed as home-schooled during an intervention prompted by “verified physical harm to 10 year old son.” Form notes that Thomas needed help managing “anger episodes.” She is recommended to start counselling as soon as possible, and would ideally be done by July 2014.
June 9, 2014: The last time case managers from the Safe Children Coalition note seeing Janiya. During a home visit, Thomas’ service case is marked as “non-compliant” and closed. Thomas says she is no longer going to engage in VPS.
December 2014: Janiya is spotted looking for food by a neighbour at the Village at Cortez Apartments.
January 2015: Thomas writes a “letter of termination” to the superintendent and informs the district that Janiya is no longer home-schooled or living in the state of Florida.
January/Feb 2015: The last time Janiya’s brother remembers seeing his sister. He came home from school one day and she had disappeared.
Sept. 23/24 2015: Thomas’ 12-year-old son is caught stealing candy from the Walmart in which Thomas works. He is given to his mother. The son says Thomas hit him repeatedly in the car and punched and hit him at home. He says he was pushed into a mirror, which shattered. He reportedly has a “superficial cut on head with specks of glass in his hair.” Thomas tells authorities she struck him once with an open hand and that he slipped into a mirror. Authorities make arrangements for the boy to go to a shelter, but once there, Thomas won’t sign consent forms.
Sept. 25 2015: The boy is seen by a doctor, who deems the injuries consistent with abuse. Welfare officials picked up Thomas’ 15-, 12-, and 9-year-old children after school, but Janiya could not be accounted for. Investigators apparently learned that day that Janiya was not listed as a Manatee County school student. That same day, officials told Thomas they were taking her children into their care. She reportedly said: “if y’all gonna take ’em, take ’em.” She also said Janiya was not living in the state.
Sept. 30 2015: Another effort to locate Janiya is noted as unsuccessful by investigators.
Oct. 5: Thomas tells child protection investigators that Janiya is living with someone on her father’s side of the family in New Jersey. She also refuses to give information about Janiya’s father. Thomas is unable to answer exactly who had custody of her daughter. At that time, she also tells investigators she did not need services or anger management for herself.
Oct. 6 2015: A COPS aide is still unable to find location information for Janiya.
Oct. 15: Investigators visit Thomas’ home and job at Walmart to find her, but are unsuccessful. Calls to Thomas about Janiya’s custody paperwork are unanswered. An investigator interviews Janiya’s maternal grandmother, who had looked after Janiya until sometime in 2014. Delores Williams said her daughter was “mean and stubborn,”
Oct. 16: Janiya is reported missing by Bradenton Police Department.
Oct. 18: A body is found by relatives in a mid-size freezer in a home on 21st Way East in Bradenton. Thomas’ boyfriend says he helped her move it a couple of days before from her apartment but didn’t know what was in it.
Oct. 21: An autopsy conducted by the District 12 Medical Examiner determines that the body was placed in a small box before it was placed in the freezer. Further testing is needed to determine the official cause and manner of death.
Dec. 15: A grand jury indicts Thomas for first-degree murder in the death of Janiya. The details of the little girl’s death are gruesome: Janiya’s right leg had been broken for several weeks before her death and her wrists and legs bore signs of being tied up. She weighed a scant 44 pounds. An official cause of death was not announced but Janiya’s oldest sister told investigators she saw Thomas tie the girl up and dunk her head in a toilet. That was the last time she saw her sister.
https://kvoa.com/tag/jesse-wilson/ Documents reveal disturbing details of Jesse Wilson’s troubled home life December 27, 2018 4:19 pm
A childhood with no toys, constant hunger, and a fridge with more alcohol than food, these are just some of the disturbing details revealed in Jesse Wilson’s Department of Child Safety records. 12 News obtained the almost 400 pages of documents after a month’s long legal battle. The paperwork sheds light on Jesse’s home life in the years and months leading up to his disappearance.
