Fight CPS And Win
Fighting Child Protective Services
False Accusations
Published November 7, 1991
Enterprise News, Pixley, California
Used by permission of the publisher and author.
By John R. Graham
Editors Note: This article, due to the nature of the charges and evidence, must be reported in graphic detail to be meaningful. There are references to body parts and charges of perverted sexual behavior in the police and medical reports. This is not recommended reading for young children or people who are easily disturbed.
It is the most talked about case in the halls of justice, the hospitals, and the welfare department. It is the source of rumors and gossip in Lindsay and throughout Tulare County. Child Protective Services finally has a case where the child is actually injured.
The baby's father, age 19, is accused of child molesting by CPS and the Porterville Police Department.
At 14 days of age, little Jimmie was taken to Sierra View Hospital by his parents. Noticing that he had a bruised penis and sores on his rectum, the doctor called CPS, as required by law.
At the hospital officer T. Wilson, of the Porterville Police Department interviewed the doctor and the parents of the baby. According to Wilson's police report of 11 p.m. 8-18-91, "I contacted Dr. Kazota who had a 14 day old child with an abnormal penis and rectum. He stated the rectum on the child was stretched as if it had been pulled or forced by an unknown object. The infant's penis was also very swollen and red." The case was turned over to CPS worker, Judy Howard, and PPD detective Paul Marshall. Officer Wilson recommended the baby be held as "a matter of immediate and urgent necessity for the protection of the minor..."
Detective Marshall's report of 9-9-91 says that the baby "had been in the hospital the first time on 8/18/91 and on that occasion he was removed from the custody of his parents and was taken to Valley Medical Center Children's Clinic where he was given a sexual assault exam. On 9/6/91 I received the completed report from that sexual assault exam stating that there were no findings of physical or sexual abuse of this infant."
On 9/6/91 CPS worker Lucia Irish called Detective Marshall and informed him that Jimmie was again in the hospital. The detective called Valley Children's Hospital to learn the condition of the baby. Dr. Renee Bogusiewitz gave him a detailed description of the injuries.
"Dr. Bogusiewitz said (he) had a fractured clavicle which would be consistent with a birth problem," said Marshall's report of 9/9/91. "Dr. Bogusiewitz had told me on the first call that she thought he might have a ruptured viscera and he had a ruptured bowel. (She) said the viscera was not ruptured but the rectum was perforated and that, in her opinion, the rectum had been perforated by an object such as a penis and had the injury not been attended to by doctors the injury might well have been fatal to the child." The report went on to say:
"Dr. Bogusiewitz also informed me the baby had sores in the mouth which she considered to be very, very unusual... (She) said on examination today, there is a gaping anus with excoriation around the anus which was present a week ago when he was examined but that the perforated rectum was not present a week ago. She said she does not know of any other reason for the injury to the bowel other than a foreign object being inserted in the rectum and she knows of no medical reason how that could have occurred..."
Detective Marshall then went to the home of the young family where he asked the father to go with him to the police station for questioning. At first the father wanted to finish the bowl of ice cream he was eating, according to Marshall's report, but the detective told him, "the facts here are far more serious than a bowl of ice cream."
The young father (whose name is withheld for his protection) went to the station with the detective where his Miranda rights were read and he was questioned.
He said that he and his wife were the only ones taking care of little Jimmie and that they couldn't understand what was wrong with the baby.
He also said that, except for a few days when he was working, the only time they left the house was to walk down to BJ's for a coke. He admitted drinking beer and Jack Daniels but said he wasn't using any drugs.
"I pointed out to (him) that by his own admission during the two day period in which the rupture to the bowel occurred he and his wife were the only persons at home with the baby and the only persons who had an opportunity to do anything to the baby," Marshall's report says. "I explained to him that since it would most likely have been a penile penetration he had by his own admission been the only one available to do that."
"That's sick," was the young father's reply. He adamantly denied ever doing that to his baby. The detective accused him of "not bonding with the baby" and asked why he hadn't been to the hospital to see the baby. The father said he wanted to talk to his wife and an attorney.
