MAN KICKED 2-YEAR-OLD IN HEAD, FOSTER MOM TESTIFIES

 

By Ben Aguirre Jr.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/dailyreview/localnews/ci_13218350

Oakland Tribune

HAYWARD — Sherrie Corder, the wife of a man charged with killing a 2-year-old foster child in their Fremont home in 2004, testified Thursday that her husband hit and kicked the boy, and then suggested that the couple hide his body the next morning when it was discovered that the toddler was not breathing.

“He said, ‘It’s too bad we can’t hide the body,’”‰” Sherrie Corder said as she tearfully offered her account of events that preceded the boy’s death.

Terry Corder, who has been married to Sherrie Corder for 16 years, is charged with murder and assault on a child, causing death.

The boy, named Dylan, was beaten Oct. 2, 2004, inside the Corders’ Lahana Way home in Fremont, but died two days later in a hospital, officials have said.

During the autopsy, it was determined that the boy died from blunt trauma to the head, and that he had more than 20 bruises under his scalp.

Both Sherrie and Terry Corder, each 45, were charged with the boy’s death, but Sherrie accepted a plea agreement in 2006 in exchange for her testimony. She has pleaded guilty to child endangerment and will be sentenced at the end of her husband’s trial to either four or six years in prison.

Because of the time she already has served in jail, Sherrie Corder — who is out of custody on bail — may not spend any time in prison.

She began her testimony Wednesday afternoon and returned to the stand Thursday, and will testify again Monday when the case resumes.

She told jurors that she checked on the boy throughout the night and feared he might be badly hurt, but didn’t call police “because I was scared for my girls.” Her daughters were ages 2, 5 and 7 at the time.

“I thought they’d be hurt and taken away because Terry hurt Dylan.”

All three girls — two of whom have testified during the trial — are now in foster care.

Sherrie Corder also gave details about the beating that ensued when Dylan refused to eat his food.

She said her husband, who had been drinking that day, forced Dylan to walk in circles, and hit him on the head with his knuckles several times. At one point, Terry Corder knocked the boy to the floor with a kick to his buttocks, and then delivered a kick to the toddler’s head as he was on the ground.

“It was hard enough that it moved Dylan “… a couple of inches,” his wife said when describing the force of the kick.

After the assault, she said she gave the boy a bath and then held him for a while before he fell asleep. That evening, her husband concocted an alibi for the bruises and blood on the boy’s face. He urged her to lie and say that the boy fell in the bathtub, Sherrie Corder testified.

At times during her testimony, Sherrie Corder cried, particularly when prosecutor Elgin Lowe replayed the 911 tape for the jury.

On the tape, Sherrie Corder told emergency dispatchers that the boy was not breathing, likely because he fell in the bathtub the night before.

Defense attorney Barbara Thomas started her cross-examination by focusing largely on the credibility of Sherrie Corder.

Under questioning from Thomas, Sherrie Corder said she didn’t pay taxes when she was working as a baby sitter in San Mateo County in the 1990s, and that at one time she and her husband were addicted to cocaine.

Thomas also played a videotape of the first interview Sherrie Corder had with Fremont detectives.

While the video was playing, Sherrie Corder remained on the witness stand sometimes dabbing tears from her eyes. At times, Thomas stopped the video to ask her to elaborate on certain aspects of what she was being asked on the video, also to help discern what parts of it were true or false.

AUDIT SHOWS OVER 50% OF WICHITA SOCIAL WORKERS SAY THEY’VE BEEN PRESSURED BY DA’S OFFICE

 

http://www.ksn.com/news/local/story/Audit-shows-over-50-of-Wichita-Social-workers-say/NY2JzuqRaUaL2CPSR87quQ.cspx

WICHITA, Kansas – Adding fuel to the fire, a legislative audit is taking aim at whether state social workers were bullied on the job. Now the Sedgwick County DA’s Office is on the defensive.

The long-awaited audit was released Friday. State lawmakers asked for it after KSN aired comments made by SRS Secretary Don Jordan. Those comments said attorneys with the Sedgwick County DA’s Office were bullying social workers.

“In Sedgwick County often times we end up writing things because it’s what our social workers get bullied by the district attorney’s office into writing,” Jordan had said. “They really have no belief in what it says.”

