Stormy Romance
How did a supervisor at Child Protective Services end up dating an
abusive dad?
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/gbase/Currents/Content?oid=oid:96244
By JIM NINTZEL email this author
Stormy Romance
State Rep. Jonathan Paton: "You find out the investigator ended up
dating the person she was supposed to be investigating. And now we find
out she's in charge of other investigators."
In a speech on the House floor earlier this week, a state lawmaker
blasted an unlikely romance between a Child Protective Services
supervisor in Tucson and an abusive dad whom she met while working as a
caseworker, assigned the job of protecting his kids.
"I was angry," Rep. Jonathan Paton, a Republican representing Tucson's
eastside, said after his speech. "You find out the investigator ended up
dating the person she was supposed to be investigating. And now we find
out she's in charge of other investigators."
Paton said he was appalled when he read a confidential CPS report that
had been leaked to the media, including the Tucson Weekly, in recent
weeks. The report details a horrific childhood for three children whose
drug-addicted parents have been repeatedly in trouble with the law for
child abuse and other crimes.
In the opinion of one case worker assigned to the case, the kids "have
sustained significant physical abuses and psychological damage; they are
the most terrified children this investigator has interviewed."
The children's father--who has had repeated problems with alcohol, meth
and cocaine--had previous run-ins with CPS as far back as 1995, when a
separate, substantiated report showed that he hit his oldest daughter in
the face, according to the CPS report.
The kids were taken into protective custody in October 2000, when the
mother--who is now serving time in state prison for robbery--said she
could no longer care for them. At the time, the father, who had several
arrests for beating his wife, admitted he was using cocaine twice a day.
Amy Gile, now a supervisor with CPS, was a caseworker assigned the job
of deciding whether the children should be reunited with their father.
The Weekly is not naming him to protect the identity of his children.
Gile did not return a phone call from the Weekly.
The family reunification hit a snag in February 2001, when the father
was arrested for disorderly conduct and illegally firing a gun.
With the support of his CPS caseworker and his attorney, the father
successfully appealed to a judge to sentence him to one year of a work
furlough so that he wouldn't lose his children, according to the report.
Although the kids were still under the legal protection of CPS, the
father got physical custody of his kids in April 2002. Four months
later, the eldest daughter "went to school with bruises and swelling on
her face; she told the school counselor her father had hit her on the
face," according to the CPS report.
The father denied the charges and said his daughter was lying, but
police believed she was telling the truth. She also told the cops that
her father hit her and the other kids with a belt.
Since the father was still on probation, he faced the possibility of
going to jail. But the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor, "and the
city court prosecutor declined to issue charges against the father,
saying it was in the 'best interests of the children and their overall
family preservation,'" according to the CPS report.
In October 2002, the CPS dependency ended, and the kids were returned to
their dad's legal custody. Gile would have played a key role in the
final decision, according to a CPS worker who spoke to the Weekly on the
condition of anonymity.
About two years later, in December 2004, CPS workers were called to a
day-care center when workers noticed the father's 4-year-old son had
nine or 10 red welts on his hips and buttocks. He told investigators:
"My daddy whupped me," apparently because he had been jumping on his bed.
In an initial meeting with police and CPS investigators, the father
denied hitting his son with a belt; a few days later, after the kids had
been removed from his home, he changed his story and admitted that he
had beat him with a belt four times, telling investigators: "If I knew
there were marks, I would not have sent them to day care," according to
the report.
The oldest daughter, then 10 years old, told investigators that their
dad was now dating Gile, their former caseworker. Although the daughter
said she liked Gile, she added that the couple often fought, and that
Gile sometimes disciplined her brothers by spanking them with a hairbrush.
When investigators questioned Gile, she told them she had been dating
the father since February 2004, which was more than a year after the
agency's involvement with the family ended. She said that she had not
seen him strike the children, although she said that he yelled
profanities at them and forced them to wash their underwear in the
toilet when they wet their pants. She denied spanking the children and
said they often lied.
When she was shown the photos of the youngest boy's recent welts, Gile
told investigators that the father "gets overwhelmed, he has a quick
temper," according to the CPS report.
As a result of the CPS investigation, the children were once again
removed from the home. Their current situation remains confidential.
Liz Barker Alvarez, spokeswoman for the Department of Economic Security,
did not return a phone call to discuss this case.
Paton said the Gile affair is another topic he wants to explore during
hearings on CPS this summer. Paton became interested in investigating
the agency after the remains of Ariana Payne, a 4-year-old girl under
CPS supervision, were found in a storage locker. Payne's 5-year-old
brother, Tyler Payne, is still missing, and police have searched the Los
Reales landfill in search of his remains.
The children's father, Christopher Payne, is facing charges of child
abuse and first-degree murder.
"I think there's a lack of accountability, because the way the privacy
and confidentiality laws work, it reduces the scrutiny on the agency,"
Paton says. "I think that's bad for kids and, at the end of the day,
it's bad for the agency."
CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A
DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NATIONAL
SECURITY AGENCY/CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WIRETAPPING PROGRAM....
CPS Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of Child Protective Services.
every parent should read this .pdf from
connecticut dcf watch...
http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com/8x11.pdf
http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com
Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US
These numbers come from The National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS
*Perpetrators of Maltreatment*
Physical Abuse CPS 160, Parents 59
Sexual Abuse CPS 112, Parents 13
Neglect CPS 410, Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS 14 Parents 12
Fatalities CPS 6.4, Parents 1.5
Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that
are supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per
100,000 children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse
and kills more children then parents in the United States. If the
citizens of this country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold
parents too. No judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY
government agency because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and
death than any human being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more
human rights violations and deaths of children then the homes from which
they were removed. When are the judges going to wake up and see that
they are sending children to their death and a life of abuse when
children are removed from safe homes based on the mere opinion of a
bunch of social workers.
BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF
REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES
TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY
ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...
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