Positive Stories in the War on Child Sexual Abuse Episode XXI

New laws, new tools, new trainings, and FGM outlawed in Australia
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San Diego DA Unveils New Tool To Track Suspected Child Sex Abuse Cases

By Jade Hindmon, KPBS

District Attorney Summer Stephan (center) along with Deputy District Attorney Stephen Marquardt (left),

 John Warren, publisher of Voice & Viewpoint newspaper, Francine Maxwell and Carla Simental at the announcement

of the Student Safety in School Systems Task Force on Nov. 14, 2019.

There is a new, independent online tracking tool available that allows San Diego County residents to report suspected sexual and physical abuse of students.

The tool was unveiled along with a new task force by District Attorney Summer Stephan after a two-year investigation by Voice of San Diego into harassment and abuse in San Diego County’s public schools. The tool aims to address some of the issues raised in the investigation, such as gaps in mandatory reporting of suspected abuse.

Arizona task force calls for new laws,

education to combat child sex abuse

By Jerod MacDonald-Evoy 

A task force the governor created to help guide lawmakers on possible changes to state laws involving child victims of sexual abuse in Arizona made its final recommendations on Friday.

During its meetings, which began this summer, the task force’s discussions have ranged from preventative education, better reporting mechanisms within schools and data sharing between police departments to increasing awareness of changes in the law and changing criminal statutes. 

It appears that almost all the priorities discussed during the meetings have ended up in the 12-page document that outlines the task force’s recommendations to Gov. Doug Ducey. 

“My sincere thanks to the task force’s co-chairs, Maricopa County Attorney’s Office Chief Deputy Rachel Mitchell and Senator Paul Boyer, as well as everyone who dedicated their time and energy to develop these recommendations. I look forward to working with all members to implement them,” Ducey said in a press release about the task force’s recommendations. 

Ducey announced the creation of the Justice for Victims of Child Sex Abuse Task Force at a ceremonial signing in May of a new law to expand the statute of limitations for victims of childhood sexual abuse to sue their abusers or the organizations that protected them. 

The task force consisted of victim advocates, lawmakers and law enforcement from across the state. 

Boyer, who championed the statute of limitations issue throughout the previous session, was the co-chair of the task force. 

The recommendations 

The task force’s recommendations are broad. 

The first recommendation is to include child sex trafficking in the criminal statute of limitations. There is no such statute of limitations for sexual molestation, sexual explotation and sexual contact with a minor under state law, but child sex trafficking has a statute of limitations of 7 years. 

The task force also recommended that state law change in regards to the definitions of who is considered to be in a “position of trust.” Currently state law includes a child’s parent, stepparent, adoptive parent, legal guardian, foster parent, teacher, coach, instructor, clergyman and priest as people who are considered as being in positions of trust. 

The task force wants to add relatives by blood or marriage within the third degree except for siblings, employers or bosses, adults in the same house, persons 10 years or older who the child has a relationship with or has a relationship with the family and revise two other categories. It also wants teacher or educator to include any adult school employee and clergyman to include priest or youth pastor. 

“Position of trust” is important for prosecuting child sex crimes, because prosecutors do not need to show a lack of consent in cases involving a minor between the ages of 15 to 17 if the defendant was in a position of trust. Additionally, if the defendant was in a position of trust, it elevates the crime from a class 6 felony to a class 2 felony. 

The task force also recommended that the law be changed to allow any judge overseeing a child sex abuse case or child sex trafficking case to prevent a defendant from personally questioning his or her victim in court. 

Another statutory change the task force wants to see is enhanced probation on sex crimes. 

Currently, sex trafficking related crimes do not require special probation terms. The task force recommended that anyone convicted of sex trafficking have similar probation terms as those convicted of gang or white collar criminal offenses. 

The task force also recommended that additional funding be provided for forensic interviewing of victims. 

Other funding recommendations include setting up a statewide program to provide grants to counties to allow them to re-examine DNA in cold-case child sexual abuse allegations. 

The task force also recommended that the Arizona Department of Public Safety begin conducting a study on creating a statewide database for all law enforcement in the state to use to track confirmed sexual predators and sex traffickers. Currently there is no such system in place. 

The task force also further advocated for increased awareness of the civil statute of limitation changes enacted earlier this year, chief among them a civil window for anyone to file a lawsuit that ends in December 2020. 

Funding for community organizations that provide aid to victims of child sexual abuse and adult survivors was also recommended, as was funding for a 24-hour statewide hotline to report incidents of abuse that would include counseling and referral services. 

The task force is also hoping for some data on the new law that spurred its creation, recommending that the courts collect data on the number of new civil cases filed in order to help the state further understand how the law worked and guide possible future statue of limitation changes. 

One recommendation that has already drawn some controversy and will likely draw some going into the January session will be the recommendations on education. 

The task force is recommending that the Arizona Department of Education create a statewide training program on mandatory reporting, as well as provide additional resources to students on sexual abuse. 

The task force also wants the education department to create curriculum centered on social media and cell phones, and how they are used by sexual predators. It further suggested the Department of Education create policies to ensure educators are using social media appropriately with their students. 

Teaching children how to spot sexual predation and sexual abuse is another recomendation, including age-appropriate classes on the issue, something that could run afoul of anti-sex education Republicans in the upcoming session. 

However, the recommendations are not all about curriculum. 

The task force wants to give the Arizona Board of Education the authority to investigate sexual misconduct of uncertified teachers. There are currently 6,000 uncertified teachers in the state, none of which can be investigated by the board. 

