KELSEY SMITH-BRIGGS’ DEATH LAWSUIT BRINGS $625K DEAL

 

Federal judge will decide later how the state settlement money will be divided

 

http://www.newsok.com/kelsey-smith-briggs-death-lawsuit-brings-625k-deal/article/3381788

BY NOLAN CLAY

Published: June 30, 2009

http://feeds.newsok.tv/services/player/bcpid4659235001?bctid=28073735001

http://feeds.newsok.tv/services/player/bcpid1766638491?bctid=28073741001

The state of Oklahoma paid $525,000 Monday to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit over the murder of Kelsey Smith-Briggs, and a private agency paid $100,000.

A federal judge Monday approved the $625,000 settlement but will decide later how to split the money.

The girl’s father filed the lawsuit and represents her estate, but her mother, who is in prison for enabling Kelsey’s abuse, wants half.

Kelsey, 2, died from abuse on Oct. 11, 2005, at her home near Meeker.

The slaying became a high-publicity case that exposed serious flaws in how the Department of Human Services protects abused children. An oversight agency found DHS made a series of mistakes in the abused child’s case, such as failing to contact police when she broke both legs. The case led to reforms.

Girl’s killer still is unknown

Who killed the girl remains a mystery. Her stepfather, Michael Lee Porter, 29, was charged with first-degree murder and child sexual abuse but pleaded guilty instead to enabling child abuse. He is serving a 30-year prison sentence. He blamed the girl’s mother for her death.

The mother, Raye Dawn Smith, 29, was never charged with murder. She was convicted at trial of enabling child abuse and is serving a 27-year prison sentence. “Kelsey was my best friend in the entire world and it hurts so bad for people to say the things they do. … I didn’t hurt Kelsey and … I didn’t sit back and let it happen,” she said after her trial.

Kelsey died even though DHS workers, a private child-welfare worker and a judge were overseeing her care because of evidence she had been repeatedly abused. Her death came four months after the judge returned Kelsey to her mother despite accusations the mother was the abuser.

Trial revealed concerns

Kelsey’s father, Lance Briggs of Shawnee, was returning to Oklahoma from military duty when she died.

He sued DHS, its director and others in 2006, alleging Kelsey died because of “systemwide failures” at DHS.

The state and the private agency, Eastern Oklahoma Youth Services, continue to deny wrongdoing despite paying the settlement, records show. Eastern Oklahoma Youth Services was under contract with DHS and a worker there had repeatedly checked on Kelsey. The worker, Jean Bonner, last visited Kelsey and her mother hours before Kelsey’s death.

At the mother’s trial, Bonner testified she had concerns about some of the problems she found during home visits but never enough to call police.

Asked by a prosecutor if she might have missed something during these visits, given that Kelsey died, Bonner said, “I don’t know.”

Lance Briggs’ attorneys will get 40 percent of the settlement plus $29,902 for expenses.

About $345,100 will remain. Judge Timothy DeGuisti said he will rule at another hearing whether the mother will get anything.

Lance Briggs’ attorneys, Joe E. White Jr. and Derek Burch, told The Oklahoman on Monday the mother should not get even “one red cent.”

 MORE ON KELSEY’S STORY

 

 

 IN LOVING MEMORY OF KELSEY BRIGGS 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GRAD JURY SAYS L.A. COUNTY MUST DO MORE TO PROTECT AT-RISK YOUTH

Grand jury says L.A. County must do more to protect at-risk youth

 

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/06/grand-jury-says-la-county-must-do-more-to-protect-atrisk-youth.html

3:20 PM | June 29, 2009

Los Angeles County officials must do more to protect, treat and support at-risk youths, according to an annual report released this morning by the county’s civil grand jury.

About 400,000 county residents between ages 12 and 24—defined as youth in the report—live in poverty, representing about a fifth of residents in that age group, the report said. Many of these youths rely on county child welfare, medical and employment programs that could be better coordinated to save money and protect children from abuse, the panel found.

