Andrew Vachss's Blog - Posts Tagged "child-protection"

Eric Holder was appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia by Bill Clinton. He was later elevated to Deputy Attorney General in 1997 ... and, thus, was in office when Clinton shortened the sentence of Mel Reynolds, who sexually assault/abused a 16-year-old campaign volunteer. When Clinton suggested a pardon for Marc Rich—who fled the US after being convicted on 65 counts of tax evasion—Holder's response was "Neutral, leaning towards favorable."

And now? For two years (and three budgets) Holder's Justice Department has refused to so much as ask Congress for the full funding of law enforcement authorized under the PROTECT Act of 2008. How do you convince Congress of the urgent need for child rescue funding, when the Obama administration doesn't even care enough to ask for it? Here's what Grier Weeks writes, in his piece in The Daily Caller:

Congress needs to fully investigate what the Justice Department knew and when it knew it. It needs a full accounting of what evidence resides in Justice Department-sponsored databases that could locate both child predators and their victims. It needs to demand that the full resources of the federal government are immediately deployed for child rescue in every community across the U.S. Every child victim who has been, or can be, identified should be brought to safety now, before they come to further, grievous harm.

Go read Mr. Weeks' entire article ... his call for justice from Attorney General Eric Holder and his U.S. Justice Department.

Why doesn't the State of Florida appoint a law guardian to represent the estate of Caylee Anthony?

Under most circumstances, someone acquitted of homicide can still be sued in civil court for causing the "wrongful death" of a person — even a person he or she has been acquitted of murdering.

Having been acquitted, if Casey Anthony now wrote a book not only admitting guilt, but also (assuming she is factually guilty) explaining in detail how the murder was committed, she would get to keep all the resulting money and live the "dolce vita" for real. Maybe it's a coincidence that residing in Florida allows you to shield any "residence" you own from government seizure ... even a palatial mansion.

A wrongful-death civil suit is generally filed by the beneficiaries of the "estate" of the person who was killed. Of course, Casey Anthony is not going to sue herself. Given her parents' behavior, they are not likely to sue her either. And the father of the dead child, whoever he might be, is hardly going to step up now.

That leaves only the State to fill the role. As the authority entitled to appoint counsel for a child, the State can appoint a lawyer for Caylee Anthony's estate, and that lawyer can bring suit on behalf of the estate.

In a wrongful-death suit Casey Anthony can be compelled to testify, which was not possible in her criminal trial. She no longer can assert a Fifth Amendment privilege to remain silent, because, having been acquitted, she is immune from further criminal prosecution, even if she were to go on national TV tomorrow to admit the homicide.

Of course, Florida doesn't have law guardians for children in abuse and neglect cases. Saves them a lot of money in the short run, which is the only run any politician cares about. The Florida Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) has performed poorly over the years. Maybe that's because they aren't sufficiently funded to provide the trained staff necessary to do the job. And, of course, there's no pesky law guardian for the child to hold DCFS to any standard.

If Caylee Anthony is to leave any legacy aside from floral tributes and notes, Florida must do for her now what it did not do during her life: appoint a law guardian to protect her interests. That lawyer should immediately sue Casey Anthony and her parents, who aided and abetted her. If the suit is successful, the resulting recovery would not go to any of Caylee Anthony's relatives, because, as defendants in the suit, they cannot benefit from the estate. Without any "beneficiaries," the recovery would "escheat," or return to the state of Florida. And the State could use the money to hire and train more child protective workers. It could institute a law-guardian system that would save money in the long haul ... and start saving the lives of Florida's children almost immediately.

© 2011 Andrew Vachss. All rights reserved.

A little girl was raped, and Texas Governor Rick Perry could have prevented it. Since 2007, Protect has been telling politicians about "the map": an image of the US lit up with 500,000+ red dots, each dot representing an identifiable human trading in child porn. We (because all of us at the Zero are members of Protect) have demonstrated through crime statistics that more than 40% of the humans who trade in child porn are themselves victimizing children. And we have been summarily ignored. Politicians have not provided the ICAC programs with the funds they need to investigate these humans trading in child porn. Now one of them—Rodney Williams of Houston, Texas—has been arrested. For raping and sodomizing a 5-year-old girl. Williams was on that map; Texas politicians knew about him in 2007. But they did not commit the funds to investigate him. They could have prevented the rape of that little girl. Click here to read Grier Weeks' op-ed, "Blood on Their Hands."

Once again, Florida lives down to its reprehensible "child protection" record. State attorneys have charged 12-year-old Cristian Fernandez as an adult, and are holding him responsible for the death of his 2-year-old brother. He faces life in prison without parole if convicted.


This boy's mother was herself only 12 years old when she gave birth to him. And what became of her? She is in jail facing manslaughter charges for leaving the 2-year-old in Cristian's "care," and for concealing previous injuries to the toddler. In contrast, the human who sexually assaulted her was hit with the staggering sentence of ... probation!



That child-rapist not only avoided any prison time, but is described as an "absentee father" in news reports that also referred to him as "dad."



What was Florida's first clue that a little more intensive supervision of Cristian's "home" might be required? That the "dad" didn't pay child support? That the "dad" didn't defend his son? That instead of reporting the abusive human his former child-victim moved in with—after all, she was an adult herself by then, and entitled to make such choices—the "dad" just moved on? Didn't Florida even consider the obvious danger of using a 12-year-old boy as a "babysitter" for a toddler? Didn't they think that toddler might be "at risk"?



So, a female child is sexually assaulted. That child gives birth at 12! The magic of "family reunification" puts her baby back together with the child who gave birth to him. And the result is ... another dead baby.


At least this time, since he's being tried as an adult, Cristian will have a lawyer. The state of Florida doesn't appoint attorneys for children in abuse/neglect proceedings, but only non-lawyer volunteers. Of course, Florida doesn't have to worry about providing one for Cristian's little brother—he doesn't need one, not anymore. And the next time some Florida senatorial candidate runs on a platform to make America a "Christian country," the Devil might just die laughing.

© 2011 Andrew Vachss. All rights reserved.