Additionally, the Department of Education only has a staff of six to investigate claims of sexual misconduct, so the task force is recommending additional funding to deal with the high caseloads that each of those investigators have. 

The task force is hoping to spread awareness for the Childhelp National Abuse Hotline.

Lastly, the task force is also recommending that foster children in DCS care are given age-appropriate materials and resources about sexual abuse and sex trafficking before they are placed in a group home or foster home.

Excellent! A lot of good ideas there!

New NC laws get tough on criminals, drug dealers and people who ignore child abuse

BY TAMMY GRUBB, The News and Observer

North Carolina will get tougher on drug dealers and on armed suspects who attack public safety and law enforcement personnel, but prosecute fewer teens as adults as a slew of new laws take effect this month.

Multiple changes also have been made to sexual assault, child sexual abuse and human trafficking laws, including an update that lets women revoke consent to sexual activity, even after it begins.

North Carolina previously was the only state that did not consider it a crime to continue having sex with someone who changed their mind.

North Carolina also was the only state in the nation that still prosecuted 16- and 17-year-old offenders as adults for nonviolent felonies and traffic offenses. The new Raise the Age law will limit the number of teens in adult courts to those charged with violent felonies and those who have previously been convicted of a misdemeanor, felony or impaired driving in district or superior court.

Related bills passed this summer will provide $30 million to help local court systems implement the change, hire more court counselors and add more juvenile detention centers.

The state’s new 2019 laws went into effect Dec. 1, though some are scheduled for implementation on Jan. 1, 2020.

CHILD SEX ABUSE LAW

The new law, among other changes, makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for anyone over age 18 to fail to notify the authorities when he or she suspects or knows that a child is being physically or sexually abused.

It also makes it possible to prosecute someone after 10 years have passed — instead of two years — after he or she has committed a misdemeanor crime against a child. The law also aims to protect children from online sexual predators.

Well, it's a meager start, but a start.

Over 5% of Coos County, Ore., residents

trained to recognize child sex abuse

Kids' HOPE Center surpassed its goal to train five percent of

Coos County residents in the Darkness to Light program

JILLIAN WARD The World

Darkness to Light facilitator and education coordinator at the Kids' HOPE Center, Sarah Bright, received an international award from Darkness to Light for recruiting organizations to attain the Partner in Prevention status. Oregon is first place in the nation for training the most organizations in Partners in Prevention.

COOS BAY — Coos County leads the state in the number of residents trained to recognize child sex abuse.

The Kids’ HOPE Center, a child abuse intervention center, announced in a press release that it has surpassed its goal to train five percent of Coos County residents in the Darkness to Light program. The goal was to train five percent of residents within three years, but accomplished it within two years.

“The Kids’ HOPE Center provides an important and necessary service in Coos County, as it has some of the highest rates of child abuse in the state of Oregon,” the release said.

Program Director Ashley Matsui told The World that the Darkness to Light training is important to the center because of the number of abuse and neglect cases they see every year. When the center got the grant to offer the Darkness to Light training, it was organized so it is free for participants.

“The only thing we ask of people is to give up their time,” Matsui said. “We feel fortunate that our county, out of all of Oregon, has taken this training seriously.”

The center’s education coordinator, Sarah Bright, is one of the facilitators for the free training and explained that when it started the focus was on teachers and social workers.

“But I had it in my mind the day we started that we needed to train parents,” she said. “It’s hard because you’re asking parents to leave their family since we don’t have daycare, but we do provide food. It hasn’t been easy to bring parents in, but I feel it is so important for every adult to have the training. It helps them identify when a child needs help and if a parent gets the training they might see signs in their child or be more vigilant for who is with their child.”

Bright pointed out how difficult it can be for parents to spot a predator, who often gains the family’s trust, appears to be nice to their kid and gives little gifts.

“Not everyone knows what it looks like, but with this training they will figure it out,” Bright said.

Not only that, but the Darkness to Light training helps remove the Hollywood stereotypes of child predators being "a big, scary guy driving a van,” Matsui said.

“That’s not how it happens,” Matsui said. “A small percentage of cases are that, but over 90 percent of cases are with perpetrators who are known to the child. It is someone the family knows and trusts and has built a relationship with, allowing the perpetrator to gain access to the child. This training talks about the grooming process and how easy it would be to overlook that person gaining family trust and getting close to your child.”

Sexual abuse cases are mostly what the center processes, with more and more of those cases being reported every year.

“But I don’t necessarily think more people are being sexually abused, since people have always been sexually abusing kids, but now people know the signs in order to report it,” Matsui said.

The Kids’ HOPE Center has 350 child abuse cases so far in 2019. Matsui said that 60 percent of those are sex abuse cases, while the rest are neglect. Most of these cases are for children 12 years old and under.

Not only will the Darkness to Light training teach participants how to identify abuse, but it will teach how to respond when a child discloses abuse.

“Those initial reactions are important,” Matsui explained. “Kids will test the waters when disclosing to an adult and if they feel believed they are more likely to fully disclose, but if the child is not met with support and understanding then they often don’t fully disclose or won’t recount later if they don’t have adult support around them.”

In 2018. Bright attended the Darkness to Light conference in Memphis, Tenn., where she received the Partner in Prevention award. When she received this award, the center had 25 partners or organizations committed to putting its staff through the Darkness to Light training. Now, the center has 45 partners. Bright said that Coos County has 45 of the 58 Partners in Prevention registered in Oregon.

