Print
E-mail
Share
digg
Newsvine
Facebook
Stumble
Technorati
reddit
Fark
twitterMore kids are dying across the nation, in Las Vegas
Child abuse and neglect are taking a growing toll. But no one knows why.
Sam Morris
Supervisor Chris Carrell, left, and Brad Coffey, a senior investigator for Clark County, deal with the abuse and neglect that have killed 37 children this year.
Monday, Oct. 12, 2009 | 2 a.m.
Sun Archives
- Teen suspected in toddler's beating death arrested (9-24-2009)
- Man could face death penalty in rape, murder of young girl (9-21-2009)
- Father arrested for child abuse, second-degree homicide (9-17-2009)
- Police: Teen who suffocated infant dumped baby at Strip hotel in 2006 (8-28-2009)
- Calif. man arrested in NLV in fatal beating of stepson (8-19-2009)
- Vegas mother whose childe drowned arrested in Florida (8-14-2009)
- Alleged gunman arrested in death of 8-year-old girl (8-10-2009)
- Caregiver accused of shaking infant, boy critically injured (5-14-2009)
- Gains in child protection threatened (5-7-2009)
- Bill that called for more lawyers for children might be dead (4-29-2009)
- Deadlines and dead ends (4-26-2009)
- Panel deadlocks on cuts that would trim child abuse investigations (4-24-2009)
Beyond the Sun
Twice as many children have died in Clark County this year from abuse and neglect as in all of last year, and officials worry the number could be triple that for 2008 by year’s end.
In Reno and surrounding Washoe County, the number of children who have died from abuse and neglect has also risen sharply over last year.
In the rest of Nevada and nationwide, the numbers are climbing too, authorities say.
Yet no one agrees on a common explanation for the trend — not child-welfare officials in Las Vegas and Carson City, nor experts at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, nor child advocacy groups across the country.
Some experts note that states such as Nevada with dwindling resources have fewer child protection programs.
The state Division of Child and Family Services has been criticized for egregious child deaths in past years, and state officials warned this year that projected budget cuts would only hamper their efforts.
Some experts blame the failing economy. More people out of work has meant more stress, and officials say more homes are teeming with frustration and anger.
Others blame drugs, poverty and risque lifestyles, and the ignorance of parents, pointing to the eight children who accidentally drowned or were shot to death in Clark County this summer. Some call the dramatic increase a statistical fluke.
Tom Morton, director of the Clark County Department of Family Services, said he has about 100 investigators who look into all kinds of child abuse. But 18 additional positions remain frozen because of budget trims, and that leaves just two five-man teams to investigate fatalities.
Most abused and neglected children are hurt by first-time offenders — parents or a relative or a new boyfriend.
To prevent deaths, Morton said, supervisors closely review the work of investigators. When a third complaint is lodged against a family — for drugs or an unkempt home or an unattended child — it is assigned to yet another investigator for a “fresh set of eyes,” he said.
But, Morton conceded, “when you go and look at the circumstances of each death, you don’t see a pattern emerge.” Every death is different, every family unique, and Morton said his office must largely rely on tips from the public. There is little his investigators can do to stop a toddler from wandering into a bedroom and placing a plastic bag over his head.
“We don’t have cameras in everyone’s home running 24/7,” he said.
So far this year 37 children — persons under the age of 18 — have died in Clark County from abuse or neglect, according to state records. The deaths of another eight children remain unsolved. For all of 2008, 18 children died of abuse or neglect, with a 19th death still under review.
Seven other children almost died from abuse or neglect this year, and their cases are listed as “near fatalities.” There were only three near fatalities in 2008 in the county.
The records also show that county officials investigated complaints and made home visits before 20 of the children died this year, a percentage comparable to last year’s.
Death investigations are prompted by allegations of abuse or neglect. Some escalate to criminal prosecutions, and parents and others are arrested. Officials are still waiting for results from toxicology tests and coroner’s findings in other deaths.
Authorities also have ruled that sometimes adults should not be legally blamed for child neglect. A mother did not mean to fall asleep on the sofa with a new infant, suffocating the baby. A father at a back yard barbecue had momentarily turned his head when his child fell into the pool.
Brad Coffey, a senior child fatality investigator for Clark County, and his colleagues are taking on 10 new abuse and neglect cases each month, and he is at a loss to explain the increase. He has investigated past complaints, only to be called out again, sometimes in the middle of the night, or on holidays or a weekend, when a child has died. “It can be overwhelming,” he said. “It’s very emotionally draining.”
