Worst CPS Fail Award-Utah Josh Powell case -now Lawsuit UPDATED

Update:“Chuck and Judy Cox today joined Sen. Pam Roach, R-Auburn, 31st District, in urging changes at Child Protective Services that they believe will help protect children.Judy and Chuck Cox are grandparents of Charlie, 7, and Braden Powell, 5, who were murdered by their father, Josh Powell, on Feb. 5 at the beginning of what was supposed to be a state-supervised visit. Josh Powell let the boys in his Graham house, then blocked the social worker from entering. Moments later, the house exploded into flames.

During the hearing, the boys’ grandparents, their attorneys – Anne Bremner and Steve Downing – Roach and members of the audience offered ideas to prevent what went wrong from happening again.

“Some of what needs to change will be up to the Legislature,” Roach said. “Some of it can be addressed by the governor issuing a directive to the executive agency responsible for child safety in these matters, the Department of Social and Health Services.”

Cox and his wife emphasized the need for grandparents to be given the same level of credence as a biological parent, pointing out that the boy’s father was able to say anything during the custody process without having to back it up with proof.

“We had a feeling something bad was going to happen,” Judy Cox said. “(The boys) did not want to go for the visit that day.”

She said she wanted to call and say they were sick, but she and her husband were afraid to say anything for fear they would lose custody of the boys.

Roach and the attorneys for the Cox family emphasized that DSHS knew Utah’s West Valley City Police Department was conducting a murder investigation based on Susan Powell’s disappearance and that they were looking at Josh Powell as a suspect. The attorneys noted that search warrants had been issued in Nevada, Utah and Washington.

On Wednesday, Roach filed several bills to address the concerns in the Powell case and will be introducing legislation similar to what she offered in 2010, which gives grandparents standing in dependency proceedings.

Roach’s new bills include:

• Senate Bill 6602 – creating child welfare transparency committees within each of the six DSHS regions. The four legislative caucuses, the attorney general and governor would appoint the six members.

• Senate Bill 6603 – preventing a child custody award to someone considered a suspect in an active murder investigation.

• Senate Bill 6604 – establishing what is to be contained in background information for guardians ad litem. The list includes a statement of financial affairs, number of years of experience, level of formal education and founded allegations of child abuse.

• Senate Bill 6605 – requiring Child Protective Services workers to be licensed social workers and bonded.

• Senate Bill 6606 – breaking the Department of Social and Health Services into the Department of Children and Family Services, Department of Public Welfare, and Department of Medical and Rehabilitative Services.

Roach announced at the hearing that Sen. Randi Becker, R-2nd District and Sen. Jim Kastama, D-Puyallup, have been appointed by DSHS to the Child Fatality Review Team. The complete case records will be provided to team members for their review and study.

The department will make the Child Fatality Review report available upon completion to appropriate committees of the Legislature and on the DSHS website.”

[Auburn-Reporter 2/23/12]

Update 2: The 911 operator receives a written reprimand. Media stories have been told that the 911 operator didn’t think this was an emergency.

“A Washington state 911 dispatcher has received a written reprimand from his supervisor after handling the emergency call that Josh Powell had killed his sons and set fire to his home.

“The public trust has been shaken and therefore … formal discipline is necessary and appropriate,” Diana Lock, Assistant Director at the Pierce County Law Enforcement Support Agency, wrote in a letter to David Lovrak.

The reprimand is in regard to Lovrak’s handling of a 911 call that was received on Feb. 5. The caller, social worker Elizabeth Griffin-Hall, said she had gone to Powell’s house to supervise a visit with his sons, Charlie, 7, and Braden, 5, when he locked her out of the home. Griffin-Hall said she smelled gas and feared for the safety of the children.

Lovrak questioned Griffin-Hall for nearly seven minutes and at one point in the call said authorities “have to respond to emergencies, life-threatening situations first.” Griffin-Hall replied, “This could be life-threatening!”