“It shows how this community is coming together and realizing how important it is not to just train part of your staff, but all of your staff,” Bright said.

Matsui pointed out that the center has reached beyond the realm of social services, which include teachers and law enforcement, to training organizations that often have nothing to do with children at all.

“Like bakeries, banks, organizations where their primary goal isn’t social services,” Matsui said. “It’s encouraging for us that there is so much community support. We get calls from across the state on how we have so much buy-in from the community.”

People who have done the training are asked to repeat it every two years, while committed partners are asked to put new employees through the training.

One of the important tasks of the Darkness to Light training also includes breaking the stigma surrounding child sex abuse. For Bright, she has seen how participants in the training start out uncomfortable when discussing the topic but become more comfortable by the end.

Matsui added that it is often nerve-wracking for people walking into the training simply because some expect to be asked to talk about personal experiences, which doesn’t happen.

One of the other benefits to the training is that there are five or six different facilitators.

“They are from all walks of life and genders, which helps make people more comfortable,” Bright said. “There is the stereotype to not talk about this, but when you do the training you realize you have to talk about this.”

The training is every third Saturday of the month from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and every fourth Tuesday from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. To attend, call the center at 541-269-4196.

“It’s proud for us at the center to not only have 3,000 people who have done the training, but so many organizations who have committed to training their staff because they believe in this mission,” Matsui said.

Congratulations girls; keep up the great work. It will be interesting to see if there are any changes in statistics over the next few years. The UK has a problem with false reporting taking up valuable resources. I hope that doesn't happen in Coos County. God bless you all.

AR Kohima Battalion holds awareness lecture
on child abuse in India

NAGALAND

Puja Nair of HEAL (Help Eradicate Abuse through Learning) giving a lecture on ‘Child Abuse’ at Kohima Garrison on December 4. (Photo: PRO, IGAR)

Kohima, (MExN): The Kohima Battalion under the aegis of HQ IGAR (N) conducted an awareness lecture on child abuse for the teachers from various schools of Kohima on December 4.

Held under the theme, ‘Child Abuse,’ the lecture at Kohima Garrison was attended by 65 teachers from different schools in Kohima. 

Puja Nair, the resource person, covered the alarming rate at which child abuse is growing and how social media has given unhindered access to children and students to engage in the actions which have far reaching consequence hampering positive growth of a child from their tender age. 

She is a part of HEAL (Help Eradicate Abuse through Learning), an organisation founded by Rahul Bose, that has been working against Child Sexual Abuse since 2008 and is based in Mumbai, informed a press release from Lt Col Vincent Patton, the PRO of Inspector General of Assam Rifles.

The lecture was meant to make adults aware of what child abuse is and how “we as adults have the responsibility to prevent it,” the release said.

The lecture was followed by queries from the teachers in attendance and interaction.

Australia’s Highest Court Rules Female Genital Mutilation Illegal in All Forms

..

Around 200 million girls and women globally

have undergone some form of FGM

Editor’s note: This story contains sensitive details concerning FGM and a recent case related to two young Australian girls.
Global Citizen

High Court of Australia

Australia’s most powerful court ruled Wednesday that female genital mutilation (FGM) is illegal in all its “various forms.” 

In a huge victory for women’s rights, the judgment by Australia’s High Court has alleviated the uncertainty and debate around the words ‘mutilation’ and ‘clitoris’ — which has previously allowed convicted individuals to be acquitted of their crimes. 

The ruling will now negate the release of three people who, in 2015, were found guilty of performing FGM on two young girls, but later had their convictions set aside because Australia’s Criminal Court of Appeal claimed the trial judge had misinterpreted the two terms. 

ABC Religion&Ethics

@ABCReligion

The High Court has ruled that even "symbolic" female genital mutilation is illegal: https://ab.co/2oPV3jF 

Former nurse Kubra Magennis, spiritual leader Shabbir Mohammedbhai Vaziri, and the young girls’ mother allegedly performed “khatna” with the children — which sees the cutting or nicking of a clitoris.

The trio claimed the girls did not have their clitoris’ cut. They argued the ceremony was purely symbolic and simply involved "touching the edge of the genital area … allowing the skin to sniff the steel,” according to the ABC. 

Regardless, the three individuals were sentenced to 15 months in jail.

However, Australia’s Criminal Court of Appeal overturned their conviction after finding that the word ‘mutilate’ means some “imperfection or irreparable damage” had to have occurred.

A further medical exam presented to the court revealed the tip of the clitoral head was apparent for both girls, meaning it could be argued that the clitoris was not mutilated. 

On Wednesday, the High Court confirmed that the phrase ‘mutilates’ must cover the cutting of the clitoral hood. The clitoral hood, the court ruled, must also be considered a part of the ‘clitoris’.

"This broader construction ... would best promote the purpose or object of prohibiting such procedures generally," Chief Justice Susan Kiefel and Justice Patrick Keane said in a joint judgment, according to the Canberra Times. "On the Court of Criminal Appeal's construction, it may be taken as intended that even if a child might suffer a painful and distressing experience, no offence is committed unless some defect of damage is apparent."

FGM is practiced around the world.

Often thought of as a cultural tradition that helps girls become adults, the practice in reality causes significant health issues. 

Earlier this year, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare released a report which revealed 53,000 Australian girls and women who were born overseas have been subjected to the procedure. Around 200 million girls and women alive today have experienced some type of FGM, according to the World Health Organization.

