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More recent news
Hastings Rally
August 30, 2007
In two messages posted to Canada Court Watch, Stunned has announced a Rally for
Hastings County on October 1, 2007.
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Rally in Hastings County
Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 9:03 pm
Howdy all,
We are organizing a rally in the Hastings County area, this is Trenton,
Belleville and Bancroft, Ontario. About 1 1/2 hours east of Toronto and
1/2 hour west of Kingston. We are shooting for end of September, early
October and have been working with a few people in the area to get this
going.
We plan on protesting for about 2 hours at a few different locations.
All locations are walking distance from one another. We will meet at a
pre-determined spot and walk holding signs from location to location,
staying about 1/2 hour at each spot. Our primary goal here is to get some
exposure in the area and draw attention to C.A.S and Family Court
corruption and unaccountability.
At the end of the rally, we plan on holding a little BBQ for all those
in attendance, burgers, hot dogs and pop, all free of charge for those who
attend.
Anyone interested in more information can contact us at
fixfamilylaw@hotmail.com
Stunned
Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 4:07 pm
The Hastings rally in now scheduled for Monday, October 1st 2007.
We hope this gives everyone wanting to attend, time to work out their
agenda. Thank you very much to all those who have already replied. We
will be emailing out the details to everyone, including times, maps,
locations, and close parking spots. Everyting, including the BBQ are
within a 5-10 minute walking distance from adecate.
Exposure is the key to public awareness. Whether you are addressing,
Children's Aid Society, Family Court Injustice, or equal rights for
parents, it is all the same system.
If you are interested, send an email to fixfamilylaw@hotmail.com to get
the information package.
Stunned
Shocked
Public Event in Toronto
August 29, 2007
A person with screen name LITIGATOR! has announced another event before
the court of Judge Zuker, this time on Wednesday September 5 from 8:30 am to
11 am at 47 Sheppard Avenue East.
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Public Awareness Event Wed September 05, 2007
Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 12:28 pm
A public awareness event has been scheduled for Wednesday September 05,
2007 from 8:30am - 11:00am at the 47 Sheppard Ave E courthouse of horrors.
All persons wishing to attend please confirm your attendance to
justice11@journalist.com so we can plan our activities accordingly. all
persons will be asked to distribute informational material and collect
signatures on the petition to have Justice Marvin Zuker removed from the
bench.
For those not familiar with the story of Justice Zuker's criminal act,
47 Sheppard ave E is where the Dishonourable Justice Marvin Zucker sits.
Below is some information to refresh memories of those who may have
forgotten.
[Refer to the source for the refresher.]
More on Matthew Reid
August 29, 2007
Continued court hearings have revealed a little more about the death of
Matthew Reid.
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Niagara Falls Review Impact statements read in trial for
three-year-old victim
KARENA WALTER
Saturday, August 25, 2007 - 07:00
Local News - The wailing of a 15-year-old girl pierced the quiet
courtroom as the boy she smothered to death was remembered on the stand by
his devastated grandmother.
"You destroyed my life and my future," Ramona Jakucinskas cried Friday
as the girl in the bubblegum pink shirt bawled in the prisoner's box.
Three-year-old Matthew Reid was living in a Welland foster home when
the girl suffocated him with his own pillow.
He was found dead the morning of Dec. 15, 2005.
The girl, whose identify is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice
Act, pleaded guilty in January to second-degree murder.
Ontario Court of Justice Judge Ann Watson continued to hear submissions
Friday in St. Catharines as she determines whether to sentence the girl
as a youth or adult.
The court has heard from several experts that the girl has the
cognitive age of six and displays signs of fetal alcohol syndrome. She
has had a troubled life and lived in various foster homes.
Jakucinskas, reading her victim impact statement in court, said Matthew
was supposed to come live with her in Tillsonburg, where she would raise
him.
After his death, she couldn't sleep, eat or go to work and would curl
up in a ball, she told the court.
She said cooking reminds her of foods Matthew would like; opening the
pool reminds her of things he'd like to do and work days remind her of how
he should be going to school.
She decorated his bedroom with SpongeBob SquarePants pictures and can't
see the character in stores without crying. It took her nearly two years
to get rid of his bedding.
"I would have watched him grow up to be a fine young man," she said.
The court has heard the girl arrived at the foster home Dec. 14, 2005 and
killed Matthew sometime after 9 p.m. that day. She smeared her own blood
on his face, making a cross on his forehead, and tucked a note under his
head that said, "I know what his last words were before he died.
Momma."
Tania Reid, Matthew's biological mother and Jakucinskas' daughter,
submitted a victim impact statement for the judge, but did not wish to
have it read in court.
Afterwards she said it would have been too hard to hear.
The judge will continue to hear submissions in the case on Oct.
11.
CAS Alters Evidence
August 29, 2007
Canada Court Watch has posted a report of the CAS altering the transcript
of a video tape to delete exculpatory evidence. Following is an abridged
version of the report.
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Toronto Children's Aid Society misleads court
(August 27, 2007) Court Watch has reviewed video tapes and notes from
the Toronto CAS which reveal that a CAS worker omitted significant
portions of evidence from transcripts of a videotape intend[ing] to
mislead the court in a child protection matter. The evidence removed by
the CAS worker help[s] protect the credibility a grandmother who was
making false allegations of sexual abuse. [The] child told police that
the grandmother had lied to police during the police investigation.
Evidence that the grandmother had lied to police was removed by the CAS
worker in the transcripts.
Although CAS workers had a copy of the videotape in their files for
over a year, CAS workers refused to provide a copy of the videotape of the
child's testimony to the father who was the subject of the false
allegations. Thousands of taxpayer's dollars were wasted to keep the
father from having a copy of the videotape. According to the father, both
Justice Zuker and Justice Brownstone obstructed justice by refusing to
allow the father to examine the videotape. Once a copy of the videotape
was obtained however, it was revealed that the child indicated that she
had been forced to attend the interview against her wishes and also that
police lied to the child during the interview in addition to providing
leading questions during the interview itself. Not only was the
videotaped interview flawed but when CAS made a transcript of the tape,
[it] removed the portion where the child said that her grandmother was
lying to police.
Mother Wanted
August 29, 2007
Police in Vancouver are looking for a mother caring for her own baby. If
you see a mother with a three-month-old baby, call the police
immediately.
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Police seek missing mom and baby
The Province, Friday, August 24, 2007
Nicole Morgan and her baby, Ethan, have been missing since Monday.
Police and social-service agencies are desperate to find a Vancouver
mom and her three-month-old baby.
Vancouver police said Nicole Morgan, 32, and her baby Ethan were last
seen in Burnaby on Monday after attending a class sponsored by the
Ministry of Children and Family Services.
Morgan had been staying at a Vancouver transition home but left after
an altercation with staff. Police said social workers are highly
concerned for the welfare of Morgan and her baby.
Police believe Morgan may be staying somewhere in Surrey.
The mother is described as Caucasian, five feet five, with
shoulder-length reddish hair and blue eyes.
If you have seen Morgan and her baby call 911, or if you have
information on where they might be call Vancouver police missing persons
at 604-717-2530.
Judge Protects Family
August 29, 2007
From Florida here is a case in which a judge sided with a family to
protect them from a run-away child protection agency.
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South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
Florida Department of Children & Families negligent
for removing children from family, judge rules
Allegations against parents dropped
By Jon Burstein
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
August 25, 2007
The state Department of Children & Families was negligent in
failing to properly investigate two children's medical histories before
accusing their mother of intentionally making them sick, a Broward County
judge ruled Friday.
Sara Evans and her husband, Donald Evans, spent six months battling
with the state agency after DCF successfully petitioned a judge in
February 2006 to take temporary custody of their two children, then ages 2
and 5. The DCF dropped the case in July 2006, dismissing all abuse
allegations.
DCF officials had argued that the children were victims of Munchausen
syndrome by proxy, a rare condition where a person deliberately makes
another sick.
But before removing the children from the home, the DCF failed to
conduct a full investigation, concluded Circuit Judge Marina Garcia-Wood
in a sharply worded decision.
"This court finds that the failure to consult with the children's prior
medical doctors and caretakers, and a careful review of all medical
records, which were extensive, and the children's medical history was, in
fact, medical neglect," the judge wrote.
The children had detailed medical records from California, where the
family had lived, and the family's doctors gave sworn statements rejecting
the abuse allegations, Garcia-Wood found. Even after the parents supplied
the records and doctors' statements to the DCF, the dependency court
proceedings continued for another three months, the judge ruled.
"What is apparent to this court is that [DCF officials] came up with a
legal theory, i.e. that this was a case of Munchausen by Proxy, a serious
form of child abuse, and attempted to substantiate their theory with
inaccurate and misleading information," Garcia-Wood wrote.
The Evanses' attorney said they were glad the judge held the DCF
accountable for separating the children from their parents.
"[The ruling] sends a strong message to DCF in cases like this to
investigate completely what they are alleging about parents before other
families are torn apart this way or put through this ordeal," said Michael
Hymowitz, an attorney for the Evanses.
DCF spokeswoman Leslie Mann said she couldn't comment on the ruling
because the agency hasn't received the order. The DCF had argued that the
case was "a battle of medical experts," according to Garcia-Wood's
ruling.
In her decision, Garcia-Wood ordered the state agency to pay for the
Evanses' legal fees. Hymowitz said they are more than $300,000.
The Evanses have filed a federal lawsuit against three DCF officials,
alleging they violated the couple's civil rights by taking the children
away. Emily was in shelter care for 144 days and Jacob for 77 days, until
they were able to live with grandparents, according to the lawsuit.
Once the children were with their grandparents, Sara and Donald Evans
were allowed to see them but not touch them, according to the federal
lawsuit. Records indicate Emily has had a series of metabolic and
developmental problems, while Jacob had gastro-esophageal reflux.
The family now lives in a constant state of paranoia, fearing they
could be separated at any time, said Robert Buschel, one of the Evanses'
attorneys.
In the federal case, attorneys for the DCF officials argue that the
state workers acted within the scope of their jobs and did not deprive the
family of their rights.
Jon Burstein can be reached at jburstein@sun-sentinel.com or
954-356-4491.
York Children Safe! (for now)
August 29, 2007
Children in York Region are safe, at least temporarily, owing to a strike
by Children's Aid workers. They are not rewarded enough for putting up with
the emotional trauma of breaking up families.
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Front-line CAS workers walk out
Bill Roberts photo
Striking OPSEU workers picket outside CAS offices in Newmarket Monday.
Regional News, Aug 27, 2007 04:34 PM
By: Joan Ransberry, Staff Writer
Picket lines went up at Children's Aid Society offices
across York Region this morning.
The strike, by 180 members of the Ontario Public
Service Employees Union - Local 304, is a first. While
front-line workers staged a one-day walkout in the early
1990s, today marks the first official strike at for the
agency.
With 450 children under care, 950 families being served
and 300 investigations underway, Children Aid Society
officials insist there's a solid 24-7 backup plan in place
tending to their clients' needs.
However, local union president Lisa Maynard said there
will be some disruption of services now that the union
members rejected the employer's last position on wages,
workload and mileage.
Still, the York CAS executive director Martin McNamara
said he is confident he can look after the needs of the
children and the families. Of the local CAS's 64
non-union workers, 35 are providing direct service to
children and families during the strike.
"The 35 are former front-line workers," Mr. McNamara
said. "They know the work."
The union president defends the right to strike.
"The caseloads (in York Region) are heavier than most,"
Ms Maynard said. "Workers are leaving right, left and
centre. We want to stop this revolving door situation
once and for all."
The most recent contract between OPSU and the
Children's Aid Society expired at the end of March.
Ontario's 62 Children's Aid Societies are non-profit
organizations mandated by the Child and Family Services
Act to investigate allegations or evidence that children
under the 16 may be in need of protection and to protect
children when necessary.
Mother Kept Away From Daughter's Funeral
August 27, 2007
After foster parents killed her eight-year-old daughter Crystal, Teresa
Camarillo was not allowed to attend the family's private funeral. The video
at the source of the article below captures her grief.
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Foster Parents Charged In Girl's Death
POSTED: 10:27 pm CDT August 26, 2007
UPDATED: 11:17 pm CDT August 26, 2007
SAN ANTONIO -- The Gonzales County Sherrif confirmed
Sunday that foster parents of an 8-year-old girl who was
found dead last week were charged with injury to a child.
Betty and Steve Ramirez, the girl's uncle and aunt,
were arrested last week after 8-year-old Crystal was found
dead.
Gonzales County Sheriff Glen Sachtleben said Crystal's
death remains a mystery, but the investigation is ongoing
and is too important to rush.
Crystal's sister and baby brother were also living with
the Ramirez's.
Crystal's mother Teresa Camarillo blames the Ramirez's
for her daughter's death.
"I thought foster parents were supposed to protect
them, not hurt them," Camarillo said. "I want them to pay
for what they've done. They hurt her a baby that can't
defend herself."
Camarillo lost custody of her children five years ago
after she admitted to selling and using drugs. She said
she hasn't seen Crystal since then.
Camarillo said she is not allowed to come to a private
funeral service for her daughter because she lost custody
of her.
Child Protective Services and the Texas Rangers are
assisting with the investigation.
Camarillo said more information about the case will be
released on Monday.
Betty Ramirez is being held on a $100,000 bond and
Steve Ramirez is being held on a $150,000 bond.
Wall Street Journal on Foster Care
August 24, 2007
The topic of foster care rarely reaches the front page of the Wall Street
Journal. In this case where it did, the social worker is presented
positively, doing her best to save a twelve-year-old boy. She
unsuccessfully deals with the effects of nine years of foster care. Once
Humpty-Dumpty falls, he cannot be restored.
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The Wall Street Journal
SEARCH MISSION
Foster Kids' Last Resort:
Finding the Lost Relatives
Ms. Librizzi Hunts
For Tony Ruiz's Family;
Expecting Anger, Pain
By CHRISTINA BINKLEY, August 23, 2007; Page A1
LOS ANGELES -- After nine years in foster care, and
nine different homes, 12-year-old Tony Ruiz was in serious
trouble. He was on multiple psychiatric drugs, had long
been suicidal, was often defiant and disruptive and
displayed hopelessness.
"I just want to have a family," Tony told Judy Smith, a
volunteer court advocate and the only person who had known
him for any length of time. Fearing Tony wouldn't live to
see adulthood, Ms. Smith turned to Linda Librizzi, a
sleuth of sorts who locates the lost relatives of foster
children.
A longtime licensed clinical social worker, 53-year-old
Ms. Librizzi is on the vanguard of a growing revolution
in child welfare: She is a "family finder." Thanks to
computer search technology, social workers have for the
first time a powerful tool to locate the family members of
"cold cases," children who spend years moving from foster
home to foster home until their biological families'
whereabouts are unknown.
There are roughly 525,000 children in foster care at
any given moment in the U.S., many of them moving to a new
foster home every few months. Roughly 25,000 foster
children each year reach adulthood without ever having
found a permanent home. They are discharged to the
streets at 18 years of age, often ending up homeless,
incarcerated, or otherwise overseen by the judicial or
social welfare systems.
In the 40 or so communities around the U.S. that are
using the new data-plumbing techniques, government social
workers are placing about 25% of cold-case children in
homes, estimates Kevin Campbell, a former social-work
administrator in Washington state who pioneered the
method. But dedicated family finders like Ms. Librizzi,
who works for a private nonprofit agency and isn't
distracted by typical social-worker duties, boast success
rates as high as 75%. Social workers say the likelihood
of these children finding homes is otherwise nil.
Even advocates concede the main problem with family
finding is that it isn't being implemented soon enough.
They say it would be most effective if it were used to
prevent children from spending years in the foster-care
system in the first place.
There are other challenges, too. Family finding
doesn't solve the psychological problems that can affect
foster children, especially when they have bounced from
home to home. Few families are fully prepared for the
difficulties of taking in a long-lost relative who has
spent years in foster care. As a result, some reunions
end unhappily.
Here in Los Angeles County, home to the nation's
largest child-welfare system, family finding has helped
shrink the number of children in foster care to 11,000
from 14,000. That promises significant cost savings. The
cost of caring for a foster child in Los Angeles can top
$75,000 a year, not including the burden on the judicial
system and homeless shelters as troubled children pass
into adulthood.
Los Angeles started testing family finding about three
years ago and is now training social workers and expanding
it countywide. For the children, the process begins with
the permission of a social worker -- or in a few cases,
with a court order -- requested by someone involved in the
child's care.
One corporate partner of this effort is U.S. Search, a
unit of First Advantage Corp. which sells such data to
social workers for $25 a report, less than it charges
other clients. Tapped by Mr. Campbell, U.S. Search,
which typically sells its services to private detectives
and individuals in search of old girlfriends and others,
has a small staff dedicated to working with social
workers.
U.S. Search subscribes to databases of records on
voter registration, marriage, divorce, criminal filings,
credit records and other information. Its software
broadens search terms to look for alternative spellings.
In one study by Mr. Campbell, U.S. Search was able to
find more than 85% of parents who were listed as
"whereabouts unknown" in California court records.
Armed with this data, teams of local social workers --
and in one California county, retired police detectives --
make dozens of phone calls, knock on doors and wheedle
information to re-forge family connections. They aren't
just looking for adoptive homes. They're also hoping to
put foster children in touch with their roots and create
an additional source of support.
The work is arduous, emotional and slow. The searches,
culled from so many databases, can be messy. Data are
almost always missing; workers can spend weeks chasing
false leads.
Even when social workers find whom they are looking
for, the process can open festering family wounds,
rekindling the problems surrounding the children's births
or their removal from parents' care. Mr. Campbell, the
inventor of family finding, tells social workers to expect
a third of the family members they reach to refuse further
contact. He also tells them to expect anger. "There's a
lot of pain in these families," he says.
Mr. Campbell calls Ms. Librizzi one of the most
tenacious family finders he has trained. She has spent
more than a year trying to connect some children with
their family members.
Ms. Librizzi, a dark-haired woman whose accent reveals
her New York origins, spent 30 years working in child
welfare before her employer, a group home for youths
called Hollygrove, cut back to outpatient services for
financial reasons. In 2005, she began doing family
finding to find homes for Hollygrove's young residents,
later expanding her clientele to children identified by
the county as most in need of family finding. She
declines to divulge her salary, saying only that she works
part-time and is paid on an hourly basis.
Two days before Christmas in 2005, Ms. Librizzi was
assigned to find the family of Tony, the 12-year-old boy.
He weighed nearly 240 pounds and was often picked on at
school. Separated from his brother and sister as well as
his extended family over the years, Tony was living in a
sparsely furnished three-bedroom group home for boys,
overseen by a small rotating staff.