Increases elsewhere are just as perplexing. In Washoe County, 16 children have died this year from abuse or neglect; there were only three in all of 2008. There have been three near fatalities in Washoe this year, but none in 2008.
In the rest of the state, seven children have died so far this year compared with only four in 2008. There have been no near fatalities so far this year, but one in 2008.
Where to start in addressing the growing problem?
Chrystal Main, a state child and family advocate in Carson City, said her agency would like to teach more first-time mothers not to sleep on the sofa with their newborns and more school children not to hurt themselves at home.
But, she said, “I look at the budget and it’s tough for everyone in this state right now, very, very tough. We are extremely under-resourced.”
In Washington in April, federal health officials reported that 1,760 children died during a 12-month period ending Oct. 1, 2007 (their latest statistics), up from 1,530 for the same period the year before.
Michael Petit, director of Every Child Matters, a not-for-profit child advocacy group in Washington, said his organization last year ranked Nevada 43rd among the states where children are least vulnerable to harm. It also put Nevada at 44th for per capita child welfare expenditures.
Petit cited dwindling funding in Nevada and a transient lifestyle in Las Vegas.
“It’s dismal. Nevada is one of the toughest states to be in if you need help,” said Petit, formerly health and human services commissioner in Maine. “Every single social service exists in Nevada, but it’s just not up to scale.
“The state does not distinguish itself given the wealth that it has.”
Anita Light, a child and family advocate for another Washington-based nonprofit organization, the American Public Human Services Association, was less critical, stressing that deaths are increasing elsewhere too. She mentioned Michigan, Ohio and Oregon as states with “fairly high unemployment” rates and rising child fatalities.
“Other states have these kind of stresses,” she said, “and public agencies need to be paying more attention.”
Among the child deaths due to abuse or neglect in Clark County this year:
• Five-year-old Harlee N. Whitmire died Feb. 15 from morphine and cocaine intoxication. The investigation turned up missing medications in the house. “The parent last saw the child that night asleep, breathing and snoring,” state records say. “When the parent checked the child again several hours later, she was cold, stiff and had a substance coming out of her mouth.”
County investigators had visited the house four times from 2005 to last year on complaints of neglect concerning Harlee. But allegations of neglect in the child’s death were ruled “unsubstantiated.”
• On March 2, Joseph D. Duhaylungsod “ingested grout cleaner” stored in a soda bottle that he stumbled upon at home, according to state documents. The 3-year-old died four hours later. “The bottle with the grout cleaner was an anomaly,” the state said, because other poisons and cleaning supplies were kept in a locked closet. The family was referred for counseling.
• Two-month-old Asia Grace Robinson died March 17 after being born 25 weeks premature, weighing 1 pound 4 ounces and testing positive for cocaine. Her mother, a known drug user and ex-convict, tested positive for cocaine and marijuana and was arrested. Her early delivery was a “direct result” of her using illicit drugs, records say.
• Adan Adrian Madrid, 3, suffocated after placing a plastic bag over his head in bed on May 26. He was found by his foster mother, who was not prosecuted. The boy had been placed in her care after numerous allegations of past abuse and neglect connected with the boy’s natural mother’s drug problems.
• Five-year-old D’Amber Myles, who suffered from cerebral palsy, drowned in the bathtub on June 30. Her mother was charged with second-degree murder and child neglect.
• Giovanni Bass-Kopystenski, an autistic 5-year-old, accidentally shot and killed himself July 21 after finding a gun in his father’s car. The family had been investigated two years earlier for neglect; this time the father was arrested on a child neglect charge.
• On Aug. 22, Arayah Booker, 26 days old, suffocated on the couch. Her mother had fallen asleep on the sofa with the baby, and woke to find the infant wedged between cushions. Otherwise, “there were no signs of abuse or trauma to the child,” the records state. She was not prosecuted.
Coffey, the local senior investigator, says confronting grieving parents and removing other children from the homes is “very delicate.” His supervisor, Chris Carrell, has been in his shoes. She remembers those late-night calls upon the death of a child.
“It is Christmas Eve or it’s midnight and you walk into these homes,” she said. “When the child is 4 or under, it is particularly devastating.”
Discussion: 40 comments so far…
Post a comment
- Most Read
- Discussed
- Most E-mailed
- 6th arrest made in officer’s death; 5 face formal charges
- General Growth moving subsidiaries out of bankruptcy protection
- Man on death row for 1990 Vegas murder kills self
- When did Binion’s $1 million display appear?