The report highlighted the case of a 5-year-old South Los Angeles boy beaten and tortured by his mother for more than a year despite her repeated contact with county staff.

When the boy was discovered last June, his mother, Starkeisha Brown, was wanted for violating parole but had not been located by authorities—despite the fact that she was receiving welfare. County records showed she had been investigated and cleared by child welfare staff a few years earlier.

Brown’s son was removed from her only after a stranger found him and alerted authorities. The boy was immediately hospitalized and his mother arrested.

The grand jury noted that if county departments had better-coordinated electronic records, Brown’s son might have been removed sooner and spared further abuse.

“The county owes it to its children, families and taxpayers to save lives, ensure public safety and prevent fraudulent activity through the use of technology,” the panel wrote.

The panel urged county supervisors to develop the Family and Children’s Index, a computer system created years ago to allow various agencies—including child welfare, probation, courts, clinics and the sheriff’s department—to share information about children and their parents.

Many county staffers have failed to add information to the index, while others who tried to use it found their access limited because of privacy concerns. Supervisors plan to consider a new system tomorrow, spurred by reports in The Times about children abused and killed after being supervised by the county.

The panel specifically recommended that Family Services share patient records with the five county-run clinics where children under their supervision are treated. To better monitor children for signs of abuse, they also recommended that at least one social worker be assigned to each clinic. [Three clinics currently have social workers.]

The report also addressed conditions in the county’s 22 juvenile probation camps and halls, which house about 3,600 youths. After inspecting the facilities, panel members called for county officials to investigate senior management in the Probation Department this year. They also called for county officials to address numerous problems including mental health staffing, flawed evacuation plans and insufficient laundry facilities.

In addition, the grand jury found that the county could make better use of money intended to aid unemployed and homeless youths. They found that the county spent $45.5 million on youth job programs that served only 4% of poor youth in fiscal year 2007-08. At the same time, the county failed to spend $2.1 million in state and federal funds intended for youth employment.

Under the county budget approved last week, youth employment programs will be better coordinated to maximize funding, said Miguel Santana, deputy to the county’s chief executive.

Although most of the report focused on at-risk youth, the panel also recommended that the county do more to prevent senior abuse and neglect.

Supervisors were still reviewing the report this afternoon, spokesmen said.

“It gave confirmation that we’re making progress in children’s services, but certainly we still have a way to go to have a seamless system,” Santana said.

– Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Garrett Therolf reporting from the County Hall of Administration

READ THE 492 PAGE GRAND JURY REPORT HERE

AUDIT SAYS CPS SLOW TO PROBE ABUSE

 

Agency often misses deadlines to investigate, report says

 

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/06/29/20090629cpsaudit0629.html

Casey Newton – Jun. 29, 2009 12:00 AM

The Arizona Republic .

Child Protective Services investigators are failing to investigate complaints of abuse in group homes and treatment centers in the required time frame, an audit has found, placing children at risk of further harm.

The audit also found gaps in CPS record-keeping that have allowed treatment-center employees with substantiated complaints of child abuse to get new jobs in group homes, where they have committed further abuse.

The Department of Economic Security, which oversees CPS, agreed with the audit’s findings and said it would implement changes to address the problems. A DES spokeswoman said she would be unable to address the findings before today.

In 2008, nearly 5,500 children were in what the state calls “congregate care” – group homes, shelters or residential treatment centers.

State law requires CPS to complete an investigation of any alleged child abuse at a congregate-care facility within 21 days and enter their findings into a database.

Since 2007, the Office of the Auditor General found, CPS completed its investigations on time in only four out of 147 cases, or 3 percent.

More than half of the division’s reports took another one to six months to complete. Some cases took investigators more than a year.

The audit found that CPS has not investigated any complaints at residential treatment centers, which house larger numbers of children than group homes or shelters, saying it lacks the statutory authority. The Department of Health Services is charged with investigating abuse claims in those facilities.

As a result, information about employees who are found to have abused children in treatment centers is never entered into a CPS database used to screen new employees.

