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Post by jp on Jun 5, 2007 21:17:15 GMT -5
First Nation wants answers on baby injured in care 'Baby Cody' suffered brain damage after apprehension
Published: Tuesday, June 05, 2007 NANAIMO (BC)-- The Snuneymuxw First Nation community is fuming after months of "bureaucratic runaround" has left it with no explanation as to why one of its own, an 11-month-old boy, suffered brain damage while in foster care.
In letters to Children and Family Development Minister Tom Christensen, the band only identify the child as "Baby Cody."
The band asked for an explanation of how Cody was hurt and that the minister return the boy to his parents, but Chief Viola Wyse said she has received little explanation of the details of the child's injuries. Cody now has impaired vision and hearing and may never walk again, according to medical reports given to the band.
Wyse said that in December ministry staff removed Cody from his parent's home on reserve land in Nanaimo because of potential threats that may or may not have resulted from having an aunt and grandfather visiting the house.
While being moved to three different non-aboriginal foster homes in four months, Cody occasionally was allowed visits from his parents.
On Dec, 18, Cody celebrated his first Christmas with his parents and his community at the band's annual celebration.
Two days later, he was in hospital, "not responding," when his parents arrived to visit with him. Cody is now in a fourth home. A press release from the Snuneymuxw First Nation says charges have been laid against "an alleged abuser" but no names have been released.
"(The Christmas party) was the last time his parents saw him in the good way," Wyse said.
The Snuneymuxw want Cody returned to his parents with the ministry's commitment to pay for his long-term care, but have yet to receive a response from ministry officials.
In a letter sent to Christensen in April, the band expressed their frustration: "It is important to remember that your ministry took Baby Cody from his home and from our community and placed him into a foster home where he was severely physically abused."
The ministry has not released any information about the incident.
"We had a positive meeting with Minister Christensen and are hoping he will be able to move this forward, but we feel like we're getting the bureaucratic runaround at the staff level," Wyse said.
"We sent an information request back on Jan. 29 and have received nothing. They let our baby get hurt, they won't give him back, and they won't accept responsibility for what they've done."
Christensen was not available for comment yesterday, but ministry officials said a full assessment of Cody's injuries is continuing. Ministry staff and others involved with the family are making every effort to provide support to the child and family, they said.
Wyse and her community have lost faith in the system that is supposed to protect children.
"How can we trust that (Cody) won't be hurt again? He was never hurt in the custody of his parents. He was hurt while under (the ministry's) care."
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Post by mary on Jun 11, 2007 18:24:31 GMT -5
Isaac Lethbridge was physically punished, testimony reveals
June 5, 2007
By RUBY L. BAILEY
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Two-year-old Isaac Lethbridge was physically punished for wetting his diaper and left at times for hours in the care of a 12-year-old girl while his foster mother shopped and went to a casino, according to testimony in Wayne County Circuit Court today.
Charlsie Adams-Rogers, 60, is charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with Isaac’s death from blunt-force injuries in her Detroit foster home on Aug. 16, 2006. She also is charged with child abuse involving Isaac and his 4-year-old sister, who was in foster care with Isaac.
Advertisement Starkemia Taylor told a Wayne County Circuit Court jury that she saw the 12-year-old girl hit Isaac with a belt and her open hand for wetting his diaper and refusing to sit on a potty chair. Adams-Rogers, who had adopted the 12-year-old, has said that the girl accidentally caused Isaac’s injuries when playing with him.
Taylor, who has two children by one of Adams-Rogers’ sons, also acknowledged that she, Adams-Rogers’ son and other relatives smoked marijuana in the home in front of Isaac, his sister and her own children.
In cross-examining Taylor, defense attorney Warren Harris asked Taylor whether she testified against Adams-Rogers because she was upset with her for helping Adams-Rogers’ son in a custody battle over their children. Taylor denied it.
Dr. Pierre Morris of Detroit testified that he saw Isaac on Aug. 4 with bruises and that those bruises were healing when he saw him again on Aug. 14, 2006, two days before his death.
Testimony is to continue this afternoon before Judge Vera Massey Jones.
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Post by bizzi on Jun 12, 2007 8:44:40 GMT -5
These upper-class are so barbaric. Those poor kids...
Government how many dead children is enough?
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Post by Whistleblower on Jun 12, 2007 9:55:40 GMT -5
According to Duffering VOCA, Fixcas.com, it was stated in the research study that in 2006, we have 83 Foster Kids deaths....
83?! poor kids indeed. I cannot put all of these in words...it is disgusting what they are doing to these kids. and they are dead. Yes...IN THEIR CARE!!!
