How Could You? Hall of Shame-Florida adoptee case

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Lee County, Florida, the 2010 DCF quality assurance reports of 10 cases highlight the abuse of a nine-year-old girl. “September: For three years, staff missed chances to make sure a 9-year-old adopted girl was safe.

Reports came in that said the girl said “she does not deserve to live.” The report said the girl had complained her vagina hurt and acted out oral sex to a flute. According to a school official, the mother had observed the father on top of the child when she had on her underwear.”

““The child indicated … he hits her hard,” it read.

There was no evidence the investigator tried to assess the child for medical or behavioral services, which could have been crucial to her safety.

The child was put into state care after her mother’s death.

“A complete and thorough investigation, together with ongoing qualitative supervision and follow-up is fundamental to ensuring child safety,” the report read. ”

Reports detail lack of diligence by DCF investigators
[News-Press 4/5/11 by Janine Zeitlin]

The quality assurance report can be found here. Her case is on pages 13-22 of the pdf.

The report shows that the family consisted of the adoptive mother,age 53, the adoptive father, age 51, and the girl. It indicates that she was homeschooled by a church member for some part of the time.

The family’s first encounter with DCF was November 7, 2008. The investigator interviewed the child at school who denied abuse. It does not say who gave the following account:

The assistant principal was interviewed that day. He stated that she had daily temper tantrums, was physically aggressive to her teacher and was removed from 3 previous schools due to behaviors. The school observed some sexual behaviors in the child.

The parents were not interviewed until December 22, 2008. The dad claimed that Catholic Services was giving the child counseling and he denied abuse. The report was closed two days later.

The next report was October 21, 2009 for domestic violence. Another report was received on October 25, 2009. It states that in the past, the father had beat the girl, that the girl had been sexually acting out and had “performed oral sex on a musical instrument at school.” The mother was interviewed at their church and indicated that she was filing for divorce. The child does not appear to have been interviewed separately. She did indicate that the dad used corporal punishment and hit her “hard” but denied sexual abuse. The report was closed in December 2009 with the dad being prohibited from contact with the daughter and wife.

The next report was June 1, 2010.