In one case reviewed by auditors, a boy in a treatment center alleged that a staffer had abused him. Because information about the abuse was never entered into a CPS database, the staffer was able to get a job at a second group home and abused another child, the audit found. The staffer was working at a third group home before CPS realized the problem.

Melanie Chesney, director of performance audits for the auditor general, said the staff member no longer worked with children. She refused to release the employee’s name or other details about the case, saying it would violate department policy.

Most children removed from their homes are placed with a relative or foster family. But some children have special needs or circumstances that require them to be placed in group settings.

Auditors do not believe abuse in treatment centers is widespread.

“Our concern is there’s the potential for it to occur because of the problems we noted in the report,” Chesney said.

In response, DES said it would revise the unit’s procedures to better track investigations.

“The department agrees with and is currently implementing the recommendations,” said Neal Young, DES director, in a letter to Auditor General Debbie Davenport.

TOT’S DEATH LEADS OT INDICTMENT

Tot’s death leads to indictment

 

Prosecutor mum on connection to Topeka woman

 

http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20090630/LOCAL03/306309986/1002/LOCAL

Rebecca S. Green

The Journal Gazette

 

A LaGrange County grand jury has indicted 31-year-old Topeka resident Christy Shaffer on two charges of neglect of a dependent.

In March, 15-month-old Alissa Guernsey died. At the time, she was in Shaffer’s custody having been removed from her home by the state, officials with the Indiana Department of Child Services said.

LaGrange County Prosecutor Jeffrey Wible will not say whether the toddler’s death and Shaffer’s indictments are related.

He would not provide any details related to the grand jury indictment.

Others involved in the investigation did provide a few details.

Indiana State Police Detective Jeff Boyd confirmed he conducted an investigation into Christy Shaffer in connection with the death of Alissa.

He declined to comment on whether he testified before a grand jury.

According to Boyd, the LaGrange County Sheriff’s Department was initially called to the hospital about the toddler. Boyd was contacted by a sheriff’s deputy who was in attendance at the child’s autopsy and learned that the death was not believed to have been from natural causes.

Boyd then opened a death investigation, developed a suspect and submitted the case to the prosecutor’s office for review, he said.

And state officials confirmed that the state’s child fatality review team is looking into the March death of the same toddler.

Ann Houseworth, spokeswoman for the Department of Children’s Services, said while Shaffer was not a foster parent, she had passed a background check before the child was placed in her care. She was related to the child.

According to Wible, Shaffer was indicted Thursday, arrested and had her initial hearing Friday. But officials with LaGrange Circuit Court declined to release court documents, saying Wible ordered them sealed.

The charges, which are Class B and C felonies, carry a possible prison sentence of up to 20 years and eight years, respectively.

Wible said he convened a grand jury to look into the case because he wanted to avoid any controversy but declined to say what possible controversy might exist.

rgreen@jg.net

SPENDING PROBE SPREADS AT DSS

 

Audits turn up misspent money in programs for foster children, and county officials can’t account for $162,000 in donations.

 

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/597/story/805127.html#none

By April Bethea and Fred Clasen-Kelly

abethea@charlotteobserver.com

Posted: Saturday, Jun. 27, 2009

A probe of misspending at a Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services Christmas charity has widened across the agency, and officials now say they are unable to say how much money may have disappeared over the years.

The county’s second-largest agency, often a first stop for the community’s poor or neglected, has recently been reorganized. Director Mary Wilson, hired last summer, ordered audits following reports of suspicious spending.

The audits looked at several spending programs and financial practices throughout the department.

Among the findings:

Mecklenburg County officials cannot account for $162,000 in donations meant to buy gifts for needy children. That includes a $10,000 check made out to an employee.

Of the 840 receipts inspected for that program, 799 had problems, including receipts that were altered, whited out or omitted in photocopying.

In a separate year-round program, auditors said, money meant to help foster families buy clothes and other necessities for children was spent on office supplies.

The audits cover July 2007 through this past March, but officials say they don’t know whether problems started earlier because the last departmentwide audit of DSS was in 1996. Some findings have been turned over to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

Officials briefed county commissioners earlier this month about the audits.

