Archive for April 2008
1 in 30 children in Cherokee County Texas are investigated by Child Protective Services
…while local officials celebrate April’s “Child Abuse Prevention Month.”
Cherokee County TX:
According to an April 9, 2008 Cherokeean Herald article, Cherokee County Child Protective Services (CPS) investigated a staggering 433 child abuse allegations in the year 2007. Only 18 children were removed from their homes and placed in foster care. A small number compared to statewide statistics, however the 2000 US Census indicates that 25.8% of the 47,000 residents in Cherokee County Texas are under 18-years old.
25.8% X 47000 = 12126 minors
433 : 12126 = 1 : 28 ratio
or approx. 1 in 30
There are 15,700 households with children in Cherokee County TX also according to the 2000 US census.
This means over 1 in 500 households in the county have been visited by CPS.
This means over 3 % of the households in Cherokee County TX have had some type of alleged abuse.
Not a good number for any Cherokee County TX official pretending to be a “victim’s rights” champion. The Cherokee County Criminal Docket can certainly attest that a tiny fraction of these cases actually saw the light of day. Meanwhile, a related article cites that Cherokee County officials responsible for the statistics are in fact observing a self imposed “Child Abuse Prevention Month” during the month of April. A celebration of sorts led by County Judge Chris Davis and attended by the District Attorney and County Attorney’s offices.
Our invited State Representative and State Senator all gather on April 9th for a photo op to express their solidarity with the Cherokee County district attorney and county attorney offices to celebrate the county’s overblown abuse statistics. Forgetting about their other districts’ drug and child porn arrests, e.g. Rusk County, stinking corruption and local sex offenders tooling around the courthouse on probation given by Elmer Beckworth and associates. No moratorium needed to cleanse the region of rampant child porn and drug dealing by law enforcement; a ribbon cutting ceremony will rally voters back into a mental slumber.
Remember, they care so much about children that they believe probation is acceptable to every and all child molesters arrested and living within the county- well, those related to the right official.
The fact is the first, second and third cousins of Cherokee County’s “officials” have gotten away with sexual assault of minors for decades. Because the Cherokee County Sheriff Department ignores the reports and the current District and County Attorneys only prosecute non-relatives of Cherokee County’s “officials.” Cherokee County citizens do not need to be made aware of the child porn epidemic in its schools or the high incidence of incest occurring under their noses.
The folks are probably wondering why rapists are recruited to patrol the streets of Jacksonville, TX a la Larry Pugh. And the audacity of the Jacksonville Texas police department to print that the JPD recruiting policies have changed for the better. And racial profiling is all of a sudden “nonexistent” despite the hundreds of thousands of dollars the City of Jacksonville has paid in civil rights abuse settlements. “Nonexistent” because complainants disappear into the Angelina National Forest. Have city officials forgotten all those racial discrimination class action lawsuits?
The folks are probably wondering how for decades a Rusk ISD drama teacher can take students to overnight and out-of-town Theater Camp, while simultaneously trading in child porno on the Internet. That is Rusk Texas high school teacher Harold “Bo” Scallon , who pleaded guilty to his child porn collection in federal court Tuesday April 9, 2008.
Most importantly, the taxpayers are probably wondering why Sex Offenders are walking around town on probation given to them by the District Attorney.
Cherokee County’s District Attorney Elmer Beckworth has consistently given probation to child molesters whose victims were as young as 1-year-old baby girls, all the while the local Cherokeean Herald and Jacksonville Daily Progress have swept the incidents of incest and statutory rape under the proverbial carpet. What can the taxpayer expect when neither of the two local Cherokee County papers printed the fact that the US Postmaster Herbert Michael Dominguez in the Alto Texas Post Office was sentenced this year “for stealing over $27,000 in money and stamps” ?
The local CPS claims to have investigated over 400 abuse allegations last year alone, in a county with a little over 12000 minors. If that is the case, why doesn’t the County Court at Law docket reflect it? It’s not because the abuse wasn’t reported, it is because the victims were ignored by Cherokee County officials as usual. Because these officials spend taxpayer money promoting themselves as victims by bleeding the county coffers and local businesses dry with frivolous Personal Injury lawsuits.
Cherokee County would rather solicit the hiring of an extra “mental health” deputy via ACCESS grant money, knowing it is MHMR’s policy to have 2 deputies present during the transport of an unruly mental patient. How many mental health commitments and out-patient “shepherding” duties does a county of 47000 have each year to justify what a staff of deputies are already required by law to perform? They certainly aren’t investigating child abuse.
400 out of 12000 children have possibly been abused while the Sheriff Department is going to hire another deputy to sit on his or her laurels and help the Jail Coordinator eavesdrop on inmates’ payphone calls.
That means in 2007 over 3 % of Cherokee County’s children may have been neglected, abused or worse. A statistic Cherokee County should be ashamed of. And apparently they are:
They all got together and had a big ol’ ribbon cutting ceremony on the Rusk Texas courthouse steps in an attempt to ‘Fool ‘em All Over Again’ for the month of April. If they know the truth makes them look bad, as in the preventable murder of Faye Bell Harris in 2003, then taxpayers can expect to see their officials in full regalia on the courthouse lawn, telling everyone “the world is actually flat.” And pretending to care more about victimized and helpless children than protecting their collective government paychecks.
