Illinois - Melissa Calusinski asks judge to review 31-year sentence

By Beth Kramer

kramer@stmedianetwork.com

Thirty-one years in prison is “excessive” for the Carpentersville woman convicted of murdering a 16-month-old toddler while employed as a teaching assistant at the Lincolnshire day care center, according to a motion to reconsider her sentence filed in Lake County Circuit Court on Friday.

A jury convicted Melissa Calusinski, 25, of first-degree murder for the January 2009 incident at the Minee Subee day care center in Lincolnshire where a Deerfield toddler died. It has been approximately 38 months since the day of the offense, Judge Daniel Shanes said at a hearing Friday.

Calusinski’s attorney Paul DeLuca asked the judge to reconsider his Feb. 23 sentence, alleging Shanes made a few errors in the ruling.

“Defendant’s position is that the sentence is excessive in light of the defendant’s character, attitude and lack of criminal history in this regard,” DeLuca said in the motion.

Calusinski could have served up to life in prison. If her sentence stands, she will be 53 when she is discharged.

However, Shanes did not rule on the motion to reconsider at Friday’s hearing. The American Board of Pathology responded to a subpoena seeking information about Dr. Manuel Montez who provided testimony during the trial. The question is whether he is board-certified, DeLuca said.

“Our position is that he [Montez] told the jury he had to sit for the board. We want to know if he failed the boards and misrepresented to the jury,” DeLuca said.

DeLuca also maintains the defense was not notified of “many things” Montez did, DeLuca said. Shanes previously denied a defense motion for a new trial.

In the 36-point motion for a new trial, DeLuca wrote that the state failed to disclose that Montez examined Benjamin Kingan’s head on Jan. 16, 2009 and that Montez was instructed not to prepare a report or notes.
Shanes said he was setting the case over to March 29 so that prosecutors and defense attorneys can decide what to do about the subpoena material. Shanes also said the motion to reconsider the sentence is “the last stop before appeal.”

Calusinski is in custody at Dwight Correctional Center. Her projected parole date is Dec. 30, 2039, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.

© 2011 Sun-Times Media, LLC.

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Connecticut - Baby found inside basement crawlspace; home daycare operator arrested

 By WFSB Staff

Catalina Reyes, 54, was arrested after police said a baby was found unattended inside a basement crawlspace behind a locked door
WATERBURY, CT (WFSB) -Police in Waterbury arrested the operator of a home daycare after a Department of Health inspector said a 6-month-old was found strapped to a car seat in a basement crawlspace behind a locked door.

The girl was discovered while the inspector was conducting an inspection of the home, police said, and the baby was without food and had not been changed.

Police arrested Catalina Reyes, 54, and charged her with risk of injury to a minor.

Reyes was able to post bond and was expected to appear in court on Thursday. However, police said she wasn't in court when her name was called and the judge ordered police to re-arrest her.

Copyright 2012 WFSB (Meredith Corporation).
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Utah - Appeals court overturns mom's boyfriends child abuse conviction

Jim Dalrymple - Daily Herald

SALT LAKE CITY -- In October 2005, Cameron Clint O'Bannon called the mother of an 11-month-old boy and told her to get home quickly. O'Bannon, the boy and his mother all lived together with other family members, and the mother had left her son with O'Bannon while she ran some errands, according to court documents.

When the mother arrived home, she discovered an ambulance had been called. Paramedics described the boy as "extremely limp and unresponsive," and a doctor later said the boy suffered serious injuries from being shaken. And though O'Bannon claimed the boy injured himself, a Provo jury eventually convicted him of child abuse, a second-degree felony, for causing the trauma.

Thursday, however, the Utah Court of Appeals overturned O'Bannon's conviction, saying he deserves a new trial because the judge in the case improperly gave a misleading jury instruction.