Ms. Librizzi began with a few bits of information
about Tony's origins from his caseworker: Tony's name and
birth date, the name of his mother, her Social Security
number and birth date, and her former address. Nothing
was known about Tony's father, not even his name. Working
from her small shared office, Ms. Librizzi emailed the
information to Clif Venable, a data researcher at U.S.
Search.
Mr. Venable then went to work in his Culver City,
Calif., cubicle, typing the information into his company's
computer system. Minutes later, Mr. Venable emailed back
a 10-page list of possible relatives, people who had lived
at the same address, possible previous addresses, and even
neighbors culled from the many databases to which U.S.
Search` subscribes. Ms. Librizzi began at the top of the
first page that Friday. She quickly thought she'd hit
gold with a man who spent an hour discussing Tony.
"Turned out, he wasn't even related," Ms. Librizzi says.
Because many of Tony's relatives had moved repeatedly,
the names on the list often lacked working phone numbers.
On page five, Ms. Librizzi dialed a number in Stafford,
Texas -- someone with an entirely different family name.
The woman who answered demanded to know how Ms.
Librizzi had gotten her number. "From an Internet search.
I just want to reassure you, this is not a crank call,"
Ms. Librizzi says she responded. The woman finally
conceded she was a distant relation -- the sister-in-law
of Tony's mother's sister-in-law. She agreed to pass
along a message that someone was searching for Tony's
family.
An hour later, Ms. Librizzi received a call from a
woman in California -- another distant relative -- who
said she knew where Tony's mother was. When Ms. Librizzi
returned to her office on Monday morning, three voicemail
messages from Tony's mother awaited her.
Ms. Librizzi, along with Tony's social worker, pursued
the possibility of developing some sort of relationship
between Tony and his mother. She phoned various family
members on behalf of Tony so many times that the family
began to call her "Linda-for-Tony."
Ms. Librizzi also continued following other leads.
Building on information from records and family members,
she obtained a number for a San Fernando, Calif., Indian
tribe, and called its administrator, Rudy Ortega, to find
out if the tribe had records of Tony's birth. Mr. Ortega
was noncommittal. The tribe receives many calls from
people hoping to gain access to a tribe's benefits (even
though the San Fernando tribe isn't federally recognized
and doesn't receive such benefits). But the call roused
Mr. Ortega into action.
As it turns out, the 32-year-old Mr. Ortega and his
wife, Samantha, a medical technician, are Tony's
great-uncle and great-aunt. They had three children:
girls named Citlaly and Itati, and a son named Tomiear --
and they had at one time looked into adopting. They say
they would have adopted Tony all those years ago had they
been contacted.
Six weeks after the search began, Tony was told his
mother had been found. He also learned he came from a
line of Indian chiefs from the San Fernando Band of
Mission Indians. His great-grandfather was Chief Little
Bear Rudy Ortega Sr. The senior Mr. Ortega was
interested in bringing a tribal member back into the fold.
At first, L.A. County social workers explored
reuniting Tony with his mother. But his mother failed to
show consistent interest or ability to care for Tony, say
social workers. Social workers say Tony's mother, who has
had several other children removed into foster care, moves
frequently among the homes of friends or relatives. She
could not be reached for this article.
Meanwhile, the tribe pulled together. Three other
families quickly volunteered to start proceedings to
potentially adopt him, including Rudy and Samantha Ortega.
During a meeting that fall, tribal elders determined that
the Ortegas were the best match. Tony soon began to visit
them, first briefly, then spending weekends at their home.
When he returned to the Lynwood group home each Sunday
night, Tony wept and pleaded to stay with the Ortegas. He
hung a small dreamcatcher -- an Indian totem said to
ensnare bad spirits -- over his bed.
Last fall, Tony announced he wanted to become a
veterinarian -- a sign social workers say that he was
looking forward to the future. In March, the county court
gave him permission to move in with the Ortegas, who took
classes in how to deal with troubled children. The family
also arranged to have another male relative tutor Tony in
the afternoons to help with schoolwork and socialization.
By April, Tony was off medication entirely. Mrs.
Ortega discovered he needed glasses -- he had once had
them, but lost them in the course of his many moves.
Chatty and smiling, he lost 50 pounds. Now 13, he began
to earn A's at his new school.
Tony struggled to describe what was special about the
Ortegas. "They hug me," he finally said.
Things didn't continue as smoothly. After the initial
honeymoon period, many of Tony's former patterns of
misbehavior reappeared. He walked out of class at school
and at home, his discipline problems escalated and
frightened the family. He once waved a kitchen knife at
Mrs. Ortega, she says, and she caught him urging the
family's pet dog to fight with a neighbor's Chihuahua. He
bullied Tomiear, Mrs. Ortega's youngest child, by pushing
and teasing the preschooler.
When she discovered she was pregnant with her fourth
child, Mrs. Ortega says she feared Tony might become
jealous and hurt the baby. Two weeks ago, the family
abruptly discontinued the adoption, saying they'd reached
the end of their rope. The county didn't fully prepare
her for the magnitude of Tony's troubles, said the angry
Mrs. Ortega, who drove Tony to his social worker's office
and left him there that Friday afternoon. "If I were to
do this again, it would be with a child who is much, much
younger," she said.
Ms. Librizzi says Tony's experience with his family
has revealed behavioral problems that had been ignored
when he was being shuffled among foster homes. Tony will
begin intensive therapy for these issues, she says.
Mr. Campbell says such outcomes are all too common.
"You ask yourself how would Tony's story be different if
his family had been found in the first six months after
being taken from his mother," he says.
Tony is now once again living with just a few personal
belongings in a group home for boys.
Just after he left the Ortegas, new hope for Tony
emerged: his tutor. The tutor, a police officer who is
engaged to a tribe member, told Tony's social-work team
that he remains interested in serving as a mentor -- or
possibly more -- to Tony.
"We're going to keep on keeping on," says Ms.
Librizzi. "We don't end until we have some sort of
personal connection for a kid."
Write to Christina Binkley at
christina.binkley@wsj.com1
Girl Escapes Foster Care
August 23, 2007
Another girl has escaped from foster care, this time from
Huntsville to North Bay.
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Twelve-year-old girl missing
Aug 22, 2007
Family Youth and Child Services of Muskoka and the
Huntsville OPP are requesting the public’s assistance to
locate 12-year-old Tasha Lavigne.
Lavigne was last seen in Huntsville on Aug. 6 and is
believed to be in the North Bay area.
She is five-feet two inches tall and approximately 120
pounds with dark brown shoulder-length hair and brown
eyes. She has a fair complexion with pierced ears. It is
unknown what she was wearing when she left the home.
Anyone who knows of Lavigne’s whereabouts is asked to
call the OPP at 789-5541 or Crime Stoppers at
1-800-222-8477.
Foster Girl Murdered
August 22, 2007
A fourteen-year-old foster girl has been murdered in
Montreal. The press is playing down her residence in a
group home.
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CTV.ca
Mtl. police arrest 15-year-old in death of
teen
Francesca St. Pierre is seen in this image taken
from video that aired on CTV Montreal.
'My heart just stopped when I saw him,' Genevieve
Moreau, one of the victim's sisters, told CTV
Montreal. 'He must be tried as an adult.'
CTV.ca News Staff, Updated: Tue. Aug. 21 2007 7:59
PM ET
A day after the body of a teenage girl was found strewn
in a ditch, Montreal police have charged a 15-year-old
suspect with first-degree murder.
Police will not say if the suspect knew the 14-year-old
victim, Francesca St. Pierre, or if investigators had
figured out a motive for the murder.
Francesca was found with bruises all over her body on
Sunday in a wooded area near the group home she was living
in. She disappeared from the home Saturday morning at
10:50 a.m. after she told people in charge she'd be
running out for an hour or so to run some errands.
When they didn't hear from the girl by later that
afternoon, they notified St. Pierre's family and police.
Her body was discovered Sunday night by pedestrians
passing through the area. She is Montreal's 23rd homicide
of the year.
Police received more than 50 tips from people at a
command post near the site where her body was found in
Rivière-des-Prairies, a community northeast of Montreal.
A suspect was traced to his home and was arrested Monday
night.
The young man appeared in court Tuesday afternoon. If
found guilty, he faces a maximum of six years in
detention, unless he is tried as an adult.
"My heart just stopped when I saw him," Genevieve
Moreau, one of the victim's sisters, told CTV Montreal.
"He must be tried as an adult."
But the Crown has already indicated it won't seek an
adult sentence, which would mean life in prison. The case
returns to court on Thursday.
With a report from CTV's Stephane Giroux
DC Rally
August 19, 2007
The rally in Washington DC did not make the news services. Below is a
preliminary report by the organizer Ron Smith, taken from a public posting
by AFRA. More details, including pictures, should be available when the
participants return home to post them to the web.
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Dennis,
Let me give you an update. The rally was phenomenal. Fox did
interview at the rally. As did many other news and radio programs who
interviewed me there at the Lincoln Memorial. It was organized and
without incidents. Our speakers forgot their time constraints but for the
most part, IT WAS WONDERFUL. We have not seen this kind of networking
ever in this movement. We had three-time super bowl champion Tim McKyer
who spoke and turned people on, Judge Willie Lipscomb from Detroit had the
same reaction as did all of the speakers. The stage was loaded with
stuffed animals that spilled into the walkway in front of the stage. It
was a sight to see.
There was more hugging, by people who only knew others by their emails
and post, than you could imagine. Everyone met others that they knew from
this medium.
This was the greatest first step imaginable for well deserved change.
This will mean absolutely nothing if we don't continue to work just as
hard beginning on Monday!!!! WE HAVE UNITED LIKE NEVER BEFORE!!!!
Ron Smith
Addendum: Extensive reports on the rally,
including videos, are now available from Glenn Sacks and John Murtari. Participation
was in the hundreds.
Addendum: The ACFC has
videos of all speeches at the rally. Another list is on the dcrally2007 website.
Click on the names at the left, for most the wmv file of their speech is on
their individual page. Threat to Pregnant Woman
August 19, 2007
We have received dozens of personal reports of threats made privately by
child protectors. So far, all of them have been the unsubstantiated word of
the aggrieved parent. Now in England two parents, Vanessa and Martin
Brookes, have secretly recorded a session in which they were threatened with
child removal even before the birth of their child. There can be no
possible basis for these threats, since it is impossible to commit child
abuse before a child legally exists. In a desperate attempt to save her
baby the mother has posted the recording of the threats
(audio only) on YouTube. The child protectors have responded with legal
threats against the parents and YouTube for secretly recording them. Since
no child legally exists before birth, the Sunday Telegraph felt safe in
publishing the story with real names.
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YouTube row over social services baby
threat
Ben Leapman, Home Affairs Correspondent, Sunday
Telegraph, Last Updated: 12:57am BST 19/08/2007
A heavily pregnant woman is at the centre of an
extraordinary legal battle with social workers after she
secretly recorded them threatening to take away her
newborn baby.
Vanessa Brookes, 34, who is due to give birth early
next month, smuggled taping equipment into a meeting with
social services officials, fearing they would try to take
her baby for forced adoption.
She recorded a social worker telling her and her
husband Martin, 41, that even though there was "no
immediate risk to your child from yourselves", the council
would seek a court order to place the child in foster
care.
Mother and baby would be allowed "two or three days" in
hospital together, but should not leave the premises until
social workers came to remove the infant. In a desperate
attempt to keep their baby, the couple have published the
recorded conversation on the internet.
Calderdale council, in West Yorkshire, last night
accused them of breaching the Data Protection Act by
recording its staff without their knowledge or consent.
The council said it had begun legal action to have the
recording removed from the YouTube website. Mrs Brookes
said: "Even puppies and kittens aren't removed from their
mothers at birth. Social workers always record
everything, so why shouldn't we record them?"
John Hemming, the Liberal Democrat MP and chairman of
campaign group Justice for Families, said: "I find it
very odd that a newborn baby would be removed when there
is not any allegation by the authorities that the child is
at risk. Yet this case is not unique. There are many
cases in which newborns are removed because of allegations
that their mothers may at some later stage 'emotionally
abuse' the child."
The case returns the spotlight to claims that social
services are being heavy-handed in removing children from
their parents, in order to meet Government adoption
targets.
The Sunday Telegraph has previously revealed cases of
mothers who were not told why their children were taken
away, and cases of families whose children were not
returned even after the parents had been cleared of
wrongdoing. More than 2,000 babies aged under a year were
taken for adoption last year, almost triple the level of a
decade ago.
Social services took an interest in the Brookes family
after Mrs Brookes, who is partially-sighted, was diagnosed
with depression and a personality disorder, leading to
concerns that her baby might be subjected to "emotional
abuse". Neighbours have complained that the couple's
household was disorderly, but neither has been accused of
abusing or harming a child.
In the recorded meeting, the social worker tells the
couple: "It's our intention as a local authority that
when your baby is born, we go into court on that same day
and ask for an interim court order because we would wish
to place your baby with foster carers."
He tells Mrs Brookes: "I would like you and your baby
to stay in hospital until the courts have made a
decision."
The social worker says the two or three days the mother
has with her baby in hospital will allow her to begin
breast-feeding and that once the infant is taken away,
social services will pick up expressed breast milk from
her home and deliver it to the foster carers for
bottle-feeding.
The social worker admits to the couple that a back-up
plan is being drawn up in case the judge refuses the
application for a care order. He says: "What we also
have to think about is a child protection plan that looks
at you, at home, with your baby. There is no immediate
risk to your child from yourselves, that's my
understanding from reading documents."
A spokesman for Calderdale council said officials would
seek a meeting with Mr and Mrs Brookes "to understand how
this information came into the public domain. We are
taking action to have this item removed from YouTube.
This recording was made without the knowledge or consent
of our member of staff.
"The council does not take lightly any recommendation
to the court for a child or a baby to be brought into
care. The decision whether or not to institute care
proceedings is made by social workers who have to consider
the best interests of the child."
Addendum: The video was removed from YouTube in
about a day. We have obtained a copy (13
megabytes, wmv format) from a user who copied it while it was still online.
Addendum: The baby was born a month later.
There is no public word on its fate.
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Published Date: 21 September 2007
Source: Evening Courier
Location: Halifax
Mother gives birth to care-threat case baby
By Megan Featherstone
A MUM who has been fighting plans to take away her unborn baby has
given birth. Vanessa Brookes of Bradley View, Holywell Green, gave birth
at 7.21pm on Wednesday.
But Mrs Brookes and husband Martin could lose their newborn when a
court hearing decides the baby's fate today.
In August the couple hit the headlines when they taped a conversation
with Calderdale Council staff, who said they would apply for care of their
baby as soon as it was born. It is claimed the baby will be at risk of
emotional abuse.
The recording was then posted on the video internet site YouTube.
Dad Martin, 41, witnessed the birth. He said: "It was great, really
emotional."
But he said his and his wife's happiness had been overshadowed by their
worries about having the baby taken from them.
He said the battle had been particularly stressful for his wife who is
registered blind. They plan to continue to contest any decision to take
the baby into care.
A council spokesman said an interim care order had been applied for and
a court hearing was being held today.
Last Updated: 21 September 2007 9:20 AM
Fathers Climb Lincoln Memorial
August 17, 2007
The memorial to Abraham Lincoln, liberator of America's slaves, was
climbed today by Fathers-4-Justice, hoping to achieve similar freedom for
fathers. Two men have been arrested. Below is the announcement from
Fathers-4-Justice. You can also watch a video made by Mark Tang F4J UK Storms the Lincoln
Memorial Aug-17-07(1) on YouTube.
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Breaking News: Lincoln Memorial Climbed
by F4J UK
Washington, DC —
Two British activists from Fathers 4 Justice UK have
just landed on the Lincoln Memorial. Jolly Stanesby (aka
Batman) and Mike Downes (aka Captain America) have climbed
The Lincoln Memorial because of Abraham Lincoln’s
connection with the abolition of slavery.
This humanitarian mission is designed to save children
and parents from the ravages of the for-profit divorce
industry that terminates the parental rights of thousands
of Americans daily. Many believe these courts and actions
are unconstitutional, and much is being done to seek
federal intervention. About every two seconds a child’s
bond with one good and fit parent is terminated because of
a family law system and divorce industry that is in need
of serious reform. States receive billions of federal
dollars annually as incentives to drive up child support
that is paid by American taxpayers.
Jolly Stanesby has been involved in more than fifteen
different civil disobedience actions to help children in
the UK, and has a dream that someday all American and
British parents will be treated equally. He hopes that
the family court systems will acknowledge what science has
known for decades, that children grow up far better when
they have near equal time with both parents.
Fathers 4 Justice has been a nonviolent direct action
organization since 2002 and has had a major impact on the
treatment of fathers and children in family courts.
DCYF Sticks Up Legislators
August 16, 2007
The article below illustrates better than any other why it is impossible
to reform the child protection system. Rhode Island DCYF, under attack by a
lawsuit from the state government, has fought back. They have given the
legislators the dilemma of: give us more money or we will starve your
children. The legislature has already provided money for the purpose, but
DCYF has failed to reserve money for foster children first. There is only
one possible outcome — the legislators will appropriate more taxpayer
money for the profligate child protectors.
The protectors operate with the same moral code as a
hostage taker: give me money or I will kill the secretary.
There can be no reform until children are no longer cared
for with appropriated funds. This proposal is no pipe
dream. In the twentieth century countries containing a
third of the world's people abolished private farming and
had food produced by the state. The result in every case
was chronic food shortage or famine. A hundred million
hungry people died, more than in battle. Perhaps a
children's holocaust of similar proportions will be
necessary to force abandonment of the system, and turn
children over to the care of private parties, primarily
parents, and in extraordinary cases, charity.
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DCYF money woes may leave providers
short
01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, August 16, 2007
By Steve Peoples, Journal State House Bureau
PROVIDENCE — The Department of Children, Youth and
Families is having a difficult summer.
The agency learned in late June that it was a target of
a sweeping class-action lawsuit filed by the state’s child
advocate, alleging widespread abuse in Rhode Island’s
foster-care system.
Then, the agency was blocked by a Family Court judge
from implementing a new policy mandated by the General
Assembly that was touted as a cost-saving measure.
Now, it appears that the department is about to go
broke.
The DCYF is on pace to spend its entire first-quarter
child-welfare budget by mid September, agency director
Patricia Martinez said yesterday. And a provision passed
in the state budget prevents state officials from shifting
money to cover the shortfall until the beginning of the
second quarter, Oct. 1.
That will temporarily leave the department unable to
pay dozens of child-welfare providers — group homes,
shelters, and independent-living programs — that care for
thousands of Rhode Island children removed from their
homes because of abuse or neglect.
The immediate effect on the children in state custody
is unclear, Martinez said. The providers are not legally
required to care for Rhode Island’s children without
payment.