Those were the comments made by Jordan, which were taped by critics and later obtained by KSN. Those comments led to the audit.

Jordan quickly retracted his statement, but an audit released Friday shows at least some truth to his comments.

The audit found in Wichita 50 percent of social workers surveyed said they felt pressured at least once by an attorney to exclude information that they thought would distort the facts of a case. Additionally, 58 percent said they were pressured to include facts.

“I’m really rather shocked about this, very shocked,” said Senator Jean Schodorf. “I was hoping there wouldn’t be a result like this.”

Senator Schodorf was one of those who requested the audit.

“I’m asking Nola to take this seriously,” she said. “She loves children, she’s concerned about children and I’m asking her to review all her policies in the district attorney’s office about child in need of care cases,” she said.

The DA’s office, however, points out the audit never found any evidence that social workers were asked to put false information in a petition. And reports of pressure were more likely a case of professional differences.

“It’s unfortunate that anyone would feel some type of undo pressure,” said Deputy District Attorney Kim Parker. “However, there are sometimes there are situations where it’s just important from a lawyers point of view to have certain information in a legal pleading.”

The DA’s Office also points out that there was no time period given in the survey and judges told auditors that there was a bigger problem five to 10 years ago and it’s getting much better.

TEAM 4 INVESTIGATES CHILDREN’S AGENCIES’ RESPONSE TO HITCHHIKING KIDS

 

Paul Van Osdol Talks With Allegheny County CYF

 

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/20605669/detail.html

JEANNETTE, Pa. — After four young children were found trying to hitch a ride on Route 130 in Jeannette, the local police station became their home for six hours and they told police that they were trying to get away from an allegedly abusive home.

Their foster parents — sisters Sharon and Shirley Baker — have been charged with endangering the welfare of children, but investigators also want to know why it took so long for child welfare agencies in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties to respond.

Team 4 investigator Paul Van Osdol learned that it’s the second time in recent weeks where caseworkers have been slow to respond to a child in desperate need of help.

When police found the four children on the side of the road Thursday — hungry, dehydrated and showing signs of abuse — they contacted the Westmoreland County Children’s Bureau first.

They said Westmoreland County told them that the kids were supervised by Allegheny County, which contracted their care to the Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center.

Yet, police could not get anyone to come to Jeannette and care for the boys.

“The bottom line is we needed somebody up here immediately to help us,” Jeannette police Officer Justin Scalzo said. “We’re not equipped to care for kids of that age.”

Scalzo’s wife went to the station to change diapers and help feed the children.

“They were hungry. We needed diapers because one kid went to bathroom in his pants,” Scalzo said.

Six hours later, the children were picked up.

“We expect an immediate response to assure safety for our children,” said Becky Wong, of the Allegheny County Office of Children, Youth and Families.

“So, children should not be sitting in a police station for six hours?” Van Osdol asked Wong.

“Correct,” Wong said, adding that the situation is “totally unacceptable” to CYF.

Wong said her office is investigating and has blocked Three Rivers from placing foster children while the investigation continues.

Jeannette police said they had a similar problem with Allegheny County CYF two weeks ago, stemming from the case of a young woman allegedly held as a slave at a local home. Again, it took more than six hours for the girl to be placed in a new foster home.

“If you have two cases like this in a matter of weeks, doesn’t that indicate there might be some kind of problem here?” Van Osdol asked.

“It could be there’s a communications breakdown. I don’t think that happens that often, but it’s a possibility,” Wong said.

Wong said there have been problems with Three Rivers failing to turn in written reports of their visits to foster homes.

“Can you say whether they were making appropriate visits to this particular home (in Jeannette)?” Van Osdol asked.

“I can’t say for sure, because we don’t have written reports. But verbally, I think they were making the visits,” Wong said.

The Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center did not return calls for comment from WTAE Channel 4 Action News on Friday.

The Westmoreland County Children’s Bureau declined to say whether it’s doing its own investigation.

“It seemed like nobody wanted to send anybody out immediately to help us. They kept putting the burden on each other’s agency,” Scalzo said.

The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare is also investigating Thursday’s incident in Jeannette.

