CPS worker charged with assault
BY JACOB JONES
Wednesday, June 11, 2008 11:09 AM PDT

http://www.thedailyworld.com/article...ews/09news.txt

The Daily World

A longtime Child Protective Services coordinator was charged Monday in
Aberdeen Municipal Court for allegedly assaulting his wife last weekend.

Cliffton B. Burden, 46, was arrested Saturday on suspicion of
fourth-degree domestic violence assault after his 46-year-old wife was
admitted at Grays Harbor Community Hospital with injuries to her face
and neck, police said.

Capt. Dave Johnson with the Aberdeen Police Department said the wife
told officers at the hospital that Burden struck her repeatedly with a
closed fist during a disagreement.

“She said she was arguing with her husband,” Johnson said.

The woman was admitted with a severe headache, bruises, red marks on her
neck and a swollen lip, Johnson said. She did not receive any
life-threatening injuries.

Officers reported the wife, who had separated from Burden, said her
daughter took her to the hospital where Burden then used his vehicle to
trap her car in the lot before they went inside and he drove away.

Johnson said Burden was later contacted at his home on the 800 block of
Stockwell Street and taken into custody until Monday morning when he
appeared in Municipal Court.

The judge ordered Burden to stay more than 100 yards away from his wife
and banned any contact. Burden also had to surrender his firearms and
concealed weapons permit. He could not return home until he had done so.

Johnson was not aware of any previous criminal record.

Karen Lee, a spokeswoman with the state Department of Social and Health
Services, wrote in an e-mail that Burden has worked with the Aberdeen
Children’s Administration office since the early 1990s. He is
responsible for helping social workers place children in foster homes.

“He did manage a few cases himself,” she wrote, “so while law
enforcement and Children’s Administration investigates these
allegations, those cases have been transferred to other workers and he
will not have direct contact with children.”