“That’s something we need to figure out,” Martinez
said. “It affects the providers, but also the kids.”
Child-welfare providers representing nearly 40
organizations held an emergency meeting late last week to
discuss the DCYF’s financial situation, according to
James Harris Jr., the executive director for the Rhode
Island Council of Resource Providers.
While Martinez predicts running out of money by Sept.
15, the providers fear it may come even sooner, according
to Harris. “I’m hearing the situation is dire,” he
said.
Whether or not they get paid, Harris said most
providers would struggle to continue caring for the
children.
But some organizations may be forced to take out loans
to cover monthly expenses such as payroll, rent and
utilities, according to Benedict F. Lessing Jr.,
executive director of Family Resources Community Action, a
service provider that offers specialized foster care.
“The implication is that providers have to go to the
bank to borrow money,” Lessing said. “Most nonprofit
providers can only do that for so long.”
Martinez said it was “realistic” to think that some
companies would be forced to take out bank loans to cover
expenses. “I think this is one of the most difficult
times for any provider,” she said. “I don’t envy
them.”
The looming shortfall at the DCYF is attributed largely
to cost-cutting provisions in the state budget that have
been blocked by the Family Court.
The General Assembly cut the DCYF’s budget by roughly
$12 million based on a plan to reduce and restructure
services for roughly 600 foster children, ages 18 to 21,
who receive state-subsidized health care, housing and
education assistance.
In a test case last month, however, Family Court Chief
Judge Jeremiah S. Jeremiah Jr. rejected the DCYF’s
attempt to end Family Court involvement with Kenneth K., a
20-year-old resident of a state group home. Jeremiah said
the budget legislation isn’t retroactive, so it can’t
apply to Kenneth, who was under the court’s jurisdiction
before the change took effect.
The state Supreme Court declined to overrule Jeremiah,
but plans this fall to decide whether to hear a DCYF
appeal. The DCYF, however, doesn’t have the luxury of
waiting until the fall to abide by the state budget that
took effect July 1.
Aside from the Family Court’s ruling, the situation is
also complicated by the Assembly’s decision this year to
release the DCYF’s financing in four quarterly payments in
an attempt to control department overspending — a control
applied only to DCYF this year, according to House Finance
Committee Chairman Steven M. Costantino.
“We were very concerned about overspending in DCYF.
Every year they would come to the Assembly for a
supplemental request and we’d find out that a half year
has gone by and they’ve already blown by their budget,”
Costantino said.
Last year, for example, the Assembly approved a
$17.9-million supplemental appropriation (including
federal dollars) at the end of the session on top of the
DCYF’s $293-million budget.
The quarterly allotments, Costantino said, were a
safeguard put in place after the Assembly agreed to
restore partial financing for services to 18-to-21 year
olds in state care, which the governor had proposed
cutting. The plan also required the DCYF to redesign its
system to save money by improving department
inefficiencies.
“There has not been a lack of money for DCYF over the
years,” Costantino said. “Unfortunately, it seems that
there has to be a major financial crisis to make
change.”
Governor Carcieri’s spokesman Jeff Neal said the
governor would reach out to Assembly leadership for
guidance in the DCYF’s budget dilemma. The governor’s
staff believes it can’t shift money from another area to
help the DCYF pay its bills before the end of the quarter
based on language in the state budget.
“If the General Assembly has another interpretation, we
are very interested in hearing it,” Neal said.
Meanwhile, Judge Jeremiah wasn’t sympathetic to the
DCYF’s budget situation when contacted this week.
“I’m only concerned about the best we can do for
children in our system that have been neglected and
abused. That’s the primary responsibility of every judge
in Family Court,” he said. “[The Assembly] should have
gone and put more money in [DCYF’s] budget.”
speoples@projo.com
More Snitches Needed
August 16, 2007
When the supply of kids runs low, it needs to be replenished. Ontario is
providing $1.1 million to train school teachers to turn in kids. If your
kid is tired or hungry, or worst of all, so bored with school he wants to
jump out of his chair, teachers will now alert CAS.
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Ontario to train teachers to spot abuse
They are well placed to catch early signs
of trouble, minister says
August 16, 2007, Louise Brown, Education Reporter
There's not always a bruise to tell the secret.
But a child who is starting to witness violence in the
home – or be a victim – may seem a little more sleepy
in class, a little more hungry, a little more jumpy and up
for a fight, says MPP Sandra Pupatello.
And if someone can read those subtle warning signs,
they may be able to intervene before the violence gets
worse, says Pupatello, Ontario's minister responsible for
women's issues.
A $1.1 million training program announced yesterday
will provide workshops for up to 6,000 elementary teachers
in how to recognize, and help, children affected by
abusive behaviour – with luck, even before it turns to
violence.
"Kids spend a large part of their days at school, so
educators are in a unique position to read any sudden
change in behaviour; to notice a child who is suddenly
disruptive or who has an unusual outburst that could point
to circumstances happening in the home," Pupatello, MPP
for Windsor-West, said in an interview.
While teachers are legally obliged to report any
suspected case of child abuse to authorities, Pupatello
said they often are not trained in how to ask children
questions about their safety in an age-appropriate way,
using the right language to draw out the truth without
upsetting the child.
Teachers will be able to learn more at the website www.curriculum.org/womanabuse.
The training program is being welcomed by the
Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario, which
represents 70,000 grade school teachers in the province.
At its annual meeting in Toronto yesterday, the
federation elected York Region Teacher David Clegg as its
new president.
The former junior high school teacher says he will push
Queen's Park to shrink the gap in funding that exists
between grade school students and their high school
counterparts.
Clegg succeeds Emily Noble as president.
 Rick Fredrickson R.I.P.
August 15, 2007
Rick Fredrickson lost his
baby son Liam to the to adoption through a decision by a Saskatchewan court.
Efforts to right the injustice came to a premature end with Mr Fredrickson's
tragic death in a traffic accident. The link is to a news article on his
death, scroll backwards for the full story. He also has his own website.
Addendum: Kris Titus advises:
The funeral for Rick Fredrickson will be on Monday at 2:00
at Hill Crest funeral home in Saskatoon.
Addendum: Here is an obituary
distributed by Jeremy Swanson.
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Richard Fredrickson
FREDRICKSON - Richard "Rick" Leslie
died tragically on Saturday, August 11, 2007. Left to
mourn are his new bride Barb and her children Chris and
Tamara; his mother Carol Fredrickson, mother-in-law Joyce
HeskethJones, and grandmother Mary Fredrickson all of
Saskatoon; sister Brenda (Ken) Holowatiuk of Regina and
their children, Krystal and Amber; brother Darren (Barb)
Fredrickson of Saskatoon and their children, Sarah, Amy
and Ryan; and numerous aunts, uncles, cousins and
friends. Rick is also survived by two biological
children, daughter Desiree and a 16-month-old son. Rick
was predeceased by his father Delmer Fredrickson in 2005,
his grandfather Jeff Fredrickson and his grandmother
Lorena Larson. Rick was born on June 22, 1972. He lived
in Speers until the age of six, when the family moved to
Saskatoon. He attended school at Lester B. Pearson and
briefly at Mount Royal Collegiate. He went to work at a
young age, working road construction with his Dad and
brother, first with Warner Construction and later with
Morsky Construction. After a time, he left the industry
and bought Select Music and Sound. Rick loved to DJ and
entertain the crowd. He dabbled in many business ventures
over the years and in 2004, Rick became the owner/operator
of Distress Courier. During the last year of his life,
Rick also actively supported Fathers for Justice and
touched the lives of many people across the country. When
Rick wasn't working he could be found fishing on the
riverbank near Borden Bridge or at Auto Clearing Motor
Speedway where he raced his #22 Thunderstock car. Rick
also enjoyed spending time with his family and friends.
He loved to entertain and there was never a dull moment
when he was around. He will be sadly missed. Donations
in his memory may be made to Fathers-4-Justice Canada, 202
812 12th Street, New Westminster, BC V3M 4K1 or Auto
Clearing Motor Speedway, PO Box 169, Saskatoon, SK S7K
3K4. Funeral Service will be held on Monday, August 20,
2007 at 2:00 p.m. in the Chapel of Hillcrest Funeral Home
(east on 8th street, turn right before the railway track),
Saskatoon, SK. Interment will follow the service in
Hillcrest Memorial Gardens. Email condolences may be sent
to park@arbormemorial.com. Arrangements have been
entrusted to David Schurr of PARK FUNERAL CHAPEL
(244-2103).
Published in the Saskatoon StarPhoenix on
8/17/2007.
Baby Girl Tasered
August 15, 2007
A security guard in Texas fired a Taser at a father holding his baby
girl, resulting in injuries to the baby. What is the difference between a
hospital and a jail? Opportunistic child protectors have snatched the baby.
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Associated Press
Guard Uses Taser on Man Holding Newborn
By JUAN A. LOZANO 08.15.07, 7:47 AM ET
HOUSTON -
In a confrontation captured on videotape, a hospital
security guard fired a stun gun to stop a defiant father
from taking home his newborn, sending both man and child
crashing to the floor. Now William Lewis says his baby
girl suffers from head trauma because she was dropped.
"I've got to wonder what kind of moron would Tase an
adult holding a baby," said George Kirkham, a former
police officer and criminologist at Florida State
University. "It doesn't take rocket science to realize
the baby is going to fall."
Lewis, 30, said the April 13 episode began after he and
his wife felt mistreated by staff at the Woman's Hospital
of Texas and they decided to leave. Hospital employees
told him doctors would not allow it, but Lewis picked up
the baby and strode to a bank of elevators.
The elevators would not move because wristband sensors
on each baby shut them off if anyone takes an infant
without permission.
Lewis, who gave the video to The Associated Press, said
his daughter landed on her head, but it cannot be seen on
the video. He said the baby continues to suffer ill
effects from the fall.
"She shakes a lot and cries a lot," Lewis said, noting
doctors have performed several MRIs on the child, Karla.
"She's not real responsive. Something is definitely wrong
with my daughter."
It was not clear whether the baby received any
electrical jolt.
Child Protective Services has custody of the baby
because of a history of domestic violence between Lewis
and his wife, Jacqueline Gray. Agency spokeswoman Estella
Olguin said the infant does not appear to be suffering any
health problems from the fall.
David Boling, an off-duty Houston police officer
working security at the hospital, and another security
guard can be seen on the surveillance video arriving at
the elevators and trying to talk with Lewis. Lewis
appears agitated as he walks around the elevators holding
his daughter in his right arm.
Within 40 seconds of arriving, Boling is holding the
Taser. He walks around Lewis and whispers to the other
guard, who moves to Lewis' right side.
About a minute later, Boling can be seen casually
standing near Lewis, not looking in his direction, when he
suddenly raises the Taser and fires it at Lewis, who was
still holding his daughter.
Lewis drops to the floor. The other guard, who has not
been identified, scoops up the baby and gives her to the
child's mother, who was standing nearby in a hospital
gown.
The guard then pulls Lewis to his feet with his arms
locked behind him. Lewis' T-shirt has two holes under the
left side of his chest where the Taser prongs hit him.
Lewis said he did not see the stun gun.
"My wife said `we want to leave' and then he just
Tasered me," Lewis said. "He caused me to drop the
child."
In a statement, the hospital said Lewis was hostile and
uncooperative toward staff members who were trying to find
out his relationship to the infant when they saw him
trying to leave. Neither Lewis or Gray had indicated they
wanted a discharge, according to the statement.
"Mr. Lewis became verbally abusive by using vulgar
expletives. When Mr. Lewis' behavior became threatening,
endangering the infant and employees, licensed law
enforcement officers followed their professional standards
to protect those involved," the statement said.
Lewis was arrested and charged with endangering a
child. A grand jury in May declined to indict him on that
charge, but charged him with retaliation, accusing him of
making threats against Boling.
Lewis also has been charged with a second count of
retaliation alleging he made a threatening call to Boling
at his home.
Lewis denies both charges. He said he is considering
suing the hospital but has not filed any legal papers.
Houston police spokesman Gabe Ortiz said the department
did not investigate the officer's role, and he declined to
elaborate. Boling did not immediately respond to a
request for comment given to the police department.
Some 11,000 U.S. law enforcement agencies use Tasers,
which some experts say are increasingly being used as a
convenient labor-saving device to control uncooperative
people.
"The Taser itself is a legitimate law-enforcement
tool," said Kirkham, the criminologist. "The problem is
the abusive use of them. They're supposed to be only used
to protect yourself or another person from imminent
aggression and physical harm. They're overused now."
Associated Press writers Chris Duncan and Monica Rhor
contributed to this report.
Death in CAS Custody
August 10, 2007
Canada Court Watch reports that an unnamed York Region foster boy has
committed suicide. Will he be buried, as he lived, without a name?
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15-year-old boy commits suicide while
under supervision of York Region CAS
(August 9, 2007) - Sources connected to CAS have
reported to Court Watch that a 15-year-old York Region boy
may have committed suicide yesterday. At the time of his
death, the boy was under the supervision of the York
Region CAS. Court Watch has received a number of calls
from parents and children complaining about the
mean-spirited actions of over-zealous workers at the York
Region CAS, including the worker who was this boy's worker
with the CAS. Could this boy's death be the result of yet
more incompetence and lack of due diligence by York Region
CAS workers and/or the courts? The reports of how the boy
died have yet to be confirmed and Court Watch will provide
readers with more information as soon as it becomes
available.
Foster Child Near Death
August 10, 2007
An unnamed eighteen-month-old foster boy is in critical
condition after drowning in a pool at his Markham foster
home.
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CTV Toronto, Thu. Aug. 9 2007 6:04 PM ET
The toddler is loaded onto a helicopter for transport to McMaster
University Medical Centre in Hamilton.
Markham toddler discovered in backyard
pool
An 18-month-old Markham toddler is fighting for his
life after falling into a backyard pool.
The child had no vital signs when he was discovered by
his foster father at 83 Pringle Avenue near Highway 7 and
the Ninth Line in Markham.
The child was revived and rushed to Stouffville
Hospital by paramedics shortly before 1 p.m.
He has since been airlifted to McMaster University
Medical Centre in Hamilton.
The incident happened at 83 Pringle Avenue near
Highway 7 and the Ninth Line in Markham.
York police believe the child wandered outside after
discovering a door leading from the house to the pool deck
was left open.
The boy is one of several foster children living at the
residence.
Adults and two of the family's biological children were
at home during the accident.
An investigation is under way to determine how the
child wandered out into the pool area.
With a report from CTV's Jim Junkin
Dunn Charges Ottawa CAS
August 9, 2007
In the press release below John Dunn announces charges against the
directors of the Children's Aid Society of Ottawa resulting from their
failure to provide him with a membership list as required by law. The
release does not make it clear what legal process is being used to pursue
the charges.
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For Immediate Release
Date: Wednesday, August 08, 2007
FORMER FOSTER CHILD CHARGES CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY OF
OTTAWA AND ITS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR UNDER CORPORATIONS ACT.
At a time when the Ombudsman of Ontario has been
fighting for jurisdiction over Children's Aid Societies
across the province for the purpose of increasing
accountability for the services they provide, John Dunn, a
former foster child and child-welfare reform advocate,
laid charges against the Children's Aid Society of Ottawa
and its Executive Director on Wednesday, (August, 8th,
2007) for knowingly and willfully committing the Offence
of contravening section 307 (5) of Ontario's Corporations
Act.
The Society and its Executive Director, Barbara
MacKinnon, if convicted, could face fines of up to one
thousand dollars each.
Dunn, wanting to advocate for positive changes to the
way child-welfare services are provided to Ottawa's
children and youth applied for a membership with the
Children's Aid Society of Ottawa, only to have his
application denied without a valid explanation.
After several failed attempts to meet with the Society
to discuss the matter, Dunn was instructed by Pierre
Viger, the Society's Director of Professional Services, to
discuss the matter with Ottawa lawyer, Robert C. Morrow
of Burke-Robertson Barristers & Solicitors.
Later, while in a meeting with Morrow, Dunn was advised
that the Society was not prepared to discuss the matter
any further, that the matter was “closed” and that he
should seek legal counsel if he wishes to pursue the
membership matter any further.
Shocked at the treatment he received from the Society
regarding his membership application, Dunn filed a
complaint with the Ministry of Children and Youth Services
only to be informed by them that Society memberships are a
“corporate law” matter and as such, can not be dealt with
by the Ministry.
On February 05, 2007, Dunn filed with the Society, a
request for a list of its existing members in accordance
with section 307 (1) of the Corporation's Act so that he
could inform them of how membership applications are being
dealt with by the Society's Board of Directors, hoping
that he could convince them to vote for change to this
practice during a members meeting.
Once again, the Society retained the legal services of
Robert C. Morrow who then assisted the Society in
committing the Offence of failing to furnish a list of the
Society's members when so required, as outlined in section
307 (5) of the Act.
Background:
Normally a person would advocate for service
improvements within a Society by applying for an annual
membership and voting for, or making requisitions for
change at members meetings. Unfortunately, the people who
are the most concerned with how a Society operates -- its
former wards -- are blocked from obtaining a membership
with their originating Society, simply because as adults,
they now live outside the jurisdiction of the Society, or
because they are currently involved in advocating for
improvements to the services a Society delivers in the
community.
The only option a person has to advocate for change
once their membership application has been denied by a
Society is to communicate with the annual members who
reside in the community and who support the work a Society
performs, through requesting a list of those members in
order to allow the person to communicate with them as is
allowed under section 307 (1) of the Corporations Act.
It has been made apparent that the Ottawa Children's
Aid Society through its Board of Directors, is even
willing to commit an Offence in order to prevent anyone
from communicating with the members for purposes connected
with the Society.
Section 307 (5) of the Act makes it an Offence for the
Society and its Directors not to furnish a list of the
members to a person who properly requests it, exposing the
Society, and its Board members to the risk of being
charged and fined one thousand dollars each, not to
mention the lawyers fees for defending their illegal
conduct.
John Dunn, is a former Crown Ward and child welfare
reform activist who founded The Foster Care Council of
Canada (the Council), an organization which seeks to
involve current and former wards in the process of child
welfare reform.
Gary Curtis, of Winchester, (just outside of Ottawa) a
former Crown Ward of the Children's Aid Society of Ottawa,
aged out of the system in 1961. He recently applied for a
membership with the Society only to be informed that he
could not be a member since he was no longer living in the
Society's jurisdiction.