Parents of 10-Year-Old Girl Who Died After FGM Are 'Hampering' Prosecution, Activists Say

All Australian states have laws prohibiting the practice — which all include legislation that makes it illegal to perform the procedure on an Australian overseas. Penalties differ largely among states. 

With the trio’s actions in 2015 now reconsidered illegal, their case will go back to the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal next week to determine whether the original 15-month sentencing was fair.

Four CSA Stories from One State on Today's Oregon, USA PnP List

More charges added in Talent, Ore, sex offender case

by Kaylee Tornay of the Mail Tribune

The man found hiding in the girls locker room at Talent Middle School in June took photos of nine students while he was there, according to a release from the Talent Police Department.

Curtis Bradley Stevenson, 41, who has been held in the Jackson County Jail since his June 3 arrest, now faces nine additional charges of attempting to use a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct, police said. His charges already included two counts of burglary, two counts of failure to register as a sex offender, identity theft and computer crime.

Police found photos of nine female students, who were clothed, on cell phones seized from Stevenson. The majority of the students were identified and their parents contacted, according to the release.

A PE teacher at Talent Middle School discovered Stevenson in the girls locker room; surveillance footage later showed that he had been let in through a side door by a student, and he had remained in the locker room for over an hour, said Principal Aaron Santi in June.

The Jackson County Sheriff's Office, which assisted Talent police with its investigation, also released information about additional charges. Stevenson, according to public information officer Sgt. Julie Denney, was already on the Jackson County Sheriff's Office's radar due to an ongoing investigation into the contents of electronics that detectives seized from his former residence about a year prior to the Talent Middle School incident.

The sheriff's office said today it charged Stevenson with 10 counts of encouraging child sex abuse. Those charges stem from its own investigation that began May 2018.

In that separate case, an Oregon Department of Justice task force alerted sheriff's office detectives that they had information from the Center for Missing & Exploited Children about a local Facebook user who had attempted to upload graphic images of child sexual abuse. Stevenson was identified as the suspect in that case.

Detectives served a search warrant in June 2018 at Stevenson's registered address in the 7200 block of Crowfoot Road in Trail, a news release from the sheriff's office said. They seized multiple electronic devices and transferred them to the DOJ for a forensic search.

The results of that search weren't disclosed until about 14 months later. Denney said that higher-priority criminal cases, such as homicides or major sexual assaults, can push cases without identified victims, such as Stevenson's, down on the list. "It's not unusual," she said. "Cases are triaged by the labs because there’s such a high demand for analysis of electronics."

While waiting for the results, she said, the department had no evidence on which to base an ongoing investigation into Stevenson, aside from compliance with the terms of his registration as a sex offender. "There’s nothing we really can do regarding that investigation until we have evidence to move forward," she said.

In the meantime, Stevenson allegedly moved without notifying local law enforcement, as his June 3, 2019 arrest tied him to an address in the 2400 block of Valley View Road, Ashland. "He was out of compliance," said Tim Doney, chief of Talent police, in June. "He wasn’t living where he was indicated he was living."

The electronics Jackson County Sheriff's detectives seized last June were eventually found to contain multiple images depicting child sexual abuse. Denney said the Sheriff's Office worked with the Jackson County District Attorney's Office to establish the charges. Counts generally correspond to the number of image or videos, she said. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security also assisted with the investigation, she said.

Doney said that the police department and the school district have worked together to try to secure campuses so similar incidents don't happen. In the immediate aftermath of the intrusion, Santi said in June that teachers and other school staff would be talking with students about the importance of not letting strangers in through side doors.

Improvements included in the Phoenix-Talent school bond are also expected to add to school security. Ernie Whiteman, a school resource officer who began working part-time at the school last spring, will also be on campus a few days each week again this school year.

Doney said, however, that a case where someone gains access for so long is extremely rare. "It's one of those cases that is probably kind of once in a lifetime," he said, "and you just hope it never happens again."

Troopers justified in killing man who wrestled gun from detective in Ore. state police office, DA says

By Everton Bailey Jr. | The Oregonian/OregonLive

Two state troopers were justified in fatally shooting a convicted sex offender at the agency’s Grants Pass office in August after he fought with a detective and they both wrestled for control of the detective’s gun, the Josephine County district attorney found.

Brandon C. Jones was a suspect in a child sexual abuse case when he arrived at the Oregon State Police office on the morning of Aug. 6, according to a memo by District Attorney Ryan Mulkins. Jones, 39, had been sentenced to prison in the past on prior sex abuse convictions.

Jones was being interviewed about what investigators found on a cellphone that he had given to them three months earlier. At some point, he told Detective Brendan Quirke that he no longer wanted to talk and that he was leaving, the memo said.

Quirke told Jones that he couldn’t leave and was under arrest. Jones then threw two punches at Quirke, hitting the detective once in the face, and the two ended up on the ground as Quirke attempted to pin Jones, the memo said.

Jones pulls Quirke’s holster and gun from the detective’s duty belt as they scuffled, the memo said. Quirke yelled that Jones had his gun as Quirke and another detective tried to subdue Jones, according to the district attorney.

The gun got out of the holster at some point and Jones grabbed it, Mulkins said in the memo. The handgun fired during the struggle but didn’t hit anyone.

Quirke yelled at his colleagues in the office to shoot Jones while they were struggling, Mulkins said.

Lt. Stephanie Bigman shot Jones in the side and Trooper Josh Quick shot Jones twice in the shoulder, Mulkins said. Quirke grabbed the gun away afterward. Jones died at the office.

