“Time’s Up!”
By Barry Goldstein
The research establishing that the custody court system is broken and has a pattern of mishandling domestic violence cases is now overwhelming. The new book, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, ABUSE and CHILD CUSTODY, I co-edited with Dr. Mo Therese Hannah brings all the most up-to-date research together in one place. It includes a multi-disciplinary review of the relevant professional fields by the leading experts in the US and Canada. The meticulous citations provide overwhelming proof that common mistakes and the use of myths, stereotypes and gender bias have resulted in thousands of children being sent to live with abusers. At the same time recent statistics about domestic violence homicide confirm an increase in the murder rate after many years of reductions. Many have been quick to assume the increase is caused by the poor economy, but in this article, I want to look at what, if any role the problems in the custody court system are having on domestic violence homicides.
Lack of Research on Success of Court Outcomes
The court system operates upon the assumption that once a case is decided, the facts are established and the outcome is accurate. This assumption may have contributed to the failure to seek research on the validity of court decisions in domestic violence custody cases. It certainly has contributed to a common problem we see that once a court makes a mistake in a domestic violence case there is a pattern of courts failing to use new information to correct the initial errors made by judges and other court professionals.
The criminal court system has received substantial criticism as an increasing number of defendants convicted of murder, some of whom were sentenced to death were later found to be innocent. The improvement of scientific tests for DNA and other new evidence has helped courts correct errors after homicide convictions. In context, such wrong convictions appear to be very rare, but are extremely serious because it results in adults losing the rest of their lives.
In contrast, a large majority of domestic violence custody cases are wrongly decided with abusive fathers receiving custody or joint custody at least 70% of the time in contested custody cases. Even when the safe parent receives custody, the court usually fails to protect the children from unsupervised visitation with the abuser. In contrast to murder convictions that affect defendant’s adult lives, the wrong decisions in custody cases often destroy or damage children’s entire lives.
Court’s started relying on mental health professionals in domestic violence custody cases at a time when there was no research and many believed domestic violence was caused by mental health problems, substance abuse and the victim’s behavior. Although all of these assumptions proved wrong, the courts continue to rely on mental health professionals even when there are no legitimate mental health issues in the case. These professionals rarely are familiar with up-to-date research and often substitute their personal beliefs, biases, myths and stereotypes for the scientific research now available. Many use a family systems approach which is totally inappropriate in domestic violence cases. These mistakes lead to the minimization of the importance of domestic violence and unsafe outcomes.
If evaluations had any validity, the “experts” would be able to tell the court how the approaches used in a particular case had worked in other cases. In fact there is virtually no such research. Only in the custody courts can “experts” routinely give their opinions when there is no research to support them. In contrast we have solid research about the harm of taking children from their primary attachment figure or forcing them to live with abusers. There is no such research about “alienation” which courts tend to pay much more attention to even though the effects on children are minimal or non-existent. The closest thing we have to research about custody outcomes are the Courageous Kids. These are children who were sent to live with alleged abusers and have now aged out of the custody order. The children are now young adults and describe disastrous experiences as a result of the common practices used in the custody courts.
Similarly, the court has not commissioned studies to see how its decisions in domestic violence custody cases have worked out. Anecdotally we have seen many cases in which fathers courts found safe were later convicted or otherwise proven to have engaged in physical assault and sexual abuse. We have also seen many bad outcomes for children forced to live with alleged abusers. I strongly recommend systematic studies of the outcomes of child custody decisions.
Failure to Make Children’s Safety the First Priority
Abusers tend to be extremely manipulative and they have had great success in misleading the courts, legislatures and media. The men who control “fathers’ rights groups are extremists whose goals include eliminating child support, repealing domestic violence laws and in some cases permitting sex between adults and children. Obviously, if they said this to courts, they would get nowhere. Instead they disguise their goals by seeking seemingly fair objectives like “shared custody” “friendly parent” protections and equal treatment of parents. Who could object to such reasonable requests?
The abusers are saying that when parents come to court for custody and visitation the parents should be treated equally regardless of the past parenting, parenting skills or history of abuse. Of course they don’t mention the last part. Imagine if a group demanded that everyone receive equal income regardless of their contributions to increasing society’s resources. Liberals and Conservatives would deride such a demand as communism. If we would not be willing to divide money without consideration of contribution, why would anyone take seriously a proposal to divide something so much more precious, our children, without consideration of the contributions the parents made to the well-being of the children before coming to court?
In the new book, we present our information based upon our belief that safety of children should be the first priority and arrangements that give children the best chance to reach their potential should be the next priority. The public would be shocked that this is not the priority in the present custody court system. Most states use the best interest of the child standard for custody and visitation decisions, but this tends to be extremely subjective. Even when legislation favors safety issues, we have found courts often pay more attention to less important factors like parties’ income, remarriage and “friendly parent” provisions. In fact in states that have mandated friendly parent consideration, children are even more likely to be sent to live with abusers.
Compounding the failure of legislatures and courts to demand safety be the highest priority in custody cases, judges and the professionals they rely on rarely have the training they need to recognize domestic violence or child abuse. Judge Mike Brigner frequently trains other judges about domestic violence. In his chapter for the book, he describes how judges often ask him what to do about women who are lying. When asked what they mean, they refer to women who return to their abuser, withdraw petitions for a protective order, fail to make police complaints or have hospital records. In fact none of this is probative as battered women often act this way for safety and other reasons particularly when they are still living with their abuser. Similarly many professionals observe fathers and children interact and if the children show no fear they believe this proves the allegations of abuse are false. What the children understand is that their father will not hurt them with witnesses present, particularly ones he is trying to impress. In fact they could be punished if they showed fear.