Approximately four years ago, Curtis applied for access
to his own life records which are held by the Society and
in doing so, had to put up quite a struggle in order to
get anywhere including a Ministry review by an appointed
Director. Curtis had a meeting with a representative of
the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, Eastern
Regional Office who suggested that he file for a review
under subsection 68 (3) of the Child and Family Services
Act. The review took over a year to conclude producing a
report to the Ministry which made the following
conclusions:
There is no guiding legislation the Society can follow
with regard to the disclosure of information to a former
Crown Ward
The Board of Directors were satisfied that the
Society's staff complied with all regulations and,
The Society believes their staff satisfied all the
requests made by Curtis.
The review appears to have accomplished very little, as
anything he did receive from the Society was only due to
his own persistence. When Curtis eventually earned access
to his records, he discovered something amazing. Gary
learned after years of thinking he was an only child, that
he had a sister and two half brothers. His sister and one
of his brothers live in the greater Ottawa area and the
other brother lives in B.C. His sister was placed for
adoption at birth, but his two half brothers remained out
of care. Curtis has slowly become acquainted with them
and they have welcomed him as a long lost family member.
Curtis says “Being accepted as a new family member can be
a long and slow process and must be done with a lot of
caution and care.”
Curtis has since also applied for a list of the members
of the Society in accordance with the Corporations Act so
that he could communicate with them regarding the Society
and its Boards practices and was also denied.
Dunn says “The Society sent the exact same response
letter to Gary that their Lawyer sent to me, only this
time they copied the content of the Lawyers letter and
pasted it onto their own letterhead, then sent it to
Gary”.
Curtis is now considering his own legal options.
For further information please visit The Foster Care
Council of Canada at http://www.afterfostercare.ca
--30--
CPS Responsible for Foster Death
August 9, 2007
Arizona CPS took Dustin Rhodes away from his mother and placed him with
relatives as foster parents. In the habit of child protectors, they then
ignored complaints of abuse committed by their own contractors. Dustin
Rhodes ultimately died of abuse. Arizona juries decided not to blame the
foster parents, but held the child protectors responsible for $1.5 million.
It's about time.
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CPS ordered to pay $1.5 million to mother
in death of her son
Elias C. Arnold, The Arizona Republic, Aug. 9, 2007
12:00 AM
A jury in Maricopa County Superior Court this week
awarded $1.5 million to the mother of a 9-year-old
Litchfield Park boy who died after Child Protective
Services twice investigated suspicions of abuse but failed
to remove the boy from his home.
Dustin Rhodes was living with his grandmother, aunt and
aunt's boyfriend when he died in August 2003 of "multiple
traumatic injuries," according to an autopsy report.
In 2005, the boy's mother, Christina Bowman, filed
suit, claiming her son's life might have been spared had
CPS fully investigated and removed Dustin from the home.
Bowman's attorney, Steve Copple, said the decision
"gives some answers and some accountability" in the death.
"It was a four-year journey for Christina to try to
find out why and who and how. So that decision was
extremely important for her and, she felt, for Dustin,"
Copple said.
Spokeswomen for CPS and the Arizona Attorney General's
Office declined to comment, saying the litigation is
ongoing.
In February 2003, six months before the boy's death,
his third-grade teacher reported unusual bruises on his
back, waist, leg and eye.
Three months later, a physician examined other
injuries, including a swollen face and bruises all over
the boy's body.
She found the injuries may have been accidental, but
recommended further investigation.
Dustin's parents were not involved in his life then.
His mother's attorney previously told The Arizona
Republic that she had recovered from a drug problem and
was trying to get her son back at the time.
The jury's verdict was a "very loud and specific
acknowledgement of her loss," Copple said.
A related criminal case turned out differently.
Last month, the boy's extended family, including his
grandmother Linda Rhodes; aunt, Bethany Pellerin; and
the boyfriend, Ryan Pellerin, were acquitted on all counts
of child abuse stemming from the incident.
"We expected ours to come out this way, but we didn't
expect the other (case) to come out this way," Copple
said.
 Defeat the Devil!
August 8, 2007
For more information on how to defeat the devil, visit www.dcrally2007.com.
Canadians are welcome at the rally. Here is some rally music by Jacqueline Clemons. Candidate Rob Ferguson
August 8, 2007
Rob Ferguson, an advocate for families ruined by
children's aid, will be a Family Coalition
Party candidate for provincial parliament in the October
10 election.
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Brantford Expositor
City man announces candidacy for Brant's
Family Coalition Party
Michael-Allan Marion
Wednesday, August 08, 2007 - 07:00
Local News - The Ontario government must pay more
attention to the principles and policies that sustain
families, says a candidate who is running under the Family
Coalition Party banner in Brant riding in the next
election.
Rob Ferguson, who runs a home-based marketing and
advertising business, says he was drawn to run for the FCP
because of the party's focus on families.
"Its platform of simple values and the traditional
family makes sense," he said in an interview Tuesday while
announcing his candidacy.
Born and raised in Brantford, the 31-year-old Ferguson
said he wants more accountability and responsibility in
government. He also wants to streamline education to give
teachers more preparation time.
He has also been a longtime critic of the Child and
Family Services Act, which he claims allows children's aid
societies to take children from their parents with little
duty to show just cause.
"We should have a policy that says prove the case
before apprehending a child," said Ferguson, who has been
a well-known advocate on that issue for years.
He has his own ongoing dispute concerning child custody
with the Children's Aid Society of Brant.
Ferguson also likes the FCP's call to give more rights
to victims in the justice system.
"Today, it's gotten that criminals have more rights,"
he said. "There has to be a better balance."
Ferguson said he believes Brant voters are tired of
Liberal broken promises and slowness to act on issues,
unless an election is upon them.
He cited the government's recent decision to give
Brantford $5 million for the cleanup of the
Greenwich-Mohawk brownfield area.
The visually impaired candidate is also pushing for
more accessibility for the disabled.
Ferguson is married to Kelena.
He is running against incumbent Liberal MPP Dave Levac,
Progressive Conservative candidate Dan McCreary, a city
councillor, and Brian Van Tilborg for the New Democrats.
The Greens have yet to choose a candidate.
Oriena Rejola Currie, R.I.P.
August 6, 2007
Oriena Currie, a board
member of Canada Court Watch, has passed away.
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In memory of Oriena Rejola Currie
Canada Court Watch executive, Oriena
Currie, passes away at 72 years of age
Sadly, on Sunday, July 22, 2007, Canada Court Watch
advocate, Oriena Rejola Currie, 72 years of age, passed
away in hospital after losing her final battle with
cancer.
To her many friends and associates with whom she had
become involved in over the years during her political
advocacy and as an executive director of Canada Court
Watch, she will be greatly missed.
She is survived by her son, Charles, her daughter,
Bonnie, and five grandchildren, Chatham, Cauthen, Quen ,
Caegan and Kitsym.
Oriena was one of the most respected and senior member
of Canada Court Watch, having served on its Board of
Directors for a number of years.
Up until her final battle with cancer she proudly stood
up for freedom, justice and democracy which were the
issues she strongly believed in and fought fearlessly for
those beliefs.
Oriena was born November 23, 1934 in Toronto, Ontario.
She grew up as a young child in the Cabbagetown community
of Toronto and in her teenage years lived in the
Mississauga area.
In her later years, Oriena resided in Campbellville, a
small community situated on the beautiful Niagara
Escarpment close to Milton, Ontario.
She operated a family owned flea market from a small
commercial building located on her family's properly on
Guelph Line at the southern outskirts of her community.
Most Saturdays and Sundays she could be found at her
flea market with her grandchildren close at hand.
Outside of her time spent with her family members and
running the family business, Oriena was a powerhouse,
devoting much of her knowledge and experience to provide
helpful advice to others experiencing problems with the
courts and lawyers.
People from all over called Oriena by phone for help
with their court related problems with many finding much
needed information and support that they were unable to
obtain or afford from professionals in legal community.
Oriena stated that advocating for fairness, justice and
most all accountability had been a passion and a driving
force during most of her life.
Oriena at the Barrie, Ontario rally in 2006 wearing the
T shirt which caused court workers to label her and other
justice minded Canadian citizens as "gang" members.
She often attended meetings, protests and events in the
community designed to bring attention to the plight of
those involved with the court system.
Last year in Barrie, Oriena was refused entry to the
public washrooms at the Barrie, Ontario courthouse by
security forces.
Officers told her that because she was wearing a Canada
Court Watch T shirt, she was considered as posing a threat
to the security of the court.
Court Security officers told Oriena that court
administrators and judges inside the building had labelled
the senior citizen a "gang" member.
Afterwards, outside of the Barrie, Ontario courthouse,
Oriena laughed and stated the incident at the court about
her being refused entry to use of the washroom was a joke.
"I must be doing something right if these big, burly
and armed police officers felt threatened by me, a 71-year
old senior citizen," she said.
Oriena stated that the actions of police and court
workers that day at the Barrie court was an insult to
justice and free speech in Canada.
She said that this only showed that the judges and
those who work for the court system were more afraid of
her Court Watch T shirt and what it stood for than they
were of her.
"The judges and court workers are terrified of the
public finding out the truth of what is going on inside of
their lavish court buildings.
They know what they are doing is wrong and they only
want to hide the truth" she said during an interview with
reporters outside of the court.
Over the years, Oriena had acquired a small library of
legal books which she graciously shared with people who
were in need of helpful legal information.
She provided free legal advocacy under the name "YoYo"
Law, the phrase YoYo standing for "Your On Your Own".
Oriena coined this unique name because she believed
that people had to self educate themselves about the law
and about their rights and freedoms.
She often said that the costs associated with people
obtaining competent legal services had become unaffordable
to all Canadians except those considered wealthy.
Oriena did not fear standing up against injustice and
would often stand up for others in the community,
especially those who had been pillaged of their assets and
then abandoned by legal professionals.
Just days before her passing, Oriena had rescheduled a
court hearing in which she was scheduled to appear in
court to represent herself in a lawsuit she had prepared
and filed by herself prior to her becoming ill.
Her civil lawsuit against authorities involved the
Halton Regional Police and the Crown Attorney's office.
Even with her illness facing her, she forged ahead in
expectation of being well enough to fight for justice
another day.
Although Oriena wanted very much to keep her scheduled
court date, in the end her failing health would not permit
her to do so.
Even at 72 years of age, Oriena was ready and willing
to set an example to all Canadians by single-handedly
challenging local authorities who she believed had done
wrong, including the police.
In addition to handing out information to people
involved in the court system, Oriena loved going to
various courts in the southern Ontario region as a Canada
Court Watch observer where she would observe court
proceedings and report back about irregularities in the
courts.
Archbishop Dorian A. Baxter, the National Chairman of
Court Watch, said that Oriena was a person full of spirit,
determination and dedication in the pursuit of fairness
and justice for her fellow Canadians.
"Good, honest and hard working citizens of her calibre
are hard to find," said Baxter.
Oriena has been laid to rest at the St. David's
Presbyterian Church in Campbellville.
Oriena will be dearly missed by many.
CAS Trains Killer
August 5, 2007
Jesse Imeson became Canada's most wanted man after committing three
homicides. The biographical article below discloses that he spent much of
his childhood in the care of children's aid. The article is misleading on
one point: it says his mother placed him with CAS. We have interviewed
many parents who (on paper) relinquished their children to CAS voluntarily.
The consent was most often obtained by deception, such as a social worker
suggesting to the parent that a signature was a formality necessary for the
agency to provide help to the child.
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Murder suspect 'always smiling'
By JENNIFER O'BRIEN, SUN MEDIA
August 4, 2007
He was non-stop.
An adventurous, wide-eyed boy, Jesse Imeson made his babysitter work for her money -- giggling as he chased her through his parents' Amherstburg home south of Windsor.
The eldest of three children, Imeson, seven at the time could be "a little turd," Cheryl White remembers.
"He would chase me through the house with a water gun. He was a jokester," says White, who used to care for Imeson and his younger brother and sister.
"But he was a happy kid. He had these huge eyes and he was always smiling, trying to have fun."
That boyish smile is long behind the six-foot-tall man whose eyes are harder now, and whose body is covered in tattoos, including a Chinese symbol meaning "soldier," on his neck.
At 22, Imeson is suddenly infamous as an unpredictable fugitive, accused of murdering three people in cold blood, and evading a national manhunt for two weeks before his arrest Tuesday.
But his troubles didn't begin overnight. In recent years, Imeson had been a regular at Windsor's jail, and became known to some people as a guy who'd say anything to get what he wanted.
Though his personal life appeared full -- a beautiful girlfriend, the mother of his two-year-old daughter, and a circle of supportive friends and relatives -- many say he considered himself alone since his mom put him into foster care at about age 10.
"He had a rough life," so many have said of Imeson.
There was the suicide of his father, Jeff, who worked in construction in Amherstburg. Imeson has told friends it was he -- then nine-years-old -- who found his father dead.
There was foster care. Shortly after his dad died, Imeson's mom handed over her eldest son -- but not his siblings -- to Children's Aid.
Since turning 18, a Corrections Canada official said, Imeson had often been in the Windsor jail on charges of petty crimes, including possession of stolen goods and robbery.
Then, there's the drug addiction.
And now there are the three killings police link to Imeson -- the strangulation of 25-year-old Carlos Rivera, who was found in Imeson's rented Windsor room on July 19, and the shooting deaths of Bill and Helene Regier, who were found dead, tied up in their Mount Carmel home July 23.
For 12 days, Imeson evaded a manhunt that went Canada-wide after the Regiers killings, until a concerned neighbour spotted him watching television in an unoccupied home in Portage-Du-Fort, Que., and he was chased into the woods.
Then, keeping with his unpredictable reputation, the heavily tattooed, newly bearded fugitive simply laid down beside the loaded gun he carried and let police arrest him.
"His family is so glad," says White. "We all thought it could have ended worse, with the family ( suicide) history."
Imeson took his father's death "badly," White says.
"His dad was his hero. He started to get out of hand. That's how he was reacting to the devastation."
His mom put him in foster care -- a move called "abandonment" by Children's Aid societies. She didn't put his younger siblings into care, but eventually relatives cared for them, too, a cousin says.
"She did it for him," says White. "He was causing trouble in the home and she couldn't handle it at the time."
He went to Leamington, a 45-minute drive from Amherstburg, where his mom lived.
Foster parents wouldn't comment on Imeson, but former classmates who met Imeson in Grade 6 remember the new kid as likeable.
"Everybody knew he had a messed up life," says a woman who went to Leamington's Queen Elizabeth elementary school."He was a little rough, but he was a decent kid."
Imeson graduated from Grade 8 at that school, she says, and went on to Leamington District secondary.
Somehow, he ended up back in Amherstburg, where he began temporary stays with aunts and uncles.
"He stayed with relatives, and his grandparents tried so hard," one cousin says. "He was unworkable."
Today, Imeson is close with his sister and a brother, who is training to be a paramedic, and some cousins, friends say.
Though he had friends in high school -- he went to General Amherst in Amherstburg until dropping out in Grade 11 -- Imeson's reputation was as a hard-partying hot head.
Known for his tough talk, and tough walk, he always had a cigarette in his mouth and usually a beer in his hands.
Though friends say he wasn't a bully, and that he charmed women with his manners and easy grin, he was a bad boy -- even banned from one Amherstburg bar.
"He caused trouble all the time," says a server at Shooters. "The night he was banned, we were all sitting around after work and (talking about it)."
Though Imeson has several tattoos, including his surname etched across his stomach, a Windsor tattoo artist says he was horrible to work on.
"He was hyper and high strung," says Jeff Vella, who booted Imeson from his shop for his behaviour. Vella says Imeson often came in after partying at the casino and sometimes couldn't sit still for more than five minutes.
A well-built man who worked out often, Imeson took odd jobs, doing construction or helping people out, friends say. But he had several criminal convictions.
It's surprising, then, that he wanted to be a cop, enrolling in a police foundations course at a Windsor college. But that's where White -- enrolled in a different course -- ran into the man she once babysat.
Imeson was worried during his time at the college, she says -- his girlfriend was pregnant. She says he graduated, but then couldn't find work.
Imeson left for Whistler, B.C., to do just that, says another friend. He did get a job somewhere, but "he came back after his daughter was born," she says.
But Imeson's drug use -- a former rehab peer says he was into cocaine -- was heavy and his troubles continued.
This summer, Imeson did a 40-day program at Windsor's Salvation Army Addiction and Rehabilitation Centre, where former peers blame drugs for his troubles. While there, Imeson said he wanted to be a better dad and received visits from his baby's "hot" mother, says a former peer.
"He was a nice guy," the friend says.
Imeson graduated from the program "a model client," says Salvation Army Major Wilfred Harbin. But he relapsed.
Imeson moved into a rooming house in downtown Windsor, telling his landlords he had been in the military -- a story police have refuted.
The couple who rented to him say Imeson was polite and quiet, and kept pictures of his daughter in his room.
Friends say he was still in an on-and-off relationship with his daughter's mom.
Imeson was living in that home for three weeks when he decided to go to a downtown gay strip bar, the Tap.
Staff at the Tap say they had never seen Imeson before Tuesday, July 17, when he showed up and began talking to bartender Carlos Rivera.
Always on the hunt for fast cash, the high school dropout told friends he thought he could make good money dancing for men. But he didn't fill out the application, says operator Eddie An.
An said he had a bad feeling about Imeson, who was boasting about being a soldier.
But Rivera was interested and later left with Imeson.
Next morning, the landlords said, Imeson left early. In Rivera's car, he drove the more than 200 kilometres to Grand Bend. Rivera's strangled body remained in his room -- and wasn't found until Thursday, July 19.
Police have said that before Rivera's body was even found, Imeson had hooked up with South Huron teen Lindsey Glavin at a Grand Bend bar.
They hung out until Friday, July 20, when Glavin ended the relationship and dropped Imeson off in a Stephen Township field, north of Mount Carmel Line.
Assisted by Glavin, police combed that field Saturday, July 21, but called off the search the next day.
On Monday, July 23, four concessions east, the Regiers were found dead, spurring the nationwide hunt for Imeson. That hunt ended last Tuesday, eight days later, 600 kilometres away, in a wooded area of Quebec, north of Ottawa.
With no blaze of glory, Imeson went down peacefully, police said, laying down beside his loaded rifle.
He's been charged with first-degree murder in Rivera's death and, within a week, is expected to face the same charge for the deaths of the Regiers.
"He has gotten himself into a lot of trouble over the years but something like this? We are shocked," says White.
Another friend from Amherstburg says she was happy Imeson was captured, "because he doesn't have to run anymore," though she was worried about him, saying he looked thin on the news.
More Runaways
August 4, 2007
Two more girls have voted against foster care with their feet. They are
Kathie McDonald, who left foster care in Hamilton, and Riviera Hollahan of
Winnipeg. Some controversy has attended the McDonald case, since CAS feels
free to violate the Child and Family Services Act by naming a child in
foster care. Another report says McDonald was picked up within two days of
publishing her name.