The appeals court decision hinges on an instruction that was issued at the request of prosecutors. According to court documents, the boy was treated by Dr. Bruce Herman at Primary Children's Medical Center. Herman concluded the boy suffered from intracranial bleeding, retinal hemorrhages, splitting of retinal layers and a blood blister at the back of his eye. The boy also lacked substantial external injuries, and Herman ultimately concluded that some of the trauma was as much as two weeks old.

During O'Bannon's trial, Dr. David Dries further testified that it was unlikely the boy suffered the injuries from falling down stairs.

"It takes far greater force for accidental trauma, far greater," Dries reportedly said.

But O'Bannon insisted he didn't hurt the boy. While on the stand he said he never shook the child and described him as "one of my own kids." O'Bannon's lawyer also called an expert witness, Dr. Robert Rothfeder, who testified that a fall down the stairs could have re-agitated an old wound, causing those injuries.

O'Bannon was prejudiced as a result of the erroneous jury instructions
According to the court documents, prosecutors felt O'Bannon's defense and explanation of the injuries would confuse jurors. As a result, they asked the judge to point out that O'Bannon was guilty if he shook the boy, even if that shaking only led to the re-agitation of old injuries.

"In criminal law the injurer takes his victim as he finds him," the final jury instruction stated. "When injury ensues from deliberate wrongdoing, even if it is not an intended consequence, the injurer is responsible at law without the law concerning itself with the precise amount of harm inflicted."

O'Bannon's defense team objected to the instruction, according to the court documents, but the judge delivered it anyway.

However, the court of appeals decision determined that the judge did not "fairly instruct the jury on the applicable law." Specifically, the decision cites case law and lists examples as it argues the instruction confused the mental state required for a conviction on child abuse charges. In other words, O'Bannon and prosecutors disagreed about the meaning and significance of his thoughts when the boy was injured, and the jury instruction confused the jury on that issue.

"We also agree with ," the decision goes on to state.

The decision means that O'Bannon's case will be sent back to Provo's district court for a new trial, though no hearing dates have yet been set.

Defense and prosecuting attorneys did not return requests for comment Thursday.

Copyright 2012 Daily Herald.
Read more: http://www.heraldextra.com/
 
BLOG COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER- In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this blog is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only. Further, Nothing in this blog should be considered or taken as legal advice. If you need legal advice, please contact an attorney. Any Commentary on this blog should be considered the personal opinion of the creator of the blog, unless indisputable facts are given.

Colorado - Day Care Owners Sentenced To Jail For Misdemeanor Child Abuse Charges

Former Broomfield Day Care Owners Sentenced To Jail 

First Friendships Day Care was caring for too many children, some found sleeping in car seats

By Joe Rubino Enterprise Staff Writer

The former owners and operators of an in-home Broomfield child care center on Friday were both sentenced to jail terms for what some of their former clients called the "intentional and malicious" abuse of their children.

Cheryl and Richard Nicaise on Jan. 27, as part of a deal with prosecutors, separately pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges of child abuse, knowingly or recklessly, without injury. In exchange for their pleas, 16 counts of misdemeanor child abuse were dropped. On Friday, Broomfield District Court Judge Amy Bockman sentenced Cheryl Nicaise to one year and Richard Nicaise to nine months in Broomfield County jail.

The Nicaises were caring for as many as 16 children -- 10 more than their state day care license allowed -- most younger than 2, and kept as many as 14 of them sleeping in car seats in a darkened room, according to police reports.

Greg Feldman, whose 3- and 5-year-old daughters attended the Nicaises' First Friendships day care, spoke Friday, bringing with him photographs of his girls.  Feldman said the poor care his children received has effected their physical development."My daughter ... is 3 years old," an emotional Feldman said, holding up a photo of his youngest daughter. "She is a funny, bright little girl and she can't even run without falling over."

Parents Were...Deaf, Dumb and Obviously Blind

The Nicaises turned themselves in to police on June 9, after police say an investigation prompted by reports from the state of social services department in April uncovered First Friendships was exceeding the limits of its license.  In June, the Nicaises entered a settlement agreement with the state, surrendering their license to provide child care and agreeing to never again provide child care in Colorado, state Health and Human Services spokeswoman Liz McDonough said at the time.