17 NEWS INVESTIGATION: DOCUMENTS SHOW PRIOR NEGLECT

 

http://www.kget.com/news/local/story/17-News-Investigation-Documents-show-prior-neglect/OlfJBGP6z0-RM-aw8d6nlQ.cspx

A 17 News investigation has obtained disturbing documents from the Kern County Department of Human Services. The documents show that a 2-year-old boy, who was murdered in June, was likely in danger as far back as 2007.

Guillermo Alvarez died June 22nd from blunt force trauma, but the records showing neglect go back to 2007. “In 2007 the case came to our attention because there were some allegations against the mom in terms of her ability to care for the child. And those allegations involved drug use and prostitution.” said Pat Cheadle, the Kern County Department of Human Services Director. CPS investigated and found not only was Gina Serna using meth, she wasn’t sufficiently protecting her kids.

Authorities say because of that, the kids were taken away and given to their maternal grandmother. “When that happens, under regulations, our department steps out of the lives of that family,” said Cheadle. “If there are no more referrals, CPS officials don’t monitor the family. And in this case that meant, sooner or later the children, including Guillermo Alvarez, were back in the care of their mother. Grandmother at some point made a decision that mom was okay.”

More than a year later, CPS received another report that the kids were in danger. CPS workers discovered the home where the kids were living had no power. That’s when a “risk assessment” form was completed, showing the risk for the children as high and recommending a new case be launched. But the family couldn’t be found right away.

The social worker did eventually locate Serna and her children. They came in for an interview and CPS determined the kids weren’t in danger. However officials say the case shouldn’t have stopped there. The family’s current home should have been inspected, but because of error on the part of the social worker, it wasn’t. The referral was also mistakenly logged as unsubstantiated.

“We have many referrals with many families that we substantiate, but the children don’t leave the home,” said Department of Human Services Assistant Director Bethany Christman. If the referral had been marked as substantiated or the social worker had checked the home, CPS officials say the kids wouldn’t have necessarily been taken away, but they would have been monitored more closely. “There would have certainly been an offering of some sort of services. Whether that would have been voluntary services or DR services, there certainly would have been an offer,” said Christman. And maybe, just maybe, 2 year-old Guillermo Alvarez would be alive today.

Serna’s live-in boyfriend at the time of the murder, Joshuae Preston, was arrested for Guillermo’s murder, but was recently released and charges dropped.

KILLER PYTHON CASE: DCF DETAILS DRUG ALLEGATIONS

 

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/orl-bk-python-dcf-report-girl-killed-082709,0,3544568.story

Anthony Colarossi

Sentinel Staff Writer

Weeks before 2-year-old Shaiunna Hare was asphyxiated July 1 by a pet Burmese python in her Sumter County home, the Department of Children and Families said she was at “moderate risk” because of drug use by her mother and her boyfriend and their refusal to follow through on DCF services.

However, DCF officials say they did not find enough evidence of abuse or neglect to remove the child from the home before the tragic snake attack.

“To remove a child you have to be able to demonstrate that the actions of the parent are linked to abuse or the potential for abuse,” DCF spokeswoman Carrie Hoeppner said. “You have to directly link the substance abuse, including the use of marijuana, to child abuse. It’s very, very difficult at times.”

DCF released its findings Thursday in a 151-page report detailing the state agency’s investigation of Charles Jason Darnell, 32, and the young girl’s mother Jaren Ashley Hare, 19. Both were charged this week with third-degree murder, manslaughter and child abuse in connection with the snake attack.

The investigation was not related to the snake and stemmed from allegations that the couple used methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana and other narcotics. The initial suspicion was that the drug use occurred in front of children.

The probe was conducted May 1 to June 12 and documents a review of the couple’s drug use and Darnell’s arrest history during the period just before the child’s death.

Many of the allegations were unsubstantiated. DCF did show that older children sometimes in the home were aware of Darnell’s marijuana use. And it showed Hare used marijuana despite being pregnant.

According to the report, a caseworker told Hare “that if she tests positive for marijuana when her unborn child is born, the department would investigate whether continued placement of [Shaiunna] and her new child would be in the children’s best interests.”

