Blame Dad

November 7, 2007 permalink

Kevin Fox was not involved with child protective services, but was still one of its victims. Child protectors have fostered a culture targeting parents, especially fathers, as the worst danger to their children. Mr Fox's three-year-old daughter Riley was raped and murdered, but police, following the anti-parent culture, blamed dad, and even forced him to confess to the crime. In the news article, the exculpatory evidence is postponed until the end.

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Riley Fox's dad set to get his day in federal court

RIGHTS VIOLATED FOR 'CONFESSION'?

November 6, 2007, By KIM SMITH STAFF WRITER

CHICAGO -- Kevin Fox's civil rights lawsuit is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. today in U.S. District Court.

The lawsuit was initially filed in November of 2004 and lists former Will County State's Attorney Jeff Tomczak; a jailer; a county social worker; six detectives; and a polygraph examiner with conspiring to coerce Kevin Fox into adopting a fabricated tale of how he killed his daughter, Riley.

Kevin Fox

U.S. District Judge John W. Darrah has denied all motions to dismiss the civil suit, including the latest one this past September. A trial date of Nov. 5 was set and recently changed to Nov. 6.

"It could take as long as Wednesday before a jury gets selected," said Will County Sheriff's spokesman Pat Barry. "Personally, I think it may not go. There have been talks of settlements."

Around 8 a.m. on June 6, 2004, Kevin Fox reported his daughter missing from their Wilmington home. He told police he had picked up Riley, 3, and her brother Tyler, 7, from their grandparents' home late the night before after attending a concert. His wife, Melissa Fox, was spending the night with friends planning to participate in the Avon Breast Cancer Walk.

The news spread and in hours hundreds of volunteers scoured the area in an attempt to find the missing child. Her body was found that afternoon in Forked Creek nearly four miles from her home.

Kevin Fox was arrested and charged with her murder following a 14-hour police interrogation in October 2004.

Reportedly, he broke down and told authorities he accidently killed Riley when he struck her head with the bathroom door. In his panic, he tried to make her death look like an abduction and sexual assault before dumping her body into the creek.

Later, Kevin Fox said he gave the statement after being misled into thinking he would be charged with involuntary manslaughter instead of first-degree murder. He also said he was threatened and denied access to a lawyer as investigators screamed at him and vowed to see that he was sexually assaulted in prison if he did not give a statement saying he was involved in his daughter's death.

Kevin Fox spent eight months in jail until DNA evidence showed samples recovered from Riley's body were not his.

Kevin Fox is represented by attorney Kathleen Zellner of Naperville. Scott Panek, Zellner's office manager, said it is possible that the jury could get picked today with opening statements to follow either in the afternoon or on Wednesday.

"I am almost sure," Panek said.

Reporter Kim Smith can be reached at (815) 729-6067 or at ksmith@scn1.com

Source: (Chicago) Herald-News