- Justin Hawkins is a Rebel with many causes
- Metro officer remembered as ‘protector’ of family, community
- Marcus Jones finds his true passion in hunt for UFC contract
- Shoppers guide to Black Friday in Las Vegas
- Harrah’s working on plan to take over Planet Hollywood
- Teachers do 180, work to change law to qualify for federal funds
Blogs
The Kats Report
Twenty years ago today, Human Nature took root on the farm
Robin Leach's Las Vegas Celebrity Watch
Photo Gallery: Donny Osmond’s triumphant return to the Flamingo
The Kats Report
'DWTS' champ Donny Osmond still deft afoot in return to Flamingo (3 Comments)
Politics: The Early Line
Meeting of GOP governors draws challengers, not Gibbons (3 Comments)
Politics: Ralston's Flash
Oscar loves forcing developers to sign labor peace agreements, Culinary loves the city's downtown plans and all is forgiven (2 Comments)
Now and Then
Underdog is open on a post pattern
Miech Again
Kruger contract altered in September (7 Comments)
Calendar »
- 26 Thu
- 27 Fri
- 28 Sat
- 29 Sun
- 30 Mon
-
Food drive with Adam Hunter at Bonkerz Comedy Club
Bonkerz Comedy Club | 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
-
DJ Battle at Drai's
Drai's Afterhours | 10 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.
-
2012 at Cheyenne Saloon
Cheyenne Saloon | 10 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.
-
Sampson's Army at the Double Down Saloon
Double Down Saloon | 10 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.
The Sun
Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
Thank you, Sun, for your reporting. Now, how many of these children were court ordered into these environments? Also, you did not report on the recent firing of CPS caseworkers for falsifying court documents. Don't stop now. YOUR RIGHT!
Gosh,
The longer democrats stay in power the worse things get.
We were doing ok back in 2006 when we handed the reins of power to the democrats. I, like a lot of other people back than, pulled the lever for democrats thinking there would be better days ahead. I even thought if we give them all the power in 2008 by voting the few remaining repubs out of office surely things would get better after that.
Boy, was I ever wrong. Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me.
I hope you continue to keep this issue in the public spotlight. Some facts that we do know, facts that were not mentioned in this article, are;
1. most children are abused by their parents
2. as primary caretakers, most child abuse happens at the hands of mothers
If the child abuse cases in the state does not match this profile, then that is a clue to be examined. However, if it does match, we know that stressed out parents are more likely to abuse their children. Then the question should be, in what ways can we support these families so there would be less stress.
Nevada is the country's gambling capital of the country. With so much cash flowing through the state's economy, why is the government starved for funds to address issues like this?
Artie Louise
www.childabusestories.org
Enlighten me, planetearthcalling, what does having the a democrats in power have to do with this? My, now deceased, father was a Republican and instilled his abusive anger upon all of us when we we all young. My mother, also a Republican, was oblivious and did nothing to stop him. All this happened when Republicans were in power.
Good reporting, important story.
Maybe its time to bring back the orphanage, let the state fund it and turn the operation of the facility over to a nonprofit to run such as Saint Jude. Parents don't seem to care, can't handle parenting and the courts seem to have also failed. This has go to stop.
Please correct paragraph 8 of the article. "Most abused and neglected children are hurt by first time offenders." This is factually inaccurate and the adverse is true. In Clark County, the records of abuse and neglect of children is concealed and purged by Clark County Courts, Family Division, Temporary Protection Order office within 30 days.
Please note, the wrongful deaths of children in Clark County has reached the billions of dollars in settlements in the US District Court, District of Nevada. This has become a political issue because our Clark County property taxpayer dollars are being paid out. We need to demand that our Clark County Commissioners budget for the billions in lawsuits. YOUR RIGHT!
While I do not suggest my experience is the norm, I question whether orphanages are a solution. My mother, my abuser, grew up in one and it was there she learned her rigid abusive ways. As a young mother, she was isolated and with no loving or caring parenting skills to draw from. She loved me the best she knew how. The problem was, she was never shown love and therefore had no idea what "loving another person" looked or felt like.
So I think the conversation should focus on ideas of supporting parents. Once parents have been identified as possible abusers or high risk, how can we, as a society, step in to intervene and teach them better coping skills? And furthermore, when do we, as a society, say it is in the child's best interest to remove them from the abuse and sever parental rights?