Twenty-two minutes elapsed before help arrived at the Powell home. During that time, police say Powell attacked his children with a hatchet. Afterward, a fire engulfed the home. Powell and his children were killed in the gas-fueled explosion.”

“The boys had just been brought by a Child Protective Services worker to Powell’s home for a supervised visit when police say the dad deliberately blew up the house. A judge had denied the previous week a request by Powell to regain custody of his sons, who had been living with the parents of his missing wife, Susan. ”

“According to the disciplinary letter, Lovrak, an 18-year veteran of the agency, has received four previous rebukes. However, Local also acknowledged Lovrak has received 38 “commendations, compliments, and/or letters of thank you” during his career.

In regard to the Powell call, Lock said Lovrak violated four Law Enforcement Support Agency policies in his handling of the call.

“You have undergone local and national scrutiny, have admitted your errors and have identified the ways you will correct and improve your call handling in the future,” the letter reads.
The letter will be added to Lovrak’s personnel file.”

The letter can be viewed at Josh Powell Home Explosion: David Lovrak, 911 Dispatcher, Officially Reprimanded [Huffington Post 4/19/12 by David Lohr]

A couple points from the letter: It took the social worker 1 minute 43 seconds to tell the 911 dispatcher the address. He questioned her another 7 minutes. He DID classify the call correctly as a Priority 2 call (imminent danger). Rescue did NOT arrive for an additional 15 minutes.

See the text and hear the 911 calls here. from the audio, in that first 1 minute 43 that it took her to tell him where she was, the social worker is not indicating that the children are in imminent danger. At one point early in the call she says that she “thinks” she needs help. She states towards the end of that first call that the kids had been in the house about 10 minutes. It takes her many minutes to tell the dispatcher that she thinks this could be life-threatening.Upon hearing that, the dispatcher does send rescue.

Update 3: Washington DSHS releases a 13-page Child Fatality Review report about Braden and Charlie Powell here. Though they were living with grandparents in kinship care in Utah, they were dependents of the state of Washington. Of course, they determined that Washington DSHS was not at fault.

“The Child Fatality Review committee met for 24 hours over three days in April and June. The committee members interviewed seven people who had worked on this case and reviewed more than 2,700 pages of documents.

The committee agreed that all the professionals who were involved in this case, social workers, law enforcement detectives, visitation supervisor, guardian ad litem and assistant attorney general, demonstrated ongoing concern and professional behavior in this complex situation. The committee recommended increased consultation between child welfare workers and law enforcement when parents are targets of active criminal investigations, ongoing training and regular consultation on domestic violence for child welfare workers.

Revels Robinson emphasized how important transparency was in the review process. “We are also particularly grateful to the committee for acknowledging the professionalism, caring and outstanding work of our staff under the most challenging of circumstances,” she said.

According to the Committee’s final report, knowing that Powell was a “person of interest” in the disappearance of his wife, Susan, the boys’ mother, the Department could have evaluated him differently for domestic violence and not allowed in-home visits with the boys. Other information that could have aided DSHS and law enforcement in decision making was sealed in Utah records as law enforcement officers in that state continued to investigate the disappearance of Powell’s wife, who remains missing.

The committee noted the importance of law enforcement and the Department working jointly to share decisions concerning visitation and evaluation of an evolving child dependency situation.

The West Valley City Police Dept. released a statement on Thursday, saying:

“From the onset of the investigation into the disappearance of Susan Cox Powell, an emphasis was placed on the children’s health, safety and welfare. At no time did the West Valley City Police Department receive any indication that Josh Powell would murder his two sons. Josh is solely responsible for his horrific actions back in February of this year and individually responsible for the murders of Charlie and Braden.

“Although the dependency proceedings were primarily a matter for the State of Washington, the West Valley City Police Department communicated regularly with authorities in the State of Washington regarding the welfare of Charlie and Braden. Information determined to be pertinent to the boy’s health, safety and welfare was released by this department when it was appropriate. This release of pertinent information included a petition to the court for release of specific evidence related to the children’s welfare.”