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Public help needed to find missing
teen
Jul, 26 2007 - 11:20 AM
HAMILTON (AM900 CHML) - The Children's Aid Society is
asking for the public's help in finding a missing 14
year-old girl.
Katie McDonald has been missing since last Wednesday,
July 18.
She's 5-feet-2 inches, around 105 pounds with green
eyes and long blond hair.
She's known to frequent the Barton and Strathearne area
as well as the downtown core.
- Ted Michaels
Mon Jul 23 2007
Girl, 11, missing
Riviera Hollahan
CITY police are seeking help from the public to find a
missing 11-year-old girl. Riviera Hollahan was last seen
Friday between 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. at the Freight House
recreation centre on Isabel Street.
Police describe Riviera as an aboriginal girl, 5 ft. 1
in. tall with a medium build and long dark brown hair
with blonde streaks in a pony tail. She was last seen
wearing a white and grey tank top, blue jeans and white
shoes.
When children go missing, the police must decide
whether they’re in trouble or not. So far police don’t
believe this girl is in trouble. “Investigators are
actively investigating,” Winnipeg Police Service
spokeswoman, Const. Jacqueline Chaput said. “At this
point, we’re not looking at this as suspicious in
nature.”
Any person who may have seen her is requested to
contact police at 986-6222.
Addendum: Months later the website of the
Winnipeg police marked Rivera Hollahan as LOCATED, without any indication of
time or place.
Pervert Shrink
August 4, 2007
Stuart Greenberg was an expert witness in Seattle who
earned a living taking children from their parents. He was
also a voyeur who secretly photographed women using his
bathroom, then used the pictures for his own sexual
gratification. He joins the ranks of Ontario's Dr Charles
Smith as a discredited expert, requiring reviews of many of
the cases in which he provided opinions.
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Friday, July 27, 2007 - 12:00 AM
Therapist's suicide could trigger
challenges in legal cases
By Jennifer Sullivan and Maureen O'Hagan, Seattle Times
staff reporters
The arrest and suicide of a prominent Seattle
psychologist who was often an expert witness in
sexual-abuse and child-custody cases could raise questions
about his recommendations, and some could be challenged,
judges say.
Renton police on Wednesday found Stuart Greenberg's
body after employees at the Clarion hotel entered his room
and found a note on the floor that read, "medical
personnel, do not resuscitate. Let me die," according to
a Renton police report.
Officers later found Greenberg in a bathtub. He had
cuts on both wrists, and police found a variety of
medications in the bathroom. The case is being
investigated as an overdose.
Greenberg, 59, was well-known as an expert witness in
sexual-abuse cases. He had worked as a consultant to the
Archdiocese of Seattle, which was defending itself in
priest-abuse cases. He also had served as an expert
witness on behalf of sex-abuse victims in other cases.
Greenberg also was frequently appointed as a parenting
evaluator in child-custody cases.
Greenberg was arrested then suspended from practice
earlier this month after allegations surfaced that he had
secretly videotaped a woman in his office bathroom.
He was booked into the King County Jail on July 3 after
an acquaintance found the videotape in the psychologist's
VCR and alerted the person who appeared on the tape,
police said. The tape was then handed over to police.
While in jail, Greenberg had been placed on suicide
watch, according to the Renton police report. He was
conditionally released two days after his arrest.
Dan Donohoe, spokesman for the King County Prosecutor's
Office, said a decision on whether to file charges against
Greenberg had not been made. But the state Board of
Psychology suspended his license after the voyeurism
allegation.
Nationally renowned
Greenberg, as a parenting evaluator in child-custody
cases, carried tremendous power. A parenting evaluator's
job is to interview all the parties involved and make
custody recommendations; typically, the recommendations
are followed.
Greenberg had developed a national reputation, as well.
His curriculum vitae, listing all his professional
accomplishments, runs 19 pages.
Among other things, he served as president of the
American Board of Forensic Psychology in 2002-2003 and
taught dozens of continuing-education courses across the
country for fellow psychologists.
He also trained a crop of would-be psychologists as a
clinical assistant professor at the University of
Washington, and before that at the University of Southern
California and the University of Iowa.
King County Presiding Judge Michael Trickey said the
courts — and families going through custody battles —
will have to contend with a number of difficult issues in
the wake of Greenberg's arrest and subsequent death. He
anticipates a flurry of challenges by parties who were
unhappy with past evaluations involving Greenberg.
Greenberg's arrest alone wouldn't be enough to reopen a
case. But if his recommendations hinged on a parent's
alleged sexual deviancy, for example, that parent could
argue that Greenberg's opinion was tainted by his alleged
actions.
"Never having dealt with this before, I'm not sure how
this would play out," Trickey said, adding, "I assume
we're going to deal with it sooner rather than later."
The court doesn't keep count of cases assigned to a
particular parenting evaluator, so it's impossible to tell
how many families could be affected. But it's a given
that all of Greenberg's pending cases will have to be
reassigned to other evaluators — a process that was
already under way since his arrest and suspension of his
license to practice psychology.
Judge James Doerty, the chief family-court judge, said
a key question in reopening old cases is whether the
child-custody plan has been working for the child.
"The problem about going backwards and redoing those
decisions is you are actually changing the lives the
children have led," Doerty said.
"Great gifts and flaws"
On Sunday, Greenberg's wife checked him into an
Extended Stay Deluxe motel in Renton because he said he
didn't feel safe at home, the police report said.
Marcia Greenberg told police her husband had been
depressed for nearly four months, possibly from a change
in heart medication, and was upset by his recent arrest,
the report read.
The Greenbergs went to dinner that night and then
Marcia Greenberg returned to their Seattle home.
But at some point Greenberg left the motel and checked
into the Clarion on Monday, police said.
Marcia Greenberg said she last spoke with her husband
around 8 p.m. on Monday, according to the report.
"We are overwhelmed by loss and with grief that we
could not convince Stu life was worth living," Marcia
Greenberg wrote in a statement released Thursday. "Stu
had great gifts and flaws, but to us he was a much loved
husband, father, brother, and son. We miss him terribly."
Greenberg left suicide notes to his wife, daughter and
"everyone else I hurt," the police report said. His wife
said he apologized for his actions in the notes, the
report states.
The King County Medical Examiner's Office said an
autopsy was done Thursday but a cause of death won't be
released until toxicology tests are completed.
Seattle Times staff reporters Nancy Kelsey and Michael
Berens contributed to this report.
Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or
jensullivan@seattletimes.com
Addendum: Four years of investigative journalism
unravel the life of this psychopath masquerading as an expert in psychology.
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Originally published June 25, 2011 at 10:01 PM | Page modified June 27, 2011 at 2:44 PM
Seattle Times special report: Twisted ethics of an expert witness
Stuart Greenberg was at the top of his profession: a renowned forensic psychologist who in court could determine which parent got custody of a child, or whether a jury believed a claim of sexual assault. Trouble is, he built his career on hypocrisy and lies, and as a result, he destroyed lives, including his own.
By Ken Armstrong and Maureen O'Hagan, Seattle Times staff reporters
Stuart Greenberg
With the money he made as a forensic psychologist, Stuart Greenberg was able to buy a 39-foot boat, "More Like It," and a wine collection worth $25,000. This picture was taken within a couple of years of Greenberg's death.
Cathy Graden was 27 when she was summoned to King County Superior Court because of a psychological evaluation conducted by Stuart Greenberg. That evaluation, built on falsehoods, cost Graden custody of her 4-year-old son, J.D.
Three weeks after he was arrested on suspicion of voyeurism, Stuart Greenberg checked into a Renton hotel room and committed suicide. His body was found on July 24, 2007. Before killing himself, Greenberg placed his effects in order and left three notes on the bed. He placed his wedding ring on the middle note, to his wife.
Before committing suicide in a Renton hotel room, Greenberg left three notes of apology on the bed, along with his wallet, driver's license and other personal effects.
The reporting for this story
To uncover the secrets Stuart Greenberg had buried, The Seattle Times got court files unsealed in the superior courts of King and Thurston counties. Through a motion filed by the state Attorney General's Office, the newspaper also got an order lifted that barred public inspection of Greenberg's disciplinary history. Reporters obtained other documents — for example, Greenberg's emails at the University of Washington — through public-records requests, and interviewed colleagues of Greenberg, as well as parents he had evaluated.
Earlier this year, a four-page document with a bland title, "Stipulation for Dismissal with Prejudice," was filed in a civil matter percolating on the King County Courthouse's ninth floor. Hardly anyone took notice. Most everyone had moved on.
But that document — filed by lawyers tangled up in the estate of Stuart Greenberg, a nationally renowned psychologist whose life ended in scandal — signaled the end of a tortuous undertaking.
Greenberg had proved such a toxic force — a poison coursing through the state's court system — that it took more than three years for lawyers and judges to sift through his victims and account for the damage done.
For a quarter century Greenberg testified as an expert in forensic psychology, an inscrutable field with immense power. Purporting to offer insight into the human condition, he evaluated more than 2,000 children, teenagers and adults. His word could determine which parent received custody of a child, or whether a jury believed a claim of sexual assault, or what damages might be awarded for emotional distress.
At conferences and in classrooms, in Washington and beyond, he taught others to do what he did. He became his profession's gatekeeper, quizzing aspirants, judging others' work, writing the national-certification exam. His peers elected him their national president.
But his formidable career was built upon a foundation of hypocrisy and lies. In the years since Greenberg's death, while court officials wrestled over his estate, The Seattle Times worked to unearth Greenberg's secrets, getting court records unsealed and disciplinary records opened.
Those records are a testament to Greenberg's cunning. They show how he played the courts for a fool. He played state regulators for a fool. He played his fellow psychologists for a fool. And were it not for a hidden camera, he might have gotten away with it.
Stripped of all defenses
In summer 1984, Cathy Graden, a 27-year-old surgical nurse from Woodinville, was summoned to King County Superior Court for an emergency hearing in her child-custody case.
Her lawyer said a psychologist's report was behind the hearing. But Graden wasn't allowed to read the report. Nor was she allowed in the courtroom while the psychologist testified.
The psychologist, Stuart Greenberg, had been hired to help resolve a custody dispute involving Graden's only child, a 4-year-old boy whose bright, goopy finger-paintings Graden taped up all over the house.
Although appointed by the court, Greenberg was paid by the parties. He had interviewed the boy and both parents, and run a half-dozen tests with impressive names (the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist, the Michigan Screening Profile of Parenting ... ).
Graden figured she had nothing to fear. She taught Sunday school; she did volunteer work; she had taken care of her son when the boy's father moved to Alaska after the couple's divorce. "I thought there was no way I could possibly lose this," she says.
Greenberg had arrived in Seattle five years earlier, hired by the University of Washington. A letter written by the department chairman called Greenberg a "last-minute replacement" for a psychology professor who'd resigned. Greenberg's credentials "were on hand," because he'd applied for some other position.
His credentials were acceptable but not extraordinary. He had a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California, where his thesis was a word salad: "Stimulus and Response Generalization of Classes of Imitative and Non-imitative Behavior as a Function of Reinforcement, Task, Cues, and Number of Therapists." On Washington's psychology licensing test, one examiner marked Greenberg's professional judgment as "good," his knowledge and skills, "okay."
Teaching, Greenberg earned just $15,300 his first year. His second year, he was assigned only a single evening class. He left the university and moved into private practice. He picked up court appointments in Western Washington as a custody investigator, expert evaluator, arbiter, mediator, guardian ad litem, special master. He became enmeshed in the court system, buddying up to lawyers, judges, fellow experts.
On the stand, he radiated confidence. "He was just kind of a notch above the rest of us," says Nick Wiltz, a fellow forensic psychologist. "He was able to present reports and information in a very powerful way."
But Greenberg also demonstrated dubious judgment and a cavalier attitude toward his ethical obligations, which forbade even the appearance of a conflict of interest.
In the early 1980s, Greenberg befriended Stanley Stone, who worked in King County as a family-law commissioner — a position akin to judge with the power to appoint experts and approve their fees. On the side, Stone speculated in oil and gas, wooing investors with fantastical claims about the fortunes to be made by digging holes in Kansas.
Although Stone likewise needed to avoid conflicts of interest, his investors included lawyers and expert witnesses who appeared regularly in family court. One of his biggest investors was Greenberg. The psychologist put in $41,250 — expecting, years hence, a whopping return of $891,000 — and encouraged other courthouse regulars to invest, saying he had "the utmost confidence" in Stone, a good friend.
When the investment vehicle went up in smoke, some investors sued, making the enterprise public. Afterward, Stone says, lawyer disciplinary officials admonished him for a breach of ethics. Greenberg could also have been vulnerable to disciplinary action, but his Department of Health licensing file shows no evidence of that ever happening.
Cathy Graden didn't know about any of this. Nor did she know that her ex-husband's lawyer was also an investor, coming on board after Greenberg touted the potential rewards to her. That made them limited business partners — her ex's lawyer and the expert witness who would testify about her parenting.
The report Greenberg filed in court eviscerated Graden. It said she posed a grave danger to her son; that she was "probably" sexually abusing him; that she was psychologically unstable and possibly paranoid. Greenberg's report said he had interviewed the boy's day-care provider — and this provider suspected Graden of abuse and said Graden had encouraged day-care employees to beat her son.
In court, testifying, Greenberg described Graden as "quasi-psychotic," but said the diagnosis was tricky, because Graden might appear "quite normal." She would likely deny doing anything wrong to her son, Greenberg said, or alternatively, she "might genuinely not remember."
By the time Greenberg finished, Graden, out in the hallway, had been stripped of all defenses — and without a clue to what had just happened. If she appeared normal — well, Greenberg said she would. If she denied hurting her son — that was part of her disorder. If she challenged Greenberg's work or motives — she was paranoid.
At the end of the hearing, Judge Donald Haley said: "The doctor has convinced the court." The judge ordered the boy turned immediately over to his father, with Graden allowed to visit only if supervised by a therapist.
Greenberg was accustomed to such influence. Do judges follow your recommendations? he was once asked. "Typically," he said.
But in this case, Graden refused to go away. She obtained a copy of Greenberg's report. She interviewed the people he quoted. She wore a hidden recorder while meeting with him.
And what she learned, she turned over to state disciplinary officials.
The day-care provider, Krista McKee, told The Times that Greenberg "took what I said and just turned it upside down. He made it sound like I said something about Cathy that I just did not say. I never thought Cathy beat or abused (her son) at any level."
Greenberg also mischaracterized what the boy's therapist told him, twisting benign commentary into an urgent call for the boy to be removed from his mother's care.
Greenberg's work violated a host of ethics rules and laws. If he suspected Graden's son was being abused, he was required to report that to police or Child Protective Services. But he'd done no such thing.
Most disturbing of all, Graden's was not an isolated case.
In 1990, after an investigation that dragged on for years, the state Examining Board of Psychology filed a devastating set of disciplinary charges against Greenberg. The charges, 18 pages long, alleged misconduct in four cases between 1983 and 1986, including Graden's.
The board accused Greenberg of being incompetent and unethical. Of being dishonest or corrupt. Of misusing psychological tests and misrepresenting the results. He was accused of demonstrating bias; reaching sweeping conclusions on hearsay; violating confidentiality; and ignoring damning information about one parent while loading up on another.
In one custody case, he conducted a bizarre analysis of the father's new wife, a flight attendant. He reviewed some letters she may have written (although Greenberg wasn't sure), and some photos of the father's son with temporary tattoos — birds and a dragon, on his shoulders and belly button.
Based on those dubious materials, Greenberg concluded that the woman showed signs of a personality disorder: "Highly abstract thinking, schizoid mentation, hysteroid defense mechanisms, and / or exhibitionistic style." He never interviewed her, or the father, or the son.
Greenberg could have fought the board's allegations. Instead, he admitted violating professional guidelines in each of the four cases. He had been seeing a therapist for four years, he told the board, because he was "unable to fully empathize" with parents in child-custody cases and was not sensitive enough to the impact of his opinions.
The board and Greenberg agreed on a severe punishment: a three-year suspension from doing parenting evaluations. Afterward, he could resume only if the board was convinced he was competent.
Graden got her son back in 1989, when the boy's father died in a work accident. Her son was 4 years old when taken away, 9 when he returned.
Saying one thing, doing another
In 1992, prosecutors for the U.S. Air Force asked Greenberg to be an expert witness in the court-martial of a sergeant accused of raping his 15-year-old stepdaughter. Because Greenberg's suspension applied only to child-custody cases, he accepted.
In articles published in professional journals, Greenberg distinguished forensic psychology from therapy: the latter assists a patient, the former, a judge or jury.
Forensic psychologists should avoid psychiatric diagnoses, Greenberg wrote. In therapy, patients have reason to be honest. That's because they want help. But in court settings, they have incentive to lie. A criminal defendant might want to seem insane, and a parent fighting for custody, as normal as can be.
People taking psychological tests can surmise which answers will lead to which results, Greenberg wrote. Attaching a diagnostic category to someone's description of unverifiable feelings provides "unjustified credibility."
One particular diagnosis — post-traumatic-stress disorder — is especially prone to abuse, Greenberg wrote. Someone claims to have experienced something horrific, and describes symptoms consistent with distress. A clinician diagnoses PTSD. In court, this diagnosis gets used "in a circular argument" to prove the horrific event occurred.
Greenberg preached caution. He practiced something else.
In the Air Force case, Greenberg had the stepdaughter take the Beck Depression Inventory — 22 questions, multiple choice. The first question: 1. I do not feel sad; 2. I feel sad; 3. I am sad all the time and I can't snap out of it; 4. I am so sad or unhappy that I can't stand it. She chose 3. He had her take the Beck Hopelessness Scale — 20 questions, true or false. Question 7: My future seems dark to me. She marked true.
After eight tests and 10 hours of interviews, Greenberg diagnosed the teenager with post-traumatic-stress disorder. (He charged the Air Force $12,360 for this work.)
To Sverre Staurset, the sergeant's lawyer, Greenberg was key to the prosecution's case. He vouched for the stepdaughter's credibility — believe him, you believe her.
Unbeknown to Greenberg, Staurset had rounded up the state disciplinary documents in which Greenberg admitted to conduct both incompetent and unethical. With those records, the lawyer destroyed Greenberg on the stand.
"It was worse than a deer in headlights," Staurset says. "He really came apart. There was nothing left of him."
With Greenberg discredited, the sergeant was acquitted.
For an expert witness, credibility is everything. Greenberg knew that if those disciplinary records remained available, his future looked dim.
Hiding his past
A missing sentence. That's what made all the difference — that, and the state's lack of mettle.