Hare gave birth to a baby girl earlier this month. The child did not test positive for any substance, Hoeppner said. The baby is now in foster care and Hare, who was arrested Monday and then released on bond, may have supervised visits.

The reports also note Darnell’s arrests during the DCF investigation. One case involved marijuana possession and related charges. Another involved an argument he had with his ex-wife in which police said he ripped the mirror off the side of her car in front of children.

Since the child’s death, Darnell was arrested on two counts of sale of cocaine; two counts of possession of cocaine with intent to sell; and several related charges. Undercover agents bought powdered cocaine from Darnell at his home in Oxford.

Despite the signs of instability in the home and Darnell’s refusal to get a “mental health evaluation,” DCF was unable to build a case for the 2-year-old’s removal.

“There’s been discussion as to whether or not we had enough to judicially engage the family, which would have meant the parents would have had to comply with our services,” Hoeppner said. “But in reality this [the snake attack] probably would have still happened because we did not have enough to remove her.”

The DCF file makes one reference to the python directly responsible for the child’s death. The caseworker simply noted “a large yellow snake in an aquarium and a pitbull in the home which was friendly.”

Nothing about the snake’s behavior or appearance suggested it was a threat to the girl, Hoeppner said.

One thing Darnell and Hare did do to comply with DCF requests was clean up their home, according to the file.

A separate DCF investigation stemming from the child’s death is ongoing. That investigation will end with a finding of neglect at the very least, Hoeppner said.

She could not say at this point whether Darnell’s and Hare’s drug use was in any way linked to the child’s death.

“The reality is the snake escaped and the snake killed this child,” Hoeppner said. “What lies beneath that obviously is what law enforcement is investigating . . . This was just the most unusual and tragic death”

Anthony Colarossi can be reached at acolarossi@orlandosentinel.com or 352-742-5934.

VEGA SENTENCED IN 2006 SAUNSOCI DEATH

 

http://www.kpth.com/Global/story.asp?S=10988880&nav=menu622_2_2

(DAKOTA CITY, NE) Tisha Vega will spend two years behind bars in connection with the 2006 death of Nathanial Saunsoci. Last month Vega accepted a deal, pleading guilty to two counts of child abuse. Tuesday she received two consecutive one-year terms for the charges. Despite the ruling, Nathanial’s family still want answers and closure.

“Justice in this case is still a long way off.”

It’s been almost three years since 20-month-old Nathanial Saunsoci died in September 2006.

“There’s not a day that doesn’t go by that we remember Nathanial with tears in our eyes,” says Eleanor Saunsoci-Baxter, Nathanial’s great grandmother.

“His little spirit is still here,” says Mary Saunsoci, Nathanial’s great aunt.

Tisha Vega will now spend two years behind bars after pleading guilty to lesser charges in the case.

“It was a slap on the hand,” says Saunsoci-Baxter. “When they say children are sacred, I believe that. And today it was not so.”

Since Vega did not plead to charges involving Nathanial’s death, the case is still open.

“We are still seeking information regarding Nathanial’s death. Someone knows what happened to this child. We need that person to come forward,” says Kim Watson, Dakota County Attorney.

Nathanial’s family believes Vega did not get what she deserves.

“Her sentence is going to come when she does meet her Creator and it won’t be til that day,” says Saunsoci.

Native American child advocate Frank Lamere says the community must learn from this loss.

“We must take away from this tragedy a knowledge that we must see the red flags that are evident in foster care and adoptive when our children show up beaten and broken like Nathanial,” says Frank Lamere, Native American child advocate.

Nathanial’s family wants closure and they will keep fighting until they get it.

“It’s not over. There has to be more to this. We want justice to be served,” says Saunsoci-Baxter.

Vega will serve her time at the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women in York.

But this isn’t the end of her legal troubles in the state. Vega appeared in Colfax County Tuesday for a plea hearing in connection with DUI, 3rd-degree assault, and willful reckless driving charges from June. That hearing was continued until September 15th.

On that same day, Vega and her husband Carlos will also be in court for attempted murder charges from a July incident in Schuyler, Nebraska.

Reported by Erika Thomas. You can contact her at ethomas@kmeg.com.