Male supremacist groups often refer to sexual abuse allegations as the “atomic bomb” of child custody. In reality when sexual abuse is alleged, even when strong evidence supports the allegation, the alleged abuser usually wins custody. In research unrelated to custody, it is well established that by the time children reach the age of 18, one-third of the girls and one-sixth of the boys have been sexually abused. Although the stereotypical rapist is a stranger in a raincoat, most rape and sexual abuse is committed by someone the victim knows, often the father. Furthermore children rarely lie about sexual abuse because it is so painful and embarrassing. Nevertheless, custody courts have proven to be so hostile to allegations of sexual abuse that attorneys regularly discourage these charges because they usually work against the protective mother. Courts are reluctant to believe a father could do something so heinous, particularly if the father is successful in other parts of his life.
With courts relying on inadequately trained professionals who quickly discount valid abuse complaints based on information that is not probative, there is little chance for them to recognize abuse and therefore be able to protect children. The research bears this out with courts mishandling contested custody cases (most of which involve abusive fathers) and sending thousands of children to live with abusers.
Connection Between Court Mistakes and Increased Homicide Rate
The media has done a poor job of covering the crisis in the custody court system and particularly the pattern of mistakes that result in thousands of children forced to live with abusers. Local media cover tragedies involving murders and murder-suicides of family members, but little effort is made to look at the patterns of these tragedies. On February 11, 2010, the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Center for Judicial Excellence issued a press release about two crimes in California where divorcing dads killed eight and nine-month-old babies after the courts ordered visitation despite concerns for the babies’ safety. Those who follow this issue see frequent stories of abusive fathers killing children, partners and themselves. Most of the time there is a connection to custody and divorce proceedings, but the media usually fails to emphasize these causes. The Dastardly Dads blog chronicles these painful cases and in doing so makes it easy to see the patterns of court practices that lead to these tragedies. Judges and the court professionals they rely on are very aware of research that children do better with both parents in their lives, but often give less consideration to the research that this is not true if one of the parents is abusive.
I want to be careful here because a lot of misinformation has entered the public debate out of ignorance and bias. We have seen numerous flawed studies reported in the media purporting to find women abuse men with similar frequency as men abuse women. Closer review of these studies demonstrate a failure to consider the severity of the assault, seriousness of injury, purpose such as self-defense, context (as part of a pattern of controlling behavior) and sexual abuse which is overwhelmingly committed by men. We don’t have definitive research to determine what percentage of domestic violence homicides and child murders are caused by the crisis in the custody court system, but there is research beyond the anecdotal evidence of individual murders and murder-suicides.
Although we know there have been many fathers who used access provided by court orders or the failure of courts to restrain his access, how do we know they would not have killed anyway? This is similar to issues surrounding protective orders. Some people say they are only a piece of paper and cannot protect the victim. This view is supported by too many cases where a woman with a protective order was murdered by her ex-partner. The research, however demonstrates that although protective orders do not prevent all homicides, women with protective orders are safer than those without this protection.
The government has used a lot of scarce resources to determine the effectiveness of batterer programs, anger management and therapy to prevent domestic violence. None of these programs has been shown to reduce men’s abuse of women, but unsupported claims continue to be made by those who have a financial stake in these programs. The only response research has demonstrated to reduce domestic violence is accountability and monitoring. Custody courts emphasize the promotion of a father’s relationship with the child rather than holding him accountable for his abuse. They sometimes send abusers to some form of program or therapy. If this was used for accountability it might be useful, but generally they use the false assumption that completion of the program means he is then safe. In other words custody courts are using approaches that the research demonstrates work against the safety of women and children.
The modern movement to end domestic violence has resulted in making it easier for women to obtain criminal prosecution, protective orders, divorce, financial support, shelter and community support. As women had access to these resources and particularly after communities adopted policies to hold men accountable, the domestic violence homicide rate was reduced. Significantly, those communities that were stricter in enforcing accountability benefitted with even more dramatic reductions in domestic violence homicide. Although murders of men and women by their intimate partners went down, surprisingly, the number of men’s lives saved was much higher than for the lives of women. Why would laws and practices designed to protect women have a bigger affect in saving men’s lives? Before the reforms, some women believed the only way to get away from his abuse was to kill him. The added resources gave her other ways of leaving him. This conclusion is supported by research that demonstrates men and women kill their intimate partners for different reasons. Men kill to maintain control and so no one else can have her and women kill in self-defense and to stop his abuse (there are of course exceptions). This is supported by the fact that 75% of men who kill their partners do so after she has left or is trying to leave.