Broomfield Det. Dale Hammell, in a police report that helped lead to the Nicaises' arrest, detailed his investigation into the initial reports of neglect  Hammell said he reviewed a report prepared by Broomfield County Health and Human Services caseworker Bonnie Steele. Steele detailed a visit to the Nicaises' home on April 12, when she discovered the couple was caring for many more children than their licensed allowed, keeping a majority of the mostly very young children in a separate room detached from the main day care area.

"Caseworker Steele followed Cheryl into a room and counted 12 children sleeping in car seats in the room. Steele later noticed two additional children in the room, also in the car seats, bringing the total of children sleeping in car seats to 14 ... and the total number of children being cared for in the residence, including the two sleeping on mats, to 16 children. Twelve of the 16 were under the age of two."

On April 15, Hammell and another detective visited the home with a search warrant. Upon searching the home, Hammell found three car seats in the designated child care area of the home, but found an additional 12 car seats stacked in the garage.

Prosecutor Lisa Hunt on Friday highlighted the fact that caseworker Steele visited the Nicaises' residence prior to April 12, but only observed six children -- the number allowed by their day care license -- at the home during that visit. On her second visit, only after she inquired about a specific child not among the two in the day care area when she arrived, did Cheryl Nicaise allow Steele into a separate, darkened game room area where the additional 14 children were found. Hunt also highlighted past run-ins with the state related to their running of a then-unlicensed in-home day care.

The Nicaises had supporters in court Friday, too. Among them was Broomfield resident Jason Patterson, whose daughter, now 6, was in the Nicaises' care for the first 41/2 years of her life. He said she absolutely loved the Nicaises and their day care.  Patterson said his mother ran an in-home day care center for 30 years, making him especially wary of who cared for his daughter. He said early on, to assuage his concerns, he sometimes went to First Friendships unexpectedly in the middle of the day to ensure his daughter was being properly cared for, and found the Nicaises' care and facility to be fantastic.  "(My daughter) is thriving, she's awesome and she loves the Nicaises," Patterson said. "I won't stand for anything being said about these people being anything other than caring, genuine people."

Both Cheryl and Richard Nicaise delivered emotional speeches Friday, in which they admitted to taking on more children they were allowed but claimed they loved each child as their own and never neglected them or put them is a situation where their healthy development or safety was at risk.

Bockman, citing parent accounts Friday and the voluminous materials from both sides she reviewed beforehand, rejected the Nicaises' version of what went on in their home, calling their actions "inexcusable" and "motivated by nothing but greed."

"What you did in this case was not only deceitful and irresponsible but was blatantly criminal," Bockman said before ordering both defendants remanded to begin serving their jail terms.

Broomfield Enterprise & broomfieldenterprise.com

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Florida - Dad and Girlfriend Arrested For Aggravated Child Abuse, Unlawful Caging of Child

A Brevard County father and his girlfriend face serious child abuse charges after police said they found the man's son locked in a bathroom, lying on the floor and extremely malnourished.

Michael Marshall, 38, and his live-in girlfriend, Sharon Glass, 48, were arrested late Thursday afternoon at Marshall's home on Barna Avenue, just a few blocks from Andrew Jackson Middle School.

Titusville police said they received a report about the child's living conditions. They said the boy had been kept in a cage within a closet, strapped to a bed or locked in the bathroom for days or weeks at a time over the last year.

A Cage at County Jail Has Been Reserved For The Couple 

Police said the boy is approximately 13 years old, and weighed only 40 pounds when they found him.

Both Marshall and Glass were home when detectives arrived, and said they were punishing the child for stealing food after it was being withheld from him.

Police compared the condition of the child to that of a concentration camp survivor. He was treated for dehydration and malnutrition and released from the hospital.

The Florida Department of Children and Families has taken the boy into custody, along with two other children living at the home. It was not immediately known if the other children had been subjected to the same type of punishment.

