Director Schaffner Wants Sex Abuse Victims To Hide!

By Attorney David Engler

This week I stood in the parking lot of Trumbull County Children Services with two brave young women. We were very close to the spot where they were sexually molested as 12 and 13 year olds. It took so much courage for them to get in the car with me and drive to a group of awaiting cameras including their old caseworker who stood outside during his work day filming the young women. The two recounted how they were preyed upon by a Youth Leader woman that was hired to protect them while at children services. This Dorm Mother actually would take overtime so she could sleep with one of the three girls during the night.

There were three girls age 12, 12 and 13 when the sexual abuse first started.

Image credit:  123RF Stock Photo

 

They each were left into the care of the Government because their own homes were broken, parents were addicts or a father was a molester.  Each of their lives had not been easy but they have overcome extreme cruelty to become good mothers, daughters, friends and employees.  Each of the three have given me more inspiration then what I could possibly gain from representing them.

The cruelest comment, after we announced a lawsuit against CSB for employing a pedophile, came from the Director Tim Schaffner.  His response to finding out that three preteens  were sexually abused by an employee was shocking. He said he was appalled that Attorney Engler would expose these girls. I have encountered many tone-deaf Government types in my 26 years of practice but this is the worse. Instead of expressing outrage that the abuse happened, or expressing concern for the girls, or being troubled… he was appalled that the girls would dare show their sweet faces.  This guy is running an agency that is supposed to protect children. These girls are heroes for giving a face to childhood sexual abuse. If you’re a victim you do not have to hide in a closet. The shame is not the victims but the pedophile and the agency that employed her and did nothing to stop her and protect young girls who could not have been more vulnerable.

Since I have first stepped up to take on the agency that permitted a known pedophile to rape a baby at its own office, I have been swamped with the calls of victims or parents or grandparents who are suffering at the indifferent hands of Trumbull CSB and others throughout the State. Others have joined the fight with the notable exception of no elected officials or judges who place kids into CSB. I cannot figure out how many murdered or abused children it takes before someone in power cares to act.  I suppose this is the same sort of thing that happened at Penn State. 

As an attorney we are taught to stay dispassionate from our clients in the course of litigation. I am shaking with anger. My clients are each beautiful, intelligent, caring young African-American women. They needed good foster parents to have taken them out the CSB hell they were placed into. But the reality is people want babies not young teens. I told each of these girls that I would have been proud to have been their father. I am not sure I could be a foster parent now but wish I had known these girls when they were 12.  There are other children out there.  They are victims of all sorts of terrible things. It is so sad that they had to be insulted and victimized one more time by a Director who believes victims of abuse should hide their faces. Shame on you Director Schaffner.

Attorney David Engler

Phone: 330-729-9777

http://www.DavidEngler.com Attorney Engler’s website

Areas of Practice: Family Law, Elder Law, Domestic Relations, Bankruptcy, Criminal

KEEPING JAMES BROWN’S DRUMMER OUT OF JAIL. ONE TIME Y’All

By Attorney David Engler

Michael Georgiadis was a brand new puppy lawyer in Trumbull County back in the early 80’s. Like most new lawyers he cut his teeth on getting court appointments.  Every person has a right to lawyer and one will be appointed to them if they cannot afford to pay a lawyer.  It is a constitutional right.

Attorney Georgiadis who has now been practicing for 30 years told me the story of his early brush with celebrity criminal law. Judge Bernard sat on the Girard Municipal Bench and it was clearly his court.  No one dared challenge him for the position or his son who followed in his footsteps.  Some people were born to be Judges precisely because they never judged anyone until they had heard the facts, considered the law and then most importantly applied their well-earned common sense.  If you asked prosecutor and defense attorney alike who their favorite Judge would be; the Bernard father and son will always be at the top.

Attorney Georgiadis, skinny as a rail, meets his new client.  The Defendant, a black man in his late 50’s is accused of stealing from a K-Mart some merchandise that could be easily converted into cash.  He got caught red-handed. Mr. Jones had been down on his luck, he told his new court appointed attorney in court that morning. He  needed some cash to catch a bus back to Detroit or maybe it was for a fifth.  Detroit where was he had made his way to standing almost in the ray of fame of his band leader, the one and only Godfather of Soul,  Mr. James Brown.  Jones was the Godfather’s  drummer.  Of course Jones did not carry a certificate with him to prove his claim and the young lawyer had no way of knowing if this were true, but Jones had a quality of celebrity to him even if his clothes were ten years too old and alcohol and drug use had etched his face into that of a much older man.

The Great Judge Bernard presided in a court the sat on the second floor of Girard City Hall. It was cramped and normally hot at all times the year. It had a fake wood panelling that made you think you were in someone’s rec room.  The prosecutor’s office looked like a closet and was a place where justice needed to be dealt quicker than 5 card stud because everyone had someplace else they needed to be.