Report: Sealed docs could have prevented Powell boys’ deaths
[Fox 13 News 8/2/12 by David Wells and Brittany Green-Miner]

Update 4: “During a supervised visit gone terribly wrong, Josh Powell killed his sons — slashing the boys with a hatchet, before lighting a can of gasoline. Their child welfare caseworker remained locked outside, watching helplessly as the house exploded with all three inside.

Now six months later, the Washington Department of Social and Health Services has released a report that suggests the tragedy may have been preventable. The Salt Lake Tribune reports:

More information from Utah law enforcement about the investigation into Susan Cox Powell’s disappearance might have helped guide child welfare officials’ decisions and ultimately saved the lives of her two young sons, according to a report released Thursday by the Washington Department of Social and Health Services.

The deaths also might have been prevented if Josh Powell — the only person of interest in his wife’s December 2009 disappearance from their West Valley City home — had been evaluated for domestic violence. That might have precluded in-home visits with Charlie, 7, and Braden, 5, the Child Fatality Review Committee report said.

Although the report cites a  lack of communication between law enforcement and child welfare officials,   it does not place final blame on either entity:

The review committee recommended that the state’s child welfare agency provide ongoing training on domestic violence to caseworkers and increase communication between child welfare workers and law enforcement when parents are targets of active criminal investigations.

The 13-page report concludes…that everyone involved in the case acted with the “highest concern for the children’s health, safety and welfare,” and work in the case was “consistent with and sometimes exceeded” accepted child welfare standards. Nobody could have anticipated that Josh Powell would murder his sons, it states.

The children’s grandfather, Chuck Cox, vehemently disagrees with the report’s conclusion:

“We told them Josh was capable of killing the children,” Cox said. “We had warned them of that very possibility. We told them of our concern that if Josh Powell was cornered and was going to lose the children or be arrested, he would be capable of killing the children and himself. And that is exactly what happened.”

Cox and his wife, Judy, had temporary custody of the boys in September 2011 and say they shared their concerns about Powell with caseworkers, psychologists, police and attorneys involved with the case. Concerns that Cox says fell on deaf ears:>

“They heard us, they knew about it and they chose to dismiss it,” he said. “And, as a result, our grandchildren are dead.”

We Told Them…He Would be Capable of Killing the Children,” Says Grandfather of Boys who Died in Murder-Suicide
[Children’s Rights 8/9/12]

Update 5: “The lawyer for the family of missing Utah woman Susan Powell said Tuesday that even as local police close the active part of their investigation into her disappearance, federal authorities continue to review the case – a claim that was denied by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Salt Lake City.

Anne Bremner made the announcement at a Seattle news conference a day after local officials in Utah said they had closed their active investigation into the Susan Powell case.

“This is not over,” Bremner said.

Newly released police records show that Utah officials believe Josh Powell likely killed his wife in late 2009, and that his brother, Michael Powell, helped dispose of the body, but authorities felt they didn’t have enough evidence to prove that theory in court.

Last year, as the investigation continued, Josh Powell killed himself and his two young sons in an explosive house fire, leaving nearly all of his life insurance proceeds to his brother, Michael, who later jumped to his death from a parking garage in Minnesota.

Bremner, who was joined at the news conference by Chuck Cox, Susan Powell’s father, said she and Cox were apprised earlier in the day of the federal investigation by an agent who has been directly involved in the case. She said she requested permission to announce the development at the news conference, and the agent granted it. Bremner said the scope involved looking into what Josh Powell’s father, Steve, knew about his daughter-in-law’s disappearance.

In response, Melodie Rydalch, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Utah, issued a statement saying that federal agencies in Utah had assisted in the investigation and would be happy to do so again should circumstances warrant.

“However, we do not have plans to conduct any further investigation,” she said.

West Valley City Deputy Police Chief Mike Powell said he wasn’t immediately aware of any ongoing federal investigation but would look into it.