During the disciplinary proceedings, Greenberg had signed a five-page stipulation admitting that he had misquoted witnesses, misinterpreted test results, reached damning conclusions on flimsy foundations. But the document was also supposed to say: "That by entering into this agreement, Dr. Greenberg does not admit to any violation of statute or administrative rules governing the practice of psychology."
"That is boilerplate," says Terry West, who was the Examining Board of Psychology's program manager at the time. "That's standard language in any stipulation."
A lawyer for the state dropped the sentence while merging some documents. Boilerplate or not, that missing language represented an opening — and Greenberg seized it. He let the state know he was thinking of suing. The examining board caved.
Nick Wiltz, the board's chairman when Greenberg was suspended, says: "The thing dragged on and on and on. Then, suddenly, because of this error by this inept assistant attorney general, the case blew up completely."
In spring 1993, the board's departing chairman, David Gossett, wrote an open apology to Greenberg, published in the board's newsletter. Greenberg had been "exonerated" of "all allegations," Gossett wrote. The apology asked "all persons" who had kept an earlier board publication describing Greenberg's suspension to return their copies or destroy them.
For Greenberg, this wasn't enough. The agency's paper trail was still publicly available, meaning he might still be confronted on the witness stand with his past admissions.
So Greenberg went to court, asking for the state to be barred from releasing any records about his past suspension. In a remarkable twist, the Examining Board of Psychology joined in this request. Here was a public body — represented by another public body, the state Attorney General's Office — asking the courts to forbid the state from complying with its public-records requirements.
In King County, Judge R. Joseph Wesley refused to go along. So Greenberg went south, to Thurston County. In 1995, Judge Daniel Berschauer agreed to place the state's records off-limits to the public; also sealed was the entire court file describing Greenberg's secrecy request.
Within a year of getting his disciplinary history sealed, Greenberg was giving seminars to other psychologists on the ethics of parenting evaluations.
Greenberg also fended off another kind of challenge. Cathy Graden, the mother who temporarily lost her son, sued Greenberg, accusing him of falsifying evidence against her. But Greenberg cited a decades-old principle — that, as a court-appointed expert, he was entitled to the same "absolute immunity" accorded judges — and Graden dropped her suit, figuring it was doomed.
Greenberg used the same argument to squelch other lawsuits. He became such an expert on this shield that the American Psychological Association would ask him to deliver an address on: "The Liability and Immunity of the Expert Witness."
'Laundering priests'
Although Greenberg attracted a lot of work, his judgment raised doubts.
The Roman Catholic Church sent priests accused of sexual abuse to Greenberg, to get his take on whether they could be returned to ministry without endangering congregants.
"He was really the go-to guy for the Archdiocese of Seattle, and for the Jesuits, when it came to evaluating and laundering priests," says Ken Roosa, an Anchorage attorney who has represented hundreds of people suing the church.
The enterprise was shrouded in secrecy, making it hard to say how many priests Greenberg evaluated. Asked during one lawsuit, Greenberg estimated "10 to 15."
What's clear is how easily one priest deceived Greenberg.
In 1993, the Jesuits sent Father Jim Poole to see the psychologist. Greenberg interviewed Poole for 10 hours and administered nine tests. Poole admitted violating his vow of chastity, but only to the extent of kissing and sexual touching with women.
Greenberg wrote reports saying he believed Poole was being honest and that therapy arranged by the Jesuits had "substantially remedied" his problems. "I must say that I do not think that he is conning me or himself," Greenberg wrote.
But in recommending that Poole be returned to ministry, Greenberg missed the most horrendous aspects of Poole's history. The Jesuits would later settle more than a dozen lawsuits that accused Poole, decades earlier, of raping or molesting girls as young as 6.
Poole denied raping anyone but admitted French-kissing one child dozens of times, saying: "I found it a way of trying to get across how much she was loved."
Confronted, in a lawsuit, about his misreading of Poole, Greenberg said: "The data is that psychologists are no better than anyone else at determining when someone's lying based on interview."
Greenberg also lacked judgment around the office, some employees say. Jacquie Pickrell, a psychologist who worked for Greenberg in the mid-1990s, says he violated boundaries with women employees and seemed a "narcissist."
One morning he came into the office, looking horrible. He told Pickrell he'd had a dreadful night. He described vomiting — "in horrid detail," Pickrell says — while a foot from her face.
When Pickrell advised him to go home, or at least not infect others, Greenberg went into his office, shut the door, and pouted. The next day he told Pickrell she had hurt his feelings, that he was sick and had needed a hug.
Two other women employees described being "weirded" or "creeped out" by Greenberg. One said he rubbed her shoulders; tried to make her go with him, alone, on a business trip to Alaska; and wondered aloud, while shopping for supplies, if other people in the store thought they were lovers.
An orchestrated performance
As the 1990s rolled into the next decade, Greenberg's past problems faded away.
He published in peer-reviewed journals and spoke all over the country. He chaired the committee that wrote a national certification exam for his field. His peers elected him president of the American Board of Forensic Psychology.
His hourly rate rose to $450. His fees in individual cases were known to climb from $8,000 to $12,000 to $20,000 or more. He got a 39-foot boat — "More Like It," so named because he'd had a smaller boat, saw a bigger one, thought, that's more like it, and bought one to match. He owned two houses on Capitol Hill — one for home, the other for work. His wine collection was worth $25,000.
On the side he worked at the UW as a clinical associate professor. The UW heard whispers of a troubled past, asked the state, and was told there was nothing to worry about. (The judge's sealing order prohibited disciplinary officials from saying more.)
To testify as an expert, a witness must be found qualified. Greenberg turned this into an orchestrated performance. He would hand a script to the lawyer who hired him.
Question: "Doctor, isn't it true that one of your articles has become one of the landmarks in the field?"
Response: "Well, my article with Dan Shuman on the differences between assessment by therapists and assessment by forensic examiners has been reprinted often, yes."
Greenberg's script had 32 questions in all. His answers had the effect of whispering: I am objective. I am humble. I am a giant in my field.
The hidden camera
This is the story Greenberg later told police:
He needed an air purifier. He searched the Internet. A gadget popped up that only appeared to be a purifier. The white plastic box, about 8 inches high, whirred like a purifier, but inside was a hidden camera.
Greenberg placed an order. The item was shipped to him on June 6, 2007.
Greenberg said he planned to spy on contractors remodeling a $1.8 million house he had recently bought for a new home-office. Instead, he installed the camera in his office's bathroom, used by employees and people getting psychological evaluations.
His staff became suspicious. On July 3, a psychologist who worked for Greenberg devised a test. She placed an aerosol can in front of the purifier. If this device was a camera, this would block the view. Within half an hour, Greenberg entered the bathroom, shut the door, and moved the can.
In a scene caught on videotape, he then fiddled with the lens, stared into his camera, smiled and masturbated.
Police arrested Greenberg that afternoon. A detective interviewed him in a small room. Greenberg gazed at the room's video-camera, pointed down at him. In court Greenberg had intimidated. Now his voice was barely audible. He sighed, over and over.
Greenberg told the detective he couldn't resist seeing his employees in partial undress. "I enjoyed it. ... It was fun; it was exciting. ... I didn't do this a lot. I'm not minimizing it. I know it's bad. But I didn't do it a lot."
News of Greenberg's arrest went public. At the UW, a colleague informed the psychology-department chairman that Greenberg gave an annual lecture to students titled "Ethical Issues in Forensic Psychology." "Ironic, I know," she wrote in her email.
Three weeks after his arrest, while awaiting charges, Greenberg committed suicide in a Renton hotel room. He was 59.
He left three notes on his hotel bed. In one — addressed, "To everyone I hurt" — Greenberg wrote: "I am inadequate. I just don't know. I am sorry."
He didn't say who "everyone" was. That would be for the courts to decide.
The damage done
When Greenberg died, his personal worth was estimated at $1.7 million. But the claims filed against his estate eclipsed that.
There were claims filed by employees who had been secretly videotaped in Greenberg's bathroom. There were claims filed over cases in which Greenberg failed to finish child-custody evaluations, or did work now deemed tainted or worthless.
Before Greenberg died, some parents in child-custody matters hesitated to criticize his evaluations, fearing any complaint might cost them their children. But since his death, parents have come forward, with women describing bullying tactics, saying he demanded intimate details about their sex lives, and dared them not to answer.
Once the circumstances of Greenberg's downfall became public, courts agreed to take a second look at some of his more recent cases.
In one of them, Greenberg had recommended joint custody in a case where the father had been convicted of beating the mother. Drenched in blood, she had gone to the emergency room and received 15 stitches in her head.
Greenberg branded the mother, a Microsoft employee, as emotionally unstable, saying she complained too much of the abuse she had suffered.
"I was beaten by my husband, and I was beaten up by the system," the woman told The Times. "I was accused of being crazy for not liking being beaten."
After Greenberg's arrest for voyeurism, the woman's lawyer asked to have Greenberg's report tossed out. A King County judge agreed. A new evaluator was appointed — and came to a very different conclusion.
Under the new parenting agreement, the mother is in charge.
Ken Armstrong: 206-464-3730 or karmstrong@seattletimes.com; Maureen O'Hagan: 206-464-2562 or mohagan@seattletimes.com
Boy Dies in Care
August 2, 2007
Two-year-old Gage Guimond died in his foster home in Winnipeg. Other
news reports suggest he suffered sustained physical abuse. Over a hundred
people attended his funeral, making it harder in Manitoba for child
protectors to bury their mistakes.
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August 1, 2007
Toddler mourned
Memories of 'happy boy' recalled
By ROB NAY, SUN MEDIA
Natasha Guimond, mother of two-year-old Gage Guimond,
cries at his funeral yesterday. (Chris Procaylo, Sun
Media)
A two-year-old boy was remembered as "a bright ray of
sunshine" at his funeral yesterday.
Gage Dakota Guimond died on July 22, 2007, the day
after his second birthday and two days after he was taken
to hospital in critical condition.
Stuffed toy animals, flowers and a blanket surrounded
his small coffin at the funeral service. Photos of the
boy playing in a bathtub, eating cake and smiling while
sitting on a beach faced the room filled with mourners. A
large orange card featuring a child's writing and the
words "We love you very much" sat close to the coffin.
Charged with manslaughter in Gage's death is Shirley
Guimond, 52, his great-aunt. She had Gage and his
three-year-old sister in her care at the time of the
incident. A call was made to 911 saying a child had
fallen down a flight of stairs.
As mourners entered the room for Gage's funeral, a
musician sang and played an acoustic guitar, dedicating
songs to Gage, his family and foster family.
Gage's mother, Natasha Guimond, sobbed, "I can't. I
can't," as she was led into the room, braced by people who
supported her as she struggled to walk.
Natasha temporarily gave up custody of Gage and his
three-year-old sister more than a year ago because she
wasn't ready to raise them by herself at age 18, she told
Sun Media in a previous interview.
ASKS FOR HEALING
Pastor Larry Laquette, who conducted the funeral
service, asked people to pray for every one of Gage's
family members at the funeral. He asked for healing and
restoration in people's lives.
Gage's former foster parents, Russ and Debbie
Debassige, spoke about their time with Gage and how he
came with them when they went bowling, fishing and
camping. "He was a real water baby," said Debbie
Debassige. "He loved the beach."
"Everyone who sees the photos at the front can see Gage
was a happy boy," said Russ Debassige. "We fell in love
with Gage."
While learning to walk, Gage also enjoyed visiting his
foster siblings as they went to and from school. "He was
always a bright ray of sunshine," said Debbie Debassige,
adding the sound of drums soothed the young boy.
As mourners filed past the coffin at the end of the
service, nearby musicians sang and beat on drums.
A trust fund for Natasha Guimond's surviving daughter
has been set up at the Bank of Montreal at 1010 McPhillips
St.
Adoption Warehouse
August 2, 2007
Nine lucky children found a forever home with adoptive
mother Judith Leekin. In her home they were handcuffed,
tied together and burned while being deprived of food,
education or toilet facilities. The mother earned a
six-figure income from the adoption subsidies.
This could be a case of a mother scamming the system as
suggested in the article, or another dumping ground case, in
which the child protectors get rid of their problem cases,
then blame the adoptive parent. At least in this case, the
press is focusing on money as the root of the problem.
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updated 9:44 a.m. EDT, Tue July 31, 2007
Police: Kids were adopted for profit,
abused
PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida (AP) -- They were often
handcuffed, tethered together with plastic ties and
allowed to soil themselves, investigators say. They had
scars on their wrists. Some had burns.
Police say Judith Leekin enriched herself by
adopting and neglecting nine children.
Police say Leekin bought this house and another one
with the state stipends for her adopted children.
None appeared to have more than a fourth-grade
education, not even the adults in their 20s. All were
starving.
In all, nine teenagers and young adults were held like
prisoners in Judith Leekin's home in what appeared to be a
decades-long scheme to line her pockets with the
government payments she received for adopting and raising
them, police say.
From the outside, Leekin's home appeared to be as
ordinary as the others in this well-kept working-class
neighborhood on the outskirts of this Atlantic coast town,
120 miles north of Miami. But its pink and white stucco
exterior hid the horrors inside, authorities say.
"Horrible, I think, would be the best word used to
describe what was going on in that house," said police
Capt. Scott Bartal.
Investigators have not yet confirmed the identities of
the young people and have not established how long Leekin
had them. But authorities believe she adopted all of them
in New York City under at least five aliases over two
decades.
They range in age from 15 to 27. One is blind and
mumbles. One can barely walk or stand. One can't read.
But authorities said they do not know if the handicaps are
a result of the alleged abuse.
The case came to light on July 4, some 200 miles away
across the state in St. Petersburg, when police received
a call from a grocery store that a teenager was there
wandering aimlessly. The 18-year-old woman, who said she
has been with Leekin for 13 years, said Leekin drove her
there and abandoned her after telling her they were going
to an amusement park.
Police and child welfare workers went to Leekin's home,
but found nothing awry. Just one child was with her in
the house, and Leekin told investigators the 18-year-old
ran away a year ago. But police soon returned, and this
time they found all the children, who had apparently been
hiding on Leekin's orders.
Leekin, 62, was arrested and jailed on 11 charges,
including aggravated elder and child abuse. She declined
to be interviewed. Her attorney had no comment.
According to authorities, she was unemployed and lived
off the monthly stipends provided by child welfare
authorities in New York. She owned at least two homes and
several cars. The adopted children said they had never
seen a doctor or a dentist and had not been allowed to
attend school or even leave the house.
"These people have not received any formal education in
the time they've been with her," Bartal said. "At times
when they were restricted with handcuffs or zip ties,
during the night, they soiled themselves because they
weren't permitted to go to the bathroom."
They were fed only noodles, and "they would have
eventually starved to death," Bartal said.
The 18-year-old told police Leekin threatened to cut
her head off if she told anyone what was happening,
authorities said.
"Was there any kind of emotional attachment? Yes, it
was fear," Bartal said.
Child welfare workers in New York said they are still
digging through paperwork to determine how Leekin came to
gain custody. It was not until 1999 that New York City
child-welfare authorities began fingerprinting adults who
adopted children out of foster care.
If Leekin did adopt them in New York City, she could
have been making as much as $180,000 a year for a time.
Parents who adopt special needs children can get as much
as $55 a day.
"If you adopt a child out of the foster care system,
you receive a stipend to help with the child's care, to
cover clothing and food, and whatever additional costs are
involved with caring for the child until the child turns
21," said Sharman Stein, spokeswoman for the New York City
Administration for Children's Services.
There is no legal requirement that a person adopting a
child from New York City's foster care system live in New
York State.
The Florida Department of Children & Families
authorities investigated a complaint of child abuse
against Leekin in 1999, but the case was later closed.
Officials would not give details.
"Right now we're just concentrating on the care of the
victims, making sure they get the medical attention and
psychological care they need," department spokeswoman
Ellen Higinbotham said. "These adults, they're like
elderly people, they're frail and vulnerable."
In Leekin's neighborhood, residents said they were
shocked.
"You'd think she was your grandmother. There was
nothing suspicious at all," neighbor Jim Hammond said.
"We never heard anything from over there, no hollering, no
screaming. She was just a nice lady."
Addendum: From later news, it is
clear that social services used Judith Leekin to dump
problem children. Just about all of the children in her
care had mental handicaps. If this case follows the usual
pattern, the adoptive mom will be the target of public
outrage and put away for a long time. The social workers
who dumped their children with her will escape scrutiny.
One teenager, Mo, died in Mrs Leekin's care.
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Aug 16, 2007 3:18 pm US/Eastern
Florida Judge Wants N.Y. Adoption
Records
Says They Are Relevant To Leekin Abuse Case
(AP) FORT PIERCE, Fla. A New York judge must decide
whether to unseal confidential adoption records, after a
Florida court ruled Thursday that they are relevant in the
criminal case against a woman accused of abusing 11
adopted children.
Judith Leekin, 62, of Port St. Lucie, is accused of
bilking New York City out of $1.26 million in a scheme
that involved adopting the children under four aliases to
line her pockets with subsidies for their care.
Authorities say the children, now ages 15 to 27, were
severely abused, that none have more than a fourth grade
education, and all suffer from physical and mental
disabilities.
Leekin has pleaded not guilty to the abuse charges.
Circuit Judge James McCann's ruling opens the door for
Florida prosecutors to now ask a New York judge to unseal
the adoption records.
Prosecutor Marshall Evans said the New York adoption
records are needed to confirm the identities of the
victims.
The records could also help locate a missing 11th
adopted child, prosecutors say. Nine of the children and
disabled adults are in Florida state care. A 19-year-old
who police say Leekin abandoned in 2004 remains on his
own.
The children and adults told police the 11th victim, an
18-year-old boy nicknamed "MO" who suffered from Down's
syndrome or autism, died sometime in 1999 or 2000.
"Other than his name and date of birth and a nickname,
we know very little about him," Port St. Lucie Police
Detective Stuart Klearman told the judge Thursday. "The
children have been led to believe that he died but we
don't have any record of that."
Klearman also said police need the records to track
down the victims' biological parents for DNA comparisons
to determine their true identities.
"We do not know for 100 percent fact ... that any of
these children are the children adopted out of New York,"
Klearman said. "They could be almost anybody."
He said copies of their birth certificates obtained
from Leekin appear "suspicious."
Klearman also said the victims are now becoming
curious.
"They're asking questions -- 'Who are we?"' he said.
Leekin's attorney, Mario Garcia, argued that the
adoption records were not relevant in the abuse case.
Outside court, Garcia said the victims received medical
care and were taken care of by Leekin.
Garcia also said the Florida Department of Children
& Families took custody on Wednesday of the children
of Desmond Leekin, who is Leekin's biological son.
Desmond Leekin has been questioned by investigators and
has said he did not know his mother had all the adopted
children in her home.