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Post by bizzi on Jun 13, 2007 10:30:54 GMT -5
83 is a complete and absolute lie.
An outside office like the ombudsman would be the only one who could give us the real number.
I guess that is why they passed 165 and not bill 88.
They don't want what they are doing coming out. Thou it's a bit late for that.
Maybe how they died should be released as well. That'll be the day.
I wonder if the parents were notified?
Probably not.
........Fuck'n murders.
83 just this year... what about last year and the year before. And the kids who died on the streets that were in care? But don't count because they died in the streets or in a sqat from overdosing.
They don't mention that.
Foster care killed 83 children this year? Doesn't that count as abuse?
Any parent killed 1 they would be in jail. Or if their is even suspicion of abuse the children are removed.
But they can kill 83 kids.. and they get awards and pats on the back?
Must be an upper-class thing.
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Post by bizzi on Jun 13, 2007 10:37:16 GMT -5
Take 83 X 6 years what do you get?
A hell of alot of dead children. That is just Ontario. What if the other provinces deaths were added to that number?
10 000 dead children at the hands of the government.
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Post by mary on Jun 13, 2007 12:34:47 GMT -5
CONTRA COSTA CO.: SUPES TO BE UPDATED ON COUNTY'S CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM IMPROVEMENTS 06/11/07 6:45 PDT
The Contra Costa County Children and Family Services department is expected to update county supervisors on Tuesday on the improvements that have been made following the deaths of two children who were in the county's child welfare system.
CFS came under close public scrutiny last year after the deaths of 8-year-old Raijon Daniels and 2-year-old Deonna Green.
Raijon died in October 2006 after his mother allegedly tortured and abused him for months or even years. Cuts, bruises, chemical burns and extensive scars were found covering Raijon's entire body, according to a coroner's report.
Before his death, CFS had received five separate reports from people who suspected that Raijon was being abused beginning in November 2005. The most recent report was in January of 2006. Raijon's case was closed eight months before he died, according to CFS documents.
Deonna, who was a month away from her third birthday, weighed only 17 pounds when she died Dec. 7 2006 from sodium bicarbonate poisoning caused by eating baking soda.
She had been living in a foster home in Pittsburg when she died.
The Contra Costa District Attorney's office did not charge the foster mother in connection with Deonna's death in part because the social worker assigned to Deonna's case hadn't noticed anything wrong with the child.
CFS conducted an investigation into the failures of the child welfare system and submitted an improvement plan to county supervisors as well as the state department of social services.
Since January the department has been working to improve their screening and investigation reporting of suspected child abuse cases, according to a report submitted to county supervisors.
Social workers receiving reports of suspected abuse are now being asked to provide more detailed information and to summarize past reports and investigations.
The next step will be to train investigating social workers to write more concise reports that clearly state the outcome of each investigation so that social workers have better information in cases where they are called to investigate a family multiple times, as in the case of Raijon.
The bureau has also been working to improve information sharing with local police departments, family court and county doctors who treat foster children.
The department is working to provide better support for first-time foster parents and social workers and to get community-based service providers to notify CFS when a family that has been referred to them fails to show up for appointments.
CFS is also working with the Child Abuse Prevention Council to strengthen training for people who are required by law to report suspected child abuse or neglect, such as doctors, teachers and firefighters.
During an earlier update to county supervisors on the department's improvement plan, Director of Contra Costa County Employment and Human Services Department Joe Valentine told supervisors that one of problems with the system was a lack of funds.
The state is currently funding CFS at one half the national standard and the department is doing its best to operate with the resources it is given, Valentine said.
County Administrator John Cullen said in December that the county CFS department receives between 23,000 and 24,000 reports of suspected child abuse or neglect each year and in any given month, they are working with more than 3,000 children.
There are currently about 1600 children in the foster care system in Contra Costa County, according to CFS.
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Post by mary on Jun 13, 2007 12:35:43 GMT -5
Trial of foster mother charged in Isaac Lethbridge death could wrap up Wednesday
June 12, 2007
By JACK KRESNAK
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
The manslaughter and child abuse trial of a former Detroit foster mother could end by Wednesday, a Wayne County Circuit Court judge said this afternoon.
Judge Vera Massey Jones dismissed the jury hearing the case against Charlsie Adams-Rogers about 12:45 p.m., telling them to return at 9 a.m. Wednesday for what she expects to be the final stage of the case.