Ten-year-old Jesse Wilson was reported missing by his adoptive mother, Crystal Wilson, on July 17, 2016. Two years later, his skeleton was discovered near State Route 85 and Broadway Road. The documents detail the years of DCS investigations into possible child abuse and neglect. That includes an incident in 2013, where investigators found Jesse with a 1-inch welt on his left cheek. The documents detail that it was red and raised and Jesse stated his mother hit him with a belt. The documents detail the children wore shoes on the wrong feet and would come to school with unbrushed hair and teeth. In a separate report the documents detail Crystal Wilson withheld food as punishment and would lock Jesse in his room for extended periods of time with no bathroom privileges forcing him to “urinate and/or defecate in his room.” When asked about whether she rations the children’s food, Wilson told investigators, “that if punishing the kids by not allowing them to have dessert is child abuse then I guess I’m guilty.” Wilson also told investigators she never physically punished her adopted kids. Inside the refrigerator, investigators found a bare fridge with only liquids, including a box of wine, two bottles of wine and liquor.
Abuse allegations reach as far back as 2011 and detail a haunting incident where Avondale police looked into an anonymous report that the kids were malnourished. An officer found two boys about 4 years old were strapped to a bed with a harness as they slept. According to the documents, “there was a 3 feet in length string attachment to the shoulder harness which was then connected to the post on the bed. This attachment allowed sufficient movement on the bed but prevented the boys from leaving the room.”
Crystal Wilson told officers the boys only had the harness on when they slept, and wore it for their own safety because they would sneak outside at night to play. The officer then saw Wilson remove the harness and give the kids breakfast. The officer saw an “educational type” program on TV, lots of food in the kitchen and didn’t notice any injuries on the kids, and ultimately determined there was no evidence to support child abuse. One of the details that stands out in the documents is a description of Jesse’s room which had only a bed and a small dresser. “No other furnishings were found in the room. Jesse’s bed was found to have no sheets or blankets on them and the mattress was wrapped in plastic. No other personal items or toys were found in Jesse’s bedroom.”
A Pennsylvania foster family beat and starved three young children over a period of six years, even staging a videotaped fight between two of the children in an effort to cover their tracks, police said. Brenda Parise, 60, and her daughter, Amy Parise, who is turning 33 on Wednesday, were arrested Monday on felony child endangerment charges and other offenses. According to a police affidavit, the Parises beat the children – who were 6, 3, and 11 months when they were placed in the home in 2011 – with a belt and paddle and withheld food from them. When the children were fed, they were made to eat cross-legged on the floor with a hand behind the back, and were largely given bologna sandwiches and sometimes chicken, authorities said. The children were placed in the home by Luzerne County Children and Youth Services in December 2011 but weren’t removed until December 2017. The persistent abuse left marks, bruises and severe scarring on the children’s bodies, police said. All three children were malnourished and suffered from scabies, a condition caused by mites that burrow under the skin and lay eggs. One child was hospitalised in 2014 for failure to thrive and extreme weight loss. Police said the home was in deplorable condition. It wasn’t clear why or how the children were permitted to languish for so long or whether an investigation into the handling of their case by child welfare authorities has been launched.
Lawless America added 72 new photos to the album: Murder by Child Protective Services in Great Falls Montana — in Great Falls, Montana. August 31, 2015 ·
2-year-old October Perez was murdered, and CPS has responsibility. These are crime scene photos taken by the police of the tiny little house where October was tortured for months and finally murdered. April took October when she discovered she had a broken arm. When you look at the horrible photos, please realise that neither October’s biological father nor her grandmother, April Hall, ever saw inside this house. October’s father was in Afghanistan for a year. He tried to get CPS and the police to act from there, but they told him everything was okay. Grandmother April Hall had very limited time with October, and they tossed her out the front door to April. She tried again and again to get someone to do something. She had no idea how horrendous the situation was. See the story on the Lawless America Channel on YouTube
Congressional Testimony: April Hall to Bill Windsor of Lawless America in Helena, Montana (4:35)
PUEBLO, Colo. – A Littleton mom is fuming, saying she blew the whistle on El Pueblo Boys and Girls Ranch in Southern Colorado years ago, but nothing was done. “I wanted to protect those kids. I didn’t want this to happen to anybody ever again,” Lisa Mitchell said. “They pretty much [expletive] up my life,” said her son, Samuel Mitchell. The Mitchells say their nightmare started in 2009. Samuel, who suffered a brain injury at birth, was 11 when he was sent to the boys and girls’ ranch for behavioral issues.
