Family Forum / Parenting / Spanking / June 2007

DeLeon legal claims mount
Ex-foster kids seeking millions from state

Richard Roesler and Thomas Clouse
Staff writers
June 27, 2007

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/tools/story_pf.asp?ID=196824

OLYMPIA – As Carole Ann DeLeon sits in jail, charged with killing her
adopted son by depriving him of water, several of her foster children
are filing millions of dollars in claims against the state for failing
to protect them from physical or emotional abuse.

So far, claims totaling more than $55 million have been filed against
the Washington Department of Social and Health Services on behalf of
five children, including the estate of 7-year-old Tyler DeLeon, who died
in DeLeon's Deer Park-area home in 2005. State records show that school
officials, in particular, repeatedly reported concerns about the
bruised, emaciated boy.

"They were abused in a licensed foster home," said Cynthia Novotny, one
of the lawyers representing the children. "And despite 16 CPS (Child
Protective Services) referrals, CPS did nothing to protect these kids."

Tyler DeLeon's estate is represented by Breann Beggs of Spokane's Center
for Justice, a public interest law firm. He couldn't be reached for
comment Tuesday.

The criminal case against Carole DeLeon, meanwhile, seems set to go to
trial as scheduled July 16. Stevens County Prosecutor Tim Rasmussen said
Tuesday that plea negotiations with DeLeon have broken down. She has
pleaded innocent to homicide by abuse and to an additional charge of
second-degree criminal mistreatment of a second boy, identified in court
records by his initials: S.M.M.

Superior Court Judge Al Nielson has also approved busing in a jury from
Okanogan County to hear the high-profile case in the Colville courtroom.
Anticipating the need for a large jury pool, court officials plan to use
a hotel ballroom in Okanagon County, rather than a courtroom, to select
those jurors.

In Olympia, the children's claims have rolled in over the past year, the
most recent arriving this month. Most are for $10 million; one in
Tyler's name is for $15 million. The surviving children will likely need
lifelong counseling, Novotny said, and may be so traumatized that
they'll never be able to hold down a job. Plus, she said, the children
should be compensated "for having had to live in such a torturous
environment. The state should have been there to protect them, and wasn't."

A DSHS spokeswoman said the agency has made substantial changes in the
wake of the death but referred specific questions about the claims to
the attorney general's office, which didn't want to comment.

Novotny's law firm says it also intends to file claims against the
children's pediatricians and others who should have detected and
reported negligence or abuse.

"How many 7-year-olds weigh 28 pounds?" she said, referring to Tyler
DeLeon's weight when he died.

State records paint a bleak picture of life in the home, where Tyler was
one of six children in the care of DeLeon and her adult daughter,
Christina DeLeon-Burns. Of average weight when he was brought to the
home as an infant in 1998, the boy gained only 12 pounds in the ensuing
6 1/2 years. Carole DeLeon insisted that his teachers and caregivers not
give him food or water, to the point of watching him in the bathroom to
ensure that he didn't drink from a toilet. She claimed that the boy
could have a life-threatening reaction to overeating or drinking – a
diagnosis for which subsequent state investigations have found no
evidence. A day before he died, the boy reportedly tore through his
basement window screen so he could eat snow.

State records regarding Tyler show a litany of reported cuts, bruises, a
severely broken leg and two teeth "knocked out." DeLeon, state records
indicate, informed his Lake Spokane Elementary School teachers that they
should ignore such injuries because Tyler would injure himself and "make
up stories." School officials described the boy's daily lunch as half a
sandwich and "no more than 2 ounces of milk," – and that DeLeon would
require the boy to return home with a bite of sandwich and swallow of
milk remaining. She complained frequently about his "distended tummy,"
which she attributed to overeating.

The claimants include children ages 7, 9 and 11, as well as Amber Lynn
Daniels, who is now 18. (The law firm, Ressler and Tesh, says it also
represents a sixth child from the DeLeon home. The state's tort claims
office could not immediately locate a sixth claim Tuesday.)

According to court documents filed in Stevens County, Daniels lived at
the DeLeon home from 1998 to 2000. In that time, her weight plummeted
from 175 pounds to 102. She told investigators that DeLeon forced her to
go without water for long periods, and she once had to sneak a drink
from the dog bowl.

As punishment, Daniels told sheriff's Detective Jerry Taylor, DeLeon
made her carry hamburger in her mouth on an hours-long trip to a mall.

DeLeon's attorney, Carl Oreskovich, didn't return a call Tuesday seeking
comment on the allegations and claims.

State records also suggest that DeLeon was frustrated and overwhelmed by
misbehavior by Tyler. In a sobbing conversation with a caseworker in
December 2005, she said she never did anything injurious to any of her
children and that Tyler had been "a big eater."

The same files include numerous references to bruises on her children
and allegations that she hit some with a spatula. In Wyoming, where
DeLeon had been a foster mother in the 1980s before having her license
terminated, a 12-year-old girl said she was deprived of food, fed animal
feed as punishment, and had her hands tied behind her back for taking food.

State records include an allegation that the girl was tied up and left
in the basement overnight as punishment for eating three sticks of
string cheese. A 1988 CPS investigative record says a physician found
rope burns on the girl's wrists, belt marks on her buttocks, and bruises
on her face and thigh. An accompanying record says the girl was
"tormented, treated without regard to human dignity ... (and) belittled."

That girl, now an adult named Mary Shuhart Dees, is slated to testify at
DeLeon's trial.

Even if the state must pay tens of millions of dollars in damages to the
children, Novotny said, she's reluctant to say it will have a
substantial impact on how such cases are handled.

"The state keeps saying that they're going to change their policies
every time a child dies," she said. "It doesn't appear that happens."

DSHS spokeswoman Kathy Spears disagrees. More than 95 percent of
high-risk child-abuse complaints are now investigated within 24 hours
instead of the previous 10-day standard, she said. A better database of
past incidents is being developed. Staffers have access to an FBI
database for background checks. And the department is phasing in state
visits to foster children every 30 days.

If the state won't settle the cases, Novotny said, the children's claims
will likely be filed as lawsuits in Spokane in a couple of months.

CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A
DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NATIONAL
SECURITY AGENCY/CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WIRETAPPING PROGRAM....

CPS Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of Child Protective Services.

every parent should read this .pdf from
connecticut dcf watch...

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com/8x11.pdf

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com

Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US
These numbers come from The National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS

*Perpetrators of Maltreatment*

Physical Abuse CPS 160, Parents 59
Sexual Abuse CPS 112, Parents 13
Neglect CPS 410, Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS 14 Parents 12
Fatalities CPS 6.4, Parents 1.5

Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that
are supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per
100,000 children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse
and kills more children then parents in the United States. If the
citizens of this country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold
parents too. No judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY
government agency because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and
death than any human being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more
human rights violations and deaths of children then the homes from which
they were removed. When are the judges going to wake up and see that
they are sending children to their death and a life of abuse when
children are removed from safe homes based on the mere opinion of a
bunch of social workers.

BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF
REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES
TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY
ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...