Steve Powell had a sexual obsession with Susan Powell and thoroughly documented it in journals seized by police. He is currently serving a prison sentence after being convicted of voyeurism charges for secretly recording young neighbor girls.

Utah police said Monday that they do not believe he was directly involved with Susan Powell’s disappearance but may know more about it than he has let on.

Both Bremner and Cox disputed the notion that prosecutors in Utah never had enough evidence to prosecute Josh Powell.

They cite his bizarre alibi – that he wasn’t home when his wife vanished because he had taken their two sons, then 2 and 4, camping in the Utah desert in the middle of a snowstorm.

They cite his unusual behavior – that he showed little concern for her, couldn’t explain why he had her cellphone with the digital SIM card removed, and, two days after she disappeared, he rented a car and drove it 800 miles.

They also cite potential motives: Josh Powell cleaned out Susan Powell’s retirement accounts 10 days after her disappearance, and – as the newly released documents revealed – he had apparently had an affair with a woman he met through a dating service months before his wife vanished.

Cox said the police “came to the wrong conclusion on the circumstantial evidence. I think there was plenty.”

Utah authorities have repeatedly said they didn’t prosecute Powell because they did not have a body or a crime scene. While that makes it tougher to prove a murder charge, prosecutors across the country have won convictions in such circumstances.

Susan Powell’s family plans to continue searching for her, with the help of volunteers and a private investigator.

“I’d like to find my daughter,” Cox said. “I’d like to lay her to rest.”

Police said both Steve and Michael Powell were uncooperative in the investigation.

They interviewed Michael numerous times after discovering he left his car at an Oregon junk yard weeks after Susan’s disappearance – a fact police didn’t learn until nearly two years later. Officials said he offered evasive answers about why he got rid of the car and how he had used it in late 2009.

His suicide left investigators without any person of interest in the case. While authorities believe the brothers were responsible for Susan Powell’s disappearance, they said repeatedly Monday that they never had enough evidence to bring charges – an assertion that has been questioned in the past by legal experts as well as law enforcement in Washington state.

“This is a circumstantial case, yes,” said West Valley City Deputy Chief Phil Quinlan. His fellow deputy chief, Mike Powell, added, “We didn’t have a body. We don’t have a crime scene.”

The Powell brothers used sophisticated computer encryption to communicate, Quinlan said. Investigators have been unable to decipher that secret communication.

The case file shows that in August 2010, police contacted a West Valley City woman, whose full name is redacted, after her phone number was discovered in Josh Powell’s phone records.

She told police she had a sexual relationship with Josh Powell after meeting him through a dating service about six or seven months before Susan Powell disappeared. The woman said she knew Josh Powell by the name John Staley, and she didn’t know he was married. It wasn’t until after she saw news coverage of the case that she discerned his true identity.

The woman called 911 just days after Susan Powell disappeared and claimed she had been having an affair with Josh Powell for the past two months, Maxwell wrote. At the time, however, she declined to provide corroborating information.

The file includes other details, and contained emails from Susan Powell’s father, who expressed hope his daughter might be found in the days after her December 2009 disappearance.

Cox believed Josh Powell poisoned his wife’s pancakes before she was taken from the couple’s house.

Susan Powell was reported missing after failing to show up for work.

Police found a small amount of her blood on the floor next to a recently cleaned sofa and carpet in their house, but not enough to consider it a crime scene, they said.

Josh Powell eventually returned to the couple’s hometown of Puyallup, Wash., where he got caught up in a battle with Susan Powell’s parents for custody of the boys, 7-year-old Charlie and 5-year-old Braden.

On Feb. 5, 2012, he locked a social worker out of a rental home at the start of a supervised visit, attacked the boys with a hatchet and set the house afire. All three were killed.”

Lawyer: Feds investigating Susan Powell case
[WTHR 5/20/13 by Associated Press]

Update 6:”Investigators found child pornography on Josh Powell’s computer at least 17 months before he killed his children and himself, according to FBI documents.

