Editorial: Files should be released

Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2005 | 9:20 a.m.

Adacelli Louise Snyder was born March 31, 2003. Before she was 2 months old, reports about her squalid living conditions and weight loss brought a response from Child Protective Services, a division of the Clark County Department of Family Services. From July 2003 to June 2004, social workers with CPS counseled Adacelli's parents, Charlene Snyder and Jack Richardson, on how to provide a healthy home for their new baby and three other children in the household. During that year, Adecelli was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, a muscular disorder caused by brain damage before or shortly after birth. Social workers arranged for medical care. On June 11, 2004, the agency determined that home conditions had improved and ended its involvement in Adacelli's life.

Earlier this summer, on June 29, Adacelli was found dead in her family's home following a 911 call placed by her mother. In the first public report of the death, Metro Police stated that the three other children had been placed in protective custody because evidence at the scene pointed to neglect. When the coroner's report came out on Aug. 2, it stated that Adacelli's death was a homicide, that she had died from malnourishment and neglect. Clark County Assistant Coroner John Fudenberg said the baby had a "skin-and-bones appearance."

An arrest warrant issued for the parents on Aug. 8 described the extent of the 2-year-old child's neglect. She was covered with insect bites and had bruising and abrasions on her stomach, back, thighs and face. She had sores on her buttocks and had an extensive amount of dried excrement on her body. The mobile home where she was living was filled with garbage, rotting food and animal and human feces. The other children in the home, aged 5, 4, and 1, suffered from head lice and other signs of neglect. The parents were arrested Aug. 9 and indicted on Aug. 30. They face a charge of second-degree murder and four charges of abuse and neglect.

Naturally, this case has raised public interest in what is contained in the CPS files compiled during the year that Adacelli was being monitored by the county agency. What were the assessments of the parents' potential to learn how to provide for their children? Why was the case so abruptly closed, as opposed to a more gradual closure with provisions for follow-up home inspections? These and other questions, however, cannot be answered because CPS and the Clark County Department of Family Services are keeping the files secret. In normal social-services cases we do not contest the confidentially of records. But we strongly believe that when criminal charges are filed, the nature of the records changes.

The Las Vegas Sun has filed a lawsuit in District Court in an attempt to gain access to the records. Closed records will never lead to a public airing of how the county responded to Adacelli and her family. This means that any missteps, faulty judgments, ineptitude or abbreviated service because of lack of staff could happen again, to another helpless child. On the other hand, if the county is not covering something up, the records will clear it. Open records are the best defense against poor and even life-threatening methods being ingrained within government agencies.