"Sgt. Salmonson was in the room during the last portion of the interview and I conferred with him and we agreed that (the father) should be arrested for investigation of 288(a) and 289 PC," said the report.
Later Marshall interrogated the mother and grandparents. The mother said there was no way her husband could have done such a thing to their baby. They live in a one bedroom apartment with the baby's crib in their bedroom.
"At first I was ready to kill that boy," said the grandfather. "But God told me that I'm not supposed to be the judge."
Despite the fact that there is not much evidence, and that most of the people judging have not seen any of the evidence, there are a lot of people ready to find this father guilty of molesting his son.
Child molesting is such a heinous crime that anybody accused of it is subject to harassment and abuse from those who hate the thought that somebody would do that to a child.
But, before you jump in to attack somebody, think about how awful it would be to be accused of such a thing if you were innocent. How bad it would feel for every one of your friends to turn against you and not listen to your defense. How scared you would feel going into jail accused of such a thing, knowing that the worst criminals in jail feel that somehow their crimes may be forgiven if they maim or kill somebody worse than themselves.
There is nobody in the penal system in more danger than those accused of child molesting. The younger the child the more danger the accused is in. A lot of people accused of such crimes have not made it to trial. "Suicide" and "death by suspicious causes" are common reasons for child molestation cases to be dismissed before any hearing of facts.
The baby's grandfather, after realizing that it wasn't his position to be judge and executioner, looked deeper into the facts. He discovered that there were possible and probable causes for the baby's medical problems that didn't include molestation.
For instance, how could molestation cause ulcers in the stomach of a one month old baby?
At one point the family was told that "every bone in the baby's legs was broken." There were also told that there was a fracture to the elbow and a scull fracture.
It turned out that there were two fractures in the baby's leg. The elbow and scull were found not to be broken on subsequent examination.
The medical report had said "possible" and social workers and prosecutors had assumed that it was definite. Gossipers have blown the case clear out of proportion to the point that many people believe that they are experts on this case and are ready to pass judgment according to what they have heard from sources they believe are reliable.
The neighbors, when interviewed by the detective, could not remember any instance of abuse. All they could say was that the baby had cried more than normal because he was sick.
But, once the charges were revealed, neighbors surrounded the apartment and demanded that the young couple move out because they didn't want any child molesters living there.
Who were they listening to? What were they believing? Why?
As of press time the District Attorney has refused to drop charges against the father. The doctor whose report stated that little Jimmie's medical problems were likely caused by Crohn's Disease was not called to testify. Another doctor said that all the symptoms were the same as Crohn's Disease, but the baby didn't have that disease.
There is a lot more testimony to be heard. The grandfather has been praying for legal help. The family cannot afford the thousands of dollars it would take to properly defend this case.
Without a good defense lawyer, the truth may never be known.
The American Penal System is crowded with innocent people who can't afford justice, while the rich and powerful guilty roam free.
A Note, Nine years later:
As I remember it, this case ended with charges against the father either being dropped, or he plea-bargained for probation. He then moved to another county so that his wife could get her child back. The child was released from CPS custody to the custody of the maternal grandparents where the 18 year old mother was permitted to live and take care of her child as a single parent. At that point I was no longer involved with the family - but looking back I feel that we had a positive impact on the case. We were contacted by the parents and grandparents who had heard about us from either the Enterprise News or from our public protest demonstration, I cannot remember which. We set up a few support group meetings to talk to the family. All four family members attended. We recommended to the mother that she write down all she could remember about what had happened, and from doctor's notes, diary notes, and memory came up with the three part article that was published in the Enterprise News. At some time during this process an old friend I had worked with when I was a county eligibility worker called me a few times to dig for information. At that time she was working as a social worker alongside the social workers who had detained little Jimmie. I guess she thought that her former co-worker friendship with me would be an "in" to getting information. She found out I wasn't willing to talk about the case. Possibly in large part, due to careful documentation by the mother, and publication of the facts, this case had a more positive ending than it would otherwise have had. I still wonder what kind of sick perverts would think that a young father would try to have sex with a two week old infant. Talk about a rush to judgement.... -- Linda Martin, October 26, 2000