But new details are emerging since officials gave a fuller account last week to the commission’s audit review committee.

Committee members told county administrators they did not understand how the department failed to adhere to basic financial practices, such as requiring two signatures on checks – a standard spelled out in N.C. law.

Some asked how managers could have allowed such behavior to go unnoticed. The audit committee also appeared surprised that receipts for the department had not been checked for so many years.

Such a review was planned for next year, said Chris Waddell of the county’s Internal Audit department, who said he thinks the problems cited in recent audits would have been uncovered.

When panel members asked county auditors and administrators to find out who is responsible for the problems, or how long they persisted, officials cast doubt on whether they could comply.

“There’s a lot of missing documentation,” county Finance Director Dena Diorio told the committee.

On Friday, County Manager Harry Jones said officials would respond to problems laid out in the audits.

Overall, Jones said, DSS has been “well-managed,” especially in light of numerous changes in top management in recent years.

But with “an operation of that size it is difficult to be immune from problems,” he said. “We’re going to address it and fix it. Hopefully, it won’t be recurring.”

‘Feel-good’ programs

Officials said charity and emergency spending programs went unchecked by supervisors. Asked why, Wilson said people grew very trusting about “feel-good” programs. Diorio said the longtime programs simply escaped scrutiny.

County officials said some DSS programs were audited annually, but not smaller programs like the Giving Tree.

DSS spends more than $176million annually and employs about 1,200 workers.

Problems surfaced publicly this year when Wilson said she learned about irregular spending patterns in the agency’s programs for poor families and foster children.

Wilson said an employee raised questions about money in the Giving Tree program. Wilson said she herself pointed to a need to audit the broader programs.

Since then, leaders have ordered multiple financial audits and suspended two workers suspected of taking $110,000 from the Giving Tree program, which solicits money to buy the holiday gifts.

Officials say they have asked Charlotte-Mecklenburg police to help investigate. One of the suspended workers has been cleared of wrongdoing and reinstated, while the other is now on medical leave. The county has not publicly identified the employees.

County officials say they are trying to determine whether there was criminal activity or just sloppy accounting.

In either case, commissioner Bill James said the findings show the county needs to re-examine how it keeps tabs on taxpayer money. James described the fiscal controls at DSS as “nonexistent.”

“There is a fundamental management control deficiency,” James said. “We have to find out why this lasted as long as it did.”

Ward Simmons, another member of the county audit committee, said there should be two goals. “Fix this for the future, and then this has to do with public confidence in the county: (identify) who’s responsible for what happened in the past.”

But county administrators say they are not sure who should be held accountable.

A series of DSS directors

DSS has had four directors in recent years.

Longtime director Richard “Jake” Jacobsen took a medical leave in 2004 and was briefly replaced in the interim by then-deputy director Brenda Jackson. Jacobsen returned in 2005, only to be reassigned as an executive-in-residence at UNC Charlotte, where he started work in January 2008.

The county appointed another interim DSS director, Janice Allen Jackson, who was also one of the county’s general managers.

Director Mary Wilson replaced her last July. Allen Jackson resigned in May for personal reasons.

As a general manager Allen Jackson was responsible for helping oversee DSS for four years. She also was interim director for six months.

Allen Jackson said she was not aware of any accounting failures during her tenure with the county. “No issues were brought to me,” she told the Observer before declining further comment.

Jacobsen worked for 13 years as head of the DSS. Through a county spokesman, Jacobsen declined to comment.

Jacobsen had named a senior-level administrator to oversee DSS finances during his tenure, but county leaders said the post later was vacated. Earlier this year, Wilson recreated the post, naming Angela Hurlburt as the department’s director of financial management.

Jones praised Wilson for initiating the financial audit and said she had “clearly inherited this situation.”

“These are programs deliberately designed to operate outside the traditional DSS systems,” Jones said. He said Friday the emergency nature of the charity programs may have led to mistakes. Social workers often must act quickly to address such needs as clothing, housing and medicine.