A telephone message left for the Florida agency was not
immediately returned. A telephone listing for Desmond
Leekin could not be found.
Parents have No Rights
August 2, 2007
The Supreme Court of Canada has issued an important decision in a case in
which a child was taken from her parents for an imaginary cause. The care
of children by the social services system is too important to allow
professionals to be concerned by parental rights. The Supreme Court agrees
with the listing of parental rights
on our parody page.
Here is the operative part of the opinion:
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The deciding factor in this case is the potential for conflicting
duties: imposing a duty of care in respect of the relationship between
the family of a child in care and that child’s court‑ordered service
providers creates a genuine potential for “serious and significant”
conflict with the service providers’ transcendent statutory duty to
promote the best interests, protection and well‑being of the children in
their care. When a child is placed in the temporary care of the
Children’s Aid Society, or if Crown wardship is ordered, the Child and
Family Services Act creates an inherently adversarial relationship between
parents and the state. The fact that the interests of the parents and of
the child may occasionally align does not diminish the concern that in
many if not most of the cases, conflict is inevitable. While it is true
that ss. 1 and 37(3) of the Child and Family Services Act, which the
family seeks to rely on to ground proximity, make reference to the family,
nothing in them detracts from the Act’s overall and determinative emphasis
on the protection and promotion of the child’s best interests, not those
of the family. Furthermore, the treatment centre and B are providing
services to R.D. in a treatment context, a context that invokes medical
paradigms of confidentiality and privacy. To recognize a duty to parents
in this context could also result in conflicting duties in the provision
of medical treatment to children who have been removed from their parents’
custody. It is very difficult to see how different professionals,
including doctors and social workers, could all effectively work together
if some of them owed a duty other than to the child/patient. Lastly, the
conclusion that there is no proximity is reinforced by two additional
reflections of legislative policy. The first is that the Act itself
provides a remedy for families seeking to challenge the way their child is
treated. The second is that there is a clear legislative intent to
protect those working in the child protection field from liability for the
good faith exercise of their statutory duty, and this intent is reflected
in statutory immunity provisions. Since the statutory mandate is to treat
the child’s interests as paramount, there is, where the duties to the
child have been performed in accordance with the statute, no liability to
the family.
In case the link is altered, you should be able to
find the decision from the citation:
SUPREME COURT OF CANADA, Syl Apps Secure Treatment
Centre v. B.D., 2007 SCC 38, Date: 20070727, Docket:
31404.
Anna Mae He Back Home
July 24, 2007
The parents of Anna Mae He give their newborn daughter temporarily to a
Tennessee couple while they worked out their financial problems. The
fosters refused to return the girl when the parents wanted her back, and
even legally adopted the girl through a Tennessee court. It took years of
litigation for the Tennessee Supreme Court to state the obvious, that
failure to visit the girl when kept away by force did not amount to
abandonment. Even after the courts ruled against them, the baby-snatchers
held on through another six months of foot-dragging. Now the girl is
finally back with mom and dad.
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Associated Press
Girl, 8, Back With Chinese Parents
By WOODY BAIRD 07.23.07, 5:33 PM ET
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -
A Chinese couple regained legal custody of their
8-year-old daughter Monday after a seven-year fight to get
her back from what was supposed to be temporary foster
care.
Judge Curtis Person of Memphis Juvenile Court signed an
order returning custody of Anna Mae He to parents
Shaoqiang and Qin Luo He, Chinese citizens who came to the
United States so Shaoqiang He could attend college.
The order revoked the temporary guardianship by Jerry
and Louise Baker, former foster parents who had tried to
adopt the girl over her parents' objections.
"As far as custody goes, that's it," said David Siegel,
the Hes' lawyer. "That's no longer an issue. That's
nothing that will ever be an issue again."
The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled in January that Anna
Mae He must be reunited with her parents, and she began a
series of meetings with them in March. Those meetings,
which progressed to overnight stays and weekend visits,
were overseen by a lawyer and psychologist appointed by
the Juvenile Court.
In his custody order, Person said the Supreme Court
mandate had been fulfilled.
"I want everyone to know she will have a bright
future," Shaoqiang He said in a telephone interview
Monday. He said he expects to return to China with his
family after Anna Mae has settled in.
Psychologists helping her adjust to leaving one family
for another will decide whether she has further contact
with the Bakers, who took her in when she was just less
than a month old, He said.
"That depends on Anna Mae and her emotional and
psychological needs," He said. "We want to do the best
for her."
In its ruling, the state Supreme Court overturned a
decision by a Memphis judge that took away the Hes'
parental rights. That decision in 2004 followed a trial
at which the Bakers argued Anna Mae would have a better
life in suburban America than in China.
"I want her to have both cultures, Asian heritage and
American culture," He said. "But from today on, she will
never have to hide her Chinese heritage. I want her to
have pride in it."
The Bakers' lawyer, Larry Parrish, issued a written
statement last week saying that they had ended their
custody fight. The Bakers contend Anna Mae will be
emotionally devastated by leaving the only family she has
known, "but further delaying the execution of what she
must now suffer cannot be expected to help," Parrish
wrote.
The high court said the Hes were penalized because they
did not understand the American legal system and thought
they were giving up their daughter temporarily so she
could get health insurance. The family hit hard financial
times when Shaoqiang He lost his graduate school
scholarship and student stipend at the University of
Memphis.
He also lost his student visa, but the immigration
courts have held off on deportation proceedings because of
the custody fight.
"I have to leave the United States," He said. "I
promised the immigration judge I would take the voluntary
departure after the custody issues were resolved."
But He said he hopes his family, which includes a son
and another daughter born during the custody fight, can
stay in the United States a while longer.
"I hope for the sake of Anna Mae's welfare they can
give us ... one year or two years until Anna Mae is well
adjusted," he said. Going to China sooner "might be too
big a change for her right now."
Boy Protected with Pepper Spray
July 23, 2007
Here is more on the story of the still-anonymous mother who resisted
child protectors with force. In a repeat of the Emily Lake seizure the cops "protected" a
boy by hitting him with pepper spray. We wonder how safe he feels now
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Police pepper-sprayed boy during standoff
with mom: witness
Last Updated: Friday, July 20, 2007 | 7:27 AM NT, CBC
News
St. John's police officers used pepper spray on a boy
during a confrontation in which he and his siblings were
seized from their defiant mother, her boyfriend says.
Sheriff's deputies escort a St. John's mother to
provincial court on Thursday. (CBC)
The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary was called to the
woman's home on Cookstown Road, near downtown St. John's,
on Wednesday night to assist child protection workers who
had arrived to take three children into custody.
The woman, however, refused to co-operate and
barricaded her family inside the house in a confrontation
that went on for hours.
At one point, police said, she swung a baseball bat at
an officer's head, grazing but not injuring it.
"She didn't want them to go," the boyfriend, who was at
the house during what he called a "crazy" confrontation,
told CBC News.
His girlfriend "told the youngsters to sit down. [They
were] running around, frightened to death."
CBC News is not identifying the woman or her boyfriend
in order to protect the children's identities.
Const. Paul Davis said incidents like the Cookstown
Road confrontation are unusual. (CBC)
The boyfriend said the woman's 12-year-old son was
pepper-sprayed while he used a stick to keep a police
officer from climbing through a window.
At that time, he said, the mother reached for a
baseball bat.
The RNC confirmed pepper spray was used in the
incident, but would not say on whom.
Const. Paul Davis said while officers are commonly
called to escort social workers who remove children from
homes, incidents like the Cookstown Road confrontation are
unusual.
"It took a little bit of time," Davis said.
"It was a barricaded situation for a short period of
time. We were able to resolve that without anybody being
injured."
The RNC called a negotiator in to resolve the
situation.
The mother appeared in provincial court on Thursday on
a charge of assaulting a police officer. She was released
until her next court appearance.
The children — the 12-year-old boy, his 11-year-old
sister and their two-year-old brother — are in the
custody of child protection officials.
Mother Defends Children
July 20, 2007
A Newfoundland mother has used force to defend her family from child
protectors coming to take her children. Because there are no names in the
story, we will not be able to bring you a follow-up.
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St. John's woman arrested after
child-protection standoff
Last Updated: Thursday, July 19, 2007 | 7:20 AM NT CBC
News
Police arrested a St. John's woman following a
confrontation that erupted after child protection workers
arrived to remove children from her home.
The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary was called to a
Cookstown Road home at about 9:45 p.m. to assist Child,
Youth and Family Services employees, who were attempting
to take three children into protection.
Police said the woman refused to co-operate with social
workers, and had barricaded her door so that officers
could not force their way in.
The confrontation lasted several hours, the RNC said.
The woman eventually gave up, although the RNC said the
woman swung a baseball bat at one officer. The bat grazed
the officer's head, although he was not injured.
The woman, 33, is scheduled to appear in court Thursday
on charges of assault with a weapon, uttering threats and
obstructing a police officer.
Smoking Gun Moves
July 20, 2007
Sarnia's Smoking Gun, site of discussions regarding
children's aid societies, has moved to a new web location.
It is: svb3d.no-ip.biz/ssg/.
Girl Escapes Foster Home
July 17, 2007
In April we reported on the disappearance of Sara Linklater, found the next day. Now she is
missing again, this time from a foster home near Grimsby Ontario. She has
twice voted with her feet against the quality of her foster care.
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Hamilton cops hunt for missing girl, 10
Sara Anne Linklater went missing Thursday.
July 15, 2007
BY DANA BORCEA
Police are appealing for help finding a 10-year-old
girl who went missing from Waterdown.
Sara Anne Linklater recently moved from the Sudbury
area to live in Smithville, near Grimsby. Mountain Staff
Sergeant Bob Watts said while at an event at Parkside High
School, she reportedly drove away in a car around 2:30
p.m.
Less than an hour later, the car was found abandoned at
Guelph Line and the QEW in Burlington.
Police said Sara ‘looks and behaves older than she
is.”
Foul play is not suspected in her disappearance. But
police said she is considered a high risk because of her
age.
He said Sara was relatively new to the area and may be
trying to hitch hike north to visit relatives and friends
in Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie or Manitoulin Island.
“We are looking for any information from someone who
may have seen her that could give us a clue,” said
Watts.
Hamilton police have notified First Nations police and
the OPP that she could be coming to their area.
Sara is described as native with a dark complexion,
black hair kept in a pony tail. She was wearing a black
tank top, flared blue jeans and white running shoes.
Anyone with information is asked to call their local
police service or Hamilton police at 905-546-3886 or Crime
Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
dborcea@thespec.com, 905-526-3214
Ex-Cop helps Court Watch
July 17, 2007
Canada Court Watch now has a former policeman who will help in
interviewing victims of the family court system.
Ex Police officer helps in efforts to
restore justice to family courts
(July 16, 2007) - An ex police officer who acknowledges
that he has seen how family courts are responsible for
many injustices against children and families has offered
his services to conduct videotaped interviews of children
who have been physically or emotionally abused or who have
had their rights and freedoms violated while in the care
of the CAS or by other agencies during family court
proceedings. A growing number of professionals have
contacted Court Watch in recent months to express their
concern about what they see are a growing number of
legitimate complaints against the family court system, the
CAS and the Office of the Children's Lawyer. These
professionals are asking what they can do to help restore
justice in our courts. If you have a child who has been
abused by the system and who is willing to speak out on
videotape, then please contact Court Watch by email at
info@canadacourtwatch.com
Damaged Son
July 17, 2007
A mother using screen name Amy has posted the story of
her son, returned from two years in CAS care and damaged
beyond her ability to repair.
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child messed up
Amy
Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2007 3:36 pm
I do not think that I am the only one who has finally
got there kid back from the CAS to find they are very
messed up. A year or more of trauma at their hands will
do that. So the traumatized kinda messed up kid gets
returned and I find that because of the CAS repeatedly
degrading me, cutting me down and making me seem powerless
in front of them I have so little respect from my child
left to be able to help him. So how do we regain parental
respect back and work despite what the CAS has spent along
time damaging and taking away?
This child was removed because a really dumb negligent
unqualified CAS worker heard through the school that I was
taking my child to a psychiatrist for help. I had just
set up an appointment for my child when he was removed by
this worker alleging that — this is true and is on
the warrant to apprehend and in court record — I
was seeking metal health help for the child. This worker
who met my child once decided on his own that he did not
need it and apprehended him (to save him from seeing an
expert) and thus put my son through hell and prevented any
of the help I was seeking for my son. The fact I was
seeking help was used against me. This worker alleged
that I was mentally ill, despite the professional reports
to the contrary.
Now two years later, I am still not treated for any
mental health issues I do not have and my son still needs
help. But now he is over the age where I can force him.
Before I could. This was when they took him and prevented
me from getting him this help. He is now without the help
I wanted to get for him before and I believe he is worse.
Now with the added trauma from the CAS he will not
leave the house. He will not socialize. He rarely
showers or changes clothes. He is very verbally abusive.
He shot up our last house with his bow and arrow leaving
holes in most of our walls. Well he did it again.
Shooting out my window and making holes in freshly painted
walls. He has also come close to starting fires and has
damaged furniture with fires. Now I am told that he is
too old to force into treatment. I am told that I can
throw him out and this will force him into treatment. I
do not want a throw-away kid and having seen what
government organizations have done so far (CAS) sure do
not want to trust them any further.
The CAS spent all this time tearing me down in my
child's eyes and diminishing me, making it even harder to
parent and get his respect enough to get him help. Nope
he calls me all the names that the CAS told him I was,
delusional, crazy, etc (for trying to get him help). He
continues to damage the house, start fires, destroy rooms
and runs into his room whenever anyone comes over.
The CAS are out now, but how do I fix up the mess they
made now and get my son help so he can have a quality of
life?
Chambers Quitting
July 13, 2007
Ontario is about to lose its Minister of Children and Youth Services.
Mary Anne Chambers has decided not to be a candidate in the provincial
election this October. Her predecessor, Marie Bountrogianni, is also
quitting politics.
Among the comments to the Globe and Mail:
- al isinwonderland from Canada writes:
Leaving for health reasons, I hope it is nothing more
serious than coming down with a bout of honesty.
- Karol Karolak from Canada writes:
It is tough job having to defend Liberal policy of baby
snatching and baby selling.
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Ontario Liberals lose cabinet minister
Chambers
Canadian Press, July 11, 2007 at 12:02 PM EDT
TORONTO — The Liberals are losing another female
cabinet minister this fall.
Toronto-area politician Mary Anne Chambers says she is
not running again in the October election.
The minister of children and youth services says she is
not seeking re-election for unspecified health reasons.
Ms. Chambers says it was a difficult decision to make
but she is proud of her accomplishments since her election
in 2003.
Premier Dalton McGuinty says Ms. Chambers worked
tirelessly and with great passion for the province's most
vulnerable residents.
Ms. Chambers is the latest Liberal woman leaving
politics — Hamilton cabinet minister Marie Bountrogianni
and backbencher Jennifer Mossop both announced they won't
be seeking re-election in October either.
Hession on CPS
July 11, 2007
Massachusetts family lawyer Gregory Hession has written an article for
the New American, a publication of the John Birch Society. While the
mainstream press informs us of the antics of Paris Hilton, it is left to the
specialty press to deal with the serious issues. Hession covers every stage
in the protection process from the snitch network to the drugging of foster
children to keep them docile.
There are reasons why the system does a bad job.
Colleges churn out hordes of 23-year-old social-work
graduates, childless and clueless, who are sent into homes
to make life-changing decisions. Their formal education
is grounded in doctrinaire Marxism and feminism, and they
believe in their viscera that the state should communally
raise children.
Another disincentive to changing the system is the fact
that social workers are given legal immunity for almost
any discretionary decision no matter what harm results to
the children. Social workers exercise virtually unlimited
power over families, with little accountability to anyone
for overreaching or even for egregious offenses.
Read the full article on the website of the John Birch Society, or
our local
copy.
Mother Flees to Save Baby
July 11, 2007
Police are looking for a mother, Jessilyn Paulhus, who has left Toronto
with her baby. If she is found, her baby, Ryan Tenhave, will be taken and
she will likely never see him again. If she keeps the baby, she will have
to live in the shadows where it will be hard to get food for him. Will
anyone suggest an amnesty to save this boy?
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Police Search For Mother And Missing
5-Month-Old Boy
Tuesday July 10, 2007, CityNews.ca Staff
He's just an infant, too young to know the fuss his
presence - and absence - has caused. But Toronto Police
have issued a notice about him, and are hoping you know
where he - and his missing mother - is. They're concerned
about 20-year-old Jessilyn Paulhus and her son Ryan
Tenhave. The reason - the boy is only five months old and
but weighs just 12 lbs. The Children's Aid Society had
been monitoring the child until June 29th - when the
mother and the kid suddenly disappeared from the
Sherbourne and Carlton St. area.
Police aren't accusing the young mom of anything, but
say they're worried about the welfare of the baby.
"There's a warrant to apprehend the child," Detective Hugh
Wong tells CityNews.ca. "The child would be taken into
custody" as a safety precaution so the C.A.S. could
continue to reassure itself the infant's in good
condition.
Paulhus's mother lives out west and police here think
she may have gone to either Calgary or B.C. But they need
to find little Ryan to be sure he's O.K. The 20-year-old
shouldn't be hard to spot. She has several distinguishing
features that would be hard to hide. She's described as:
- White,
- 5'7",
- 115 lbs.,
- Light-brown hair shaved on the left side and longer on
the right side
- Pierced tongue.
The 5-month-old is:
- White,
- 2',
- 12 lbs.,
- Light-brown hair,
- Blue eyes
- Fair complexion.
Cops were only informed of their absence a few days ago
when the C.A.S. confirmed they were gone. If you know
where they are now, call (416) 808-5100 or Crime Stoppers
anonymously at (416) 222-TIPS.
Addendum: Police have found the
pair. As usual in this kind of case, they were astonished
to find that the mother had not harmed her own baby.
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July 13, 2007
Missing mom and son found
By DOUG MCINTYRE
Cops have located a Toronto mother and her infant son
reported missing earlier this week.
Toronto police enlisted the help of their Calgary
colleagues after Jessilyn Paulhus, 20, and her
five-month-old son Ryan Tenhave went missing last Friday.
At the time, it was believed the pair were headed to,
or already in, Calgary or B.C.
Although police initially had concerns about the
welfare of the infant, both mother and son were found
unharmed.
Girl Missing
July 10, 2007
The OPP and children's aid society are looking for a missing girl, Tasha
Lavigne. The press release is silent about her living arrangements before
her disappearance, so it is possible she ran away from CAS custody.
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SooToday.com
Mattawa girl missing
By SooToday.com Staff,
Monday, July 09, 2007
OPP NEWS RELEASE
*****************************
Request for public assistance in locating
youth
MATTAWA, ON - (July 9) - The Children's Aid Society and
the North Bay Ontario Provincial Police are requesting
assistance in locating 12-year-old Tasha Lavigne.