Advertisement Adams-Rogers, 60, is charged with failing to protect two young foster children in her care last year. One of the children, 2-year-old Isaac Lethbridge, was burned and beaten to death by someone in Adams-Rogers’ home on Aug. 16, 2006. His 4-year-old sister also was abused, according to Detroit police.
The children’s foster care worker, Karl Troy, formerly of the Lula Belle Stewart Center in Detroit, testified today that he saw bruises on Isaac on Aug. 4, 2006, but did not notify Child Protective Services, as required by state law.
Troy, who testified under a grant of immunity from prosecution for failing to report suspected child abuse, said Adams-Rogers had told him that a doctor decided that the bruises were not child abuse. Troy said he accepted that explanation and did not contact the doctor.
Adams-Rogers is charged with involuntary manslaughter in Isaac’s death and two child abuse counts involving both children. If convicted, she could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison on the manslaughter charge and up to four years in prison on the other charges. con't................................................ Doctor testifies about burns on Isaac, sister
June 13, 2007
By JACK KRESNAK
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Dr. Vincent Palusci, medical director of the child protection team at Children’s Hospital of Michigan, testified Wednesday morning that he found what appeared to be cigarette burn marks on the 4-year-old sister of a murdered foster child.
Palusci, testifying in the involuntary manslaughter and child abuse trial of former foster mother Charlsie Adams-Rogers in Wayne County Circuit Court, said he also saw first- and second-degree burns in photographs of the dead child, 2-year-old Isaac Lethbridge. The Free Press is not publishing his sister’s name because of her age and the fact that she remains in foster care.
Adams-Rogers was charged with failing to protect both children, who were in her care together.
Earlier Wednesday, the children’s former foster care worker, Karl Troy, testified that bruising he saw on Isaac in 2005 and 2006 appeared to become more severe after the boy was placed in Adams-Rogers’ northwest Detroit foster home on June 29, 2006.
Troy also said that he never inspected the three bedrooms in Adams-Rogers’ home to see if they were suitable for foster children. But Wednesday, examining Detroit police photographs of the bedroom where Isaac died of blunt-force injuries on Aug. 16, 2006, Troy said he would not have placed the children in that setting. He said it appeared there were several sharp objects on the floor and that a rope or belt hanging from the bunk bed could have led to the accidental strangulation of a child.
Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Lisa Lindsey rested her case just before noon.
The first defense witness, Mae Rogers, a former foster care worker at Lula Belle Stewart Center who now investigates abuses in the mental health system, said she had known Adams-Rogers since 2002 as a good foster parent.
Defense attorney Warren Harris asked her whether Adams-Rogers’ home was an unsafe environment for children. Mae Rogers said it was “a normal home” and that she never saw any marijuana smoking there. She said Adams-Rogers was always a concerned and considerate person.
However, when Lindsey showed Mae Rogers photos of the home that pictured objects that could be choking hazards, plastic bags that could suffocate a child, a cord looped on the upper bunk and a fan on the floor, Rogers said the home would not be a safe place for small children. She also said that Adams-Rogers never told her that adult males were living in the home, and she said it was not appropriate to allowing Adams-Rogers’ adolescent daughter, who had emotional and other problems, to care for two young children like Isaac and his sister.
Testimony was to continue this afternoon before Judge Vera Massey Jones. Adams-Rogers may take the stand in her own defense. The case could go to the jury today or Thursday.
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Post by mary on Jun 13, 2007 12:36:47 GMT -5
Since Troy did not report the injuries on Isaac, he should be charged as well. He's a disgrace to his profession. His job was to insure that children placed in foster care are being cared for. Taking the word of Charlisle without any type of medical care is outrageous. I hope he NEVER gets another job in the profession of social work. Mad Mad Mad
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Post by mary on Jun 13, 2007 12:38:19 GMT -5
Neighborhood outraged by couple charged with child porn
Updated: June 13, 2007 08:38 AM
By MARC THOMPSON
HARTFORD -- Two Van Buren County men who were once licensed as foster parents are alleged to have taken lewd pictures of a young boy and downloaded child pornography.
Neighbors now rally in outrage, feeling deceived by two men living next door.
The men, a couple, were life partners and foster parents to several young boys. They were avid picture takers according to a federal indictment.
Kurt Amundson and Robert Shafer are facing six counts in all. The charges describe an 11- and 12-year-old boy forced by the two on separate occasions to undress, expose and fondle himself.
Also seized from the home were cameras and computers containing downloaded child pornography, with file names too graphic to mention.
A spokesperson from the US Attorney's Office in Grand Rapids could not confirm whether the victim, who was 11 and 12 when the alleged molestations occurred, was a foster child living with the men.