WIFE SAYS HUSBAND HIT, KICKED CHILD IN 2004 FREMONET MURDER CASE

Wife says husband hit, kicked child in 2004 Fremont murder case

 

http://www.insidebayarea.com/localnews/ci_13217147

By Ben Aguirre Jr.

Oakland Tribune

HAYWARD — Sherrie Corder, the wife of a man charged with killing a 2-year-old foster child in their Fremont home in 2004, testified this morning that her husband hit and kicked the boy, and then suggested that the couple hide his body the next morning when it was discovered that the toddler was not breathing.

“He said, `It’s too bad we can’t hide the body,’” Sherrie Corder said as she tearfully recounted the events that have been attributed to the boy’s death.

Terry Corder, who has been married to Sherrie Corder for 16 years, is charged with murder and assault on a child, causing death, in connection with Dylan’s death.

Dylan reportedly was beaten on Oct. 2, 2004, inside the Corders’ Lahana Way home in Fremont, but died two days later at the hospital.

During the autopsy, it was determined that the boy died from blunt trauma to the head, and that he had more than 20 bruises under his scalp.

Both Sherrie and Terry Corder, who are both 45, were charged with the boy’s death, but Sherrie has accepted a plea agreement in exchange for her testimony. She has pleaded guilty to child endangerment and will be sentenced at the end of her husband’s trial to either four or six years in prison.

Because of the time she already has served in jail, Sherrie Corder — who is out of custody on bail — may not spend any time in prison.

She began her testimony Wednesday afternoon and returned to the stand today. This morning she told jurors that she checked on the boy throughout the night and feared he might be badly hurt, but didn’t call police “because I was scared for my girls,” she said of her daughters, who were ages 7, 5 and 2 at the time. “I thought they’d be hurt and taken away because Terry hurt Dylan.”

All three girls — two of whom have testified during the trial — are now in foster care.

Sherrie Corder also gave details about the beating that ensued when Dylan refused to eat his food.

She said her husband, who had been drinking that day, forced Dylan to walk in circles, and hit him on the head with his knuckles several times. At one point, Terry Corder knocked the boy to the floor with a kick to his buttocks, and then delivered a kick to the toddler’s head as he was on the ground.

“It was hard enough that it moved Dylan … a couple of inches,” his wife said when describing the force of the kick.

After the assault, she said she gave the boy a bath and then held him for a while before he fell asleep. That evening, her husband concocted an alibi for the bruises and blood on the boy’s face. He urged her to lie and say that the boy fell in the bathtub, Sherrie Corder testified.

At times during her testimony, Sherrie Corder cried, particularly when prosecutor Elgin Lowe replayed the 9-1-1 tape for the jury.

On the tape, Sherrie Corder told emergency dispatchers that the boy was not breathing, likely because he fell in the bathtub the night before.

Defense attorney Barbara Thomas has begun her cross examination and focused largely on the credibility of Sherrie Corder.

Under questioning from Thomas, Sherrie Corder said she didn’t pay taxes when she was working as a baby sitter in San Mateo County in the 1990s, and that at one time she and her husband were addicted to cocaine.

NOBLELY LAWSON: PARENTS UPSET AFTER DSS WON’T LET HEALED BABY GO HOME WITH THEM

more about “Parents upset after DSS won’t let hea…“, posted with vodpod

 

 

Mecklenburg DSS has Prevented Noblely Lawson, who is finally well enough after almost being killed, from going home with her parents.

Noblely’s parents have done everything in their power to make sure that they had a suitable place to live for when Noblely was released from the hospital, but apparently, Mecklenburg DSS wants this baby no matter what. You can see the full story here.

Picture From http://angiemedia.com/?p=4130

These parents almost lost their daughter through the carelessness of someone else.  For the last month and a half, they have had to watch Noblely suffer in agony on a daily basis.  They have had to endure what no parent should ever have to, their child in pain, while they stand hopelessly by and watch. 

Any parent who has ever had an injured child knows this agony, the overwhelming fear, the sense of helplessness that occurs in this situation.  You long to be able to trade places with your child, if you could, you would gladly suffer the pain for them.  You live each and everyday wishing you really could kiss away the boo boos and make it all better, you live each and everyday wondering if your child will ever be the same again and the quality of life they will  have now.