Artie Louise
www.childabusestories.org
Tom Morton states he relies upon the public to report child abuse. His calltakers "Tiffany", "Amber", "Chris", and "Jaden" refuse to take reports of child abuse. This is documented on our cell phone records. YOUR RIGHT!
This will continue as long as people keep reproducing. The majority of people should not have children. If it is not physical abuse then you have emotional abuse.
Notice the death that occured with the foster family, child getting ahold of a plastic bag (in bed) and dying........
When having a child, that child comes first, not you the parent(s). And this is so for it least 18 years.
People don't think before reproducing......its alot to give up for 18 plus years. You give up your freedom, your finances to name a few.
Clark County courts are ordering children into abusive environments. The National Center for Youth Law added 13 more plaintiffs September 28, 2009, when Clark County delivered to them 2006 CPS records. YOUR RIGHT!
LVMPD refuses to investigate child abuse if no suspect is named. CPS refuses to investigate child abuse saying its a LVMPD matter. YOUR RIGHT!
Clark County CPS caseworkers are featured on the website Rip Off Report. Clark County judges of child abuse issues are also featured on the website.
No one knows why? Nonsense! The children are a multi-billion dollar PRODUCT, sold to the highest bidder! Each child in the "SYSTEM" has a 20-30 member team of VULTURES sucking-off massive fund of taxpayer cash to "HELP" the child until he/she ends up strung-out,homeless, and dead in some dumpster!
There is nothing wrong with the children; it's the adults that need the help!
I think the big problem is that todays parents who are in there 20s 30s and 40s are not as mature and emotionally stable as past generations were of parents back in there day. Also to many parents are liberals in life and are not judgmental with there kids (TOUGH LOVE) like they should be. Most kids that do not look up to there parents really don't respect them because mom and dad are still trying to stay young themselfs and won't grow up and be a mentor to there kids. (I could go on but whats the use)
So very sad. Thank you for putting this story out here.
For those who blame child abuse on who (Republicans/Democrats) was in power, that is NONSENSE! The parents and other family members are responsible. NOT THE GOVERNMENT!!! Stop pointing fingers at the politicians.
We need forced sterilization and forced abortions like in China. Be sterilized or face 20 years in prison. Also, we need a "cash for clunkers" program for sterilization. $500 and free beer and pizza and ribs for having the tubes tied.
We respect the comments that it's the parents. In some cases it is. However, this article shows the problem is with CPS also. Why didn't the investigators state CPS caseworkers were fired for filing false child abuse records? YOUR RIGHT!
hey you repub's want everyone to reproduce like rabbits, then the hell with them. oklahoma just passed legilation where men have to report masturbation. look at all those lost kids in okla. if your a republican and aren't rich, your dumber than a box of rocks, sheep.
Right on mred, sterilize them all if they have a kid and have been abusive!
Hell if you're giving out free beer, pizza ribs and $500 cash I'll be getting in line myself.
Why don't you call your "cash for clunkers" like program "cash for spunkers".
This is the U S of A - or are the real commies some of the forced sterilization folks - you all need to move to China! Yes, these situations is sad. Hopefully as things in the economy get better these things will shake out. In the meantime maybe China needs more folks!
How many dim witted, bleeding heart, 'make-em feel good' left-leaning liberal judges have failed to follow through on parental complaints of child neglect, lack of supervision and failure of fathers to pay adequate child support? How many of these child victims have been seriously injured or killed as a consequence of inadequate or weak judicial action against an offending parent?
How many of these violators or child civil rights of mandated support have gotten off scott free without any consequences whatsoever?
Maybe hanging one judge for every child that turns up abused, beaten, neglected, seriously injured or killed by parents will bring about the needed judical changes... Rope is still cheap today and we have any number of telephone and light poles to adequately do the job....
Some of our local judges act like they barely passed their correspondence law school exams and graduated. A diploma does not make you smart or intelligent nor does the title Attorney-at-Law or Family Court Judge. Plenty of them are still dumbasses even if they got their degree from Harvard, Yale, Columbia or the Joe Jerk Correspondence Law School.
One or two of these dumbasses even went on to be poliicians or governor, and later U.S.Senator.
We filed LVMPD police report no. 1590 on January 5, 2009, when the wrongful deaths were escalating. Now the police report is mysteriously missing and Detective McMahil, assigned to the case, refuses to return our phone calls. Bureau of Internal Affairs Asst. Sheriff Flynn looked us in the eye and lied to us just as Sheriff Gillespie did. YOUR RIGHT!
