Today’s story about the tortured, starved, & raped (by her parents & stepbrother) Wisconsin girl is almost identical to one of my first guardian ad-Litem cases in MN. The difference being that a MN judge gave custody of a 4 year old boy to a man with a court order restricting that man from being near young boys (because of what he did to them).
That boy was beaten, starved, and sexually abused for four years & left alone tied to a bed for days at a time. He is in his early 20’s now and has AIDS.
According to the Pioneer Press; “the girl was forced to live in an unfinished basement, scavenge food from the garbage and eat her own feces….It’s unclear why evidence of abuse wasn’t detected by the agents…. The family also has had several contacts with county social workers since May 1997. The first case was substantiated, but six other reports of abuse or neglect were deemed unsubstantiated or did not go through a formal assessment.”
County budgets have been cut to the bone & workers are being told to concentrate only on the worst cases. This poor girl did not meet the standard of “worst cases”.
This girls tragedy is not the social workers fault, it’s ours for not supporting child protection services.
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Probation agents had inspected house where Wisconsin girl allegedly was starved
Wisconsin State Journal
State probation agents made three visits since mid-December to the Madison, Wis., house where prosecutors say a 15-year-old girl was tortured, starved and abused by her parents and stepbrother, according to the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.
The girl was found barefoot in pajamas Feb. 6 by a neighbor outside the Southeast Side house. Her stepmother, Melinda Drabek-Chritton; father, Chad Chritton; and stepbrother, Joshua Drabek, were charged Thursday with various counts related to child abuse.
According to a criminal complaint, the girl was forced to live in an unfinished basement, scavenge food from the garbage and eat her own feces.
In a separate matter, Drabek, 18, had been sentenced Nov. 15 by Dane County Circuit Judge Julie Genovese to three years’ probation for having a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old girl in Deerfield.
Drabek was required to wear a state-issued electronic monitoring bracelet as a condition of his probation. Two probation agents conducted a residence assessment Dec. 13, Corrections Department spokeswoman Linda Eggert said. An agent visited the house Jan. 10 and 19.
Assessments typically include a thorough on-site inspection of the residence and neighborhood, including a visual inspection of the offender’s sleeping quarters, Eggert said.
It’s unclear why evidence of abuse wasn’t detected by the agents. Further details about the visits are not available as the department investigates whether Drabek violated his
probation, Eggert said.The family also has had several contacts with county social workers since May 1997. The first case was substantiated, but six other reports of abuse or neglect were deemed unsubstantiated or did not go through a formal assessment.
Dane County Human Services director Lynn Green cautioned that the seven cases don’t necessarily relate to the same child. The girl has two half-brothers, ages 7 and 4, who were living in the house and are now in foster care.
Green said the state determined the reported cases in June and September 2009 and in March 2011, which didn’t rate a formal assessment, were not serious enough to give the department the authority to conduct an investigation.
“Had any of the previous referrals on any child contained information similar to the circumstances in this specific case, Dane County Human Services would have screened the case in for further investigation,” Green said.