…and now after these parents, Shane Lawson and Summer Brown, who were also struck by this car, have lived through the fear of loosing their child, the unknown results of this horrible accident, spent countless nights and days by their daughter side watching helplessly her struggle to survive…DSS has taken custody of this child and refuses to let her go home with her obviously loving parents.  

WHY?

Why would they do this?  Is this some kind of sick sadistic game that Mecklenburg DSS is playing?  What does Mecklenburg DSS do, sit in their director’s $20, 000 office and decided how to make a families life’s more hell then it all ready is?  These parents and this child have been through enough!  Noblely almost died and instead of reaching out a helping hand to these parents, Mecklenburg DSS decides to kick them while they are down.  There was no reason to take this child…no evidence of abuse or neglect, if anything, these parents have went above and beyond DSS’s minimal requirements of care.   Mecklenburg DSS is way out of line with the removal or Nobely Lawson from her parents!

Everyone who reads this story needs to contact the media in Charlotte, as well as Lanier Cansler the Secretary of North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, the Governor Bev Perdue, complain about  the treatment this family has received, complain about the corrupt actions of the Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services.  I have listed the contact information at the end of this story.

Let me just say that DSS that work in glass offices should not throw stones…

DSS Director Mary E. Wilson glass filled $20,000 office

Earlier this month I published on this blog a story about Mecklenburg DSS , in that story it was stated that Mecklenburg DSS Director Mary E. Wilson had spent $20,000 redoing her office, money that I felt could have been better spent on the Lawson family or some other families in this community.  I stated then and I still stand by what I said, “Look at this office…my living room doesn’t even look like this…do you know how many people she could have helped with all of the money she spent redoing her office…This is a prime example of why they have no money and are always requesting more funds…this just proves…they have the money, but they don’t use it to help children or the community!”

VIDEO: DSS director spends $20,000 renovating office

http://www.wcnc.com/video/?nvid=305319&shu=1

Not only did Mecklenburg County DSS spend $20,000 dollars on the Directors elaborate office with plasma screen T.V., they also spent $20,000 dollars on their annual holiday party, below is the video for this story.

While most workplaces are scaling back their holiday parties, one local government agency doubled their budget

http://www.wcnc.com/video/?nvid=314488&shu=1

That is a grand total of $40,000 dollars that they spent on themselves.  Less then most of their “clients” make in a year!!!  And they spent this amount of money on two things…the directors comfort and a party that they refused to allow the media to attend.  On my earlier blog I stated, “DSS could have used the $40,000 dollars that they spent on themselves on this family so Nobely and her family could have a place to live that would accommodate the equipment she now needs to survive.  Instead of using funds to help families like the Lawson’s, Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services blows thousands of dollars on themselves and then uses lack of funds to tear families apart or as an excuse not to help because of “lack of funds”.

They also use the excuse of lack of funds when they fail to protect a child from child abuse, “we are short staffed, we don’t have enough funds”…how many times have we heard this excuse as to why children died, why the child was not monitored closely enough…I, for one, am tired of their shitty excuses.  They are spending money left and right, misappropriating funds, stealing from the very people who need it the most…and where do you think this money comes from in the first place???  The taxpayer wallet…this is our money that they are blowing!  These are our children, neighbors, friends, and follow Americans that they are failing…if you step back and look…you will find one person, one child, one family member, or one friend that DSS has failed that you personally know….enough is enough…the time has come to speak out against this corruption.”

I stand by my earlier statement and add that the time to speak out is now, we cannot continue to allow these corrupt Department’s of Social Services to get away with their illegal, unethical, and corrupt behavior. 

There is currently a huge audit occurring at the Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services,

 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. (This to me is a nice way of saying falsified, forged receipts were found.)
•  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. (would that include, plasma T.V.’s, Queen Anne Desk and matching table, window treatments)

You can read the full story at: Spending probe spreads at DSS

And did you know that Mecklenburg County has been under a firing freeze, but apparently that can be lifted so long as the new employee has political connections.

Who did they hire??