The case of State v. Jones is called and up comes Attorney Georgaidis and his maybe one time famous client, Jones. “What do you want to do Counselor?” asked the Judge. After a few stumbles about burden of proof and whether Jones actually made it out of the store with the goods…Georgiadis says to the Court, “Well really your honor my client simply wants to get back to Detroit and try to resume his career where he was the drummer for James Brown.  “Really”, says the Judge. “Is that true Mr. Jones?”  At that little encouragement Jones grabs two pencils from the bailiff’s desk which sat to the right of the judge’s Bench but somewhat lower and he proceeded to perform a rather nice drum solo on the judge’s Bench moving down to the right.  Once he got to the corner of the Bench and the Jury Box he gave a slick spin with pencils in hand then continued the beat down the entire length of the wood rail in front of the then empty jury box.  When he got to the final post he finished with a flourish, gave a final spin then went into a deep leg split.  The deputies, other defendants waiting with their attorneys , court clerks and the Judge gave a well-earned applause.

“That is enough for me”, said the Judge.  “I will find you guilty of the charge of theft but suspend all jail and fines and order you to return to Detroit at once”. “But you honor… thank you but I don’t have any money for the bus ride.” At that Judge Bernard reached into his pocket and pulled out a twenty and ordered the prosecutor and the young defense lawyer to do the same.  “Son”, the Judge said to Attorney Georgiadis “take this man to the bus stop and buy him a ticket to Detroit”.  Attorney Georgiadis dutifully complied and once at the bus stop, bought the ticket and gave Jones the extra change. “Thanks” said Jones, “Stay real.”

That night Georgidis’ young wife asked if he made any money today.  Michael said “No it actually cost me $20 but the Godfather of Soul has his beat back.”

Attorney David Engler

Phone: 330-729-9777

http://www.DavidEngler.com Attorney Engler’s website

Areas of Practice: Family Law, Elder Law, Domestic Relations, Bankruptcy, Criminal

Failure of Children Service Agencies is Epidemic

By Attorney David Engler

Private placement agencies if not monitored well by Children Service Boards can end in tragedy. In Trumbull County, Ohio there have been at least 5 murders of children who were either directly through foster placement or indirectly through custody orders placed with the abuser.

In Fairfield County, Ohio a 5 year old boy was made to stand out in the rain and cold as a punishment. The boy was taken by ambulance to ER after going into cardiac arrest. He has permanent neurological damage.  A private agency working under the County made the placement.  The agency did not inquire as to why the foster parents had been denied a license in Hamilton County, Ohio.

The failure of Children Protective Service agencies is an epidemic.

The New York Times reported earlier this year reported about the wide spread abuse in the City. I am quoting it in its near entirety.

The New York Times –

“Lawyers for 10 disabled children who were fraudulently adopted by a Queens woman more than 15 years ago and subjected to years of abuse have proposed a $68 million settlement in a civil rights lawsuit filed on their clients’ behalf, according to a confidential court filing.”

Matthew Ratajczak/Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers,

“The proposal comes as a federal magistrate judge in Brooklyn appears to be trying to mediate a settlement to the suit, filed in 2009, which seeks damages from New York City and three contract adoption agencies that placed the children with the woman, Judith Leekin.

Serial Abuser for Foster Money

The case has been seen as one of the most disturbing child welfare fraud cases in the city in recent years. Ms. Leekin used four aliases to adopt the children, who had physical or developmental disabilities, including autism and retardation, and later moved them to Florida. The children were caged, restrained with plastic ties and handcuffs, beaten with sticks and hangers, and kept out of school, according to court papers. An 11th child disappeared while in Ms. Leekin’s care and is presumed dead.

The suit asks that the 10 plaintiffs, now mostly in their 20s, be compensated for their years of suffering as well as for the services and treatment they will need for the rest of their lives.

The letter was filed publicly in October, but was quickly sealed after the lawyer wrote that it “referred to confidential discussions between the parties.” The New York Times obtained the letter while it was publicly available.

Ms. Leekin, 66, was imprisoned after she was convicted of fraud in federal court in Manhattan and of abuse in a state court in Florida. Federal prosecutors have said that as part of her scheme, she collected $1.68 million in subsidies from the city that went to support a lavish lifestyle.

When the 10 children were removed from her care in 2007, none had completed elementary school; only three could read and only at a third-grade level; and about half were declared either “totally incapacitated” or “vulnerable adults,” according to a report by a former Columbia University social work professor retained by the plaintiffs to examine the cases.

The 10 have since lived in Florida in state programs or on their own, and at least one is homeless, according to court filings.

New York City and the three private agencies have denied liability in the case, claiming that Ms. Leekin was a sophisticated serial criminal whose scheme fooled various professionals and, given the capabilities and practices of the time, would not have been foreseen or detected.