Marshall and Glass face three counts of aggravated child abuse for unlawful caging of a child, plus a charge of aggravated child neglect.
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Pennsylvania - DA's Office Wants More Witnesses In Day Care Assault Case

 Child actor auditions 

Shelby Podgorski Arrested After Incident At Immanuel Christian Daycare In McKees Rocks

MCKEES ROCKS, Pa. -- A 19-year-old day care worker accused of hitting a child had her hearing postponed Thursday because the District Attorney's office wanted to call more witnesses.

Shelby Podgorski is accused of hitting a child at the Immanuel Christian Daycare in McKees Rocks.

Day care director Darlene Russell said Podgorski got angry with an 8-year-old girl.

Police said Podgorski took the girl out of her chair, threw her against a wall and kicked her.

Other children at the day care on Chartiers Avenue were scared and hid under their desks, Russell said.

"My client is a youthful, 19-year-old new to the day care field who received little or no training in the areas of acting out behaviors (and) discipline in the day care field. I think the evidence in the case is going to show there's more to the story than we have now," said defense attorney David Cercone.

McKees Rocks police arrested Podgorski on charges of endangering the welfare of a child, simple assault and harassment.  She was also fired from the day care.

Podgorski's hearing was postponed until April 12.

Read more: http://www.wtae.com/
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Indiana - Mom's boyfriend held in Porter County boy's death

By Jeff Burton 
VALPARAISO | The boyfriend of the mother of 7-month-old Keagan Fishel is in police custody and expected to be charged in the boy's death.

Sgt. Larry LaFlower, public information officer with the Porter County Sheriff's Department, said Benjamin Willis, 23, of Liberty Township, is being held in Porter County Jail without bond in connection with the boy's death.

Keagan died Saturday morning, two days after police and medics were called to a home in the 1800 block of Vail Drive in Liberty Township, where his mother and Willis, her boyfriend, said he was unresponsive.

The boy was taken from the residence in the Whispering Sands mobile home park to Porter hospital in Valparaiso, then flown to Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health in Indianapolis, where he later died.  On Tuesday, the Marion County coroner's office confirmed the boy died from blunt force trauma to his head.

Keagan's funeral is scheduled for Friday in Hobart.

In the days following Keagan's death, detectives interviewed Willis and a number of people possibly involved in the case.

LaFlower said police and prosecutors requested formal charges Thursday against Willis, and the charges were sent to a judge for review. LaFlower said he expects the charges to be signed Friday morning. LaFlower declined to specify what charges Willis faces but said murder is not among them.

In addition to his pending charges in Porter County, Willis was charged earlier this week in Lake County Superior Court with intimidation and harassment related to an incident in Hobart.

Copyright 2012 nwitimes.com.
Read more: http://www.nwitimes.com/
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Michigan - Witnesses testify in child abuse case

By Jenny Lancour

Daily Press

ESCANABA - A dozen witnesses took the stand Tuesday during day two of the trial of Angel Dawn Micheau, an Escanaba woman accused of abusing her infant daughter last year. The trial resumes today in Delta County Circuit Court.

Woman's history of abuse focus of day two in trial

Micheau, 21, is being tried on a 15-year felony of first-degree child abuse in relation to injuries sustained by her three-month-old baby last year. The infant was turned over to Child Protective Services on April 11, after Micheau brought the infant into OSF St. Francis Hospital for treatment on what were diagnosed as second-degree burns.

During Tuesday's court proceedings, the prosecution and defense attorneys questioned witnesses including doctors, state workers, a police detective, and family and friends of the defendant. Additional witnesses were expected to take the stand this morning with closing arguments to follow.

Dr. Alice Swenson, a pediatrician with the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, was the first witness to take the stand Tuesday. She testified the baby was a "non-mobile infant," meaning the child at her age could not have caused the injuries to herself.

Alice D Swenson, MD 

Swenson said, in addition to the burns on the baby's back and buttock, several other injuries on the infant's body raised concern. These included an injured lip, a bruised cheek, fractured ribs, a fractured arm, and a fractured clavicle, the doctor testified, explaining how each injury could have occurred.