Abusive men, who believe she has no right to leave were upset at the reforms that made it easier for victims to leave their abusers. These male supremacists developed tactics to maintain what they believe is their right to control their partners and make the major decisions in the relationship. The cruelest tactic has been to hurt the children. We see this in the murder or abuse of children by their fathers, but more frequently in fathers who had little involvement with the children during the relationship suddenly seeking custody when she tries to leave. The courts have been slow to recognize or respond to this tactic and instead pressure mothers to keep the father in the children’s lives regardless of his abusiveness. Instead of pressuring the father to stop his abuse, courts routinely punish mothers for trying to protect the children. Ironically, in an attempt to keep both parents in the children’s lives, courts often deny children a meaningful relationship with their mother when she continues to believe the father is harming her children. In almost all of these cases the mother was the primary parent and the safe parent. As mothers and domestic violence advocates have recognized the harm and unfairness in the present custody court system, more and more mothers are staying with their abusers and accepting his beatings in order to be near their children so they can protect them. Inevitably, some of these mothers do not survive this decision.
In the batterer classes I teach, we often talk about how boys are taught it is ok for men to abuse women. The men often object and say they were told not to hit girls. They are right that boys are not told to abuse women. Instead they see their father mistreat their mother with no consequences to the father and this gives them the message that society allows men to abuse women. Children know much more about the father’s abuse in the home than we think they observe so when the custody courts ignore the father’s abuse to give him custody or unsupervised visitation, this reinforces harmful messages. Children pay much more attention to the behavior they see then what they are told. In minimizing and failing to recognize the father’s abuse, courts are encouraging men to continue their abuse. This is especially harmful when abusers successfully manipulate the courts to abuse the mother. The research demonstrates that abusive men use a cost-benefit analysis in deciding whether to abuse their partners. By seeking to support fathers’ involvement with their children REGARDLESS OF THEIR HARMFUL BEHAVIOR, the courts are reinforcing harmful attitudes and behaviors.
The flawed and outdated practices used in the custody courts are causing tremendous harm to children and society. If the bad decisions in these courts did not result in any deaths of mothers and children they should still be reformed. We have significant anecdotal evidence and research on related issues that makes it likely some of the murders and murder-suicides could be prevented if the custody courts made better use of the up-to-date research now available. No one wants to be known as the judge who hurts children or receive publicity when an abuser the judge protected kills the mother and/or children. I would urge that research be started to determine how often custody court mistakes result in the deaths of the children they are supposed to protect. In the meantime, I hope judges will stop sending children to live with abusers.
Barry Goldstein is a domestic violence speaker, writer and advocate. He is co-editor with Mo Therese Hannah of DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, ABUSE and CHILD CUSTODY.
It wasn’t until today that I began finding incredible amounts of researching pointing to one thing — the system is broken. I had faith that courts worked in the best interests of children until I was faced with the reality that just the opposite is true when a court system turned over my niece and nephew to an abusive man, simply because he makes more money than their mother. One of the children is not even his biological child, and although the 14-year-old boy requested to talk to the judge alone (he’s scared of the man) and wrote a letter stating that he is scared of the man, the judge refused to listen to him and told him to “suck it up.” So after nearly 9 years of being in an abusive relationship (although never married), my sister had the courage to leave, only to have her children taken from her. He sabotaged her every attempt to find housing and a job by calling prospective employers and landlords and making up lies about her character, and once she was rendered homeless and penniless, he took her children. We fear what will happen in the months to come when he has the children unsupervised. In recent months, in an attempt to lure my nephew to “choose him,” he made up lies that his mother and my family do not love him, that his mother is on drugs (not true) and then his mother had offered to sell him the children. At the same time, while the boy was being bullied at school and came home to tell the man that his classmates were calling him homophobic names, the man laughed at him and began calling him those same names at home. All of this evidence, as well as two court convictions for domestic assault, were presented by my sister’s attorney during the hearing, but all of it was dismissed and he was given the custody he requested. My family grew up having faith in our system, respecting the courts and even earning advanced degrees in law and political science. Today we learned, however, that you can simply buy children. Even if you only intend to abuse them.
Thank you Mr. Goldstein and Parenting News Network. I can identify with so much of this article. My abuser has successfully used the courts to maintain control over me and our children. We are living in desperate poverty because I have been prevented from moving my children from Kern County California to be with my family in Portland, Oregon. An NRA member Judge ruled that I did not need a restraining order because of the “cooling off effect” of the temporary order which has allowed my husband to keep his guns and since what prompted me to leave was three incidents of threatening to shoot me this of course makes me uneasy. I plan to share this article with my attorney and hope that she may be able to use it to help my case.
My story – I finaly decided to leave a long time abuser of 12 years. I felt strong and the law was on my side. WRONG. Despite more than 8 police reports, 2 convictions of DV, a recording where he threatened to kill me and my kids, and three protection orders – a court awarded joint custody. The judge refused to speak to my children and said he saw no threat from this man to his children. The first time I had to hand them over to him for an extended visit I did not know if they would return. He played with me, not allowing my daughter to have her phone- not telling me where they were- giving me the wrong address- having his gf call instead of allowing me to speak with my children…… it was awful. I decided that this was just the beginning and he would play with me and continue to abuse me forever. There was no syndrome involved in my decision. It was a decision not to abandone my children or my daughter to being the next victim. I have lost my family (my own mother and father) as they think I have just gone back….. I did. But not why they all think. Who cares what think if my children are safe. I went back. I won him over and he took me back. At least I know they (my kids) will be ok. I learned a long time ago how to avoid him. Thats the syndrome. The games we learn to play to avoid the abuse……. I hate playing but I have no choice. My children are innocent and do not deserve this. I hope that I can make it. I have 13 more years….. The courts are worse than the abusers. They allow children to be used and further abused and murdered. At least I stopped the courts…….