According to the district attorney, Jones told his girlfriend in April that he “would rather die than go back to jail” and that he would have a shootout with police officers. Jones also told detectives when he handed them his cellphone in May in the sex abuse investigation that he’d die before returning to prison, Mulkins said.

Suicide by cop?

Jones’ criminal history includes Josephine County convictions for first-degree sexual abuse in 1997 and second-degree encouraging child sexual abuse in 2011, Oregon court records show.

On the day before he met with Quirke, Jones threatened any police officers who tried to arrest him in a post on a Facebook account that he used, according to the district attorney.

In a post written at 10:04 p.m. on Aug. 5, Jones wrote in all capital letters that if any officers “think about touching me … better pray before clocking in. Because I will rip out your spine through your stomach. I’m ready. Are you! Bring it on!!!!!”

Portland, Ore, man gave meth to underage neighbor,

raped her repeatedly, prosecutors allege

By Shane Dixon Kavanaugh | The Oregonian/OregonLive

A Portland man is accused of plying an underage neighbor with methamphetamine and raping her multiple times, according to the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office.

Paul Douglas Hamilton, 57, faces eight counts of second-degree rape, first-degree sexual abuse, unlawful delivery of methamphetamine to a minor and endangering the welfare of a minor, court records show.

Hamilton was arraigned Monday and pleaded not guilty to all charges. Records show he remains held in the Multnomah County jail on $1.5 million bail.

Prosecutors allege Hamilton provided drugs to the girl, who was under 14, and raped her more than once between August 2010 and August 2012.

Portland police, which launched an investigation in July 2018, arrested Hamilton on Aug. 30, according to the district attorney’s office.

Records show Hamilton, who is unemployed, has prior convictions for methamphetamine possession, kidnapping, bail jumping and driving under the influence of intoxicants.

His next court date is scheduled for Oct. 14.

Junction City, Ore, man sentenced to 15 years

for child sex abuse

By Chelsea Deffenbacher 

A Junction City man was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to child sexual abuse.

Jason Michael Reed, 36, pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree sexual abuse and three counts of second-degree sodomy in Lane County Circuit Court. He was sentenced to 180 months, with credit for time served.

Reed has been in the custody of the Lane County Jail since April 30, when he was arrested by Junction City police on 50 counts of first-degree sexual abuse. The Lane County District Attorney’s Office filed three of those charges and three additional second-degree sodomy charges. The abuse occurred between Oct. 1 and Dec. 8, 2018.

No indication of the age of the child here.

In Oregon, Lawyers for Foster Children Don't Even Have to Show Up

Children are often the first to suffer from adult's weaknesses; but children are mostly voiceless. In Oregon, even some children with lawyers are voiceless. And, no-one is doing anything about it. 

BY HILLARY BORRUD

The Oregonian/OregonLive

Illustration by Randy Mishler | The Oregonian/OregonLive

A pair of Oregon sisters were 5 and not quite 2 when state workers removed them and three older half-siblings from their Medford home in March 2014. Police were concerned about the children’s lack of food and their parents’ drug use and domestic violence, court records say.

The little girls deserved a say in what happened to them next, and one person was paid by Oregon taxpayers to be their voice: Central Point lawyer Risa Hall.

But when child welfare officials signed off on the girls moving into a home with a convicted sex offender, Hall raised no objection, according to a lawsuit filed on their behalf. An April 2014 document in the girls’ file called attention to the danger that man, an adult relative, posed to the children.

Hall should have known about the danger and argued against the move, which happened that May, the lawsuit says.

Instead, it says, the sisters endured months of physical and sexual abuse by the sex offender before a judge removed them from the home at the end of July 2014. By then, Hall had been paid to represent the girls for more than four months.

But she had never met or even talked to them, the lawsuit alleges.

An Oregon State Bar rule requires lawyers to communicate with their clients, even if they are young children. During hearings on foster care and adoptions, government lawyers argue for what child welfare workers say is in a child’s best interest. Children also are assigned attorneys, and those lawyers are supposed to stand up for what the child wants, not what the lawyer thinks is best.

Face-to-face meetings are the only way to fully understand a child’s circumstances and learn what the child truly wants, according to some attorneys who do this type of work. In a system that often prioritizes the interests of adults, lawyers are supposed to provide a voice for the child.

But Oregon’s system can fail the vulnerable children it is meant to help, The Oregonian/OregonLive has found. Some lawyers don’t meet with their clients. Attorneys sometimes rely on staff or other intermediaries, even though child advocates and officials at the state legal contracting agency say that approach shortchanges children.

The state has no system to monitor the quality of legal work for foster children. Instead, it leaves the contractors who do that work to police themselves. Even when complaints arise and officials conclude an absent advocate denied a child appropriate legal help, they rarely mete out consequences. 

Judge Andrea Janney listens as caseworker Grant Laugsand provides an update on two boys in state care, during a hearing in Klamath County Circuit Court on September 26, 2017.  Hillary Borrud | The Oregonian/OregonLive

Over time, the bar’s best practice guidelines have either said lawyers for foster children “should” or “must” meet with the child within 72 hours of appointment and then communicate with the child at least every 90 days. They’re also supposed to talk to the child before every court hearing and when the child faces “a significant change of circumstances.”

Lane Borg took the helm as director of the agency that contracts with lawyers in 2018. He said he is familiar with the sentiment that attorneys don’t need to speak to or visit young children who are clients. And he doesn’t buy it.

“People that started practicing in this area when I started practicing 30-plus years ago, they would be like, ‘What’s the point of driving five hours to go see a baby in foster care somewhere? I’m not going to learn anything that’s going to help me in court. That’s a waste of my time,’” he said.

