Politics > Politics-USA > Secretive CPS gave kids to dad despite 'history of violence': Dadstands accused of murdering them...
| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"fx" |
| Date: |
26 May 2007 11:39:22 AM |
| Object: |
Secretive CPS gave kids to dad despite 'history of violence': Dadstands accused of murdering them... |
Secretive CPS gave kids to dad despite 'history of violence'
Laurie Roberts
Republic columnist
May. 26, 2007 12:00 AM
In January 2006, Jamie Hallam sent her children to stay with their
father for a few days. She never saw them again.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0526roberts0526.html
According to police and court records, Child Protective Services told
the father not to return the children. This, despite the fact that a
judge had denied him any access to his kids, citing a history of
domestic violence and drug use.
Now the children are dead and the father and his girlfriend are in jail
and CPS is left to explain why its workers overrode the judge's
decision, essentially putting the kids into the arms of the man who
stands accused of murdering them.
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Oh, never mind. I forgot. CPS doesn't have to explain. The law allows
the agency its secrets.
CPS officials have refused to release the records in the deaths of
4-year-old Ariana Payne and her 5-year-old brother, Tyler, citing fears
that it could jeopardize the criminal case.
I'm guessing that may not be the only thing they fear.
According to Tucson police, the children went to stay with their dad,
Christopher Payne, for a weekend in late January 2006. He would later
tell police that he was about to take them home but was advised by CPS
to keep them and instead file for custody.
"Mother repeatedly is high on drugs, not in a condition to take care of
the children . . . ," he wrote in his February 2006 request for custody.
"CPS is who instructed me to do this for the safety of the kids."
In March 2006, Hallam asked police for help in getting her children back
but a CPS supervisor told officers to leave them with Payne. According
to police, the supervisor said CPS was investigating the mother, who had
been "uncooperative."
"She felt it would be best that the children stay with their father
until a hearing could be set and final determination of custody could be
settled then," the police report says.
It's hard to understand how she could feel that way. Court records show
that a Pima County Superior Court judge awarded Hallam full custody of
Ariana and Tyler in June 2003, "with no parenting time for the
respondent/father based upon the history of domestic violence against
the petitioner/mother and in the presence of the minor children."
The judge also cited Payne's "history of alcohol and drug abuse."
The question is, did CPS know about the judge's order and disregard it?
Or did the agency leave the kids with the father without even bothering
to check his background?
The court never acted on Payne's request for custody. We have no way of
knowing whether caseworkers checked on the children during the time he
kept them with CPS' blessing.
Ariana's decomposing body was found in February, stuffed in a plastic
tub left in a storage locker. Half of her ribs, her spine and her right
shoulder had been broken and were in various stages of healing at the
time of her death. Police have never found Tyler's body. Investigators
believe the children were killed last summer.
Payne and his girlfriend, Reina Gonzales, have been charged with
first-degree murder. Witnesses have told police the pair were heroin
addicts and dealers. The two have pleaded not guilty.
Whether CPS knew that is anybody's guess.
The Arizona Republic has filed a lawsuit seeking the records in this and
another case involving another Tucson child who was beaten to death on
CPS' watch. Two legislators are so troubled by what happened that they
plan to launch hearings this summer. Hearings that must, by law, remain
confidential. You know how dead children need their privacy.
As for CPS, Ken Deibert, the agency head, wrote in a column this week
that they're just following the law. "It's the right thing to do," he
wrote. "It protects children and families from sensationalism, reducing
the likelihood of further trauma. And it punishes the offenders, leading
to justice for the children."
Does it?
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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