The agencies are HeartShare Human Services of New York, SCO Family of Services and the now-closed St. Joseph Services for Children and Families.

The agencies’ lawyer, Robert S. Delmond, did not respond to messages seeking a comment on Thursday. Lawyers for the city and the plaintiffs declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.

In the now-sealed letter to Judge Go, Mr. Delmond described the $68 million demand as “a significant sum, which requires much consideration, thought, planning and involvement of corporate officers before they can reach a decision.” The agencies’ insurance carrier was reviewing the matter, he noted, and was “not prepared to make a settlement offer at this time.”

He requested more time to allow for further consultations with the insurer and meetings to discuss “possible settlement offers.”

It is unclear how the city and the private agencies might apportion any payout if a settlement is reached.

Jonathan S. Abady, a lawyer whose firm, Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady, has handled suits against the city and private agencies in cases involving abused and neglected children, said “there does appear to be a uniform indemnification provision” in the contracts the city has with such agencies.

“But the city has the ultimate legal responsibility for the child,” said Mr. Abady, whose firm is not involved in the Leekin suit.

In August, Theodore Babbitt, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, asked Judge Go to move the case forward because of the “fragile, unstable and precarious” condition of the plaintiffs. “They are desperate for care that cannot be provided through the Florida state system,” he wrote.

He cited three of the male plaintiffs, who ranged in age from 19 to 24: one had been on a round-the-clock suicide watch after multiple attempts to take his own life. Another had fathered children out of wedlock and was homeless. A third had been arrested for domestic violence against his older brother. “He is angry and depressed and bottles it up inside until he violently explodes,” Mr. Babbitt wrote.”

ifference towards the sexual abuse of children by men in leadership positions does not seem to be isolated only in Happy Valley.

Attorney David Engler

Phone: 330-729-9777 http://www.DavidEngler.com Attorney Engler’s website Areas of Practice: Family Law, Elder Law, Domestic Relations, Bankruptcy, Criminal

Also published on Family Fault Lines Blog http://familyfaultlines.com/

Also published on eGuardianship Blog https://eguardianship.wordpress.com/

If Only Trumbull County Leaders Would Be As Accountable as PennState Trustees!

By Attorney David Engler

The Louis J. Freeh report came out this week regarding the callous indifference shown by men in leadership at Penn State University towards child victims of sexual abuse by Jerry Sandusky.  Judge Freeh was the former head of the F.B.I. and a federal judge.  This Board of Trustees had requested a full throttled examination of the scandal, no matter how damaging.

 

One commentator stated the essence of the report was that Joe Paterno, the University President and Vice President all allowed Jerry Sandusky, a pedophile, on campus and bestowed upon him the gifts from which he would lure more young boys into his sick world.  We now know that Sandusky will be in jail for life and undoubtedly in hell thereafter.

 

I had stated when the scandal first broke that Paterno should be fired immediately. Now his reputation and legacy will be that he put the importance of the football program over the safety of children.  The others lost their jobs and at least one faces perjury charges.

 

Compare the Sandusky scandal to the one in Trumbull County, Ohio.  The case is remarkably similar: There, inside the Trumbull County Children Services facility, a pedophile named Cody Beemer was allowed lengthy, private, closed-door access to his 9 month old infant victim! Even though Trumbull’s CSA was in possession of a Court Order prohibiting any such contact by the known pedophile, the staff at the CSA simply ignored the order. They also ignored what was going on behind that closed door, they never saw the pedophile rape an innocent child. He raped a 9 month old baby who had been placed into the CSA’s protection specifically to prevent this type of attack. What exposed his heinous actions were his own cell phone. Left at the baby’s grandmother’s house, she discovered the video he had taken with his phone of his actions inside the closed room in The Children Services Agency. He had plenty of time to create a sick movie of his rape of his own infant child and was monstrous enough to do so. Thankfully one human being stood tall, the Grandmother who promptly delivered the cell phone to the Police, who finally took appropriate action.  As I said, the Court acknowledges in their Order that the child should be protected and that no unsupervised visitation should ever take place. Both the Court and Children’s Services knew Cody Beemer. Not only would he come to sexually molest his own baby daughter, he also engaged in the sexual molestation of another infant outside the agency and will likely serve a life sentence for his crimes. But they also knew that Cody Beemer had previously raped his 3 year old sister.

 

Pedophilia has no cure.  He was not in any treatment. He was not chemically or physically castrated.  He was an immediate and present danger and CSB knew it. They put the baby rapist in a room without any supervision.  Why was he even allowed to be there? The State of Ohio’s investigation of Trumbull’s CSA was beyond obvious:the CSA should improve their risk assessment. Really? The Commissioners, unlike the Penn State Board of Trustees, have said nothing. The Sheriff said nothing.  The County Prosecutor belatedly brought in the State to conduct an investigation.  This request was made well before the P.S.U. Scandal.  No response. When the State investigated it was discovered that the records were not only incomplete but in the end one supervisor got two weeks off, during the holidays for fudging visitation records. That is all that has happened.