David Troutman said federal agents asked him about children in the neighborhood who may have spent time in the house.
"(They) showed me some pictures and I said yes, those are the boys that lived up the street and moved to Tennessee," said David Troutman, a neighbor.
Cecil Wismer, another neighbor blames the state.
"I tend to look at the state unfortunately as far as, you know did they check them out thoroughly," Wismer said.
Others are concerned that Amundson and Shafer may one day be released back into the neighborhood.
When 24 Hour News 8 went knocking on Amundson's door, his father answered.
Carl Amundson said his son and his partner maintain their innocence. He said he believes the two boys who came forward have blown the charges out of proportion and that they may have some sort of vendetta against the partners.
In 2003 Kurt Amundson was featured in an article, "The Changing Face of the American Family." When asked about his role as a same-sex foster parent he said mentoring children was not satisfying enough for him.
"It was helpful, but I wanted to carry the relationship beyond that," he said in the article.
According to federal agents, the relationships went too far, crossing the line into criminal activity. Both men will be back in court Wednesday for detention hearings.
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Post by mary on Jun 13, 2007 12:41:18 GMT -5
In 2003 Kurt Amundson was featured in an article, "The Changing Face of the American Family." When asked about his role as a same-sex foster parent he said mentoring children was not satisfying enough for him.
"It was helpful, but I wanted to carry the relationship beyond that," he said in the article.
that should have sent alarm bells off years ago but of course why nothing strange about that statement..sick puppies..I really wish they had the death penalty for child molesters
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Post by mary on Jun 13, 2007 12:42:20 GMT -5
Foster child murder witness pleads not guilty to Ky. charge Associated Press
MAYSVILLE, Ky. - A woman given immunity in Ohio for testifying against a foster mother convicted of murdering a 3-year-old boy pleaded not guilty Monday in a Kentucky court to tampering with physical evidence in the case.
Amy Baker, 25, was being held in the Mason County Detention Center on $50,000 bond. Judge W. Todd Walton II ruled that Baker must post 10 percent of the bond to be released, The (Maysville) Ledger-Independent reported.
Baker was a key witness in the death of developmentally disabled Marcus Fiesel of Batavia, Ohio. The boy died last August after his foster parents, Liz Carroll and David Carroll Jr., left him bound in a closet in their Cincinnati-area home for two days while they attended a family reunion in Kentucky.
Baker lived with the Carrolls and testified under immunity in Ohio that she was with David Carroll when he burned the boy's body and threw the ashes in the Ohio River, which is under Kentucky's jurisdiction.
Kentucky officials claim jurisdiction over the Ohio River and filed the felony charge against Baker.
Baker's lawyer, Bryan Underwood, asked Walton to reduce the bond and cited Baker's cooperation with authorities in Ohio as a reason. Underwood also said Baker is fighting to be reunited with her three children.
"They are her children; she's involved in litigation in Ohio to get them back out of foster care," Underwood said.
Mason County Attorney John Estill said Baker is an Ohio resident who fought extradition to Kentucky. Because of that, Estill said, her bail should remain high.
"Resisting the jurisdiction of this court, to me, should be considered in bond," Estill said.
Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland signed an order last month requiring Baker to be brought before an Ohio judge for extradition proceedings. Baker dropped her extradition fight shortly after Strickland's order.
Prosecutors in Ohio and Baker's lawyer, Norm Aubin, have maintained the Kentucky charges should not have been filed.
Prosecutors based the murder charges against the Carrolls on Baker's testimony that they left him bound in the closet when the three went to the reunion. The boy, wrapped in a blanket and packing tape, was dead when they returned.
Baker testified at Liz Carroll's trial, which ended in a murder conviction in February. Liz Carroll was sentenced to 54 years to life in prison. David Carroll then pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison, with an additional year in prison for his guilty plea to gross abuse of a corpse.
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Post by mary on Jun 13, 2007 18:53:13 GMT -5
Local Child Left Hanging in Foster Care System
June 12, 2007 04:21 PM Local Child Left Hanging in Foster Care System A little girl is in the hospital battling injuries. She was attacked by a dog after falling out of a window. The child was in foster care at the time and now that family doesn't want her. That little girl is currently at Sparrow Hospital and is being treated for minor injuries. She's ten years old, but is severely autistic. Child and Family Services say she operates on the level of a two year old. Officials say she suffered years of abuse by her parents, but say now it's the child welfare system that's failing her.