As of ONLY:
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2010
76 Killer Dads: Fathers who ended their children’s lives in situations involving child custody, visitation, and/or child support (USA)
http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/02/76-killer-dads-fathers-who-ended-their.html
Since posting a short list of fathers who had killed their children in cases where child custody, visitation, and/or child support was an active contributing factor (just articles published in 2010), several people have asked me for a more comprehensive list.
It’s nearly impossible to come up with a truly comprehensive list. News articles provide incomplete or inaccurate information. Many articles are not readily accessible through a stardard google search. But I am providing you with the a list of the cases that I have collected over the last year or so, coupled with a few cases submitted by others. Most of these murders occurred during the past two years, but not all. If you have information about additional cases that fit the above listed criteria, please send the information to me.
Note that this list does NOT include ALL the fathers who annihilate their families in murder-suicides or kill their children under other circumstances, even when there was a history of domestic violence or child abuse. If child custody, visitation, and/or child support did not appear to play an identifiable role in the child’s death, I did not include the case on the list. If I were to include all fathers who murder their children for any reason (mental illness, carelessness, “frustration,” anger at the mother–but with no apparent or identifiable child custody, visitation, or child support issues), this list would be nearly endless. So this list is not to be taken as reflective or representational of all fathers who murder children.
I apologize in advance for any errors, either in the newspaper articles or in the transcription.
76 Killer Dads: Fathers who ended their children’s lives in situations involving child custody, visitation, and/or child support (USA)
ALABAMA
Franklin County
Father: PAUL GONZALEZ
Victim(s): Andrea Gonzalez (5 years)
Date of Death: Reported missing in Nov. 1993. Body never recovered.
Custodial father eventually pleads guilty to manslaughter. Stepmother charged with child abuse.
Jefferson County
Father: CORY RICE
Victim(s): Janiya Nicole Hale (1 year)
Date of Death: July 2009
Father, a registered sex offender, is charged with murder. Daughter died during overnight visitation.
ARIZONA
Cococino County
Father: RYAN PETERS
Victim(s): Teigan Peters (aka Teigan Brown) (3 years)
Date of Death: June 2009
Daughter killed in murder-suicide during court-ordered visitation . Mother had applied for orders of protection.
Maricopa County
Father: ALLEN CHAMBERS
Victim(s): Mindi Chambers (17 years)
Date of Death: Assumed to have been murdered around the time she went missing in 1982.
Custodial father ALLEN CHAMBERS is now presumed to have murdered Mindi Chambers around the time she went missing. Daughter had reported sexual abuse to the authorities. Not reported as officially missing til 1995.
Father: JEFFREY DUCHANE
Victim(s): Trenay Duchane (12 years)
Date of Death: Nov. 2008
Custodial father and stepmother convicted of murder.
Father: RAUL MOLINA GONZALEZ
Victim(s): Anthony Gonzalez (11 years)
Date of Death: Summer 2005
Father convicted of murdering son during summer visitation.
Father: NUSHAWN CAMPBELL
Victim(s): Son (5 years)
Date of Death: June 2009
Father with sole custody stabs son to death in failed murder-suicide. Mother had been trying to regain custody.
CALIFORNIA
Contra Costa County
Father: ERHAN KAYIK
Victim(s): Volkan Kayik (16 years)
Date of Death: July 2007
Custodial father found guilty in 2009 of strangulation death of son.
El Dorado County
Father: DAVID ELIOTT
Victim(s): Chandler Nash-Eliott (11 years)
Date of Death: Dec. 2009
Father not charged in the “suicide” of son. Father had physical custody, parents had shared custody. Father had extensive history with CPS regarding neglect, abuse, lack of supervision, etc.
Los Angeles County
Father: DAVID HELMS
Victim(s): Lance Helms (2 1/2 years)
Date of Death: 1995
Custodial dad convicted in beating death of son. Father had obtained custody despite extensive history of violence, drug abuse.
Father: CAMERON BROWN
Victim(s): Lauren Sarene Key (4 years)
Date of Death: Nov. 2000
Father scheduled to go to trial for 3rd time for death of daughter. Daughter was allegedly pushed off cliff during visitation in order to avoid child support.
Orange County
Father: GIDEON WALTER OMONDI
Victim(s): Richie Omondi (4 years)
Date of Death: 2006
Father shared custody with the child’s mother. Convicted of 1st degree murder in Jan. 2010. Drowned son to avoid child support.
San Bernadino County
Father: JESUS ROMAN FUENTES
Victim(s): Jesus Gabriel Fuentes (4 years)
Date of Death: Feb. 2010
Father crashes car, shoots to death son during visitation. Parents divorced. Father in critical condition from self-inflicted gun shot wound.
Father: STEPHEN CHARLES GARCIA
Victim(s): Wyatt Garcia (9 months)
Date of Death: Jan. 2010
Father kills son during court-ordered visitation. Murder-suicide. Parents never married. Mother had pleaded with 3 judges regarding father’s violence, threats.
San Diego County
Father: DENNIS POTTS
Victim(s): Tori Vienneau (22 years), Dean Springtube (10 months)
Date of Death: July 2006
Father is convicted Sept. 2009 in the murders of his former girlfriend and son. Father didn’t want to take paternity test, pay child support.