Tasha was last seen in Mattawa on Friday, June 22, 2007
and is believed to be in the North Bay area.
Tasha is five-feet, two-inches tall and approximately
120 pounds with dark brown shoulder-length hair and brown
eyes.
She has a fair complexion with pierced ears.
She was last seen wearing blue jeans and a brown
sweater and black running shoes with burgundy laces.
Any one having information or knowing her whereabouts
are requested to call the OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or Crime
Stoppers at 1-705-942-7867.
*****************************
Addendum: The girl was reported
found on July 18.
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Police track down missing Mattawa girl
Thursday, July 19, 2007 @ 08:00
Ontario Provincial Police said Wednesday they have
found a girl reported missing Monday.
Tasha Lavigne, 12, of Mattawa, hadn't been seen since
June 22 when she was reported missing.
Barrie Rally
July 7, 2007
On Friday, July 6 thirty supporters of Canada Court Watch participated in
an awareness event at the Barrie courthouse and surrounding areas. Flyers
were handed to persons entering and leaving the courthouse for three hours.
The manpower was large enough that leaflets were distributed throughout the
city concurrently, so all activities were concluded by noon. A barbecue at
the waterfront concluded the event.
Here are copies of the flyers:
Jury Disowns Parents
July 4, 2007
A Utah couple, James and Connie Roska, had their children taken
without cause in 1999. After years of successful litigation
in appellate courts they got a jury trial for damages. The
jury awarded them $2 for their suffering.
This case illustrates a prerequisites for reform of child
protection. It is not enough to write letters to newspaper
editors or politicians. It is important as well to get the
message out to people not yet involved with the child
protection system.
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Skeptical jury awards just $2 for parents'
pain over son's improper removal by state
But 1999 incident helped change
family-rights laws
By Kirsten Stewart, The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:07/03/2007 08:53:46 AM MDT
DCFS case workers Melinda Sneddon, left, and Colleen
Lasater leave Federal Court on Monday after getting a
verdict in their favor regarding the Roska family
lawsuit against DCFS. (Francisco Kjolseth/The Salt
Lake Tribune)
After watching Utah child-welfare caseworkers drive off
with her 12-year-old son, Connie Roska collapsed on the
front lawn of her Layton home.
She doesn't remember how she got back into the house.
But the hurt remains fresh for Roska and her husband,
James, who testified tearfully in U.S. District Court
last week about harms suffered due to Rusty's wrongful
removal May 28, 1999. Sleepless nights, a missed
graduation ceremony, depression and general distrust of
governmental authorities were the suffering for which the
Roskas said they deserve compensation.
It wasn't enough to sway a jury, which Monday rejected
the couple's injury claim, awarding $2 in nominal damages.
Monday's verdict caps a six-day trial and nearly
eight-year legal battle, which helped drive changes to
Utah law aimed at safeguarding parents' rights.
But those changes are meaningless, if "you can violate
the law without being punished," said the Roskas' lawyer
Steven Russell. The Roskas left the courthouse Monday in
tears and declined to comment.
The Roskas sued Shirley Morrison, a caseworker at
Utah's Division of Child and Family Services, and her two
supervisors, Colleen Lasater and Melinda Sneddon. A
federal appeals court earlier had ruled the trio violated
Utah law - and could be held personally liable - by taking
Rusty into protective care without first offering services
to his parents.
Caseworkers also violated the 14th Amendment of the
U.S. Constitution by taking Rusty without a hearing or
warrant, their attorneys acknowledged.
But Utah Assistant Attorney General Matthew Bates asked
jurors to "cut these social workers a little slack."
Bates said caseworkers are caring professionals who
"work in an extremely demanding and thankless job" and
said they followed their training.
"Folks, you don't get damages just because your
constitutional rights were violated," Bates said. "This
isn't 'The Price Is Right.' [The Roskas] need to prove
they were injured."
Caseworkers argued they had no choice but to remove
Rusty, who they feared was a victim of abuse, and that
removals without due process were common in the late '90s.
The practice led Morrison, who worked for the division for
one year, to later become an advocate for falsely accused
families.
In a taped phone call to the Roskas' attorney, she
condemned the state's "Gestapo-style" tactics and agreed
to be a witness for the Roskas. That changed when the
Roskas sued.
Utah law since has been changed to require a warrant or
hearing before removal, unless there's an emergency.
Still, Russell called caseworkers' claims of ignorance
"an outrage," citing division training manuals
underscoring that removal should be a last resort.
The Roskas alleged caseworkers yelled profanities and
shoved children out of their way during Rusty's removal.
Sneddon told Roska if she didn't carry Rusty out to the
van, she would "drag him up the stairs," Russell said.
A neuropsychologist who examined the family said Rusty
Roska, now 21 and living in his parents' home, and his
parents display symptoms of post-traumatic stress
disorder. Connie has coped by trying to "save the world,"
working as a parental-rights advocate, while her husband
"retreated from the world," Russell said. "He lost the
trust of his son and the trust of himself as a father. He
still blames himself for what happened."
Bates questioned the Roskas' damage claims, noting each
had struggled with mental illnesses before Rusty's
removal. "Jim still has a job. Connie runs a day care,"
he said. "They appear to be living normal lives."
Russell said the Roskas have nearly exhausted their
chances to appeal, though they may revive injury claims
for their children.
The state had twice offered to settle with the Roskas;
once for $100,000 and again for a more generous sum.
Russell said suing the state wasn't an option for the
Roskas due to Utah's immunity statute. He fears the
verdict will have a chilling effect on future lawsuits.
"I can't imagine anyone wanting to go through this after
this trial."
kstewart@sltrib.com
The case in brief
Rhode Island has Real Child Advocate
July 2, 2007
In January 2005 Rhode Island governor Donald L Carcieri appointed Jametta
O Alston to be the state's child advocate press release. Last Thursday
she filed a suit alleging that children are being abused and killed in
foster care. Contrast that to Ontario, where the child advocate interviews
children and urges hiring more foster parents, all while ignoring the 83
children who died last year under CAS watch.
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Governor vows to 'get to the bottom'
of foster care lawsuit
The Associated Press
By Eric Tucker, Associated Press Writer | July 2,
2007
PROVIDENCE, R.I. --Gov. Don Carcieri vowed Monday to
"get to the bottom" of allegations contained in a federal
lawsuit that the state's foster care system is so broken
that children have been placed back with foster parents
who abused them, shuttled between more than a dozen homes
or even killed in foster care.
"Are the allegations in fact true? Do we have any
failings in terms of procedure or policy? Do we have
possibly some bad decisions being made?" Carcieri said
after a meeting with state child advocate Jametta Alston,
who filed the lawsuit Thursday. "I don't know any of that
right now, but we're going to get to the bottom of it."
Alston brought the lawsuit, which is seeking class
action status, on behalf of the 3,000 children currently
in Rhode Island's foster care system. The lawsuit cites
federal data that show Rhode Island had the nation's
highest rate of abuse or neglect of foster care children
in five of the six years between 2000 and 2005.
"If we have youngsters that are being abused that are
in our care ... I want it to stop now, and I want to get
to the bottom of it," Carcieri said.
Ten children were identified with pseudonyms in the
complaint, which included disturbing allegations about
their cases and the foster care system.
For instance, the suit says the Department of Children,
Youth and Families returned two brothers to their parents
even though one of the boys had reported being sexually
abused by his father. The month after they were returned,
the complaint says, one boy had a bruise around his eye
and one had a large mark on his neck.
The lawsuit says one 5-year-old boy was sexually
assaulted in his foster home, while another child spent
time in more than 14 different homes and institutions --
including one where he was allegedly sexually abused by a
roommate.
Patricia Martinez, the director of the department --
which was sued along with the governor -- said she could
not comment on any of the alleged abuse cases since her
staff was still in the early stages of investigating them.
But she said she was troubled by the allegations.
"If we find that we failed a system, that a provider
failed, then you bet that we will take corrective
actions," Martinez said.
Some of the cases are already several years old, so
some of the staff members involved in these cases may no
longer be associated with the department, Martinez said.
The suit says caseworkers are so overburdened that
children might not get a visit from them for months and
contends that children languish for long periods of time
in the foster care system because the department is slow
in finding them permanent adoptive homes.
Carcieri said Monday that Alston had given him the full
names of the children cited in the lawsuit. He said he
would be briefed Tuesday by DCYF about their cases and
that it was possible that caseworkers would be fired if
they knew about problems but did not fix them.
Problems at the department came to the public's
attention after 3-year-old T.J. Wright died in foster
care in 2004. His aunt and her live-in boyfriend have
pleaded not guilty to beating him to death. Their cases
have not reached trial.
Carcieri and Alston said they did not discuss specifics
of the lawsuit during their conversation but instead
focused on ways to improve communication. The governor
said he had not been aware of the alleged abuse until he
read news accounts of the lawsuit.
Lisa Guillette, executive director of the Rhode Island
Foster Parents Association, said it's critical that
caseworkers have manageable workloads since they're relied
upon to identify problems.
"The stories of the plaintiffs demonstrate systemic
failure in a lot of ways -- lack of oversight, lack of
adequate support for the children and the placements that
are serving them," Guillette said.
Addendum: Here is a copy of the complaint (pdf).
Addendum: The suit came to an end on April 29,
2009. Children's Rights Inc had a hand in creating this lawsuit, though
they were not in the headlines when it started.
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Child advocate’s suit over DCYF care dismissed
01:00 AM EDT on Friday, May 1, 2009, By Katie Mulvaney, Journal Staff Writer
Alston
PROVIDENCE — A federal judge has dismissed a sweeping lawsuit that alleged widespread abuse of the children in Department of Children, Youth and Families care, saying the state’s child advocate, who brought the suit on behalf of 10 children, had no standing in the case.
Senior U.S. District Judge Ronald R. Lagueux ruled Wednesday that Child Advocate Jametta O. Alston and others who backed the suit had no authority to proceed because the children they claimed to represent are already in the jurisdiction of the state Family Court, where their guardians had been appointed.
Alston and the child-advocacy organization, Children’s Rights, pursued the suit in June 2007 on behalf of the 3,000 children now in state custody, with the aim to overhaul Rhode Island’s entire foster-care system. The suit alleged children in DCYF care were being molested, beaten and, in one high-profile case, killed. Her suit claimed staff faced excessive caseloads and that too many children were being placed in institutions and group homes, or being reunited with abusive parents.
The suit named Governor Carcieri, Jane Hayward, former secretary of the Office of Health and Human Services, and DCYF Director Patricia Martinez as defendants, and charged that the child-welfare system is underfunded, understaffed and mismanaged.
The state asked that the case be dismissed in arguments before Lagueux in January 2008. Lawyers questioned the remedy sought — namely that Alston wanted the court to take control of the DCYF. They argued the case belonged in Family Court, not federal court.
Governor Carcieri, who appointed Alston, praised the decision. “We are pleased with the ruling as we can now concentrate our time and resources on continuous enhancements to the state’s child-welfare system,” Carcieri said in a news release.
The DCYF has worked diligently in the past few years on improvements that have reduced caseloads and the number of children in residential placements, as well as psychiatric hospitalizations, he said.
Alston planned to appeal, saying the ruling leaves in place a system where some children are languishing and not getting needed services. “I still believe children are suffering in our system,” Alston said.
Recent changes involve early intervention, to keep children out of foster care, but do not guarantee well-trained staff and manageable caseloads, she said.
Lagueux’s decision rested on Alston’s ability to bring suit for the 10 children named. A minor may only bring suit when represented by a “next friend” or guardian appointed by the court. Lagueux questioned the three people acting as “next friends” for the children in the case, saying their relationships with the children were minimal or nonexistent.
One “next friend” had been a foster mother for one child from 1996 to 1998, but had not seen the boy in 10 years. Another knew one boy from her time working as a psychologist for his kindergarten class; she had not seen him since June 2007, Lagueux wrote.
The remaining eight children — three of whom are no longer in DCYF care — were to be represented by an associate professor of sociology at Brown University who had never met them, Lagueux said.
Lagueux said he was reluctant to appoint those individuals because the children already have court-appointed advocates who are representing their interests in cases in state Family Court. The court, he said, is hesitant to find that the “next friends” knew the children well enough to make the decision to prosecute the case on their behalf. It would impose a burden on the children that would likely require them to testify about abuse they had suffered at their own families’ hands, he said.
THE CHILDREN come from five families and range from 2 to 16 years in age, according to Lagueux’s ruling. They include “David T.,” who is institutionalized after being shuffled between shelters, foster homes and mental hospitals from age 2. He is now deemed “too damaged” for adoption.
“Sam” and “Tony M.” entered the state foster system when one was 4 years old and the other an infant. They were allowed to return home, where they suffered brutal physical and sexual abuse. Both boys are now institutionalized and separated.
Lagueux noted that Alston had not been involved in their Family Court cases.
Alston said yesterday that she had chosen the 10 children because their experiences were indicative of rampant problems in the state’s foster-care system. Lagueux’s decision, she said, does not address the failings the suit is trying to stop.
“It only further delays getting relief for these children who so desperately need the assistance of the court,” said Marcia Robinson Lowry, Children’s Rights’ executive director.
Typically, a judge would give a party an opportunity to select another “next friend,” not dismiss the case, she said. “He simply closed the courtroom doors on these children.”
Further, Lowry said, state law empowers Alston to bring suit on the children’s behalf. The child advocate’s stated mission is to protect the legal rights of children in state care and to promote policies and practices that ensure their safety.
Children’s Rights has filed class-action lawsuits over child-welfare systems in 14 other states, winning court-ordered improvements in 9 states and Washington, D.C.
DCYF officials said they will continue to strive for improvements. “DCYF is committed to provide the highest level of services to children and their families, and these many achievements could not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of the DCYF staff, providers and community partners,” said Patricia Martinez, director of DCYF in a news release.
Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, whose lawyers helped argue the state’s case, stopped short of praising Lagueux’s opinion.
“In ruling on a motion to dismiss, the court must accept as true the plaintiffs’ version of the facts as stated in their complaint. …” Lynch said. “Although we can all agree that our state must do a better job of caring for the children in its custody, it would have been the wrong approach to ask the federal court to assume control of Rhode Island’s child-welfare and foster-care systems.”
kmulvane@projo.com
Girls Stolen in BC
July 2, 2007
Here is a YouTube video of three girls stolen from
mom and dad in British Columbia. Controversial material often
disappears from YouTube in a few days, so watch now. The parents describe
their own video as:
Added: June 29, 2007
From: abusiveministry
3 sisters taken out of the blue from ... 3 sisters
taken out of the blue from their home, separated,
isolated, interrogated for months, lied to by the police
and social workers. The girls call it jail. They want to
see each other more, see their
friends, and go home. But BC MCFD have their best
interests at heart by antagonizing them to hate the system
they have been thrown into. They are not allowed to talk
about any thing that happens to them in foster care no
matter how outrageous or abusive. If they really have our
children's best interests at heart what is BC MCFD trying
to hide by not letting the children be allowed to speak
out about their feelings and thoughts.
www.abusive-ministry.ca/ — Sign on and tell
your story.
The newspaper article below gives some idea of
the chaotic state of the social services system in the
province, and why it is impossible for parents to
get their children back.
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Victoria(British Columbia) Times-Colonist
June 20, 2001
Column: A Closer Look
Jody Paterson
Uncaring bureaucrat the worst of
parents
This says it all: One of the things that now counts
against you when the B.C. government is deciding whether
to take your children away is whether they also took you
away from your parents. In other words, child
apprehension begets child apprehension.
Each new generation of state-parented children grows
into adults who may end up poor parents themselves. With
10,000 or so children in care in B.C. in any given year
and 70,000 across the country, it's a substantial concern.
I've, heard the explanations as to why the state makes a
lousy parent. Too few foster homes, not enough social
workers, caseloads beyond reason.
The children are difficult, the parents troubled, the
issues complex. And while your flesh-and-blood parents
are there for you long after you turn 19, the state hands
you a welfare cheque and considers its job done. But if
that's how it is, then there has to be a better way.
Because a government that takes messed-up children away
from their homes only to mess them up even more has
certainly strayed far from the business of child
protection.
Listen to the recent court testimony of local social
worker David Roy, who did his job so poorly in one ongoing
child-protection case that a provincial court judge deemed
last month that he'd breached four of his Ministry's laws,
most notably not acting in the child's best interests.
Asked if he was aware of the rule requiring regular
reviews of plans for children in care, Roy told the court,
"I'm aware of the standard, and I'm also aware that we are
not meeting the standard. Standards are not being met in
any particular case in our office, as far as I know." In
fact, the child, - now almost four - has been in care most
of his life without anyone in government bothering to map
out what's needed to raise him right. Roy said he kept
his plans "in his head", noting that a 1999 audit found
the government complied with its own regulation in less
than a third of all cases. That's an improvement; a
couple years before that, it was eight percent.
Roy was involved in the case for two years, during
which time he never read the child's file, didn't know the
boy was aboriginal, didn't develop a care plan, shredded
police documents, made up a hospitalization to bolster his
case that the father should be denied access, and blocked
one parent or another at every turn through 23 court
appearances,
The parents were helpless. The act that governs child
apprehensions packs plenty of punch when it comes to the
government exercising its rights, but has no remedies for
wayward social workers.
Roy's supervisors couldn't intervene, as the only one
who can yank a B.C.social worker off a child-custody case
is the director of child protection. Even the judge had
to work hard to find a way to punish Roy. He ordered the
Ministry of Children and Family Development to pay $2,000
to the parents' lawyers, Shannon Buchan and Lex Reynolds,
in recognition of the lawyers' dogged (and often unpaid)
determination to set things right. And he contemplated
bringing contempt-of-court charges against Roy, but
decided "indifference and neglect" were not sufficient
grounds.
Roy was eventually pulled off the case and his other
cases have since been audited by the ministry, which isn't
commenting I guess it's a win for somebody, although it's
hard to say who. The child who sparked it all is still in
the custody of the ministry. His parents and their
lawyers thought they'd have to answer all sorts of
questions when the ministry investigated Roy. But no one
ever called.
Barrie Ontario
Community Justice Awareness Event
July 1, 2007
Canada Court Watch has organized an event to draw
attention to the children and families adversely affected by
Ontario's family courts.
The event will start at 9 am Friday July 6, 2007 in front
of the courthouse at 114 Worsley Street, Barrie.
Participants may meet ahead of time at the Barrie
McDonald's, 85 Dunlop Street West, corner of Toronto Street,
from 7:30 to 9. For full details, see the announcement from Canada Court
Watch (pdf).
earlier news
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