Mary Reed, Child & Family Services Capital Area: "It's failing a lot of kids."
Mary Reed works for Capital Area Child and Family Services. She says, before the accident, the little girl was living in a foster home in Saginaw County. Family refused to keep her and the Department of Human Services couldn't find anyone else to take the girl. Reed says the DHS sent the girl to Ingham County hoping they could help.
Mary Reed: "A child who desperately needs help, a child who has been dropped by much of the system."
Jim Paparella is Executive Director for Child and Family Services. He says it's increasingly difficult to find a family to take a child with special needs.
Jim Paparella, Child & Family Services Capital Area: "We're severely under funded, therefore foster families suffer with the lack of support."
And until that changes, he fears we'll see more cases like this one.
Jim Paparella: "The system is over capacity, under funded and overwhelmed, and as a result, this child is not in a good place and I worry about where she'll end up."
Officials say, unfortunately, the little girl is not a good fit for Angel House, so she's forced to stay in the hospital indefinitely.
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Post by Mary not logged in on Jun 16, 2007 11:55:04 GMT -5
Plymouth man charged with sexual abuse of mentally limited adult foster child
A 60-year-old Plymouth man is facing up to 250 years in prison after police say he admitted having sex with a mentally limited adult foster child several times a week over the last year.
Dennis J. Thompson, whose home at W4025 Highway U is a state-licensed foster home and adult care home, was charged Friday with 10 felony counts of second-degree sexual assault, each of which carry penalties of up to 25 years in prison and $100,000 in fines, if convicted.
Authorities were alerted to the assaults by Thompson himself, who called police June 10 to report he had fondled the woman and felt guilty about it, the complaint said.
“It looks like he had allegedly been doing this for a while and his conscience got the better of him,” said Sheboygan County District Attorney Joe DeCecco.
The woman Thompson is accused of assaulting has the mental capacity of a third-grade child and an IQ of 68, according to a criminal complaint. Under state statute, it is a crime for an employee of a state-licensed adult family home to have sexual contact with a resident of any age.
DeCecco said Thompson could also have been charged with having sexual contact with a person with diminished mental capacity.
According to the complaint:
Thompson told police June 10 that he had touched the woman when the younger foster children who live in the home were out of the house. He said he asked her if she wanted “to fool around,” and that she agreed.
Thompson initially did not mention any other contact, saying only he felt the one incident was “morally wrong” and that he wanted to document it.
But the next day, the victim told police that she and Thompson had sex two to three times a week during the last year. Thompson admitted to the contact, and both he and the victim detailed a system under which he would use coughs or cell phone calls to signal her to meet after others in the house were asleep.
Thompson told police the sex was consensual, and the victim said she felt bad saying no because she thought of Thompson as her father.
The victim had been a foster child of Thompson’s wife since she was 12 years old and had lived with Thompson for eight years, the time since he and his wife were married.
Thompson is out of jail after posting a $10,000 cash bond.
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Post by mary on Jun 20, 2007 21:06:35 GMT -5
Foster father charged with lewd acts on boy By Michelle Durand An English software designer accused of repeatedly molesting a 9-year-old foster child he was in the process of adopting planted a global tracking device in a gift to track the boy and tried setting up a plan to spirit him back to England, according to San Mateo County prosecutors who charged him with 25 counts of lewd and lascivious behavior.
Tarquin Craig Thomas, 41, is also charged with a misdemeanor charge of showing pornography to a child with the intent to cause arousal.
Judge Carl Holm refused to lower Thomas’ $1 million bail and ordered him back July 3 for a preliminary hearing.
Thomas is a citizen of England living in San Mateo who worked as a software designer for Barclays investment firm between September and November 2005. Thomas also had a vacation home in Oregon and arranged to have a 9-year-old boy needing foster care in that state to be placed with him in San Mateo, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Shortly after the boy arrived in San Mateo, prosecutors say Thomas began two actions — adoption proceedings and near-daily molestation. Thomas is also accused of having the boy pose nude by himself and with other adults.
After the boy reported the abuse and returned to Oregon, Thomas allegedly kept tabs on him through a global tracking device. The child was taken out of Thomas’ custody so quickly he left belongings at the San Mateo home. Thomas sent the items to Oregon, including the framed print of the two together which had the secret GPS chip, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.
Thomas contacted the boy’s biological mother with hopes of retrieving the boy and returning to England, Wagstaffe said.
The mother called authorities, sparking the investigation and Thomas’ May 24 arrest.
If convicted of all charges, Thomas faces up to 54 years in prison, Wagstaffe said.
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