Read the Cherokee County TX court dockets for a comparison of actual CPS child abuse cases reported, and those Elmer Beckworth, et al threw in the courthouse dumpster. Next year they’ll be smart enough not to let CPS report its local abuse statistics. Now that’s Awareness to rally around.
[courtesy of the Rusk TX Cherokeean Herald 4-09-08]
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (TDFPS) is observing April as Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Month.
Cherokee County TX sues employers while enticing more business. Nacogdoches jailer sentenced for child porn. Smith County officials investigated by DPS and Rangers.
Jacksonville, Texas:
Several national and internationally owned companies, such as Alliance Data Systems and Astro Air have divested their businesses from the county due to downsizing and corporate reconstruction. The following Personal Injury lawsuits were filed in the last 4 years against Jacksonville TX based Astro Air in Cherokee County’s 2nd district court:
- Civil Docket; Case 2004030190; MORALES, EULALIA vs ASTRO AIR, INC.
- Civil Docket; Case 2004030218; LAWSON, CARROL vs ASTRO AIR, INC.
- Civil Docket; Case 2005030170; RESENDIZ, TERESA vs ASTRO AIR, INC.
- Civil Docket; Case 951000794; ROBERTS, ARTHUR vs ASTRO AIR, INC.
- Civil Docket; Case 96600493; MEADOR, CYNTHIA vs ASTRO AIR, INC.
- Civil Docket; Case 98200091; ABERNATHY, RICHARD vs ASTRO AIR, INC.
- Civil Docket; Case 98500399; KUYKENDALL, TANYA HIGHT vs BAILEY, PATRICK JAMES, ASTRO AIR, INC, et al.
Meanwhile, the wife of Jacksonville Texas Mayor Pro-Tem was indicted for stealing over $150,000 from the Rusk Texas city hall and the US Postmaster in Alto Texas was sentenced for stealing over $27,000 in postage, before paying it back. The latter receiving 1-year adjudicated probation in federal court, while the former has had her case postponed in hopes she too, can sell her recently acquired assets if in fact she is found or pleads guilty.
Nacogdoches Texas:
Nacogdoches correctional officer Michael Paul Kennedy was sentenced March 13, 2008 to 97 months federal prison for soliciting and distributing child pornography. Former jailer Michael Kennedy, 32 of the Nacogdoches Sheriff Department had been arrested last year at his home in Nacogdoches, Texas according the Texas Attorney General press release on that date. His arrest video and others can be viewed at the Texas Attorney General website.
Michael Kennedy, former Nacogdoches TX jailer
Smith County Constable Henry Jackson’s Tyler based private security firm, Fail Safe Security Agency, is under investigation by the Texas DPS. The DPS issued a search warrant on Constable Jackson’s home based upon Jackson and his firm’s expired licenses required to operate a security business. The Tyler Paper reports that Constable Henry Jackson’s security business employed deputy constables who were paid on county time and wearing Smith County uniforms, while simultaneously working security. A special prosecutor was assigned to the case by the Smith County District Attorney’s office.
The Texas Rangers have also been investigating Smith County Sheriff Deputies, according to the Tyler Paper for using jailhouse inmates to work on officers’ personal property. Four (4) Smith County TX deputies facing felony charges for the misappropriations were fired from the low risk jail facility on Tuesday March 18, 2008. 12-year veteran deputy Lt. Gary Lile, Brandon Langston, Jeff Hudnall and Benjamin Hicks were terminated. The charges stem from inmates gathering scrap metal for recycling, rounding up stray livestock on rural roads and the sale of these proceeds not being reported. Instead the deputies pocketed the monies.
Amidst the investigation, on Thursday March 27, 2009 Lieutenant GARY LEE LILE, 57, took the coward’s way out and committed suicide at his Lindale TX home. The Smith County Justice of the Peace told the Tyler Paper that Lt. Lile had suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his chest.
In neighboring Rusk County, Lieutenant Fred Dunlap committed suicide in the exact manner, under similar circumstances last year. The officer shot himself in the chest, even though Lt. Dunlap was not the focus of a Federal Civil Rights investigation. Chief Deputy Dusty Flanagan, aka Daniel Oscar Flanagan, age 37 of Henderson TX was sentenced to 2 years federal prison for the assault of a handcuffed suspect he and Lt. Johnny Leon Davidson, Jr. questioned in Flanagan’s office. Lt. Davidson admitted to writing a fraudulent police report of the beating. Flanagan was sentenced on Wednesday March 26, 2008 after his guilty plea in 2007 in Federal Court. Rusk County Sheriff Deputy Kenneth Calvin Martin also pleaded guilty during this time for possession of child pornography.
Quoted from Smith County Sheriff J.B. Smith regarding the more recent Lt. Lile investigation,“They knew the rules, they knew the regulations and they knew the law. There’s no excuse for it.”
A stark contrast to southern neighbor Cherokee County whose misuse of the District Attorney funds and county equipment has been going on for decades. And those caught being relocated to other parts of the county and/or the malfeasance being not just ignored, but lauded by those at the county seat. Cherokee County bulldozers and employees working on private property, making improvements with taxpayer dollars, is an all too common sight during the dog days of summer. Ever see a county bridge on a private driveway 1500 feet from the Farm to Market Road? Or county trucks laying gravel leading up to a judge’s hunting camp? Or state witnesses being paid for by the insurance pay-out of a murder victim, as in the 1990 Cherokee County case: State vs. Terry Watkins.
Jacksonville Daily Progress August 23, 1990