 

A board member and high ranking County law enforcement official said the event was unforeseeable. Let me make this final analogy.  What would happen if a ten year old boy was put in a cell with Jerry Sandusky or any other pedophile behind bars? Are the leaders of Trumbull County so naive to think that a pedophile cares where they are at?  Most of the rapes occur with known family members or people in a position of trust.

 

Penn State stated this week that the Freeh Report was the first step toward creating a culture of transparency and accountability. Sadly for Trumbull County it appears that allowing a pedophile to have free access to victims on its property is not such a big deal. As Commissioner Frank Fuda told me once “these sort of things happen to kids in Children Services” (I was telling him about the insane number of murdered children in Trumbull County over the last ten years)

 

Callous indifference towards the sexual abuse of children by men in leadership positions does not seem to be isolated only in Happy Valley.

 

Attorney David Engler

Phone: 330-729-9777
http://www.DavidEngler.com Attorney Engler’s website
Areas of Practice: Family Law, Elder Law, Domestic Relations, Bankruptcy, Criminal

Also published on Family Fault Lines Blog http://familyfaultlines.com/

Another toddler foster child is killed….

By Attorney David Engler

Another toddler was killed in a foster home, this time in Maryland. 

The two year old girl was beaten to death by the 12 year old son of the foster parents. 

Public child welfare agencies are the only ones who don’t see that our delivery system of child protection services is largely broken. They hide from scrutiny by cloaking themselves in rules of confidentiality.

Of the families I have represented the thread is common. They are usually poor, uneducated and unable to ask questions.  Perhaps that is why their children end up in children services care.

But once government gets involved, then it becomes our business and the death of one child who was given to an agency that was meant to protect should cause an immediate and open review and call for changing the bureaucratically bloated child protection system. 

Below is today’s editorial from the Washington Post.  It could have been written in all but a handful of states like Virginia, Kansas and Florida that have overhauled children protective services.

WHEN WELFARE authorities remove a child from the home, it is supposed to be for the child’s safety. It is simply unthinkable that a 2-year-old girl in Prince George’s County who was taken from her mother’s custody was beaten to death while in the care of a foster family. Not only must there be a thorough review by county and state authorities, but it’s important that circumstances of the case — including a determination of whether the tragedy could have been prevented — be made public.

Aniyah Batchelor, who turned 2 in March, died Tuesday of “blunt force trauma,” according to Prince George’s police, who said she was beaten inside her foster parents’ home in Fort Washington. A 12-year-old boy, son of the unnamed foster parents, was charged with second-degree murder. Police allege that the boy had “beaten the child repeatedly’’ in a single attack; no weapon was used. It appears that the parents were away and their 15-year-old daughter was sleeping.

When a foster child is killed confidentiality is no excuse for concealing what happened and why.

The toddler had been in foster care since November. “Our hearts go out to the families involved. Both families and the staff that worked with them will need our support in the coming days,” read a statement issued by the Maryland Department of Human Resources, parent agency for the Prince George’s County Social Services Department, which handled the child’s placement. There is no doubting the need for sympathy, but officials also must provide a better explanation of the actions taken in this case.

Predictably, they have chosen to hide behind a supposed need for confidentiality and privacy even as state spokesman Pat Hines acknowledged that the state can discuss some details about a child in foster care if there is “an allegation of abuse and neglect” resulting in a death. Incredibly, state legal authorities concluded that that exemption doesn’t apply to Aniyah’s case.

Perhaps this was a tragedy that could not be foreseen; maybe it occurred despite best and correct efforts. But there are unanswered questions. Was the foster home properly screened? Were the parents trained? Had there been any signs of trouble? Were there alternatives that would have allowed Aniyah to avoid foster care? The public, the 6,859 Maryland families with children in foster care and, above all, this little girl’s mother need more than expressions of sorrow. They deserve answers.

Attorney David Engler
Phone: 330-729-9777
http://www.DavidEngler.com Attorney Engler’s website
Areas of Practice: Family Law, Elder Law, Domestic Relations, Bankruptcy, Criminal

Also published on Family Fault Lines Blog http://familyfaultlines.com/

How Hard Can You Beat a Man You Find Molesting Your Defenseless 5 Year Old Daughter?

By Attorney David Engler

The family of first generation Mexican immigrants lived in a small town named Shiner, Texas about 130 miles west of Houston.  The land is not easy to farm because the sun is so relentless and the soil rocky. 

But the extended family worked their farm and raised horses and crops enough to keep everyone fed. There was never enough money to buy  the newest  John Deere harvester or spend much money on building new barns. 