A lax culture of accounting

County officials described a lax culture at DSS about accounting procedures.

In some cases, Wilson said, social workers made expenditures without their supervisor’s approval. Other times, she said, supervisors did not document approvals for expenses.

Officials say they are unsure whether employees were trained to properly carry out the department’s financial policies.

“People who work anywhere need to know what the expectations are,” said John McGillicuddy, county general manager. “And when you know that they’ve been given those expectations and clear terms … you can hold them accountable. Part of our challenge is going to be who should have known that these were their responsibility.”

McGillicuddy said county management and DSS directors bear some responsibility in making sure the county is effectively managing the public’s money. But he said he thinks that if any of the previous DSS directors knew a problem was occurring, that it would have been addressed.

Officials said they have already addressed issues in the audits, including the need to process all checks through the county finance department and new training for DSS workers on accounting procedures. But the audit panel and county staff said they’d like more investigation.

Commissioner Dan Murrey said the challenge will be infusing the agency with a new culture.

“There are policies and procedures and the way we’ve always done things,” he said. “In a sound organization those two things are closer together.”

April Bethea: 704 358-6013

 

 

What the auditors found

Posted: Saturday, Jun. 27, 2009

 

GIVING TREE

 

The DSS program collected Christmas gifts for children in the county’s foster care system. Gifts were received from donors or purchased through financial contributions. Among the well-known supporters of the Giving Tree program is Project Joy, the holiday fund drive initiated by Observer columnist Tommy Tomlinson. The Giving Tree program has been shut down.

Auditors found:

 No receipts for a $10,000 check made out to an employee.

 For the remaining $152,289 disbursed, $138,978 in receipt copies were provided. Of those 840 receipts, 799 had problems, including:

– Parts of receipts whited out, or omitted in photocopying.

– Altered dates.

– Gift card misuse.

– Multiple submissions of altered receipts.

 

GOOD FRIENDS

 

The independent program collects donations to serve as what officials call“the last line of defense” for families and children and typically helps people pay utility bills and prescriptions. Until this year, it gave donations to DSS to disburse. The group stopped working with the county in March.

Auditors found:

 DSS issued checks without two signatures.

 Payments made to county employees, instead of stores.

 Unapproved items purchased.

Due to the number of “unsupported transactions,” auditors could not render an opinion on financial statements.

 

VOUCHER PROGRAM

 

Used by social workers who purchased emergency supplies for needy families. DSS discontinued the programin May and replaced it with restricted credit cards with stringent guidelines.

Auditors found:

99.3% of all transactions tested had problems, including:

Missing receipts.

Emergency money used for office supplies.

Source documents created after purchase.

 

CASH TRANSACTIONS

 

Auditors checked various DSS receipts and payments to test internal controls.

Auditors found:

DSS ran programs from an account that held benefits for Social Security beneficiaries.

DSS had two unauthorized credit card accounts.

Source: Mecklenburg County Department of Internal Audit; Cherry, Bekaert & Holland Certified Public Accountants & Consultants

 

Giving Tree audit

DSS Audit2

UPDATE ON THE CASE OF ZOEY SANDERCOX

I am placing the video from News 10, who interviewed the mother.  There are also some beautiful pictures on this page of Zoey that were provide to me by a family member…

You can see the news video “Was the Death of three-year-old from Troy Murder or Accident”, here …

 

Troy man pleads not guilty in toddler’s death

http://www.care2.com/news/member/681221234/1162264

A Troy man was arraigned on charges stemming from the death of his girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter. John Tinkler, 27, pleaded not guilty in Troy City Court to second-degree murder and endangering the welfare of a child. Kaitlyn Ross has the details.

Updated: 06/09/2009 05:58 AM

By: Kaitlyn Ross

TROY, N.Y. — “There’s nothing like working a case with an innocent 3-year-old, and that’s going to be buried in the next couple days,” said Det. Sgt. David Dean of the Troy Police Department. “There’s no words that can describe.”