“No,” Borg countered, “it’s not a waste of your time, it’s what you should be doing in your practice.”

But Oregon does not check how often or even whether lawyers meet with the vulnerable children they represent.

Unless Hall met the Medford sisters she was assigned to represent, she could not serve as their true voice. In recent years, at least nine other lawyers also breached standards requiring them to communicate with child clients and represent their wishes, The Oregonian/OregonLive found. State officials determined most of them went for long stretches without contacting their clients. Others did not dispute the allegation they did the same. In addition to formal complaints, state officials who oversee the more than 300 lawyers who represent roughly 7,600 foster children a year say many more are resolved informally.

Through her lawyer, Hall declined to answer questions. In court filings, she said the abusers, not she, are to blame for any harm. She did not say if she ever met with the sisters. The state still pays Hall to represent other foster children.

Oregon taxpayers spend nearly $12 million a year to provide lawyers for every child in the foster system. Oregon’s approach to calculating pay for foster children’s lawyers tends to reward those who take on high caseloads and give less to those who devote long hours on the cases of fewer children.

In most of Oregon, there are no limits on how many foster children one lawyer can represent, and the state does not track caseloads. The state contracts with law firms or legal nonprofits and pays them primarily based on how many foster children they anticipate they will represent. Typical payments are $830 per child, and a lawyer who visits a child 10 times is paid no more than a lawyer who never does.

Borg acknowledges the system creates a financial incentive for a lawyer to maximize caseloads and do minimal work for each child.

“You incentivize people to take massive amounts of cases,” said Borg, who formerly headed Portland-based Metropolitan Public Defenders, which represented foster children under contract with the state. “We’re not really measuring whether you get any good outcomes or how much work you do. … For 30 years, it’s been cheap and predictable.”

Borg, who became executive director in January, said his Office of Public Defense Services can’t do more to enforce performance standards for foster children’s lawyers because the budget is tight and the lawyers are private contractors, not state employees. 

Schuyler Davis of Springfield, who entered the foster system at age 7, said he only realized about five years later that a lawyer or lawyers had been representing him in court. Davis says the lawyer he was assigned then, Ilisa Rooke-Ley, listened to him and made a big difference in his life.

Beth Nakamura | The Oregonian/OregonLive

‘LISTENING IS IMPORTANT’

Experts who drafted the Oregon State Bar best practices for children’s lawyers stressed the importance of personal interactions. The state agency that provides attorneys for foster children has adopted those practices as performance standards.

“Establishing and maintaining a relationship with the child client is the foundation of representation,” the bar’s task force wrote in 2014. “It is often more difficult to develop a relationship and trust with a child client than with an adult. … The child’s needs and interests, not the adults’ or professionals’ interests, must be the center of all advocacy.”

Young children can reasonably express preferences about where they live, even when they are too young to put them into words, an expert panel assembled by the Oregon bar asserted.  

Face-to-face meetings with grade schoolers are an opportunity for lawyers to explain the status of the case in an age-appropriate manner and learn what outcomes the child wants. A lawyer who visits a toddler should ask the caregiver questions such as “Where does the child sleep? Where do they spend their time?” Borg said. It sends a signal that the child has his or her own legal advocate and can reveal what a child likes or fears.

“When a lawyer can discern the child client’s preference … the lawyer must advocate for that preference,” the bar’s experts wrote.

The stakes for children and families are incredibly high. Losing a child, a parent or a sibling or being placed in an uncaring or unsafe foster home can do lifelong emotional damage. An emotionally secure, loving adoptive family can put a child on a life-saving, life-affirming path.

Young adults who spent time in the child welfare system testify to the importance of having a good lawyer. Schuyler Davis of Springfield says he “grew up in the foster care system from 7 to 21.” Now 24, he works security at concerts and volunteers for various causes, including an organization he started to raise awareness of children in state care called Project Foster Kids USA.

Davis said he didn’t realize until he got a new attorney at age 12 that another lawyer or lawyers had represented him in court during his previous five years in foster care. His new lawyer, Ilisa Rooke-Ley, “asked what I wanted,” Davis said. When Davis told Rooke-Ley that he needed help to cope with anger, she got him into a treatment program.

“What helped me to be as successful as I am today is being able to get that help that I needed,” said Davis. “Her listening to what I wanted was especially important to me. … It wasn’t common, especially with (the Department of Human Services).”

Schuyler Davis, who grew up in Oregon's foster care system, speaks about the importance of having a lawyer who listened to him and advocated for his needs. 

A decade ago, Washington County Judge Jim Fun started asking children’s lawyers during court hearings when they last met with their clients. A new federal law required judges to consult with children in an age-appropriate manner, he said, so he checked to make sure the lawyer was actually serving as a conduit to the child.

“A child has just as much right as any adult to be heard in court, and the only way that that can be accomplished is for counsel to have an opportunity to see the child,” Fun said.

Having a lawyer know the child’s circumstances first-hand isn’t a nicety, Amy Miller, acting deputy director at the agency that oversees foster children’s legal services, advised one child’s lawyer. “Attorneys who represent young children play a critical role in child safety,” she wrote.

But there have been questions about the failure of lawyers to meet performance standards in Klamath, Jackson, Baker, Clatsop, Lincoln and Washington counties during the last five years, The Oregonian/OregonLive found.