When Jesus, 47, who hung around the local hardware shop and the two beer joints at night offered to come shoe the horses for a few bucks, the young 23 year old father of two agreed. 

It was a Saturday in June and the work was going to be capped off with barbecued chicken on the grill.  He had plenty of Mesquite wood lying around to give it a taste like his Dad used to make it. Sunday was going to father’s day.  He would relax only then.

Around 3:30 pm Miguel heard a scream and at the same time a young neighbor boy turned the corner and yelled, a man had taken Angel from the house crying. Miguel could  recall the sprint to the barn from where he heard his daughter scream. Back along a pile of fencing, Jesus was on top of his daughter with his pants at his ankles.  By 4:30 pm the local coroner would pronounce Jesus dead. Miguel had landed the eight blows quickly to the head and neck of his daughter’s attacker. His five year old daughter was sobbing.

After beating Jesus Flores, the father called 911.

“I need an ambulance,” the father told the dispatcher, according to 911 tapes released by police. “This guy was raping my daughter and I beat him up and I don’t know what to do. This guy is fixing to die on me, man, and I don’t know what to do.”

“Come on! This guy is going to die on me!” he continued during the frantic, five-minute call. “I don’t know what to do!”

Emergency workers, as well as the daughter’s grandfather and aunt, tried to revive Flores but could not. Lavaca County Sheriff Micah Harmon said he found the distraught father crying, saying that he had not intended to kill Flores.

“He’s a peaceable soul, ” V’Anne Huser, the father’s attorney, said. “He had no intention to kill anybody that day.”

The local sheriff ruled it a homicide, because that is what it was.  In the low hills of Texas people talked straight. Within a day the local prosecutor presented the case to a grand jury that just as plainly said, Miguel was justified.

Being justified.  It is the doing of an act that no reasonable person would say should not have been done.  No one really needs a law book to read the defense laid out in Texas law that deadly force to stop a sexual attack is justifiable. Of course it is.  If Miguel’s wife had turned the same corner and seen this drifter raping her girl and her husband landing blow after blow; she would not have stopped it.  There is not a place in my mind where I can say he should not have delivered such a sure and swift justice.  The beauty of this story is the remorse shown by Miguel. No one would have ever blamed him yet he said he did not mean to kill. 

The father’s protection of his children knows no bounds.  For Miguel there will be nightmares.  But he shall forever be justified.

Attorney David Engler
Phone: 330-729-9777
http://www.DavidEngler.com Attorney Engler’s website
Areas of Practice: Family Law, Elder Law, Domestic Relations, Bankruptcy, Criminal

Also published on Family Fault Lines Blog http://familyfaultlines.com/

Might As Well Jump?

By Attorney David Engler

The decent looking guy is telling the YPD officer not to come closer or he will jump. It is not known exactly if the officer knew that John Sylvester had 16 years earlier held his girlfriend in a headlock and shot her point blank in the face. He did 10 to 28 years for attempted murder but on this Sunday he was sitting on the edge of the Market Street Bridge spanning the Mahoning River.  Of course no one in the Valley wants to go swimming in the Mahoning since its waters have long ago been polluted by the mills that once lined the river from Lowellville through Struthers, Youngstown, Girard and Warren.  And John wasn’t interested in swimming. He told the police that he had forgotten what happened earlier that day. (The insanity defense didn’t work 16 years ago but maybe this time he could pull it off)

Earlier that day John had erupted into a rage against his new wife.  His control over her was slipping. She dared to tell him she would not tolerate his rages and odd sense of jealousy.  The fight had been simmering for months.  They were living apart. He returned that Sunday to her parents’ house in a middle income neighborhood filled with the sound of children playing at the first days of summer break. He thought there was a chance he could work things out with his beautiful, smart and well-liked wife.  But his head was instantly filled with fury when he found out that she was moving on and had just recently been out talking with another man. The butcher knife was on the counter.  Thinking wasn’t necessary. She would learn quickly that it could only be him.

When they first met he was sweet and accommodating. At first there was a large blank spot in his history that she had no idea about. Then her friends reported to her the rumors of what happened to his first girlfriend.  If only she had used Court View she could have seen the sentence and crime was more serious than he said. Why was she so naive to believe his story that he was wrestling the gun from his girlfriend when it went off.  He said he was very young and it was a terrible case of teenage hormones, booze and an angry girlfriend. The justice system sucked he told her.  By the time doubts started to creep in…the baby was on the way.

But this was not the time for self-doubt. She could feel the slicing of the knife into her skin and her only thought was to flee and at all costs protect her son.  It was the stuff where Post Traumatic Stress Disorders come from. Fight or flee. She did both.

This bright day John was sitting on the bridge wondering whether to jump and not face what would certainly be a sentence that puts him behind bars for at least twenty years if not a life sentence if the prosecutor rings him up on attempted murder and kidnapping. But either way he did not want to go back to prison.  He might have been decent looking and a fast talker but he was never a match for the real street gangsters that run the joint.