Ventura County
Father: JAMES MULVANEY
Victim(s): Jason Mulvaney (12 years), Jennifer Mulvaney (7 years)
Date of Death: Sept. 2009
Father stabs to death son and daughter in murder-suicide during overnight visitation. Parents had shared custody and were still involved in divorce, custody case.
COLORADO
Arapahoe County
Father: AARON THOMPSON
Victim(s): Aarone Thompson (7 years)
Date of Death: Reported missing in Nov. 2005. Body never recovered.
Father convicted in Sept. 2009 in daughter’s murder. Father had custody, as he had abducted the children from mother in Michigan.
Jefferson County
Father: JOSEPH TRUJILLO
Victim(s): Adrian Trujillo (5 months)
Date of Death: Jan. 2010
Father charged in death of infant son. Father had physical custody while mother in military. Father alleged to have left baby alone while father went out drinking for 7 hours. Baby later found dead.
CONNECTICUT
New Haven County
Father: MORRIES D. HILL SR.
Victim(s): Morries Hill Jr. (5 months)
Date of Death: 2008
Father charged in connection with the death of son. Baby died from “severe physical abuse.” Infant died in father’s home during overnight visitation.
FLORIDA
Colllier County
Father: SAMUEL SEJOUR
Victim(s): Elijay Kye Aliazar (3 months)
Date of Death: Jan. 2009
Father had shared custody with infant’s mother. Son died of blunt force trauma to the head during visitation. Father charged w. 2nd-degree murder.
Duval County
Father: JOSI M. HALL
Victim(s): Kyla Hall (1 year)
Date of Death: 2008
Father had sole custody, and had been cleared of previous abuse allegations. Daughter died of blunt force trauma at home.
Hillsborough County
Father: CHAUNCEY ROBINSON
Victim(s): Chavon Robinson (22 months)
Date of Death: Feb. 2008
Father convicted Dec. 2009 of murdering child during visitation.
Jackson County
Father: WESLEY JONATHAN WILLIAMS
Victim(s): Danielle Baker (mother), sons Ahmaad (4 years) and Amarion (1 year), and unrelated infant.
Date of Death: 2005
Father allegedly committed quadruple murder because he was angry about child support.
Lake County
Father: RICHARD L. ADAMS
Victim(s): Kayla McKean (6 years)
Date of Death: 1998
Custodial father beat daughter to death. Had been subject of multiple CPS investigations.
Orange County
Father: ROOSEVELT BRADLEY II
Victim(s): Roosevelt Bradley III (8 months)
Date of Death: Aug. 2009
Father arrested for murder of infant during visitation.
Osceola County
Father: MELVIN ORTIZ
Victim(s): Unnamed Son (5 years)
Date of Death: July 2009
Son beaten to death while visiting father, stepmother.
Palm Beach County
Father: TONY CAMACHO
Victim(s): Crystal Camacho (8 years), Nelson Camacho (10 years)
Date of Death: Dec. 2006
Father and mother were finalizing divorce. During Christmas visitation, father stabbed daughter, then killed her and brother Nelson Camacho (10 years) in arson murder-suicide. Mother had unsucessfully petitioned for protection.
Pasco County
Father: THOMAS LUDWIG
Victim(s): Diella Ludwig (2 months)
Date of Death: Dec. 2008
CPS granted father THOMAS LUDWIG custody of infant twins. Father charged with 1st-degree murder in Diella’s death.
Volusia County
Father: MICHAEL REESE
Victim(s): Jeremiah Reese (14 years)
Date of Death: Sept. 2009
Jeremiah Reese died of “accidental overdose” at the home of his custodial father. Father had long history of abuse, neglect with CPS.
IDAHO
Ada County
Father: NICHOLAS BACON
Victim(s): Bekm Bacon (8 months)
Date of Death: Feb. 2010
Father shot to death son in murder-suicide. Parents going through divorce, but had joint custody. Infant killed during visitation with father.
Jerome County
Father: ROBERT ARAGON
Victim(s): Sage Aragon (11 years)
Date of Death: Dec. 2008
Custodial father acquitted of involuntary manslaughter in hypothermia death of daughter. Father had told to her to walk to mother’s home during blizzard.
Twin Falls County
Father: JIM NICE JR.
Victim(s): Justin Nice (6 years), Spencer Nice (6 years), Raquel Anna Nice (2 years)
Date of Death: 2005
Father murdered children with rat poison during court-ordered visitation.
ILLINOIS
McClean County
Father: MICHAEL CONNELLY
Victim(s): Duncan Connelly (6 years) and Jack Connelly (4 years)
Date of Death: March 2009
Father killed sons in murder-suicide during court-ordered visitation. Mother had extensive involvment with the courts trying to prevent contact with father.
Will County
Father: CHIDI ESI
Victim(s): Nathan Esi (19 months)
Date of Death: Oct. 2009
Father accused of drowning son during visitation.
INDIANA
Green County
Father: RONALD A. BOHANNON
Victim(s): Travis Bohannon (14 months)
Date of Death: Aug. 2009
Father separated from wife. Son “accidently” shot during visitation. Father convicted of reckless homicide Jan. 2010.
Lake County
Father: CORDELL RICHARDSON
Victim(s): Eboni Richardson (19 months)
Date of Death: Aug. 2009
Father shot daughter during visitation. Didn’t want child’s mother to do moveaway.