When the pediatrician was asked by Prosecuting Attorney Steve Parks what her overall assessment of the child's injuries was, Swenson replied, "That this child was a victim of inflicted injury ... somebody hurt her."

When defense attorney John M. Bergman questioned Swenson on the intent of the injuries, she said she has no opinion on intent.

Tuesday's second witness was Dr. Mark Hemmila, a general surgeon from the University of Michigan Hospital. Hemmila, also a trauma/burn surgeon, had viewed photographs taken of the child's burns in the St. Francis emergency room.

Hemmila described the burns as redness from the baby's mid-back to the buttock, accompanied by blisters. In his expert opinion, the injuries were caused by dipping the infant in hot water or running hot water on the child. He added the burns were "highly suspicious" or "possibly intentional."

Other witnesses during the day included an employee of Child Protective Services, a foster care worker, the investigating detective from Escanaba Public Safety, Micheau's husband, three of the husband's work associates, and three friends of the Micheau couple.

The prosecution's questioning focused on asking witnesses about their recollections of abusive actions by the defendant on her child. The prosecution has the burden of proof to convince the jury that Micheau knowingly or intentionally caused serious physical harm to her baby.

Witness testimony alleged Micheau punched herself in the abdomen when she was pregnant and also threatened to throw herself down stairs while pregnant.

After the baby was born, abusive incidents included Micheau allegedly slapping the baby hard on the back of the head, squeezing the baby too hard with her arms, grabbing the baby by the arm and flinging her at the child's father, tossing the baby down stairs while strapped in a car seat, and grabbing the baby by the back of the neck.

The above incidents occurred in conjunction with arguments between the defendant and her husband, according to witness testimony. When asked how the infant responded to an abusive incident, a friend of the defendant said the baby would whine and then hyperventilate.

When Micheau brought her baby to the hospital on April 11, the infant was diagnosed with second-degree burns, alerting hospital personnel to notify Child Protective Services and local police. The baby was placed under protective care, transported to a hospital in Green Bay, then transferred to the Children's Hospital in Milwaukee. The child was later placed under foster care.

Months later, Micheau was arrested on child abuse charges on Oct. 21. She remains lodged in the county jail in lieu of a $10,000 cash bond.

Micheau's trial was scheduled for Monday through Friday this week. Witness testimony could possibly conclude early today followed by closing arguments from the defense and prosecution then jury deliberation.
Jenny Lancour
© Copyright 2012 Daily Press.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Alabama - Death penalty to be sought for grandma in child abuse death running case

GADSDEN, Ala. — Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty against a woman whose granddaughter died after she was forced to run three hours as punishment.

Etowah County District Attorney Jimmie Harp made the announcement Monday regarding 46-year-old Joyce Garrard, who was indicted last week on a charge of capital murder in the death of 9-year-old Savannah Hardin.

An Alabama grand jury also indicted the girl’s stepmother, 27-year-old Jessica Hardin, on a felony murder charge last week.

Prosecutors charged Garrard with the capital offense because the girl’s death happened during another felony, child abuse. Authorities said Jessica Hardin didn’t intervene when Garrard punished the girl for lying about eating chocolate bars.

Attorneys for both women have denied they did anything intentional to harm Savannah.
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Illinois - Feds: State Rep. Derrick Smith took $7,000 bribe from day care center

BY ABDON M. PALLASCH AND DAVE MCKINNEY

Sun-Times

Criminal complaint against Derrick Smith 

State representative Derrick Smith leaves the Federal Building after his arraignment Tuesday March 13, 2012. 

Federal agents arrested Smith on a federal bribery charge for allegedly accepting a $7,000 cash bribe to write an official letter of support for a daycare center that he believed was seeking a state grant, federal authorities announced. 

The 48-year-old Smith, who represents the 10th District on the West Side of Chicago, was charged with one count of accepting a bribe. 