• The I-Team found that even though the county Department of Human Services was under a hiring freeze, Director Mary E. Wilson hired a friend and former co-worker who is the wife of an at-large city councilman.
• Wilson hired Samara Foxx, wife of councilman and mayoral candidate Anthony Foxx, last July after posting the position for only one day, according to a DSS spokeswoman. (To read Mrs. Foxx’s statement to the I team, clickSamaraFoxxResponse.)
• DSS hired the daughter of CMPD Chief Rodney Monroe in January
• and the daughter of Superior Court Judge Yvonne Mims-Evans in February.

To see the full story, visit the following link:

‘Cronyism’ investigated in DSS hiring

 

My earlier blog post about Noblely Lawson and the Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services can be found at the following links:

MECKLENBURG DSS AUDIT/SPENDING HABITS/MISAPPROPRIATION OF FUNDS

DSS THREATENS TO DESTROY FAMILY INJURED BY CAR CRASH

MORE ON NOBLELY LAWSON’S STORY:

Father Describes Moment Car Hit Baby’s Stroller

Parents may lose custody of child who survived crash

As young girl recovers, family’s future is in question

Parents may lose custody of injured baby

What Can You Do To Help The Lawson Family?  (From http://angiemedia.com/?p=4130)

What Can You Do To Help The Lawson Family?

The Lawsons don’t have the money or political connections to fight DSS. They need the help of people around the world who are willing to fight abusive government.

Here’s what you can do to help them:

1. Pass around this story and others linked below about DSS harming this family. Help put pressure on DSS to leave this family alone.

 

2. If you’re in the Charlotte, North Carolina area and have room to spare in your home and room in your heart to help out an abused family, consider offering space for the Lawson family to live while they recover from the car accident and the DSS threats.

 

3. If you have some spare money for a good cause, consider donating to help the Lawson family protect their child from DSS and pay for her medical care:Donations may be made to the “Noblely Yvonne Lawson Assistance Fund” at any branch of Wachovia bank or they can be mailed to:Wachovia Bank, NA
   Attn: Noblely Yvonne Lawson Assistance Fund
   PO Box 26090
   Richmond, VA 23260-6090Please make checks payable to the Noblely Yvonne Lawson Assistance Fund c/o the fund’s administrator, David B. Pevney, Attorney at Law, PLLC.

 

4. If you know the Charlotte, North Carolina, DSS personnel involved in the abuses against the Lawson family, spread their names and contact information around to as many people as you can. Encourage people to contact these DSS staff to make them personally accountable for their abusive conduct. Telephone them, email them, and fax them to let them know that you do not appreciate their abusive and corrupt behaviors.Director Mary E. Wilson
   email: Mary.Wilson@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov
   704-336-2472 (main)
   704-336-6279 (direct)
   704-336-5887 (fax)

 

5. Tell everyone you know about DSS being a corrupt and abusive organization that wastes taxpayer dollars and trains its employees to abuse children and families for the financial benefit of DSS.

 

6. If you live in Mecklenburg County, vote out the current county supervisors. Talk with your neighbors about the rampant corruption, illicit hiring practices that smack of nepotism and benefit those in power, irresponsible spending, financial “controls” that can’t account for hundreds of thousands of dollars in missing money, and targeting of families like the Lawsons for abuse to obtain financial gain for DSS.

CONTACTS:

 

Charlotte Media:

*NewsChannel 36
1001 Wood Ridge Center Drive
Charlotte, North Carolina 28217-1901
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TV JUDGE OT HEAR LOCAL LAWSUIT

This story shows Onslow County Department of Social Services in North Carolina at its finest.  This woman was found guilty last week in Onslow County District Court of 14 counts of child abuse, seven counts of animal abuse and five counts of non-vaccination of animals, she was ordered, among other things, “not to own or care for any animals including dogs, cats and reptiles”, but she can have custody of her children!!!!

Yes, you read that right, Rachel Ceaser was found so abusive that she cannot own or care for an animal, but it is perfectly fine for her to have custody of her children. 

Way to go Onslow County….your failures are legendary in the case of Kayla Allen…lets see if you can repeat those failures in this case.

 

TV judge to hear local lawsuit

 

http://www.jdnews.com/news/span-66934-text-lawsuit.html

August 25, 2009 8:02 AM

LINDELL KAY

An Onslow County lawsuit filed in July by an animal rescue worker against a woman convicted last week of child abuse for allowing her two children to live in the same area as seven dogs will be decided on national television.