“They glamorized this place to both of us. This place is gonna be great, your kid’s gonna love it, he’s gonna make friends,” Lisa Mitchell said. The ranch has been in operation for more than 50 years. It’s supposed to care for up to 166 kids with severe psychiatric and behavioral issues. Instead, in multiple cases Denver7 examined, families and children who lived there said the young patients left the ranch far more damaged than when they went in. During those five years, Samuel said the facility constantly ran out of food, leaving kids emaciated and starving. Multiple reports also show they were improperly medicated, some overly sedated, others not getting their prescribed medications at all. In many cases, kids were put in restraints, known around the ranch as “holds.” “Most of the staff were heavy and I was really little and I couldn’t breathe and when I would struggle, the female staff would pinch me to make me stop and then the male staff would either choke me, like put their arms around my neck and choke me. Some staff would dig their elbows in my back, some staff would even knee strike me, elbow strike me,” Samuel Mitchell said. “I’d hug him sometimes and he’d go, ‘Ow.’ You should see the scars all over his body from what these people did to him,” his mother said. The allegations are similar to what former staff member David Gonzales said he saw firsthand. “It was hell. It was absolute hell,” Gonzales said. Gonzales worked at El Pueblo for six months and said staff were supposed to follow a training program called Therapeutic Crisis Intervention or “TCI.” Instead, he said they were told to put kids in holds as forms of punishment. “I saw a staff member throw a kid down and blacken his eye. It was a, ‘woom!’ And blacken his eye,” Gonzales said. Gonzales said he turned to CDHS for help but his calls went ignored. “How can DHS call themselves effective when this has been going on for years?” Gonzales asked.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-47752075
A woman abused by her foster carer as a child has waived her right to anonymity to criticise the council involved in her care. Abbey Richards was five years old when she was sent to live with Rex Case in Southampton. He was eventually jailed for abusing her and four other girls. A serious case review revealed he was allowed to continue fostering despite several allegations made against him.
The city council said it was now better at listening to children in care.
Case and his wife, who lived in Bassett, became registered foster carers for Hampshire County Council in the early 1970s and for Southampton City Council from 1997. The review by Southampton Safeguarding Children Board, published in September last year, revealed there had been concerns about him before he was approved, but there was a culture of giving carers the “benefit of the doubt”. It said, during his time as a foster carer, concerns were raised about sexual abuse and he was also sacked from his job at a supported hostel for inappropriate behaviour with a 17-year-old girl. While Ms Richards was a child his care in 1998, his house was attacked by a mob who wrote the word “paedophile” on his wall but when her mother, Tracey Collins, contacted social services expressing concern about her daughter, she said they (she and her daughter) were prevented from speaking to each other (by the social services).
Why didn’t child services take AJ away from his ‘killer’ parents? Anger mounts as records reveal authorities visited the family home 17 TIMES before the five-year-old was allegedly murdered. JoAnn Cunningham, 36, and Andrew Freund Sr, 60, are facing multiple charges including murder and battery in the death and disappearance of their son AJ. The parents told police last Thursday that AJ mysteriously vanished from their home in Crystal Lake, Illinois, after he went to bed the night before. They each issued desperate pleas for their son’s return as local law enforcement and the FBI carried out a sweeping six-day search. Records show that child protective services had visited AJ’s home on 17 occasions since his birth in 2013. The boy’s body was found in rural area of Woodstock on Wednesday morning. The home was known to be filthy, while his lawyer father had his license revoked for a cocaine abuse conviction and sought therapy for an opioid problem.
On January 10, 2019, Dylan James Groves was born. 153 days later, he was found dead. Because he was born with illicit drugs in his system, Dylan was removed from the custody of his parents, Jessica Groves (age 39) and Daniel A. Groves (age 41) and placed into the custody of Scioto County Children’s Services.