TOM CRUZE~Sun-Times

Derrick Smith
Just one week before Election Day, State Rep. Derrick Smith was arrested by federal agents Tuesday and charged with bribery for allegedly accepting $7,000 in cash for supporting a $50,000 state grant he believed a day care center was seeking.

Smith, who was appointed to his seat last year, did not realize he was dealing with an under-cover informant when he had conversations about arranging the grant and the bribe, according to the criminal complaint.

Smith, a Democrat who represents the 10th District on the West and Northwest sides, was charged with one count of accepting a bribe. The 48-year-old appeared in court this afternoon and was scheduled to be released on a $4,500 personal bond.

Secretary of State Jesse White 

Smith is a protege and former precinct 

captain of Secretary of State Jesse White 

Smith is a protege and former precinct captain of Secretary of State Jesse White and childhood friend of Ald. Walter Burnett. The 27th Ward alderman once described Smith as “like a brother to me.”

Smith was appointed to the House seat last year after Annazette Collins was appointed to the state Senate. He is now locked in a primary battle with Tom Swiss, a former director of the Cook County Republican Party who is running as a Democrat in the overwhelmingly Democratic and majority African American district.

Swiss has attracted attention for billboards that feature a black construction worker instead of Swiss, who is white.

“It’s a sad day in Illinois,” Swiss said. “I would call for Derrick Smith to both resign and not continue the race any further. This demonstrates a significant character flaw. I would call on [Speaker of the House] Mike Madigan to withdraw any support of him. He has weighed in with $50,000 or $60,000; staff members and mailings.”

State GOP Chair Patrick Brady echoed the call: “Let’s not lose sight of the fact that Smith has taken nine times as much money from Speaker Madigan as he is alleged to have received in bribes. I urge Speaker Madigan to immediately end any and all financial contributions to Mr. Smith, and also to join me in asking for his resignation as State Representative and remove his name from the ballot.”

Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said, “I haven’t heard anything about it. I wouldn’t be able to say anything.”

White’s camp, which would not say whether the secretary of state believes Smith should step down, issued only a brief statement on White’s behalf.

“I am very disappointed with the conduct alleged in the charges,” White said in the prepared statement. “I am confident this case will be handled fairly and justly by the judicial system.”

A voicemail left at Smith’s residence was not immediately returned Tuesday.

According to federal prosecutors, one of Smith’s political workers was secretly cooperating with the feds. The two had “numerous conversations” about helping a fictional owner of a daycare center get a state grant in exchange for a political contribution, according to the criminal complaint unsealed after Smith’s arrest.

On March 2, Smith wrote an official letter of support for the $50,000 Early Childhood Construction Grant from the state’s Capital Development Board, according to the feds.

It read, “As a State Representative for the West Humboldt Park neighborhood, I support [Daycare Owner’s purported organization] in their application for a $50,000 Early Childhood Construction Grant from the Illinois Capital Development Board,” according to the complaint.

In return, the confidential informant gave Smith $7,000 cash, purportedly from the daycare owner, the complaint alleges.

Cash Only Please!

Smith told the informant he did not want the $7,000 in a cashier’s check because he didn’t want any trace of the money, according to the complaint.

Just before 3 p.m. Saturday, the informant allegedly met with Smith in Smith’s car and counted out $7,000 in $100 bills.

The next day, Smith called the informant and told him to meet Smith in his car in an alley behind the informant’s house, according to the feds. The informant said Smith gave him $1,000 in 20- and 50-dollar bills and told him he would give him $1,000 more later.

The bribery charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The complaint charges that immediately after Smith’s appointment to the state House of Representatives last year he approached the informant and offered to pretend the informant was a contractor in order to get him a state contract. Smith allegedly said that money would be in exchange for the informant’s help on Smith’s campaign and Smith would take a “fee” from that contract in exchange for arranging it.

The informant declined the offer but he told Smith of a woman who ran a day care center and might be willing to donate money in exchange for a state grant. That led to the criminal complaint.

