Girl told CPS of abuse 2 years before stepdad's rampage, documents show

[babylonsister]

Girl told CPS of abuse 2 years before stepdad's rampage, documents show
By Marjie Lundstrom and Sam Stanton
Published: Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008 | Page 11A



The 14-year-old girl who survived the slaying of her mother and siblings by her stepfather Dec. 1 had reported him to authorities two years earlier for allegedly beating her with a stick, forcing her to go without food, shaving her head and making her sleep in the garage without blankets, documents from Sacramento County's Child Protective Services show.

CPS briefly took the children out of the home in September 2006. Yet it determined that the then-12-year-old's claims were "unfounded" and returned the children to the south Sacramento home of her stepfather, Ying "Chris" Moua, and her mother, Bouavanh "Kim" Moua, internal documents released to The Bee Wednesday indicate.

Sacramento sheriff's officials say Ying Moua, 33, went on a rampage Dec. 1 and killed his wife and the couple's 2-year-old twins, and seriously injured their 3-year-old daughter, before he shot himself.

The 14-year-old was not harmed because CPS had placed her in protective custody on Nov. 21, after a teacher at her school discovered a journal she had kept for more than a year that described her stepfather's abuse of her. Another sibling, an 8-year-old boy, also escaped harm because he had been living in a different home at the time.

The deaths raise new questions about CPS' decision to leave the three siblings in the home after the teenager reported her abuse allegations last month, and for its failure to even go to the home to investigate. Instead, the agency asked sheriff's deputies to inspect the home on Nov. 22, and no further action was taken.

"I don't know how many more little coffins the people of Sacramento County have to see before the Board of Supervisors, who run this program, start taking personal responsibility for the number and nature of these crimes," said Ed Howard of Sacramento, senior counsel for the Children's Advocacy Institute.

more...

http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/1465230.html

[SheilaT]

1. These kind of stories are so sadly common.

Both the part about CPS not protecting children, or about someone killing family members, sometimes the killer being a victim of years of abuse.

Too often people on this board react as if this is rare (maybe I'm misunderstanding the comments posted, and if so I apologize) but the sad reality is that humans are often vicious, violent, murderous creatures. Other than being willing and able to fund services adequately to protect more people, I don't know what can be done.

[crim son]

2. I don't know if we react as if these events are rare.

I do know that we have become somewhat numb to this sort of tragedy, because there is so much of it and because it seems like we have no power to help. Either we go crazy or we pretend it isn't happening.

[supernova]

3. It's clear CPS

isn't an effective model for dealing with abused children and getting them the care and attention they need.

What a better model would be, I don't know.

My heart goes out to this girl and her family. What a tragedy.

I think it still needs to be looked at the children mostly do not lie about abuse. I seems that the CPS agents all too often want to believe whatever cover story the parents are selling rather than the obvious hurt of the child.

[Lerkfish]

4. CPS in most cities is set up to fail

woefully understaffed, and no rewards for actually saving children, and the courts routinely put abused children back in the homes, even against CPS advice.

I'm not exempting CPS from blame, but I'm pointing out the entire structure seems engineered to allow these horrific results to happen.

we need to overhaul the structure, resources and priorities of the system.