We know why children are dying and we made numerous calls over the years to CPS to explain. They require we talk to their attorney, Soume Kim, who refuses to address the problem. Tom Morton made numerous false statements in this article. Tom Morton is out of touch with the reality of CPS. His Masters in Psychology may make him look good on paper but he commits malpractice as a manager. Clark County tazpayers - your taxpayer dollars will continue paying wrongful death claims until Tom Morton is out just like Klein-Rothschild before him. The lawsuits are staggering. YOUR RIGHT!
Before they become mother they need to take classes. Girls at this day an age want to become mother.They do not think of the time the child take out of there party life (and it is a 24 7 job to take care of kids). How much do they cost? (they do no care they are on welfar, the more kids more money).Girls before you have kids sit down and put on paper if you can afford them.
If you do not you will be poor and unhappy the rest of your life,I known it takes 2 to tangle but the guys could take off anytime.
PlanetEarthCalling,
It takes a special type of low life worthless scum to try to politicize the death of a child.
What kind of mindless sociopathic puke postulates that dying children are the fault of a Democratic government?
You are lower on the scale of social worth than a child molester and should be treated as such.
Please let the next story I read be about you taking your own life.
It starts with poor parenting, or no parenting, or single working moms, and is exaserbated by the awful system here in Clark County. Poor kids. I would NEVER raise children in Las Vegas. Too many inherent dangers... and, shall we say, less than average intelligence levels.
Children in the "System" are not even allowed to have new clothes for school, not allowed to spend the night at a friend's house without a zillion dollar, eight month deep background check on the entire friend's family and neighbors, and fed piles of rotten food bank discards masqueraded as breakfast-lunch-and dinner!
Thank you, Sun, for providing the comments above. There is anger about this "system". We know, because we filed a police report January 5, 2009, about the "system" and the police report has mysteriously disappeared. In this article, Thomas Morton, who makes false statements, is being sued for his previous job as the Director of the Child Welfare Institute of Atlanta, Georgia. Please continue reporting on this matter.
Again, we call for a correction of Paragraph 8. Statistically, child abusers to the point of wrongful deaths are not first time offenders. Please research the statistics on the statement made in Paragraph 8 of the article. YOUR RIGHT!
Planetearthcalling,
Children, CHILDREN, BABIES are dying and you still found a way to bring your own political agenda into this posting.
Wow!! I'm truly ashamed of you!!
Tom Morton did not disclose to the reporter that 1) CPS is removing children from abusive foster care homes, 2) Tom Morton and CPS are named in numerous lawsuits in Nevada and Georgia, and 3) CPS is firing caseworkers for falsifying court documents. YOUR RIGHT!
These people don't care about the children. Follow the money; there's so much they'll never get to the end...
No one knows why?...I know why...reasonable and logical people know why...Mr. Sun, you should know why as well...
My wife & I were turned down for being foster parents 5 years ago; our lacking....My wife, a master's level surgical nurse, had an eight year old warrant for arrest out of San Francisco for jaywalking during a nursing association convention. We were considered DANGEROUS to the well being of a child with my wife's criminal issues...INSANE! Funny thing, we had ABSOLUTELY no problem raising my brother's 3 children after he and his wife were killed in a car crash; those three children are all college graduates and THRIVING from their great upbringing!!
FYI: My wife REFUSES to pay and settle the INSANE JAYWALKING TICKET and she CELEBRATES HER CRIMINAL FUGITIVE STATUS; I do too! Not one penny to the State of California.
Reporter Serrano - When will you be reporting on this matter again? YOUR RIGHT!
These are criminal matters occurring to defenseless victims. We are told to speak with CPS Attorney Soomi Kim. However, she does not speak with us. As a result, class action lawsuits are perpetuated. When will Clark County get it right and talk to the children's careproviders? Litigating, rather than settling these matters, only perpetuates the problems. Clark County taxpayers' dollars are misappropriated and that constitutes fraud. Under the May 2009 Fraud and Recovery Act, we can pursue damages due to government fraud. YOUR RIGHT!
October death statistics were released. Clark County's children's deaths are up 200%.
We are not fortunetellers or prophets, but we did predict this.
When will the criminals sitting on the Clark County Commission stop their crimes of neglect and fraud and do something about this?