In his re-election bid, Smith has the strong backing of Democratic party officials, including Burnett and White, the Democratic ward committeeman, who helped get him appointed to the state House.

Swiss said it came as no surprise to him that the complaint alleges that Smith ordered the informant to take down Swiss’ campaign signs.

“We had 1,500 yard signs disappear,” Swiss said, adding, “I put up 34 billboards.”

Smith grew up in Cabrini Green with Burnett, who handpicked him to be 27th Ward Superintendent.

But Smith was fired from the $72,528-a-year job in 2005 amid allegations he used city equipment and personnel to do private landscaping work and improperly used state-financed Earnfare workers to lighten the load of city employees.

“In my job with the city of Chicago, I did nothing wrong,” Smith has said through a spokesman.

At the time, Streets and Sanitation officials refused to explain why Smith had been fired. Smith served as a precinct captain in the 27th Ward Regular Democratic Organization run by Burnett and Committeeman White.

“It’s painful. He’s like a brother to me. If it was my brother, I’d feel the same way,” Burnett said in 2005. “Anyone who loses their employment is painful to me. I know they’ve got families to feed. . . . Whatever happened, he has to deal with it with his lawyer.”

Smith was employed in the secretary of state’s office under White from December 2006 until March 2011, when White helped engineer his appointment to the House to replace Collins, who had moved to the Senate.

Smith worked in the secretary of state’s accounting and revenue division. State payroll records show he was paid $88,152 annually in White’s office, more than $20,000 more than the $67,836 salary he receives as a state representative.

Besides helping secure Smith’s appointment to the House, White also backed Smith when he ran unsuccessfully in 2010 against County Commissioner Earlean Collins, who was backed then by former state Sen. Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago).

contributing: Art Golab
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Indiana - Child Abuse Hotline Caller Pleaded for Home Check

SOUTH BEND (AP)
An anonymous caller to Indiana's child abuse hotline pleaded for 20 minutes for someone to check on conditions in a South Bend home six months before a boy living there was tortured to death, a newspaper reports.

The South Bend Tribune posted the story online ( http://bit.ly/wEQaqe ) Monday, after the Court of Appeals dismissed an attempt by the Department of Child Services to block the story's publication. The caller last May told the person answering the phone at the hotline about another child's injuries that day. The caller said the injuries left the boy limping and bleeding in his abdomen.



Each citizen of Indiana is considered a “mandated reporter.” 

"Please go tonight. Please go," the caller says. "I'm not saying this just to be saying this. Please go. Something got to be done. ... If they go there right now, they'll see how them kids is beat, if they go there right now, because I don't want it to get on the news and the boy died and then everybody come forward and they gonna say, 'Well, why did nobody come forward from before?'"

Ten-year-old Tramelle Sturgis was found beaten to death in the house on Nov. 4, months after the May 27 hotline call.

His father, Terry Sturgis, is charged with murder, eight felony counts of battery and one misdemeanor count of battery, two counts of neglect, and two counts of confinement. He contends he was insane.

The Tribune reported a DCS spokeswoman did not respond to the newspaper's requests to clarify policies on when the agency decides to investigate a call immediately and how urgent hotline calls are communicated to local offices. John Ryan, the agency's chief of staff, declined comment to The Associated Press on Monday, saying he didn't know enough about the policies or the case.

The Tribune reported that DCS documents it obtained under the state's public records law indicate the call center contacted a family case manager the night of the call. The records do not indicate whether any action was taken then.

According to South Bend Police spokesman Capt. Phil Trent, police took a report from an anonymous caller just after midnight. Police records show two officers went to the house, having been told only that 10 children were possibly being abused. Trent said officers went to the home and everything appeared fine. He said unless police have more details to provide probable cause, they cannot enter a house after midnight, pull children aside and ask to look under their shirts for injuries. If an officer saw an injury or blood on a shirt, he would have probable cause.

"If you suspect that (abuse), you can seize the child, but you'd better be able to articulate why you did that," he said.