The Salt Lake Tribune reported Saturday (http://tinyurl.com/q8effoc ) that the documents show the FBI was investigating the disappearance of his wife, Susan Powell, as well as possession of child pornography.

Anne Bremner, an attorney for Susan Powell’s parents, said the family was never told the FBI was investigating Josh Powell for child pornography. If the state of Washington’s Department of Social and Health Services had known about the suspected child pornography, it “never would have let him have those kids,” she said.

When a state worker delivered 7-year-old Charlie and 5-year-old Braden to Josh Powell’s rented home in Graham, Washington, on Feb. 5, 2012, Josh Powell locked out the worker and ignited a fire that killed him and his sons.

Susan Powell, who was last seen at her West Valley City, Utah, home on Dec. 6, 2009, has never been found.

Josh Powell had been previously linked to child pornography, the Tribune reported. At hearings in the state of Washington to determine custody of his children, then-Assistant Washington Attorney General John M. Long said Powell was under investigation for child pornography after cartoon images of incest between mothers and children were found on his computer in late 2009 or early 2010.”

Josh Powell Had Child Porn On His Computer Long Before Explosion

[Huffington Post 6/8/14 by Associated Press]

Update 7:”A Pierce County judge on Friday refused to dismiss a wrongful-death lawsuit brought against the state Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) by the maternal grandparents of Charlie and Braden Powell.

An attorney for the state argued that the case should be thrown out before trial, saying that Chuck and Judy Cox’s claims were without merit.

But Superior Court Judge Jerry Costello agreed with attorneys for the Coxes that the case should go to a jury.

“The Cox family will have their day in court,” Costello said in denying the state’s motion for summary judgment.

The Coxes contend in their lawsuit that state social workers did not do enough to keep the boys safe from their father, Josh Powell.

On Feb. 5, 2012, when a state worker delivered 7-year-old Charlie and 5-year-old Braden to their father’s rented home in Pierce County for what was supposed to be a supervised visit, Josh Powell locked out the worker and ignited a fire that killed him and his sons. Josh Powell was considered a “person of interest” in the 2009 disappearance in Utah of his wife, Susan Powell.

The Coxes sued DSHS in April 2013, alleging that state social workers and their superiors were negligent in their handling of court-ordered supervised visits between Powell and his sons, who were 7 and 5.

Powell was being investigated at the time in the disappearance of his wife, Susan Cox Powell, from the family home in Utah in December 2009. She remains missing and is presumed dead. The Coxes are Susan Powell’s parents.

Assistant Attorney General Peter Helmberger argued Friday that state social workers did nothing wrong in their implementation and supervision of visitations between Powell and his sons

What’s more, their role was not to second-guess the judge who ordered the visits or the psychologist who approved them, Helmberger said. They were charged with making the visits happen, and they did so, he argued.

Trying to hold them responsible for Powell’s homicidal actions does not comport with the law, Helmberger said.

But Cheryl Snow, one of the attorney’s representing the Coxes, argued that the state had a duty to protect the boys from their father, who clearly was dangerous.

“They had an utter failure to implement the policies they were supposed to,” Snow told Costello. “They failed to carry out their duty in a reasonable way.”

Costello did not rule on the merits of either argument. He simply decided those questions should be put to a jury

The case is scheduled to go to trial next month.

Wrongful-death suit involving Powell children to go forward
[Seattle times 8/15/14 by Adam Lynn]

Update 8:“A jury on Friday found the state of Washington negligent and ordered it to pay about $100 million to Susan Cox Powell’s parents, Q13 FOX reports.

“The jury verdict just came back: they ruled in favor of Chuck and Judy Cox, and that the state of Washington was negligent in the death of Charlie and Braden, Susan’s two beautiful little boys. They awarded the Cox family 98.5 million,” a posting on the Friends and Family of Susan Cox Powell Facebook page said.