“Judge Joe Brown,” a syndicated daily reality courtroom show, will hear the case of Courtney Kendzierski who sued Rachel Ceaser for $1,591 in July, claiming Ceaser breached a contract for the temporary foster care of three Springer-Spaniel puppies by not following care instructions resulting in the animals’ deaths.

The contract Ceaser signed stated the puppies’ body temperature would remain lower than 98 degrees. The three small dogs died of heat exhaustion after electricity was shut off at Ceaser’s Deerfield home.

Ceaser, 20, was found guilty last week in Onslow County District Court of 14 counts of child abuse, seven counts of animal abuse and five counts of non-vaccination of animals. She was sentenced to two years supervised probation; given a 45-day suspended sentence; ordered to pay several fines; ordered not to own or care for any animals including dogs, cats and reptiles; ordered to comply with Child Protective Services; be subjected to regular home visits; and be given random drug tests.

Onslow County Sheriff’s deputies and animal control workers said they found her two toddlers naked and playing in dog feces, and that her home on Hunting Green Drive was covered in garbage.

The Onslow County Health Department also found high levels of ammonia from animal urine inside the residence, according to court records.

Kendzierski’s lawsuit has been postponed because of their appearance on the show.

Ceaser would not comment to The Daily News, but producers of the show said they had consent to appear from both parties. A taping of the show that will include Kendzierski and Ceaser is scheduled for mid-September in Los Angeles.

“I can’t believe she agreed to not only embarrass herself locally, but now nationally,” Kendzierski said of Ceaser, adding she agreed to be on the show because if she wins the case she is guaranteed a monetary award.

Participants on the show agree to allow Brown to arbitrate their cases in return for the show paying the amount sued for to the winning party. Travel expenses are paid for both parties, according to producers of the show.

“I only agreed because the show will pay me if my case is won, and I don’t believe I would get the money otherwise,” she said.

Ceaser told the court that her husband — a Camp Lejeune Marine — was training in California and had only just returned a short time before authorities arrested her. She said he is now in Iraq. Base officials could not verify her husband’s current duty assignment by press time.

Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown said he believed the Marine was not present in the home at the time the house deteriorated into the condition investigators found it.

He has not been charged.

Ceaser’s two children were given by the Department of Social Services to a non-family member friend to watch. They have since been returned to Ceaser by the court with strict guidelines for Ceaser to follow. DSS Director Roger Penrod said state and federal laws prevent him from discussing the specifics of the case.

Kendzierski’s Noahs Ark K9 Rescue takes in animals, placing them in temporary foster care while looking for a permanent home. She alerted authorities to the situation at Ceaser’s house once she learned the three puppies had died.

Contact Lindell Kay at 910-219-8456. Read his blog at http://onslowcrime.encblogs. com.

WOMAN CHARGED FOR “TOSSING” SON

 

http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/kitsap/nkh/news/54806157.html

Aug 25 2009, 12:40 PM · UPDATED

POULSBO — A Poulsbo woman suspected of breaking her 4-year-old son’s leg by “tossing” him was charged Monday with second-degree assault of a child.

Esther Marie Mullen, 32, is accused of injuring the boy Aug. 21. His father took him to the hospital the next day, where the doctor grew suspicious and the Poulsbo police were called. The boy had told employees at the urgent care clinic at Harrison Medical Center in Silverdale that “he had been pushed too hard by his mother,” court documents said.

The boy’s father told investigators that Mullen has a history of using “lots of physical force” with the boy, but that he was not present when the assault occurred, court documents said.

Mullen “is a good mother but she has an anger problem,” the father told investigators, court documents said.

He told the officer the boy was not obeying his mother when she told him to come inside. When the father returned Mullen allegedly told him she had “tossed” the boy into the house and now he was in pain. The father placed ice on the boy’s leg and took him to the hospital the next day.

Court documents said Mullen has a history of child abuse and involvement with Child Protective Services. She has another child, a 1-year-old.

The charge of assault of a child requires an adult assault and inflict “substantial bodily harm” against a child younger than 13 years old.

Mullen is being held in the Kitsp County jail on $250,000 bail.