According to court documents, 3-year-old Zoe Sandercox died from blunt force trauma to the head. Her mother’s live-in boyfriend, John Tinkler, 27, is charged in the little girl’s death.

Dean said, “We did extensive work at the crime scene. Our detectives are out right now trying to get background on Mr. Tinkler.”

A Troy man was arraigned on charges stemming from the death of his girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter. John Tinkler, 27, pleaded not guilty in Troy City Court to second-degree murder and endangering the welfare of a child. Kaitlyn Ross has the details.

 

Charged with second-degree murder and child endangerment, Tinkler’s statement tells a different story about what happened Saturday afternoon. He wrote that Zoe was in the shower when she fell and that he tried to revive her before police arrived.

“It’s not uncommon for a defendant’s statement to be at odds with what our theory is,” said Dean. “It’s probably more common than not.”

Neighbors, however, said they never saw anything out of the ordinary at the home.

“Never,” said neighbor Donna Bridges. “They’re always out there having cookouts, just having a good old time. I’ve never seen anything, nothing of abuse.”

The five kids who lived at the 4th Street apartment were frequently in the backyard and around the neighborhood, and neighbors said Zoe was always smiling.

“I’m shocked,” said Bridges. “We are so shocked. The whole neighborhood is shocked.”

Tinkler is expected back in court next week as the investigation continues. He is currently being held in Rensselaer County Jail.

 

 

The original News Story is as follows:

 

Father of Zoey Sandercox speaks to NEWS10

 

http://www.wten.com/Global/story.asp?S=10505901

Posted: June 9, 2009 07:25 PM EDT

Three-year-old Zoey Sandercox of Troy died over the weekend from a traumatic blow to the stomach. The little girl died while in the care of her mother’s boyfriend, 27-year-old John Tinkler.

Tinkler was arraigned Monday on second degree murder and child endangerment charges.

Now, Zoey Sandercox’s four siblings are in foster care and her mother expecting another baby – her second with Tinkler.

On Tuesday, NEWS10 spoke to Zoey’s father, who travelled hundreds of miles to get some answers about his daughter’s death.

Peter Deluke poured over the words written by John Tinkler, the man police say killed Zoey Sandercox. Tinkler was babysitting the girl, but he insists her death was an accident. In a handwritten, five page statement, he claims he put Zoey in the bathtub after she had vomited in bed and turned on the shower. He was watching TV when he says he heard her fall.

“It looked like she was crying,” Sandercox wrote in the statement, “I asked her if she hit her head. She said yes, and put her hands up to the back of her head.”

Later on he wrote, “I noticed she was wobbling, like a drunken stance. I noticed her lips were changing color. They went pale. I went to get my stethoscope to listen to her heart.”

When he came back into the room he said, “Zoey was laying on the bathroom floor. She was laying face up with her head towards the end of the tub where the faucet is. I noticed she wasn’t moving and I said her name a bunch of times and was tapping her on the face.”

Tinker then said he called 9-1-1 and the dispatcher helped him to perform CPR. He then took her downstairs and passed her off to a firefighter he continued to try and resuscitate the toddler.

Deluke told NEWS10, “So far I’ve been told that she was suffocated. That she was kicked in the stomach and that’s all I know right now.”

While Tinker claims Zoey hit her head on the bathtub, a death certificate declares that blunt force trauma that killed the child. Police say those blunt force injuries were to Zoey’s abdomen.

Deluke found out about Zoey’s death while watching the news at his home near Rochester. It wasn’t until he logged on to the internet that he learned that it was in fact his own daughter.

He then bought the next bus ticket to Troy, arriving just in time a Monday night vigil in Zoey’s honor. During the vigil, the sidewalk outside the apartment where Zoey died was packed with family and friends.

On Monday, Tinkler was arraigned on charges of second degree murder and child endangerment. Sandercox was working at the time of the fatal accident on Saturday. Tinkler called her from work.

“He just told me that I had to go to the hospital. That she was not breathing,” Sandercox recalled.

When asked if she believed Tinkler’s account, Sandercox said, “I want to, but I have to look at what really happened to (Zoey), too, you know?”