What did this mild mannered time hardened cop tell him.  Sargent Lomax works family crimes and has seen a daily dose of beat up women, abused children, drug addled kids and their parents enough to last five careers if it wasn’t for his luck to be a cop in one of the toughest city’s in America. He did his job. He makes no value judgments other than his job is to save lives. He would not make a judgment even over the life of someone so vile and despicable that would shoot a girlfriend in the face, then slash his baby’s mother and infant son’s foot sixteen years later. 

The negotiator had learned some basic skills in classes but almost all of it came from years of dealing with the abused and their abusers.  More than anything Lomax had learned long ago that judgments were better left for a judge, jury or ultimately God.  He had a job to do.  In between his words of encouraging John off the ledge words flashed through his mind. They were never spoken. Words like “John it is not that much of a drop or there is nothing left for you here or save everybody the effort and take the first step…it’s easy”.  No he said the boy should have a father and he needed help to calm the demons and people still cared about him.  The Sargent spoke in calm words that this was no way to end this story.

He came off the edge of the bridge.

Author’s note: The stories are true but license is taken to tell these tales of love, loss and the heartbreaks that happen in families. I do not divulge confidences of my client’s unless they ask me to. I practice family law, criminal law and fight for people whose backs are against the walls.  Every day I come across ordinary people like Sargent Lomax who do extraordinary work. It is my privilege to share these thoughts with you. The picture is from the Tribune Chronicle

Attorney David Engler
Phone: 330-729-9777
http://www.DavidEngler.com Attorney Engler’s website
Areas of Practice: Family Law, Elder Law, Domestic Relations, Bankruptcy, Criminal

Also published on Family Fault Lines Blog http://familyfaultlines.com/ and on eGuardianship.com http://eguardianship.wordpress.com//

Government Seeks to Jail Facebook Critic….Happening in United States…..Actually Trumbull County!

By Attorney David Engler

A critic uses Facebook and Social Media to challenge government rule. The critic gains followers online. The government seeks to jail the critic.

 

FOUNDING FATHERS APPALLED !!!

This sounds like a rogue Mid-East nation or third world African state.

It is not.

This is happening in Trumbull County, Ohio.

A small businessman, Berry Meadows, who has run a septic installation company for many years had an argument with The Trumbull County Health Department.

TCHD is in charge of approving septic systems and responsible for approving installers.  The nature of the dispute is really not important. It has been the reaction of the government to quash any dissent that is down-right scary.

Mr. Meadows runs a company called Digging Dirt, LLC.  He is married to a very bright woman, Deanna, who assists in running their business.  They have three beyond adorable children and believe fiercely in the Word of God. What they thought was wrong, was a decision made by TCHD in conjunction with the State of Ohio EPA, or maybe on its own, to deny a septic system that Digging Dirt believed would produce a clean effluent and cost homeowners $3000 less per installation.  The Meadows believed the County had either directly or indirectly created a monopoly for one brand of septic system in the County and had cost the taxpayers of Trumbull millions of dollars.

So they took their dispute to the social media. They create a group site on Facebook called Trumbull County Septic News and it immediately gets followers. The Meadows do some digging of their own into ‘how things work’ and discover some real dirt!

They uncover what they believe to be a pattern of favors for friends of TCHD.
They fight to get public records. They sue TCHD for failure to provide the records. 
They ask for records to either prove or disapprove whether the Health Commissioner actually works the hours he is contracted to provide.
It’s a sweetheart job the health Commissioner holds and he refuses to release records that would show when he shows up to work.  He claims that such records pose a security risk.  Mind you that we are talking about a local health department and not the NSA.

The Trumbull County Septic News starts to take off.  The Meadows post the rants of the Health Commissioner, Dr. Enyeart on the website.  They post video of the entire meetings.

Kaboom. 

The Meadows ask for records that show the possibility that the local Sheriff got favorable treatment for a property with a non-compliant septic system. The property is owned by the Sheriff’s son and maybe there is nothing wrong, except Mr. Meadows asked for the records. 
He then asks for the records of the Board’s attorney who gets $3250 per month for a part-time gig.  The records show that the Board’s attorney didn’t have to pay up front for an inspection like most citizens. Once again maybe everything is kosher with the process, but it looks messy.

What happens next is straight from China’s or Syria’s play book of how to deal with a critic:

First call him crazy to anyone that will listen.

Next do not allow him or her to speak at the public meetings.
The local board hires the Sheriff’s office to post an armed guard and stand over seemingly anyone who has the temerity to make a public record request. 
Dr. Enyeart himself asks for the guard to be present at the Health Department.
And then when the subtle forms of intimidation do not work…..seek to imprison your critic.