The caller to the DCS hotline told the DCS worker the children would likely have marks.

"All you got to do is just raise them shirts up," the caller replies with concern. "And I think them kids would tell it because them kids so scared."

The caller said that the week before, some of the children were beaten so badly that their visible injuries kept them from being sent to school.

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller said he asked the state Court of Appeals to dismiss DCS' attempt to block the South Bend Tribune from publishing a story because prior restraint of the news media is inconsistent with the First Amendment. Ryan, who is with the DCS, said the agency was concerned the media would publish information that would identify the caller.

Information from: South Bend Tribune, http://www.southbendtribune.com

Making Reports to the Hotline

Who is required to report child abuse or neglect?

Under Indiana law any individual who has a reason to believe a child is a victim of abuse or neglect has the duty to make a report; therefore, each citizen of Indiana is considered a “mandated reporter.” While reporting child abuse is everyone’s responsibility, Indiana law requires some in certain occupations to do so. These professional reporters are staff members in a medical or other public or private institution, school, facility, or agency. These reporters are legally obligated by their profession to report alleged child abuse or neglect.

Everyone has an important role and responsibility to prevent child abuse and neglect. Children need everyone to stand up for their safety when they may be in harm's way or when families in crisis or turmoil need support from those close to them. By contacting the Indiana Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline if you suspect a child is a victim of abuse or neglect, you can play your part in protecting a child and/or making it possible for a family in crisis to get the help and support they need. 

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Wisconsin - Trial set to begin for pastor who allegedly instructed followers to beat their children with dowels

ED TRELEVEN 

Wisconsin State Journal

Philip Caminiti, 54, of Black Earth, leader of the Aleitheia Bible Church, is charged with eight counts of conspiracy to commit child abuse for allegedly teaching church members how to discipline their young children by striking them with wood spoons or dowels on their bare bottoms.

Depending upon who is believed, Philip Caminiti was a feared religious leader who persuaded his flock to beat their infants and toddlers with wooden dowels as the Bible instructs — or simply a leader whose views on discipline matched those already being followed by the congregation.

Caminiti, 54, of Black Earth, leader of the Aleitheia Bible Church, faces a weeklong trial on eight counts of conspiracy to commit child abuse for allegedly teaching church members how to discipline their young children by striking them with wood spoons or dowels on their bare bottoms.

"Phil told them the point was inflicting pain," Dane County Assistant District Attorney Greg Venker told a jury during his opening statement Monday.

Venker described how other members of the church, which has no physical building but meets in its members' homes in Black Earth and Mazomanie, told police that Caminiti persuaded them to hit their children, some as young as 2 months, on their bare bottoms to discipline them.

"He made the parents believe that their eternal souls were dependent on it," Venker said.

But Caminiti's lawyer, Yolanda Lehner, said there was no abuse, and there was no conspiracy by Caminiti or anyone else to commit abuse.

And any discipline that happened among the congregation's families, she said, happened because they are in many cases literally an extended family who are together because their religious views agree with one another.

"It's not surprising they have similar views on child rearing and corporal punishment," Lehner said. "Phil Caminiti didn't tell them what to believe."

But parents of the children said they saw their children's skin become red and bruised as a result of the punishment they inflicted. Many of those parents are also charged with child abuse and one of them, John Caminiti, who is Phil Caminiti's brother, was sentenced to a year in prison last year after pleading guilty to two counts of child abuse and one count of causing mental harm to a child.

But Lehner said the evidence will fall short.

"What you're going to hear is that there wasn't any child abuse. Period," she said.

There are no pictures of alleged injuries suffered by the children, she said, and the marks that their parents will describe are small in size, not large, deep purple bruises.

The trial, before Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi, is scheduled to last until March 20.

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BLOG COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER- In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this blog is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only. Further, Nothing in this blog should be considered or taken as legal advice. If you need legal advice, please contact an attorney. Any Commentary on this blog should be considered the personal opinion of the creator of the blog, unless indisputable facts are given.