Father: TERRY BETHEL (aka Terry Noel)
Victim(s): Josiah Shaw (13 months)
Date of Death: Jan. 2008
Father allegedly arranged to have visitation with son, then shot him to death to avoid child support.
KANSAS
Shawnee County
Father: JAMES KRAIG KAHLER
Victim(s): Karen Kahler (44 years), Emily Kahler (18 years), Lauren Kahler (16 years), Dorothy Wight (89 years)
Date of Death: Nov. 2009
Parents were in the process of divorcing, reportedly “sparring over children.”
Sumner County
Father: UNNAMED FATHER
Victim(s): Caden Michael Reemes (4 years)
Date of Death: Aug. 2009
Child asphyxiated at the home of his custodial UNNAMED FATHER.
KENTUCKY
Anderson County
Father: TIMOTHY FRAZIER
Victim(s): Cole Frazier (21 months)
Date of Death: May 2009
Father obtained custody with police assistance through fraudulent EPO. Shot son to death in murder-suicide. Mother suing police, city.
Clark County
Father: PATRICK WATKINS
Victim(s): Michaela Watkins (10 years)
Date of Death: 2007
Custodial father, stepmother found guilty of murder in girl’s death. Girl removed from mother’s home by social workers.
LOUISIANA
Pointe Coupee Parish
Father: AARON BOWMAN
Victim(s): Aaron Bowman, Jr.
Date of Death: Nov. 2009
Father had “temporary” custody of son, 2-year-old daughter when son beaten to death. Father charged with 1st-degree murder.
MAINE
Kennebec County
Father: SHANE SOUCY
Victim(s): Connor Soucy (4 months)
Date of Death: Aug. 2009
Infant became “unresponsive” during visit with father. Later died at hospital.
MARYLAND
Baltimore County
Father: MARK CASTILLO
Victim(s): Anthony Castillo (6 years), Austin Castillo (4 years), Athena Castillo (2 years)
Date of Death: Mar. 2008
Mother had tried to stop father from having access, but blocked by courts. Children murdered during court-ordered visitation.
Father: STEPHEN NELSON
Victim(s) Turner Jordan Nelson (3 years)
Date of Death: Feb. 2008
Murdered by father by being thrown off bridge. Father and mother had argued in court over custody.
MASSACHUSETTS
Bristol County
Father: KRISTOPHER GRIFFIN
Victim(s): Kaitlyn (6 years)
Date of Death: July 2009
Father allegedly murdered daughter because he was concerned about possible moveaway.
Worcester County
Father: LESLIE G. SHULER
Victim(s): Nathaniel Turner (7 years)
Date of Death: June 2009
Father charged with beating death of son. Took place during father’s summer visitation.
MICHIGAN
Oakland County
Father: JOHN KELLY
Victim(s): unnamed infant (13 weeks)
Date of Death: Feb. 2010
Infant died during unsupervised visitation.
St. Clair County
Father: JOE GALVAN
Victim(s): Prhaze Galvan (3 years)
Date of Death: Jan. 2010
Child died of blunt force trauma in home of father, stepmother. Both face murder charges.
MISSOURI
Cass/Jackson Counties
Father: MARK GUENTHER
Victim(s): Elizabeth Guenther (18 months)
Date of Death: Feb. 2010
Father to be charged with 2nd degree murder. Baby suffered fatal skull fracture during father’s weekend visitation.
Father: DAN PORTER
Victim(s): Sam Porter (7 years), Lindsey Porter (8 years)
Date of Death: June 2004
Father murdered children during court-ordered visitation. Had extensive history of domestic violence.
St. Louis County
Father: Nathaniel Robinson
Victim(s): Desmon Valenzuela (3 years)
Date of Death: 2007
Father obtained custody 1 month before child’s beating death. Convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Jan 2010.
NEVADA
Clark County
Father: BRANDON TODD ARDUINO
Victim(s): Brandon Christopher Arduino-Boggs (13 years)
Date of Death: Sept. 2009
Son killed in auto homicide case where father DUI. Parents had been in lengthy child custody case.
Father: ALEX KOPYSTENSKI
Victim(s): Giovani Kopystenski (5 years)
Date of Death: July 2009
Custodial father. Autistic son “accidentally” shoots himself in head after finding gun in father’s car.
NEW JERSEY
Passaic County
Father: EDELMIRO GONZALEZ
Victim(s): Adrian Gonzalez (7 years)
Date of Death: Nov. 2009
Father in “bitter custody dispute” with “estranged” wife. 7-year-old son shot to death, 11-year-old son, wife, in critical condition.
NEW MEXICO
Bernalillo County
Father: RICHARD ROBERT SANCHEZ
Victim(s): Richard Jr, Daniel, and Christopher Sanchez
Date of Death: Aug. 2001
Father “went missing” with sons during custodial visit. Bodies recovered, identified in July 2009.
NEW YORK
Erie County
Father: JAMES E. KENT
Victim(s); Joshua Kent (3 years)
Date of Death: Mar. 2005
Sole custody father beats son to death.
Genessee County
Father: UNNAMED FATHER
Victim(s); Marcus Peters (6 years)
Date of Death: Oct. 2009
Child dies during weekend visitation with father, but authorities say death not “suspicious.”