Lorra Fuller, the Director of Scioto County Children’s Services, told the Columbus Dispatch that after Dylan’s father, Daniel,completed several requirements, (in 10 days!) Dylan remained in the custody of her agency, but he was placed with his father on a temporary trial basis through its family reunification process. She did not give the date Dylan was given back to Daniel, citing potential damage to the investigation if she did so; however, later reports show the baby was removed from his parents’ custody on January 17 and returned to them on January 28. Daniel was initially compliant with all of the requirements Children’s Services set, but, soon afterward, he began skipping court dates, home visits, and doctor appointments. Detectives obtained a search warrant, which they executed on June 10. Once in custody, according to Sheriff Mary Donini, Daniel spilled the tea: he said Dylan had been dead since late March. That’s three months the baby had been unaccounted for, for anyone not keeping score. A preliminary autopsy by Montgomery County Coroner’s Office, according to WSAZ-TV, revealed that Dylan “suffered skull fractures on both sides of his skull, a fractured left arm (broken radius, humerus and ulna), a left leg fracture, two broken left ribs, soft tissue hemorrhaging in his right chest wall and a laceration to his left arm.
Children and Youth Services received at least six reports of neglect or abuse about 2-year-old Dante Mullinix in the 17 months before he died, but workers invalidated, unfounded or closed all but one of the reports. In addition, a case workers who met with Dante’s family two days before he fell unconscious failed to notice bruises on his face and body and other injuries in various stages of healing. This photo was taken Sept. 2, four days before Dante suffered his fatal injuries. Sarah Mullinix (Dante’s aunt) said he has obvious injuries to his face.
Instead, “the family was not opened for services,” according to the Child and Youth Services summary, despite the fact that the boy’s aunt had filed for an emergency custody hearing for Dante. According to the summary of Children and Youth interactions, the first concerns about Dante’s care were raised in Adams County in May 2017. That office received “multiple” referrals alleging inadequate food and clothing, concerns regarding the mother’s mental health, inappropriate discipline, inadequate hygiene, homelessness, medical neglect and inappropriate caregivers.
At least four children have been killed by a parent in the past five years after a family court granted access. Dozens of parents have told the Victoria Derbyshire programme their abusive ex-partners were granted unsupervised contact with their child. The Ministry of Justice said a child’s welfare was always the priority. The fundamental presumption in law is that it is in the best interests of the child to have contact with both parents. Analysis indicates that four further children had been sexually abused or seriously injured, or both.
But it has led to the courts ordering children to have contact with an alleged or known violent ex-partner – including some convicted of rape, assault and drug offences, the BBC has learned from dozens of affected parents. In all of the cases, social services had been aware of a history of domestic abuse allegations against the partner. The youngest victim was five months old. In one incident, a father who went on to kill both of his children was granted unsupervised contact with them in an interim order. The case review found that numerous professionals – including a social worker, a teacher and an official from court support service Cafcass – had been too scared to be left alone with him because of his aggressive behaviour. The number of children injured by a parent during court-ordered contact may in reality be much higher, as serious case reviews are generally conducted only in cases of serious harm or death.
BLOOMINGTON — A Monroe County mother will serve 2.5 years’ probation after admitting to strangulation of her then 2-year-old son. Carpenter received credit for six days already served behind bars. The case began when a family member contacted the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office with video evidence of child abuse, according to the probable cause affidavit.
The video shows Carpenter cussing, slapping the child, as well as standing over him with her hands on the toddler, police said. “(The child’s) cries become muffled and sounds as if he is struggling to breathe,” read the report. “The slap can be heard as well as seen on the video.” When confronted by police, Carpenter admitted to slapping the toddler and placing her hand over his mouth for a period of 45 seconds. “Carpenter admitted to me that she knew she was making it somewhat difficult for (the child) to breathe normally, and she told me she feels like a monster,” read the deputy’s report. The boy’s father, Steven McGlocklin, told RTV6 he is disappointed in the sentence. “Justice was not served,” said McGlocklin. McGlocklin said the child – [who survived the attack] – has been back in Carpenter’s custody since March. Call 6 Investigates was unable to reach Carpenter for comment.
DAYTON, Ohio (WKEF/WRGT) – There were warning signs going back nearly two years in the case of a boy killed after police said he was abused, raped, and tortured by his father and two women for years. So, why was the victim not removed from his father’s home?