Susan Cox Powell’s parents, Judith and Charles Cox, sued Washington’s Department of Social and Health Services over the murders of Charlie and Braden Powell in 2012 by their father, Josh Powell. They allege the state didn’t take adequate steps to protect Charlie and Braden from their father, who was already under investigation for Susan’s disappearance.

On Feb. 5, 2012, Charlie and Braden were driven to Josh Powell’s home in Graham, Wash., for a supervised visit. When they arrived, he pulled the children inside the home and slammed the door in the child protective caseworker’s face. Inside, police said, he took a hatchet to the children, poured gasoline on them and set the home one fire.

All three died.

In its own filing, Washington state argues that Josh Powell is liable, not DSHS. They also challenge whether Susan’s family can benefit financially from it.

“Susan Powell was recently declared legally dead by the state of Utah on November 14, 2019,” state attorney Joseph Diaz wrote. “Under Utah state law, Susan was presumed dead as a missing person on the fifth anniversary of her disappearance on December 6, 2014. Thus, a legal fiction exists as to the status of Susan since she was deemed missing and not dead at the time of the boys’ death, but the Plaintiffs have at times when it suits their case, claimed that she was murdered by Joshua Powell in 2009.”

Susan Cox Powell vanished from her West Valley City home in 2009. She has never been found. Almost immediately, West Valley City police began focusing on her husband, Josh Powell, branding him a “person of interest” in her disappearance. He took the children and moved to Puyallup, Wash., where he lived with his father and sister.

The lawsuit alleges DSHS ignored comments made by Charlie and Braden Powell that seemed to reference their mother’s disappearance. In 2011, the Cox family alleges, West Valley City police asked the agency to check on the children out of concern for their safety. The agency refused.

Later that year, police served a search warrant on Steven Powell’s home related to the disappearance of Susan. Inside, police found pornography and it led to voyeurism charges against Steven Powell. (He was later convicted, served prison time and died in 2018.)

“Fifteen computers were seized; they were later found to contain child pornography and voyeuristic images of numerous women, including Susan Powell. The computers also contained images and videos of Steven Powell masturbating to pictures and video of Susan Powell,” Bremner and Bariault wrote.

The Cox family says Pierce County Sheriff’s detectives “had grave concerns about the boys’ safety, telling DSHS personnel that (Josh) Powell was a potential lethal risk to his children.” The agency itself, they claim, also believed Josh Powell was responsible for his wife’s disappearance. The courts ultimately placed the children in state custody, but gave Josh Powell visitation.

“Contrary to its own policies and the boys’ rights under Washington law, DSHS never assessed this case for domestic violence or lethality – at any stage,” Bariault wrote.

The Cox family also claims DSHS did not provide adequate training for those who had to supervise visits between Josh Powell and his children. The agency also approved moving visits from a neutral site to Josh Powell’s home without informing law enforcement or the judge overseeing the case.

“Up to the date of the boys’ murder, the record is unclear as to the full extent of the court’s knowledge surrounding visitations at Powell’s residence,” Bariault wrote.

DSHS had no safety plan despite multiple warnings about Josh Powell, the Cox family argues.

“DSHS left the boys and Griffin-Hall [the case-worker supervising the visit] completely helpless as the home, with the boys inside, burned to the ground,” Bariault wrote.

The civil lawsuit was filed in 2013, but was originally dismissed in federal court. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that ruling and revived it, but eliminated DSHS caseworkers from the lawsuit. It went back to Pierce County Superior Court, where it will face a jury trial beginning Monday.

“Recognizing that DSHS stands in a special protective relationship with foster children will not lead to the unrestrained liability. The State is not vicariously liable for all acts, and the scope of its duty is circumscribed by standards of reasonable care,” he wrote.”

Washington State found negligent in deaths of Powell boys
[Fox13 7/31/2020]

Update 9:“A judge here on Tuesday slashed by two thirds a nearly $100 million jury verdict handed down to the parents of missing Utah woman Susan Cox Powell at the end of July over the 2012 deaths of Powell’s two children at the hands of their father.

