SCOTTSDALE, Arizona - School rape victim suing for damages now centerof guardianship battle

School rape victim suing for damages now center of guardianship battle

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articl...guaro0830.html

Ofelia Madrid
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 30, 2007 06:36 PM
SCOTTSDALE - A former Saguaro High School student who initially sought
$20 million from the Scottsdale Unified School District after her 2006
rape on campus, is also the subject of a guardianship battle, according
to court documents unsealed Thursday. The girl, 15, had been cared for
by court-appointed guardians after her adoptive mother forced her out of
the house and onto the streets at age 11, where she at least one time
had sex for money, according to a Scottsdale Police report and other
court documents.

The girl's adoptive parents, who are divorced, petitioned a Maricopa
County Superior Court judge Thursday to terminate the guardianship, said
Charles Bruen, an attorney representing Eula and Robert Franco, who
adopted the girl in 1998.

Bruen would not say why the Francos want the guardianship terminated.




It is unclear when the girl was placed under the guardianship of
Josephine Gortarez, but the Francos consented to it, he said.

The girl filed a $20 million notice of claim against the district Jan.
24, but her attorney Craig Knapp sought to keep its content secret.

Knapp is also representing the girl in her May 21 lawsuit against the
school district and its janitorial service and asked for unspecified
damages and punitive damages. Knapp asked for the lawsuit contents to be
kept secret.

In past interviews Knapp said he was representing the girl's family, but
Bruen said that is incorrect.

"The parents are frustrated that Craig Knapp says he represents the
family. It's gotten to a point that it's time to correct it," he said.

Knapp was not available for comment Thursday.

Details about the girl's past emerged from her statements to police
after the sexual assault, which occurred during the first week of school
in August 2006.

This is the pictured painted by the court documents unsealed Thursday:

The girl told police she was adopted around the age of five.

When she got older, she and her adopted mother began arguing frequently.
At one point, her mother called Child Protection Services and asked what
she should do with an adopted daughter she no longer wanted.

The girl was placed in a shelter and attended the Thomas J. Pappas
School for homeless children. Her mother took her back and but later
kicked her out and told her never to come back.

The girl was 11-years-old and living on the streets for about two weeks.

One night while walking to McDonalds, a man in a car pulled up to her
and asked whether she needed a ride.

She agreed.

The man asked if she needed money. She told him she didn't need money
because she was living on the streets.

The man asked if she had ever tried prostitution.

She said no.

He told her that it was easy money and that she could try it one time
and if she didn't like it she didn't have to do it again.

The man bought her condoms and the girl had sex with an unknown man. She
didn't understand the first man was a pimp and wanted all the money.

She gave him $40, kept the unknown remainder and fled the car.

That was the first and last time she had sex before the rape, according
to the documents released by

Commissioner Lindsay Ellis.

The Arizona Republic won a February appeal to open the girl's lawsuit
and the notice of claim.

Republic attorney David Bodney said Thursday's release of documents
allows the public to monitor claims against the school district.

"Any other outcome would leave the public completely in the dark and
unable to monitor either the court or litigant's claims against a public
school district. These are fundamental rights of access to court papers
and proceedings."

The Arizona Court of Appeals ruled in June that the claim is a public
record. The Republic does not identify the girl, 14 and a freshman at
the time of the rape, because she is a minor and victim of sexual assault.

The Arizona Republic filed its lawsuit in February after Knapp, the
girl's attorney, asked a lower court to seal the notice of claim to
protect the girl's privacy. The claim was the first step in filing a
lawsuit against the school district.

Knapp later filed a lawsuit against the school district and its
janitorial service, ABM Janitorial Services.

The girl testified in open court at the former school janitor Roberto
Lemus-Retana's trial that she put up no resistance when she was sexually
assaulted by Lemus-Retana after school because she feared harm.

Lemus-Retana, 27, an undocumented immigrant, was sentenced in July to 80
years in prison. He was convicted of six felony counts, including four
counts of sexual conduct with a minor, one of public sexual indecency
and one of sexual abuse stemming from the August 2006 attack.



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...