FAILURES SPAN OREGON

Oregon’s only system for enforcing foster children’s rights to timely, well-informed legal representation is for someone to complain to the state Office of Public Defense Services or the Oregon State Bar. Not surprisingly, toddlers, grade-schoolers and teens who depend on state-paid lawyers almost never file complaints.

People have filed 14 complaints with the state defense office over the past five years regarding the quality of legal representation for foster children in Oregon, records show. One was filed by a minor.

State law allows the Office of Public Defense Services to keep those complaints confidential. The agency declined to release the minor’s complaint about a Washington County attorney, and it is not clear what the client was unhappy about. The office heavily redacted most of the complaints it did release.

Most of those complaints said lawyers weren’t meeting or communicating with children they represented. Several were said to have failed to connect with their child clients at all. One, Baker County lawyer Ted Martin, told Oregon juvenile court program director Leola McKenzie he wasn’t required to visit clients, state officials found. 

A redacted copy of a 2015 complaint about a lawyer in Jackson County lists concerns raised by a foster mother caring for two children, one with significant medical needs, whose lawyer had not visited them. The state released this and other complaints in response to a public records request.

Office of Public Defense Services

In December 2015, a foster mother in Jackson County complained that attorney Vance Waliser never met with the two children in her care, including one with “severe medical needs.” The woman said she sent Waliser more than 100 emails and left numerous voicemails, including a request that Waliser advocate for more help for the high-needs child. When Miller investigated, Waliser confirmed that he never met these clients, Miller’s notes say.

But the state organization that issues contracts to groups of lawyers imposed no consequences on Waliser, who is a member of the same for-profit legal consortium as Hall. Miller noted that she told Waliser about the performance standards for children’s lawyers and the requirement to independently investigate the circumstances of each client. She also authorized funds for him to travel to visit his clients, then marked the complaint “resolved.” Waliser did not respond to requests for comment.

Waliser and Hall are among five co-owners of the Jackson Juvenile Consortium, state records show. The state continues to pay the consortium $1.5 million a year to represent children and low-income adults.

Eastern Oregon foster parent Mary Collard says no one has more at stake in a family court decision than the foster child, so their lawyers’ advocacy is essential. She told the state that for roughly five months, Ontario lawyer Renee Denison hadn’t visited her foster son. Collard said Denison missed court hearings and citizen reviews for the boy and his siblings, whom Denison was also assigned to represent.

“It was so evident that everyone else had an attorney there EXCEPT the very most important ones!” Collard wrote. “I don't understand how legally, these proceedings can go on without him being represented. Huge decisions are being made for this child's future.”

Questioned by Miller, Denison did not dispute that she failed to visit the boy and missed events in his case. But she blamed some problems on the district attorney’s office and the state child welfare program. Denison withdrew from representing all three siblings, Miller said, but continues to represent other foster children. Denison did not respond to requests for comment.

In 2013, leaders from Washington County’s Court Appointed Special Advocates program shared a lengthy list of concerns with the state about Hillsboro law firm Karpstein & Verhulst, including that siblings represented off-and-on by a lawyer for six years didn’t know who he was. They said the lawyer “had little knowledge of the case other than parroting the DHS or (advocates) report,” the advocates wrote. A 2015 state review of legal contractors in the county noted ongoing concerns about the firm’s reliance on staff to visit children. As that review was underway, Nathan Law and Jacob Griffith took over the firm from Gregory Karpstein, state business filings show. Law told The Oregonian/OregonLive that the firm no longer relies solely on staff to visit children, and attorneys are the primary contact for clients. 

Frederick Carman, one of six attorneys at the firm, also vouched for the quality of legal representation. “I stand on my 42 years as an attorney in private practice,” Carman wrote. “It is a fact of life as a practicing lawyer that there will be the occasional unhappy client.” 

Whacky Judge, School Custodian, Karate Instructor on Today's USA PnP List

Texas judge tells jury God wants not-guilty verdict

in child trafficking trial

Is it any wonder non-Christians don't take Christians seriously

when this kind of lunacy happens?

A Texas state district judge reportedly told a jury that God asked him to direct them to a not-guilty verdict in a child trafficking case they were deliberating on.

Judge Jack Robison interrupted jurors’ deliberations to say God had been in touch, and told him that they should not convict 32-year-old Gloria Elizabeth Romero Perez, who was accused of continuously trafficking her teenage niece from the US to Honduras to an older man.   

Robison apologised to the jury for interrupting but told them: “When God tells me to do something, I gotta do it,” before recusing himself from the remainder of the proceedings, reports the Herald-Zeitung in New Braunfels.

It appears the panel of seven men and five women were less obedient to God, as they convicted Perez anyway, sending her to prison for 25 years for trafficking her child. They acquitted her on the second charge of selling a child.

Perez’s defence lawyer Sylvia Cavazo told AP she would be seeking a re-trial. Cavazo said she spoke about the incident with Judge Robison in his chambers afterward and confirmed that he thinks God has spoken to him and reaffirmed that he felt he did the right thing.

Robison has been reprimanded by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct before. The commission found Robison “exceeded the scope of his authority and failed to comply with the law” for jailing a man for contempt of court after he called him a “fool” during a child custody case, according to the Statesman.

Robison is scheduled to return to the bench on January 31.

I think he should consider retiring and if he doesn't, the State should retire him. Who knows how many criminals he has let off because 'God told him to'?

Comal Co., TX

Karate instructor accused of sexually

assaulting children

By Stephanie Pagones and Emily Saul

A Bronx karate instructor has been busted for allegedly sexually assaulting at least two children, including one as young as 6, a police source said Sunday.