 Amazingly the very top of the Sheriff’s chain of command gets involved with the case and seeks out a customer of Digging Dirt from 2007 that had a dispute.  The customer does not seek criminal charges but rightfully was claiming that they deserved a refund. They take their contract dispute to civil court and name Wells Fargo as a Defendant since they believe Wells Fargo released money in 2008 that should not have been released.  But the Sheriff’s office takes a contract case that is nearly 5 years old and charges Berry Meadows with felony Theft by Deception! 

The Health Department posts the newspaper article of my client’s arrest on its government website!

The high ranking Sheriff’s official then finds another customer of Digging Dirt and uses that case to file a criminal complaint for Theft by Deception. 

In Ohio and every other jurisdiction Theft by Deception is used when someone promises to do something that they have no intention of ever doing or delivering something that they cannot deliver in order to get someone’s money.  Digging Dirt had been doing hundreds of quality installs. This was not the scam of the door to door siding salesman taking a deposit then skipping town.

It is not coincidental that after months of posting damaging information about the Health Department and possibly the Sheriff’s office that a criminal charge is initiated, investigated and brought by the Sheriff’s office on civil matters that were very old.

What is amazing is that the local government officials could not contain themselves from understanding that their actions are nothing short of strong armed goons going out of their way to quiet opposition. 

This government and others are going to have to come to grips that they need to treat their social media critics with the same deference they treat the traditional news media.  I know they might like to jail a reporter or two, but it is against the law. 

Why can’t they look at their great government jobs and benefits and be happy to have them, instead of risking all of it to put some small businessman out of business and in jail.  Our framers of the Constitution called it the First Amendment for a reason.  They didn’t think to place it eighth or fifteenth or forget to list it at all.  It is the First Amendment and it guarantees that we will have free speech. Here is the entire First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Oops maybe the local Health Board forgot about petitioning of government for a redress of grievances. Get used to it government.  Facebook, Twitter and blogs is part of the new press.  Do not try to jail your critics.  Try listening to them. Act like you understand that the truth will always come out.

Attorney David Engler
Phone: 330-729-9777
http://www.DavidEngler.com Attorney Engler’s website
Areas of Practice: Family Law, Elder Law, Domestic Relations, Bankruptcy, Criminal

Also published on Family Fault Lines Blog http://familyfaultlines.com/ and on eGuardianship.com http://eguardianship.wordpress.com//

“I Get Tired Chasing Tongue Draggers” from the lips of a fired teacher……

By Attorney David Engler

For the last 12 years I have been a school board member of a county board and a career and technical center. On the county board or Educational Service Center we provide the services to help local districts improve. We also run special schools including one for emotionally disturbed children with varying behavioral issues; a school run in conjunction with a great program started by the local Juvenile Court Judge Theresa Dellick.  At the MCCTC almost a third of our students have an IEP. An IEP stands for Individual Education Plan. It is required by law and so many parents do not understand how important to ensure your child’s IEP is carefully constructed to specifically help your child no matter the cost or inconvenience to a district.

 

The worst thing I ever heard was from the lips of a fired teacher who told me how hard it was to chase after “tongue draggers” every day. My emotions were caught in between punching him and simply shaking my head. I am glad we fired him. Instead I will never forget those words and how insensitive some in education can be towards a child with a disability.  And if that disability is one of a severe emotional problem or a slight shade of Autism or Asperger’s, then most of our teachers are ill-trained to help the child with the different wiring. There are many teachers who just get it.  They are naturals at knowing how to reach the student with a disability that can be unnerving and tiring. They also understand the investment a parent has made in this child.  The teacher may have the child 6 hours a week or maybe more if an elementary student.

And often indifference is the answer from an administration concerned about increased costs.  So whether they admit it or not, every administrator knows that a diagnosis of a disability might bring years of extra costs for the district. In a famous case that went all the way to the Supreme Court, Forest Grove School District v. T.A. (2009) the court ruled that the district should have reimbursed the parents for the costs of private schooling since the District should have been aware of the disability and provide assistance to the family.  The District claimed they had no idea there was a problem. Justice Stevens of the Supreme Court stated: “We conclude that IDEA (Individuals With Disabilities Education Act) authorizes reimbursement for the cost of special education services when a school district fails to provide a FAPE (Free and Appropriate Public Education) and the private-school placement is appropriate, regardless of whether the child previously received special education or related services through the public school.” The cost to the district was $65000 to reimburse the parents and potentially $500000 in legal fees. 

Every school district is legally required to identify, locate, and evaluate children with disabilities (20 U.S.C. §1412(a)(3)). After the evaluation, the district may provide the child with specific programs and services to address special needs.

IDEA defines “children with disabilities” as individuals between the ages of three and 22 with one or more of the following conditions:

• Mental retardation
• Hearing impairment (including deafness)
• Speech or language impairment
• Visual impairment (including blindness)
• Serious emotional impairment
• Orthopedic impairment
• Autism
• Traumatic brain injury
• Specific learning disability, or
• Other health impairment                  (20 U.S.C. §1401(3); 34 C.F.R. §300.8).