Monroe County
Father: MARK RESCH
Victim(s): Hunter Resch (7 years)
Date of Death: Feb. 2010
Child shot to death in murder-suicide during court-ordered visitation. Father had history of DV, mother had filed two orders of protection.
Orange County
Father: CHRISTOPHER RHODES
Victim(s): Jerica Rhodes (7 years)
Date of Death: Jan. 2005
Sole custody father convicted in daughter’s stabbing death. Had extensive history of DV.
NORTH CAROLINA
Edgecombe County
Father: BRICE MCMILLAN
Victim(s): Tyler Brice (13 years)
Date of Death: June 2008
Custodial father, stepmother convicted of 2nd-degree murder. Boy tied to tree, died of dehydration, heat exhaustion.
OKLAHOMA
Bryan County
Father: WOLF ABEL
Victim(s): Cheyenne Wolf (11 years)
Date of Death: April 2008
Custodial father, stepmother charged in girl’s death.
OHIO
Cuyahoga County
Father: ANTHONY JOHNSON
Victim(s) Anthony Johnson Jr.
Date of Death: Aug. 2009
Father accused of beating child to death during visitation.
Franklin/Delaware Counties
Father: DANIEL J. DOBSON
Victims: Nicole Dobson (15 years), Sarah Dobson (11 years)
Date of Death: Dec. 2009
Father had physical placement of 15-year-old daughter. “Shared parenting” plan in place with divorced mother. Girls shot to death in murder-suicide.
Stark County
Father: JAMES MAMMONE III
Victim(s): Macy Mammone (5 years), James Mammone (3 years), Margaret Eakin (57 years)
Date of Death: June 2009
Divorced father convicted of stabbing children, beating to death former mother-in-law in Jan. 2010.
OREGON
Clackamas County
Father: DONALD L. COCKRELL
Victim(s) Alexis Pounder (3 years)
Date of Death: Jan. 2010
Father, mother had shared custody. Father, girlfriend charged with beating, starving girl to death. Mother allegedly blocked from seeing child by father.
PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia County
Father: DOMINGO “ANIBAL” FERREIRA
Victim(s) Charlenni Ferreira (10 years)
Date of Death: Oct. 2009
Girl died from abuse in the home of her custodial father, stepmother. Father later (allegedly) committed suicide in jail cell.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Anderson County
Father: JAMES T. DICKERSON
Victim(s): Jeremy Dickerson (7 years)
Date of Death: July 2009
Father with “full custody” charged in son’s beating death.
Chester County
Father: UNNAMED FATHER
Victim(s): Xymerra Evans (11 months)
Date of Death: Sept. 2009
Child sexually abused, beaten during visitation with father. Later died at hospital.
TENNESSEE
Shelby County
Father: CURTIS LEE MORRIS, JR.
Victim(s): Isaiah Snipes (16 months)
Date of Death: Nov. 2009
Father had just obtained custody of son, 3-year-old daughter in Sept. 2009. Father charged w. 2nd-degree murder.
Warren County
Father: MITCHELL STONE
Victim(s): Kayndace (3 years), Akeelia (1 year)
Date of Death: May 2009
Custodial father, stepmother charged in deaths of two girls.
TEXAS
Denton County
Father: DUKE WATROUS
Victim(s): Ashley Watrous (10 years)
Date of Death: Dec. 2009
Custodial father charged in shooting death.
Gaines/Yoakum Counties
Father: MARIO ROMERO
Victim(s): Mitchell Romero (3 years), unnamed mother
Date of Death: Oct. – Nov. 2009
Mother reportedly murdered by father during child abduction. Son later killed in car accident.
Jasper County
Father: LEO DESMOREAUX IV
Victim(s): Triston Dobbins (21 months)
Date of Death: Dec. 2007
Boy died of head injuries while visiting father, stepmother. Father on trial for capital murder Jan. 2010.
VIRGINIA
Norfolk County
Father: JOSHUA SAWYER
Victim(s): Carly Sawyer (5 years)
Date of Death: June 2009
Custodial father, stepmother charged with 2nd-degree murder. Mother lost custody during divorce, father denied mother contact.
WEST VIRGINIA
Mercer County
Father: RONALD HOLCOMB
Victim(s): Brooklyn Holcomb (5 years)
Date of Death: Jan. 2007
Custodial father convicted of 2nd-degree murder in daughter’s death. Mother had lost custody the year before after applying for child support.
POSTED: 2:58 pm CST February 10, 2010
UPDATED: 8:08 pm CST February 10, 2010
NASHVILLE, Tenn. –Â More than a dozen current and former Department of Children’s Services workers say children are at risk from the agency’s focus on mandates and quotas.
Related:Â Pt. 1Â |Â Pt. 2
April Meldrum is the new associate dean at the Duncan LawSchool in Knoxville. But just one month ago, she was a juvenile judge in Anderson County — a judge who dealt every day with broken families, struggling families, foster families and the DCS.
Meldrum quit that judgeship because she said DCS would not help families.
“As you’re faced with making a decision every day of deciding whether or not to remove a child from their parents, you would like to know that the agency to whom you’re giving the child would do a better job than the parents from which you just removed the child,” said Meldrum. “It’s untenable to be in if you don’t have that faith, and I no longer have that faith.”
Meldrum said she constantly had to battle DCS to provide its basic services like drug and alcohol counseling, anger management and just helping with paying a utility bill for a month.