Anthony Gonzalez of USA Martial Arts Fitness Academy was arrested last week for the assaults, which had been occurring since September 2016 in the school’s bathroom, the source said.

The alleged long-term abuse of the two girls was discovered when one of them accused Gonzalez of assaulting her in the facility Jan. 17, the source said.

The girl said she went to get a drink of water, and Gonzalez followed her. When the pair were alone, he allegedly yanked down her pants and fondled her, News 12 reported.

The child told her parents, who called the cops, the police source told The Post. Gonzalez was arrested Jan. 18 and charged with sex abuse, forcible touching and acting in a manner injurious to a child, according to court documents.

Cops are investigating the possibility that the 37-year-old may have more victims, according to the same source.

Officials at the karate school issued a statement Sunday on Facebook saying they were aware of the disturbing claims.

It was unclear if the girls were Gonzalez’s students. The school offers classes for both students and adults.

Gonzalez remains jailed on $350,000 bail after his Thursday arrest.

The sweatsuit-clad instructor was walked out of the Bronx Child Advocacy Center in handcuffs later in the evening, eyes downcast.

Gonzalez is expected to return to court Wednesday. If convicted, he faces up to seven years behind bars on the top count.

The school was shuttered Sunday, and a person who identified themselves as a member of the owner’s family declined to answer questions. “There is a lot our family is dealing with right now,” the woman said. “I have nothing else to say at this time.”

Former Oregon school custodian charged

with child sex abuse

By Jack Heffernan The Daily Astorian

SEASIDE — A Seaside man was arrested Thursday for allegedly molesting a child on several occasions.

The allegations are based on several incidents from 2007 to 2011 when the child was between the ages of 5- and 9-years-old. Seaside police arrested Keith Davis, 46, who has been charged with five counts of first-degree sexual abuse and five counts of first-degree sodomy.

Davis is a former custodian at Seaside Heights Elementary School. Police say they do not believe he was using his position with the school to gain access to the victim in this case.

Davis is being held at the Clatsop County Jail on $500,000 bail. His arraignment is scheduled for later this month if indicted.

“If anyone does believe any similar incidents did occur based on his employment at the school, they are encouraged to come forward,” Deputy District Attorney Dawn Buzzard said.

Those with further information are advised to call Seaside Police Detective Bill Barnes at 503-738-6311.

10,000 in Central Oregon Trained to Prevent Child Sex Abuse

By: KTVZ.COM news sources

KIDS Center, a child abuse intervention center, reached a milestone this month as 10,000 adults in Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson counties have taken Darkness to Light: Stewards of Children®. This training is vital to ensuring our community is prepared to prevent, recognize, and react responsibly to child abuse.

When 5 percent of any population is trained, as Central Oregon is now, positive cultural shifts occur in addressing this serious issue.

KIDS Center, dedicated to preventing, evaluating, and treating all forms of child abuse, is a regional leader in training adults to better protect children from sexual abuse through their facilitation of Stewards of Children®. Since 2005, KIDS Center has facilitated Darkness to Light: Stewards of Children® trainings and grown their educational and prevention community resources. Kim Bohme, Prevention and Education Coordinator at KIDS Center, stated:

“We are very proud of the over 10,000 adults in Central Oregon who have learned how to protect children from child sexual abuse. However, our work is not done. Statistics suggest that 1 in 10 children in Central Oregon will be sexually abused before the age of 18, making this one of the most prevalent health problem children face. There is another 95% of adults in Deschutes, Crook, and Jefferson counties that can learn how to create a safer place for children.”

Remember, Darkness to Light does not include peer-on-peer sex abuse in their statistics, otherwise the 1 in 10 ratio would be much worse.

The Stewards of Children® program lays the foundation for a proactive, community-wide approach to the prevention of child sexual abuse and builds momentum toward educating and empowering all adults to protect children from abuse. In Deschutes County alone, 6,506 adults are trained to create environments that reduce the risk for abuse and allow children to live, learn, play, and worship in safety. Bohme adds:

“Our goal is to continue to train people in preventing child sexual abuse in Central Oregon until every adult has experienced this valuable and important training. Our immediate goal is to ensure that an additional 1,000 adults participate in Stewards of Children® in 2017! KIDS Center is committed to the total health and well-being of the children and families in our community and beyond­–we are ramping up our educational outreach in 2017 to reach as many adults as possible.”

Upcoming training dates:

January 10, 2016 Madras 4-7pm

February 9, 2016 Bend 6-9pm

With grant support from The Ford Family Foundation, Cow Creek Umpqua Indians Foundation and, Pacific Power Foundation, KIDS Center is able to offer Darkness to Light’s Stewards of Children® program to community members as a three-hour training. Registration can be found at kidscenter.org/trainings.

Those interested in participating in Darkness to Light Stewards of Children® trainings and other child abuse prevention programs and/or volunteer opportunities can contact Kim Bohme, KIDS Center Prevention and Education Coordinator, at kbohme@kidscenter.org or at 
541.306.6062.

Congratulations, Kim. Well done! God bless you and your team. This program will, no doubt, save children from the horrors of sex abuse. Oregon, unfortunately, shows up in this blog more often than many states and so this program is very much needed.

What is also needed is for the children to be educated about safe/non-safe touch, reporting, etc.; in other words, Erin's Law is badly needed in Oregon. Please contact your law-makers about getting it done.

Correction: Erin's Law was passed in Oregon in June 2015! Excellent! There should be a sharp improvement in the numbers, particularly in Central Oregon.