Outside of their Troy apartment, Sandercox told NEWS10 that she and Tinkler never had any problems in the two years they have been together. In addition to the child they already have together, they are expecting another in December.

Now Sandercox’s other four children are in foster care. She is not facing any charges.

This, however, is not the first time that children have taken out of Sanderbox’s care. Sources close to this case tell NEWS10 that about a year ago, social services got involved after a young relative left Sandercox’s residence with a broken arm.

Her father and other family members say the removal was resolved and, since that time, Sandercox has worked hard to keep her family together as a full-time mother and employee at a local supermarket.

Now, all they say she can do is attempt to recover from the loss of her daughter and perhaps the loss of a father to her unborn child.

  

  

  

Butterfly Memorial Poem

A rush of wings

 

they flutter high

to touch the sun

and kiss the sky

A butterfly

is with us now

No more a caterpillar

upon a leaf

Zoey with angel wings

A soaring butterfly

with us they sing

by
Lili Pintea-Reed copyright 2002
for the IBBA

 

 

DEATH OF CHILD, 4, UNDER INVESTIGATION

 

http://www.thesouthern.com/articles/2009/06/26/local/29108379.txt

By Tara Fasol-Chambers, The Southern

Friday, June 26, 2009 11:35 PM CDT

 

State and local officials are investigating the Monday death of a 4-year-old Shawneetown girl.

 

Jessika Rena James died about 4:40 p.m. Monday at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis from unspecified injuries suffered during the weekend.

Illinois State Police and Eldorado Police Department launched an investigation in cooperation with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.

DCFS Spokesperson Kendall Marlowe said an abuse investigation continues. Marlowe said DCFS has provided services to the family before after finding previous reports of problem in the home substantiated.

Jessika is the daughter of Brandi James of Eldorado and Eli Nipper of Harrisburg. Obituary information lists one brother for Jessika, although officials said no other children were living in the home at the time of the child’s death.

Services will be Saturday, June 27 at 2 p.m. at the Cox and Son Funeral Home in Shawneetown. Visitation will be Saturday at 11 a.m.

tara.fasol@thesouthern.com

618-351-5824

STATE TO MONITOR DANE COUNTY CHILD SERVICES CASES

 

Document Says Department Is Understaffed

 

http://www.channel3000.com/news/19874625/detail.html

POSTED: 6:53 pm CDT June 26, 2009

MADISON, Wis. — An internal Dane County document obtained by WISC-TV said the Dane County Human Services Department is understaffed in Child Protective Services, the division that protects children from abuse and neglect.

The information comes amid new state criticism that the department mishandled a case in which a child later died — the third such state review of the department following a child’s death in two years.

Dane County Human Services Director Lynn Green denies the county did anything wrong in a 2007 case most recently cited by the state.

But the state believes the department did mishandle the case, and despite what it calls “incredible” improvements at the county department, the state said it will monitor Dane County’s child protection cases for the rest of the year.

Last February, Amaya Walker died after ingesting a massive overdose of prescription oxycodone and valium while living with her grandmother, April Walker.

Prosecutors said April Walker had the valium illegally and have charged her with neglect.

But at issue now is whether Dane County properly looked into the family of the girl almost two years before she died.

A Wisconsin Department of Children and Families review of the 2007 case found that county Human Services should have assigned a social worker to investigate an allegation the girl was sexually assaulted, even though the referring hospital found no evidence of abuse.

The state, in a letter to the county, wrote, “Information provided to Dane County on Aug. 16, 2007, constitutes a report of alleged abuse or neglect of a child that should have been screened in” or investigated further.

But Green said the case was properly closed out because “there were no grounds to intervene in that family and no basis that maltreatment was occurring.” Green also said she never heard or saw any later reports from Madison police alleging concerns about the girl’s environment.

The Walker case review follows two others where the state has faulted or chided the county for its child protection practices weeks or even years after the children died.

One case the state found multiple county failings with was the July 2007 death of 6-week-old Anastasia Vang.