“That’s when I called the police and told them I think he’s being abused, and I want someone to check on my son,” said Takoda Collins’ mother Robin Collins. Collins’ mom was not the only person who called police.
Documents just released to Dayton 24/7 Now showed that in May 2018 a teacher from Horace Man Elementary called children services and police with concerns that Takoda was being abused. Children Services was also called in 2016 after Takoda’s brother ran away. When found, he told police his father was abusing him. The detective’s report showed children services were contacted and a referral was made.
TWINS Bobby and Joe Blair begged a social worker to save them from the sadistic paedophiles who tortured them — only for her to call them “problem children”, turn and walk away. Born in west Belfast in 1964, the brothers were placed in foster care in 1977 at Rubane House, Kircubbin, Co Down.
The home, ran by the De La Salle brothers [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_La_Salle_Brothers -The Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools[2] (also known as the Christian Brothers, French Christian Brothers,Lasallian Brothers,[3] or De La Salle Brothers; Latin: Fratres Scholarum Christianarum; French: Frères des Écoles Chrétiennes;Italian: Fratelli delle Scuole Cristiane) is a Catholic religious teaching congregation, founded in France by a priest named Jean-Baptiste de La Salle (1651–1719), and now based in Rome. The Brothers use the post-nominal abbreviation FSC to denote their membership of the order, and the honorific title Brother, abbreviated Br. The Lasallian Christian Brothers are not the same order as the Irish Christian Brothers.] , opened in 1950 and closed in 1985. Residents were mainly boys, aged between 11 and 16, who were from north or west Belfast. Today, 20 per cent of all boys who resided there claim they were victims of physical and sexual abuse. Authorities believe the real number of victims is much higher and many are yet to come forward, while many others have since died. An informed source told the Irish Sun they believe when the full extent of the abuse at Rubane House is revealed it will surpass the horror
After one of their escape bids Joe and Bobby told a female social worker what was happening to them. Joe said: “She turned around to us and said we were problem children and that what I said was a disgusting thing to say. She then got into her car and drove away.” He added: “I want the world to know what we went through at the hands of the De La Salle Brothers.
“We suffered like hell and a lot of other kids did. We didn’t pick the homes we were sent to, but, the state did. It was investigated that many times and children were forced back into the abuse because nobody believed them. They were raped night and day at the hands of paedophiles while in a home stalked by monster priest Fr Brendan Smyth. They were beaten, whipped, imprisoned and forced to perform sex acts on each other. They repeatedly tried to escape but were returned by the police. “That place was investigated five times before we even went in there. The first time was before we were even born. If the state knew about what was going on in there why were they putting vulnerable children in there?” Bobby said: “Joe and I were raped in front of each other every other night, the abuse was open abuse. We were even held down and forced to perform oral sex on each other. I would much rather have been raped on my own. “It is a terrible thing to be raped in front of the closest person in the world to you and even to this day Joe and I rarely make eye contact with each other as we are so ashamed about these incidents. “Even though we know it was not our fault we still feel stigma and guilt that these incidents occurred.”
Audit of Massachusetts Department of Children and Families says agency failed to report 118 incidents of sexual abuse of a child. Updated Jan 07, 2019;Posted Dec 07, 2017. State Auditor Suzanne Bump released a report saying those incidents were not reported to the Office of the Child Advocate, the department’s oversight agency. The audit covered January 1, 2014 through December 31, 2015.
Among the incidents covered in the audit, according to Bump’s office: “two male employees at different DCF-contracted residential facilities who sexually abused three girls each; a 10-year-old who was raped by his father; a 4-year-old who was sexually abused by her mother; and a 17-year-old who was gang-raped by five assailants. In one case, a male who had sexually abused one child, abused the child’s sibling less than one year later.”
The audit said the agency did not consider sexual abuse as something that rose to the level of “critical incident,” and that’s why agency officials did not report those 118 cases to the Office of the Child Advocate during the period of the audit. The agency is also not ensuring that potentially criminal actions are referred to prosecutors for investigation and potential legal action, the audit said. During the two-year period of the audit, the agency was also unaware of 260 incidents “of what appeared to be serious bodily injury to children in its care,” Bump’s office said.
