The Child Protection eNewsletter

AP survey finds rampant abuse in juvenile detention facilities…  

The Associated Press contacted each state agency that oversees juvenile correction centers and asked for information on the number of deaths as well as the number of allegations and confirmed cases of physical, sexual and emotional abuse by staff members since Jan. 1, 2004.  Read More

According to the survey, more than 13,000 claims of abuse were identified in juvenile correction centers around the country from 2004 through 2007--a remarkable total, given that the total population of detainees was about 46,000 at the time the states were surveyed in 2007.

Just 1,343 of those claims of abuse identified by the AP were confirmed by various authorities.  Of 1,140 claims of sexual abuse, 143 were confirmed by investigators.

Wisconsin corrections officials reported one death and 63 claims of abuse in the state's juvenile facilities.  Four of those claims were confirmed.  They also reported 12 claims of a staff member sexually abusing a detainee, but none were substantiated.  Wisconsin's juvenile population was about 635 detainees last year.

In 2004, the U.S. Justice Department uncovered 2,821 allegations of sexual abuse by juvenile correction staffers.  The government study included 194 private facilities, which likely accounts for the higher numbers than the AP found.

But some experts say the true number of sexual incidents is likely even higher.  Some youth view sexual relationships with staff members as consensual, not as adults in positions of authority abusing their power.

Sue Burrell, an attorney for the Youth Law Center in San Francisco, recalls investigating sexual encounters between female staff and male inmates at a juvenile facility in Florida.  "One of the boys I interviewed said he didn't think it was fair that his roommate had a relationship with one of the staffers and he didn't."

Other abuse is physical, and often sadistic.

For boys at the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility, authority came in the person of 50-year-old Gilbert Hicks, and he wielded that authority emphatically.  Hicks was convicted of sexual assault in October 2005 after he "grabbed, squeezed and twisted" a boy's testicles, according to a federal lawsuit.

When the boy sought medical attention 10 days later because of pain and swelling, Hicks, who had worked at the facility for 24 years, taunted him by asking: "What, you want me to squeeze your (genitals) again?"  Hicks allegedly abused two other boys the same way.

His sentence? Five years probation and 90 days in jail to be served on weekends.

What sets the case apart from many others is the successful conviction. Often such cases come down to the word of a guard against that of a teenager with a long criminal record, the primary reason that so few charges of abuse are confirmed and prosecuted, child advocates say.

In 2007 Texas undertook a thorough overhaul of its juvenile treatment system in the wake of widespread abuse reports.  See vol5_iss19.,  vol5_iss23  and  vol5_iss24  for more on that story.

Jersey abuse victims receive ‘threats’ from former caregivers… 

Former workers at a Jersey care home where a child’s skull was found have been warned by UK police they risk arrest if they approach any witnesses or victims.  Read More

Some of the 160 people who claim they were abused at the Haut de la Garenne home, say they are being intimidated by their former care workers to prevent them giving evidence.

One man, who would only give his name as Steve, said an associate had been telephoned by one of his former child care officers this week and given a threatening message to pass on.

“This person had suggested I have a good life, a very good job, a family, I’ve left the island, it’s all in the past and that dredging it up won’t help matters, it will cause more problems,” he said.  “I said I’d already spoken to the police about it and she said, ‘Well I know that but if they speak to you again, certainly about the remains, it would be in your best interests to say I’ve told you all I know and keep a low profile’.”

Other victims have made similar claims.  Police said earlier this week that although Jersey’s current child care system had been fully co-operative, some former staff had been obstructing the investigation.

Steve, a 38-year-old IT worker from Telford, Shropshire, is one of more than 160 people to have complained that they were subjected to serious physical and sexual abuse while at the Haut de la Garenne from the 1960s to its closure in 1986.

Meanwhile, police excavating the former Jersey children's home may have unearthed more human remains.  Read More

Lenny Harper, the deputy chief constable of Jersey Police, said a sniffer dog specially trained to find such remains gave a strong reaction to items found at the same site at Haut de la Garenne where part of a child’s skull was discovered.  Mr. Harper said they were “possibly pieces of bone”.

His announcement came as the first picture of a "punishment room" at a former children's home at the center of the major child abuse investigation revealed a haunting message written on the wall.

On a wooden post against the wall of a secret chamber under Haut de la Garenne, in Jersey, was written the message:  "I've been bad for years and years."  The picture also appears to reveal a large, concrete bath.