For your child to qualify for special education under IDEA, it is not enough to have one of these disabilities. There must also be evidence that the disability adversely affects your child’s educational performance.

Now each school district should be well aware of its responsibilities.  But sadly not every administrator can see life from the eyes of a parent struggling to find help for their child.  The schools seem relieved if they can cause the child to graduate and be done with the financial exposure. The former Director of Special Ed for Maryland, Dr. Linda Bluth gave me the best advice ever.  “Our children do not fail…it is we who fail our children.” It is very difficult to cause a school culture to adopt this core belief.  It makes us accountable.  It denies us the ability to blame little to no achievement on a kid with a mental problem, a broken home, a history with children services, parents who think they know better(they almost always do) or some other societal bogeyman.  No we have to own it.  This means we will have failures.  And they will sting. 

But for the guardians and parents there is help for you. I have included some of the language in the federal IDEA statute above to help you know what to do.  The regulations can be found at www.gov/about/offices/list/users.  The country has 81 million students that fit this category.  Ohio has about 3 million.  We need more teachers and aides with special education training. We need to pay them more to encourage their numbers and recognize that their job makes teaching even tougher than it already is.  You can also look at www.mdlclaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/pub-special-ed-handbook. This handbook gives you sample letters to ask for independent evaluations  and how the legal process works.  Or hire a lawyer.

Most importantly we need parents to step forward and be armed with the law as you demand the very best possible Free and Appropriate Public Education for your child. The key word to me is appropriate.  These children are all so very different.   Make sure the IEP has real goals that can be measured without someone guessing that your son or daughter has advanced with soft logic.  Don’t give up and never be afraid to ask to talk directly to the Board of Education.  Often the Board members are shielded from the other side of the story. Do not assume that they will side with the administrators standing in your way.  

You have been given a child with special needs because you can handle it.  I do not need to tell you your journey is tough. Not everyone is going to be understanding.  But I can tell you that the law is on your side and many more people than you could possibly imagine.

Attorney David Engler
Phone: 330-729-9777
http://www.DavidEngler.com Attorney Engler’s website
Areas of Practice: Family Law, Elder Law, Domestic Relations, Bankruptcy, Criminal

Also published on Family Fault Lines Blog http://familyfaultlines.com/ and on eGuardianship.com http://eguardianship.wordpress.com//

Addiction Stronger Than Motherhood

By Attorney David Engler

Custody disputes take place in Juvenile Court, if the families are not married or Domestic Court, if the family is in the process of a divorce or have divorced previously.

Custody disputes take place in Juvenile Court, if the families are not married or Domestic Court, if the family is in the process of a divorce or have divorced previously.

Clearly having an agreement about how a couple will jointly parent the child or children is the best result.  But if there is no agreement, often accusations will fly.

And I warn all clients to be aware that the court might order a drug screen at any given time.  The courts will almost always take the child or children from the parent on illegal drugs and give custody to the parent who is not hooked.  Sometimes it is hard to find anyone not taking pain pills without a prescription. In one case both parents and a grandparent were dirty. In Ohio for the first time overdoses of drugs has overtaken auto accidents as the leading cause of accidental death.

In one case the mother was asked by the Magistrate to give a urine screen and she said she couldn’t because she had a yeast infection.  Everyone found that to be disgusting and a weak excuse.  Recently a nice looking young mother was asked to take a screen and at first she agreed.  Then after 15 minutes she comes back and said she had just pee’d before court.  The Court told her to drink some water. 30 minutes later still no urine.  I really didn’t need to see a drug test. She had all the signs.  Empty pill bottles without prescriptions.  Selling things from her house.  Unable to keep a schedule.  A doctor at an ER saying no narcotics for you after she came with a complaint of a tooth ache.  (I was thinking good for the doctor who checked the database from his Akron offices and saw she had filled 21 prescriptions for pain meds in the last two years.)

So she only sees her child if supervised.  That is the overwhelming power of the pain pill epidemic. This scourge does not see race, sex or income.  It is even more powerful than a mother’s natural instinct to care for her child. 

People can recover and get their children back.  But the road is very difficult and those who are nearest to the addict must not be fooled.  We the parents, or friend or guardian must dispense very tough love. Get help; call 211. You will find a counselor, clinic or N.A. Group.  It is a persistent enemy.  For some it is stronger than motherhood.

 

Attorney David Engler
Phone: 330-729-9777
http://www.DavidEngler.com Attorney Engler’s website
Areas of Practice: Family Law, Elder Law, Domestic Relations, Bankruptcy, Criminal

Also published on Family Fault Lines Blog http://familyfaultlines.com/ and on eGuardianship.com http://eguardianship.wordpress.com//