Oklahoma - A dead girl's paternal grandmother said Wednesday shewarned officials at Oklahoma DHS a week ago that her granddaughter was indanger of being hurt.

Kin say they warned DHS before death

http://newsok.com/article/3108961/1187843524

By Augie Frost and Randy Ellis
Staff Writers
A dead girl's paternal grandmother said Wednesday she warned officials
at the Oklahoma Department of Human Services a week ago that her
granddaughter, Olivia Scroggins, was in danger of being hurt.

She said she doesn't know if they took any action to save the child.

"They're not right,” Tynia Berry said of the child-welfare agency,
sighing and shaking her head at her home in Spencer, "They're not right.”

George Johnson, spokesman for DHS, said confidentiality laws prevent him
from discussing actions DHS workers may or may not have taken, unless
criminal charges are filed.

Tynia Berry, 46, was fearful because Olivia, who was 23 months old, had
stopped wanting to go home to her mother since her mother had a new
boyfriend. "Strange things had been happening the last two or three
months,” Tynia Berry said.

Olivia is now dead — police say the girl was physically abused and
murdered — and Tynia Berry and the girl's great-grandmother, Lola Berry,
are left wondering why DHS didn't prevent it.

Tynia Berry said Wednesday Olivia would still be alive if DHS workers
had taken the child from her mother, and added she notified DHS Aug. 16
after Olivia left with her mother screaming, "No. No. No.” Those were
the last words she heard her granddaughter say. She said DHS workers
have not told her if they acted on her complaint.

On Monday, Olivia died at St. Anthony Hospital in Oklahoma City. It
appears she had been beaten to death and sexually abused, Oklahoma
County District Attorney David Prater said Tuesday.

Olivia's mother, Wendy Scroggins, 22, and her boyfriend, Kerry Joe
Smith, 21, remain jailed Wednesday night on murder complaints. They
lived together at an apartment at 3317½ N McKinley in Oklahoma City.

Prater said he expects it will be at least Monday before a decision can
be made on the filing of criminal charges. Police investigators are
interviewing family members and trying to establish a timeline for
Olivia's injuries, he said.

On the day Olivia died, officers noticed her brother with signs of
trauma similar to Olivia's, police said.

That 9-month-old boy was treated for his injuries and placed in
protective custody. The Oklahoman is not identifying him since he may be
a sexual assault victim.

A doctor said the baby boy's injuries included tears in the back of his
throat, an ulcerated bottom lip, a burn on the back of his head and
infection on his genitalia, confidential DHS records show.

Tynia Berry and Lola Berry, 79, have cared for Olivia on weekends since
she was about 2 months old. The girl's father is in federal prison.

‘The life of the party'
Tynia Berry described Olivia as a smart, energetic, strong-willed
daredevil who loved to jump off the couch on to pillows on the floor.
Tynia Berry called her "Livi” for a nickname.

Olivia had already learned to count to 10 and say her ABCs, Lola Berry
said. She was always laughing and chasing her great-grandmother and
grandmother.

"Olivia was the life of the party,” Lola Berry said. "She was the center
of attention.”

Tynia and Lola Berry last saw Olivia on Aug. 15. Scroggins "yanked”
Olivia from her, Lola Berry said.

Lola Berry said Olivia did not want to go home with her mother that day.
"You could see fear in the little girl's eyes,” Lola Berry said.

"We tried to keep her but her mother took her anyway,” she said. "She
said she was a good mother. I knew something was wrong.”

Lola and Tynia Berry first noticed something was wrong about six weeks
ago when they noticed bruising on Olivia, Lola Berry said.

Lola Berry said their fears grew when Olivia came to visit a couple of
weeks ago with a bruise on her cheek, but Olivia "couldn't tell us what
happened.” She said more bruising followed, to the point that she told
Tynia Berry to take a camera the next time she went to pick Olivia up
from her mother.

Lola Berry said she never observed signs of sexual abuse, even though
she examined Olivia every time she changed her clothing.

The alleged sexual assaults may have started this past weekend, Lola
Berry said. Tynia Berry said she tried to pick up Olivia Saturday from
her mother but no one would answer the door.

Olivia's father
The dead girl's father is Chaz Deon Berry, 25.

He is serving a five-year federal prison term for possession of crack
cocaine with intent to distribute and being a felon in possession of a
firearm.

Chaz Berry pleaded guilty last January to carrying a Smith & Wesson
..45-cal. semi-automatic handgun while attempting to distribute 14.04
grams of cocaine.

He and 20 others, including several members of the Walnut Gangster Crips
gang, were indicted by an Oklahoma City federal grand jury last October,
accused of participating in a scheme to distribute more than 30
kilograms of crack cocaine and 1050 tablets of ecstasy.

Other child deaths
Olivia's death is the most recent of several child deaths that have
happened in Oklahoma after DHS reportedly has received allegations of
abuse or neglect.

•Lola Berry mentioned the Kelsey Smith-Briggs case, which led to changes
in Oklahoma law. Kelsey, 2, died Oct. 11, 2005, at her home near Meeker
after months of suffering broken bones, bruises and other injuries while
DHS and the court supervised her care in response to abuse complaints.

•In March, 3-year-old William Barnard of Oklahoma City drowned in a
bathtub two days after he was returned to his parent's home upon the
recommendation of a DHS child welfare worker. Oklahoma City police
officers had removed William and two siblings from the home just three
days earlier, citing squalid living conditions.

•Police are still investigating the Aug. 11 death of Declan Stewart, 5,
of Edmond. Declan died from blunt force trauma to the head suffered
about a month after he was returned to his mother's home over the
objections of an aunt who had been caring for him. Declan had been
removed from the home a year earlier.

Contributing: Nolan Clay, Staff Writer




CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A
DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NSA / CIA
WIRETAPPING PROGRAM....

CPS Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of Child Protective Services.

every parent should read this .pdf from
connecticut dcf watch...

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com/8x11.pdf

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com

Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US
These numbers come from The National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS

*Perpetrators of Maltreatment*

Physical Abuse CPS 160, Parents 59
Sexual Abuse CPS 112, Parents 13
Neglect CPS 410, Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS 14 Parents 12
Fatalities CPS 6.4, Parents 1.5

Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that
are supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per
100,000 children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse
and kills more children then parents in the United States. If the
citizens of this country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold
parents too. No judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY
government agency because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and
death than any human being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more
human rights violations and deaths of children then the homes from which
they were removed. When are the judges going to wake up and see that
they are sending children to their death and a life of abuse when
children are removed from safe homes based on the mere opinion of a
bunch of social workers.


CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT
FAMILIES YEARLY NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO YOU'RE HOME SOON...


BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF
REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES
TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY
ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...