Tuesday, 31.07.2007 22:21
Hamburg – The title of this printed parental guide sounds wicked. But for six years no one really disturbed it: “Body, Love, Doctor Games”, published by the Federal Center for Health Education (BZgA). One volume is devoted to early childhood development during the first to third years of life, and a second to pre-school development from the ages of four to six.

BZgA
A Controversial Parent Guide: Posting a Public Call for Child Sexual Abuse
Now, however, there was filed against author Ina-Maria Philipps and the BZgA at the prosecutor’s office in Cologne – because of this public demand for the sexual abuse of children. “I got the brochure from acquaintances to read – and was of the opinion that this is not possible,” said Ulla Lang, who has filed the complaint. The 64-year-old mother of two adult daughters complains of several passages.
About this: It is “only a sign of the healthy development of your child, if it uses the opportunity to give itself pleasure and satisfaction, extensively.” Or this: If girls – not even three years old – “take objects to help”, then one should not use this as an excuse to prevent the masturbation “. Or these: “vagina and especially clitoris receive little attention by tender touch (neither by father nor mother) and make it difficult for the girl to develop pride in her sexuality.”
“Some phrasing are ambiguous and ambiguous”
Especially the last passage provokes annoyance: For critics it sounds like a hidden request, parents should touch the daughter between the legs. Irene Johns of the Child Protection Agency even said that “although the booklet is quite different, pedophiles could use it as a justification.”
The Federal Ministry for Family Affairs has now responded: The brochure was deleted from the repertoire of his educational work, even on the website of the BZgA it has disappeared. Minister Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) described certain statements as “borderline”, said her spokeswoman today. “Some phrases are misleading and ambiguous.”
Author Ina-Maria Philipps was not available for comment until the evening. BZgA director Elisabeth Pott is surprised to see that, after six years, misunderstandings arise for the first time and criticism becomes loud – but: “We take the criticism seriously.” A lecturer from the Institute for Sexual Education is shaken by the stop: “That may not be true,” she says. Finally, proponents of the pamphlet argue, one had an important goal when the book first appeared in 2001: “The sexual development of infants and toddlers should no longer be tabooed.” https://www.bzga.de/infomaterialien/sexualaufklaerung/?idx=2830
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGVQWNTiZX8
Family files lawsuit against Kansas, DCF in death of Adrian Jones [1:34]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=004hNhIuqLc
Adrian Jones’ family files wrongful death lawsuit [2:34]
http://www.mystatesman.com/news/murder-suspect-meechaiel-criner-called-chronic-foster-care-runaway/wvOHQY0IFP2GjY44zZ7BTP/
Sometime on March 24 [2016], a Texas Child Protective Services caseworker called police in Killeen to alert them that a teen named Meechaiel Criner had vanished from a therapeutic foster home where he had been living.
The state agency responsible for caring for children in state custody has lengthy protocols for how staff is required to handle runaway cases, including alerting police, in hopes of quickly finding them.
But Criner wasn’t located before police say he carried out an unthinkable crime 10 days later: Randomly attacking 18-year-old freshman Haruka Weiser on the University of Texas campus, assaulting her and, according to law enforcement sources, strangling her before leaving her dead along Waller Creek.
At some point in the last year, Criner attended Ellison High School in Killeen, where at least one of his teachers said the student was in need of help for mental health issues.
“He is extremely mentally ill but he was undiagnosed because he was bouncing around the foster child system,” the teacher wrote in an email to the National Alliance on Mental Illness Texas, which the organisation shared with the Statesman.
“He was abused as a child and abused within the Texas foster care system. I don’t know what help is available for Mick (Criner) but he needs help. I had extensive conversations with him on an almost daily basis and he wrote about his past in some assignments in my class. Everyone is going to want to hang Mick but he is mentally ill and he wasn’t being treated.”
The teacher declined to speak with the Statesman, citing district rules on speaking with the media.
Yet the case sheds light on an issue that CPS caseworkers face with striking regularity: At least once a day, on average, a foster child runs away from a home or facility, leaving officials scrambling to find them before they are harmed, or as police say happened in Criner’s case, harm someone else.
Not the end …