Police have excavated one underground chamber at the former home, which until recently been used as a youth hostel, and believe there could be three more.

For more information on the Jersey investigation, visit Read More

In other news… 

A high school couple forced to break up spent weeks plotting what became a bloody spree of gunfire and stabbings in the girl's home, leaving her mother and two brothers dead and her father wounded, according to police reports.  Read More  The graphic narrative of the ambush--which includes the 16-year-old daughter allegedly having sex with her boyfriend after he helped kill her family--brought fresh anguish to this remote East Texas town still reeling from the Saturday massacre.  At the heart of the criminal complaints from the Rains County Sheriff's Department is Charlie James Wilkinson, 19, allegedly telling investigators his girlfriend wanted her parents dead because they forbade their relationship.  "Wilkinson stated that he and (the girl) were in love and the only way they could be together is to kill the parents," the complaints stated.  From there, the detailed reports allege a friend was offered $2,000 to join the plot, say Penny and Terry Caffey were shot repeatedly in their beds and 13-year-old Mathew Caffey received a fatal bullet near his head.  His brother, 8-year-old Tyler, was killed after allegedly being stabbed with a sword, according to the complaints. Terry Caffey, the father, was the lone survivor of the attack.  Terry Caffey remains at East Texas Medical Center in nearby Tyler. The hospital would not release his condition but Tommy Gaston, his neighbor and close friend, said Monday that Caffey's health was improving.  Authorities say despite being shot five times, Terry Caffey crawled 300 yards through a wooded pasture to reach Gaston's front door for help.  Behind him was a bloody trail and his burning house; the affidavits state that Waid and Wilkinson set fire to furniture and laundry before leaving.

A 3-year-old Cincinnati girl is recovering with relatives as police try to determine who’s responsible for getting her drunk and injuring the child.  Read More  Police said the girl, who turned 3 years old in December, had suffered a small amount of bleeding on her brain, eye damage consistent with being shaken, neck and shoulder injuries, two broken bones in her left arm, bruises all over her body.  “The arm fractures and bleeding are classic signs of being shaken,” Easterling said.  “But there are so many different types of injuries to this 3-year-old that I can only speculate as to how it all occurred.”  Investigators said the child also had abrasions on her lips from being force-fed alcohol, and her blood-alcohol level measured 0.15.

A series of Benadryl overdoses among students at Sweet Home High School in Oregon led school officials to warn students and parents this week.  Read More  School administrators said at least five students, ranging in age from freshmen to seniors, have experimented with overdosing on the drug to get high.  Police estimate the students were taking five times the recommended dosage in order to get high.  The overdose leads to extremely high heart rates that can cause death.

Cary, North Carolina police have given Wake County prosecutors video of a nanny handling twin infants roughly so they can determine if charges are warranted.  Read More  Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby said that police had submitted the February 11 surveillance video to his office to determine whether to charge Stephanie Merrill, 26, of Cary.  Police Chief Pat Bazemore said investigators were waiting for Lindsay Addison to turn over all the video before deciding whether to close the case.  The video is available online at Read More.

A Chinese-language magazine publisher accused of killing his wife in New Zealand and abandoning his daughter at an Australian train station was captured in an Atlanta suburb, authorities said.  Read More  Nai Yin Xue was caught after residents of a Chamblee, Georgia apartment recognized him from pictures published in the media and called police, U.S. Marshals Service Chief Inspector Thomas Hession said.  Hession said that when the residents, who were of Chinese descent, confronted Xue about his identity, he tried to leave the building but they detained him until police arrived.  "They did a great job," he said.  "The Chinese community throughout this investigation stepped up."  Police in Chamblee told the New Zealand Press Association that six men who recognized Xue jumped on him and bound his ankles with his belt and pants.  When officers arrived, the men were sitting on Xue, who also had his hands tied behind his back.  For the beginning of this manhunt see  vol5_iss63  vol5_iss62.

Newsweek takes a look at a continuing suicide epidemic sweeping a small community in Wales.  Read More  Since the start of 2007, a total of 17 young people in and around the played-out South Wales coal town--most of them teenagers--have killed themselves by hanging.  vol6_iss7  vol6_iss8.

*for access to member only sites like the New York Times, use the ID "JohnDoeID" and the password "whatever". On sites asking for an email address, feel free to use "info@childprotectionprogram.org"