A new level of scammer for child welfare police

A new level of scammer for child welfare police

Palm Beach Post Editorial

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion...ekin_0811.html

Saturday, August 11, 2007

After nearly two decades of deceit, police say, an act of carelessness
finally exposed Judith Leekin's cruelty. But by the time police arrested
the Port St. Lucie woman last month, then charged her last week with
aggravated child abuse, abusing disabled adults, witness tampering and
possessing a fictitious driver license, she had stolen about $2 million
from the state of New York and the federal government, and 11 lives.

The 11 developmentally disabled children whom police say Leekin
fraudulently adopted and kept handcuffed and hungry are now between 15
and 27 years old. None was educated beyond fourth grade. They told
police that they were not allowed to go to school, a doctor or a
dentist. They were fed mostly noodles, rice and beans, and their wrists
have scars from the metal handcuffs and plastic ties that she kept in a
glass candy dish when she didn't have them bound. They had to sleep on a
tile floor and couldn't use the bathroom. One is missing.

How could anyone get away with this? How could such fraud and abuse go
on for so long and to so many children under one roof?

Investigators say Leekin used four aliases to dupe the New York City
Administration for Children's Services over almost two decades. After
moving to Port St. Lucie, she submitted forged St. Lucie County school
records to New York officials. She also had a home near Orlando. "I
think all of us were amazed," Port St. Lucie Police Capt. Scott Bartal
told The Post, "at just how devious this whole thing was."

Unfortunately, child welfare investigators were not nearly as meticulous
as Leekin. When two people complained about Leekin to the Florida
Department of Children and Families in 1999, investigators found "no
indicators" that a child had been hit in the head with an iron, that a
bloodied blanket was the result of that strike, or that Leekin had
bruised a child by tying his hands and feet before putting him in a
closet for punishment. That's because Leekin showed DCF investigators
four healthy children who belonged to a relative.

New York officials told Florida DCF investigators that their files show
"there may have been some type of case in the past but does not indicate
what. Would need kids' names to thoroughly search records." That
premature ending to the case allowed Leekin to continue to collect
checks and abuse the children for another eight years.

Most likely, child welfare investigators in New York were eager to place
a child with special needs with an adoptive parent, and their eagerness
resulted in less oversight. Florida welfare officials now say that
Leekin also snowed them. But investigators know that some people use
aliases and move frequently to cheat the system. Perhaps this state can
do more to prevent similar types of fraud.

Leekin outmatched two child-welfare agencies by knowing the system
better than they did. Taxpayers lost millions. Eleven children lost much
more.

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

CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING HUNDREDS 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...