“It happens routinely that services are ordered, and they not provided. Time and time again the department would return without meeting their obligation,” said Meldrum.
DCS Commissioner Viola Miller said those statements are not true, and DCS provides services that are court-ordered in a timely and even urgent manner.
“Do you know that almost nothing that says to me makes me angrier than that? Because I love our kids, and I love her families,” said Miller.
In October, Coffee County Juvenile Court Judge Tim Brock was so mad at DCS that he ordered every DCS caseworker and manager in the county to appear before him and bring all their cases and explain why kids weren’t being seen sometimes for months and why services he ordered weren’t being provided.
This was all done in the secrecy of juvenile court, but it isn’t a secret anymore because of Brian Bagby, who resigned from his position as a Coffee County DCS investigator. He felt DCS was concerned with numbers, not kids.
“I just felt like it wasn’t worth the job anymore,” said Bagby. “I just felt I wasn’t doing anything for families. I kind of felt like I was actually harming families more than doing anything good for them.”
Bagby isn’t alone: Three former and current DCS workers have also made similar complaints to Channel 4, but chose not to appear on camera.
When case managers investigate complaints that children are being harmed in a home, a case is officially opened. As long as a case manager has any contact with the family, the case remains open.
Case managers said cases often stay open for long periods of time because there are so many questions to ask, and they are getting pressure to hurry up and close the case as soon as possible.
“The department really wants you to get it closed within 30 days,” said Bagby. “They really don’t care what’s going on, as long as the media isn’t involved or a child doesn’t die, they want you to close it.”
Miller said there is pressure to close cases, not because it’s costing DCS money but because kids are in imminent danger and deserve fast action.
“This is about kids’ safety. We can’t leave them hanging out there,” said Miller.
But Bagby argued if there are 50 cases, that could be 150 kids. With interviews, court, counseling, psychological evaluations, Bagby said it ends up with a shoddy investigation.
“It just got to the point if you go to the house and nobody was on fire, nobody was bleeding and no broken arm, you (were told) just to talk to the family and kids for 10 to 15 minutes, get in the car and go to the next case,” said Bagby.
Miller said DCS believes a case worker should be able to handle a constant load of 30 cases, and it’s a well-documented standard that DCS is maintaining.
“We don’t have a bunch of caseworkers with over 30 cases, and we’ll be glad to show you that we have the data on that,” said Miller.
But internal caseload summaries provided to Channel 4 by DCS insiders show some issues. In September 2009, for example, there were 75 case managers with more than 30 cases. This represents hundreds of Tennessee kids over the limit.
What Bagby and Meldrum are saying is even these case load numbers don’t tell the story because it doesn’t count the many cases being closed to quickly.
Bagby admits he was reprimanded by his bosses by DCS management. But he maintains that his supervisors at DCS required him to do things he thought were unsafe and eventually quit his job.
Previous Story:
February 10, 2010:Â Ex-Workers: Kids’ Safety Not Focus Of DCS
Apr 2, 2010 5:51 pm US/Central Texas Man Gets 10 Years After Wife Drowns Baby
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) ¯ A Texas man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for leaving his baby alone with his psychotic wife, who drowned their son in a hot tub.
Michael Maxon appears to be the first husband held criminally responsible in Texas cases involving mentally ill women who have killed their children, said prosecutor Alana Minton.
Maxon, 56, was convicted earlier this year of intentionally abandoning his 1-year-old son when he left the couple’s Mansfield home in 2006 to run errands. According to trial testimony, doctors and relatives had warned him not to leave his son Alex alone with his wife, who had been having delusions that her son was the anti-Christ who would be tortured before causing the Apocalypse.
In 2008, a judge found Valeria Maxon innocent by reason of insanity in the baby’s death. She was sent to a state mental hospital, as required by Texas law with such verdicts.
During Michael Maxon’s sentencing Thursday, state District Judge Wayne Salvant said he was disturbed that Maxon still believed he was not responsible for the baby’s death. Maxon faced from two to 20 years in prison.
But defense attorney Jack Strickland, who sought probation for Maxon, said his client was charged only because prosecutors thought “somebody has got to pay” after Valeria Maxon avoided prison, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported in Friday editions.
Strickland also cited the high-profile case of Houston mother Andrea Yates, who drowned her five children in the bathtub in 2001, the Dallas Morning News reported.
“There was a great outcry after Yates,” Strickland said. “Maybe to a degree those chickens have come home to roost.”
At her first capital murder trial in 2002, Yates was convicted but avoided the death penalty and was sentenced to life in prison. Prosecutors said they were looking into whether her husband, Rusty Yates, had any culpability but ultimately did not charge him.
Trial testimony revealed that Andrea Yates suffered from postpartum psychosis, which caused delusions, and had been in and out of mental hospitals for other mental illnesses. Doctors warned the couple not to have more children after Andrea Yates tried to commit suicide twice within months of having her fourth child.
But her case was overturned on appeal, and in 2006, Yates was found innocent by reason of insanity and sent to a state mental hospital.
In at least two other cases, women who killed their children and had a history of mental illness were found innocent by reason of insanity. Dena Schlosser of Plano killed her 10-month-old daughter by cutting off her arms in 2004, and Deanna Laney of New Chapel Hill beat her three young sons with rocks in 2003, killing two of them.
Unclear what the connection is between the Texas case and the 70 plus deaths listed above.