Vang died at the hands of her mentally ill mother, two weeks after Dane County Human Services was notified of possible abuse and an inadequate safety plan.

Despite all that, Green maintained that her department protects children and has never had done better work, thanks to better protocols and a state computerized system.

An audit on the division coming out next week will show Child Protective Services short four positions, WISC-TV reported.

Green said the shortfall is only in one area and will be immediately and easily covered by repositioning division staff or other social workers doing non-mandated work.

MAN OFFERED ADOPTED SON FOR SEX, AUTHORITIES SAY

Duke Univ Official Charged In Child Sex Case

 

Man Offered Adopted Son For Sex, Authorities Say

 

http://www.wxii12.com/news/19870728/detail.html

POSTED: 1:31 pm EDT June 26, 2009

UPDATED: 3:15 pm EDT June 26, 2009

DURHAM, N.C. — Authorities have arrested and charged a Duke University official who they said offered his adopted 5-year-old son for sex.

Read The Arrest Warrant (NOTE: EXPLICIT CONTENT)

Arrest warrant

 The FBI’s Washington field office said the school’s associate director of the Center for Health Policy, Frank Lombard, was caught in an Internet sting.

Authorities said that Lombard tried to persuade a person — whom he did not know was a police officer – to travel to North Carolina to have sex with Lombard’s child. Court documents say Lombard told the officer that (Lombard) had performed multiple sexual acts on the child.

Court documents also say that Lombard identified himself online as “perv dad for fun” and “perv fam fun,” a reference to incestuous child molestation. According to the arrest warrant, the informant said he was chatting with Lombard using a program called ICUii, which allows users to chat online while viewing live video images of the other user.

The informant said Lombard identified himself as “cooper2” or “cooperse,” lived in the Raleigh/Durham area, and had another adopted child and a live-in gay partner who did not participate in the child’s abuse. A subpoena of the ICUii account connected Lombard to the usernames, the warrant says.

The papers also say an unnamed informant, facing charges in his own child sex case, tipped off authorities to Lombard’s alleged activities. The informant indicated he was told that others had sexually molested the child, the documents say.

He was arrested at his Durham home on Wednesday. Two children at the home, including the 5-year-old child allegedly offered for sex, were taken into protective custody by the North Carolina Department of Social Services.

ARLINGTON FATHER JAILED IN DEATH OF 4-MONTH-OLD

Katherine Blake ARLINGTON (CBS 11 News)

http://cbs11tv.com/local/baby.death.fort.2.1060257.html

A North Texas baby is sent to the hospital for the second time with skull fractures, but this time the four-month-old boy didn’t make it.

Jayden Farrington died around 8 o’clock Wednesday night. His father, Jason Farrington, 25, is now behind bars accused of first degree felony injury to a child.

Paramedics where called an apartment in the 1500 block of Stoneleigh Court in Arlington after Jayden stopped breathing. They rushed him to Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth where he later died.

Arlington Police and Child Protective Services were already investigating a case from March 26, 2009 where Jayden was treated for multiple skull fractures and a fractured rib.

CPS spokesperson Marissa Gonzales says Jayden’s mother, Pavielle Monique Simpson, was cleared of any wrongdoing. Since Simpson had no prior record, she was allowed to retain custody of her baby as long as she agreed to certain conditions.

Simpson had to move out of the apartment she shared with Jayden’s father. She had to agree not to let Jason Farrington have any contact with her or their son. She also had to continue to take Jayden to his follow-up medical appointments.

Gonzales says case workers went to Simpson’s new apartment at least once to check on her. They say she appeared to be following the rules, but this is the same apartment where Jayden was fatally injured on Wednesday.

“The child had new injuries yesterday, including abdominal injuries and new skull fractures,” says Arlington Police spokesperson, Tiara Ellis Richard.

“We’re investigating the father as a perpetrator, but also the mother as a perpetrator of possible neglectful supervision and even physical abuse if she allowed the child to have contact with someone she knew was violent,” adds Gonzales.

Farrington, who is a Barbados native, is being held without bail on an immigration hold.