“My conscience is still shocked by the verdict size today, as it was on the day the verdict was delivered,” Pierce County Superior Court Judge Stanley Rumbaugh said.

Chuck and Judy Cox had sued the state of Washington’s Department of Social and Health Services in 2013, following the Feb. 5, 2012, murder-suicide involving their son-in-law, Josh Powell, and their grandchildren, Charlie and Braden Powell. The civil suit accused the department social workers of negligence in their handling of the Powell children, who died during a court-authorized supervised visitation at a home Josh Powell had rented.

During a weekslong trial earlier this year, which also endured a four-month delay due to a shutdown of the court over coronavirus concerns, witnesses testified in detail about the wounds each child had suffered at the hands of their father. Josh Powell had attacked his sons with a hatchet before setting fire to the home. Witnesses at the trial testified the children were conscious and suffering for roughly 10 to 20 minutes before they actually died as a result of smoke inhalation.

The jury ruled unanimously at the conclusion of the trial that the state agency had acted negligently. Their verdict levied a $98.5 million penalty against the state. Weeks later, attorneys for the state filed a motion requesting a new trial or a reduction in the damages.

In a hearing on that request, Rumbaugh said it was clear to him that the graphic nature of the killings had played into the jury’s decision.

“These were extreme and inflammatory facts that related to the killings of these boys,” Rumbaugh said. “They’re bound to bestir passion in the hearts and minds of any rational person.”

Rumbaugh stressed the jurors were likely not even consciously aware of their own “passion” in setting such a high dollar figure for damages.

“It’s not the size of the verdict alone, most certainly, that is an indicator,” Rumbaugh said. “It’s whether the size of the verdict in light of the evidence produced shocks the conscience of the court. And in this case, it does.”

As a result, Rumbaugh cut the jury’s award to $32.8 million. Or, he said, the parties could retry the case.

The reduction comes as a blow to the Coxes, who have said the high dollar damages awarded by the jury would serve as important motivation for the state of Washington to reform its child welfare practices.

“The state continues to ignore their failures despite overwhelming evidence,” Chuck Cox said following the announcement of the judge’s decision. “Judge Rumbaugh chose to essentially ignore all the evidence, insult and dismiss the jury’s diligent work, and impose his own biased arbitrary judgment.”

During the trial, witnesses for the Coxes accused the Department of Social and Health Services and its social workers of showing “reunification bias” by attempting to place Charlie and Braden Powell back with their father, in spite of Josh Powell’s status as the sole suspect in the suspected killing of his wife.

“We cannot accept this ‘business as usual’ attitude from DSHS, the State or the court,” Cox said. “Policies and procedures cannot continue to be ignored at the expense of the safety of the children.”

Susan Powell disappeared from the couple’s home in West Valley City on Dec. 7, 2009. Investigators believe she is dead but her body has never been located. Josh Powell was never arrested or formally charged with a crime related to his wife’s disappearance.

Josh Powell lost custody of his sons in September 2011, weeks after police served a search warrant related to Susan Powell’s disappearance at the Puyallup-area home of his father, Steve Powell, where Josh Powell and his sons were then living. During the search, police located voyeur videos created by the elder Powell, some of which included images of nude underage females.

In court filings at the time, police said they could not rule out the possibility that Josh Powell might have assisted his father with the creation of those videos, raising concerns about his fitness as a parent for Charlie and Braden. Caseworkers subsequently placed the children with their maternal grandparents, the Coxes, against Powell’s objections. Powell then spent several months attempting to regain custody.

That effort culminated in a Feb. 1, 2012, court hearing where a judge ordered supervised visitation to continue, while not objecting to a state plan to continue holding those visits at Powell’s rented home. However, the judge also ordered Powell to undergo a psychosexual evaluation and polygraph before she would consider allowing him full custody. Powell killed himself and the children days later, during one of those visits.”

Judge slashes $100M jury verdict awarded to Susan Cox Powell’s parents

[Deseret News 9/15/2020 by Dave Cawley]