Lawsuit filed in Taycheedah inmate’s death

Treatment used alleged to worsen mental state
Poor mental health care as well as a slow response from guards and medical staff contributed to the suicide of a mentally ill prison inmate, a lawsuit alleges.

James Gende, a Waukesha attorney, filed the suit Monday in U.S. District Court in Milwaukee on behalf of Angela Enoch’s estate and surviving family members.

Enoch, a mentally ill teen who had been in and out of institutions and foster care, died in June 2005 when she was 18. She used a ripped seam from a pillow to strangle herself in an observation cell of the segregated unit at Taycheedah Correctional Institution, the state’s largest prison for women near Fond du Lac.

“I think the system turned her into a throwaway child,” Gende said Tuesday. “The treatment she received while incarcerated by the Department of Corrections was a substantial cause of the deterioration of her mental health status, which resulted in her successful suicide.”

The suit, which names Gov. Jim Doyle, Corrections Secretary Matt Frank, and 20 corrections employees as defendants, seeks a jury trial and damages of $10 million. Enoch’s mother, Roxanne Enoch of Hayward, is named along with Enoch’s two minor sisters as plaintiffs.

“We are in the process of reviewing the lawsuit and conferring with our legal counsel and it would be premature to comment on the matter at this time,” John Dipko, a Department of Corrections spokesman, said Tuesday. “However, we take any suicide that occurs in our prison system very seriously and we re-evaluate our practices and policies in each instance to see if there are any actions that could have prevented the death and if there are any changes that need to be made.”

ACLU, Justice Department also cite Enoch case
The lawsuit comes on the heels of a pending class-action lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union and a separate U.S. Department of Justice investigation, both of which allege grossly deficient medical and mental health care at Taycheedah.

The prison, which has about 730 inmates, has the highest ratio of mentally ill offenders of Wisconsin’s 19 correctional institutions, state Department of Corrections officials say. About two-thirds of its inmates have mental health needs.

The ACLU suit notes that the suicide rate among inmates in segregated units is 10 times the rate of those in the general-population units in Wisconsin prisons. In segregation, inmates typically spend 23 hours of each day alone in a cell, and are given about one hour outside of it to exercise.

Corrections officials say they have been working to improve mental health care at the prison and now give a closer review of inmates considered for segregation.

Enoch’s death is recounted in both the ACLU and Justice Department complaints. But the latest 20-page lawsuit offers new details alleging how Taycheedah’s response to Enoch’s mental illness ultimately led to her death.

“That because of her severe mental illnesses, Enoch was placed in solitary confinement in (Taycheedah’s) Segregation Unit,” the suit alleges. “… Solitary confinement results in exacerbation of previously existing mental illnesses. It is also likely that individuals, like Enoch, will suffer permanent harm due to their solitary confinement.”

Suit alleges prison failures
Enoch entered Wisconsin’s juvenile court system at age 12 and was charged with her first adult crime at 14. She had a history of assaults, as well as self-destructive and suicidal behavior.

She had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, personality disorder, mood disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Despite a court order to give Enoch her prescription medications, Taycheedah staff “failed to take the necessary action in administering (her) prescribed medications in the days immediately preceding her death of June 19, 2005,” the lawsuit alleges.

The suit also alleges it took staff six to eight minutes to enter Enoch’s cell after observing her strangling herself.

“(Taycheedah) staff’s reaction to Enoch’s self-strangulation was unreasonably delayed and in violation of their standard operating procedures for response to an emergency situation, which was a substantial cause of Enoch’s death,” the suit reads.

Among the violations of law, the suit alleges wrongful death, cruel and unusual punishment, violation of equal protection, and violations of the federal Rehabilitation Act and the American with Disabilities Act.

The suit also alleges gender-based disparities. Female prisoners are not afforded the same level of psychiatric care available to male offenders at the Wisconsin Resource Center, a specialized mental health facility administered by the state Department of Health and Family Services through a partnership with the Department of Corrections.

“If Angela had been a man, she never would have been in that segregation unit,” Gende said. “She’d have been in a mental health facility.”

The Department of Corrections’ Committee on Inmate/Youth Deaths reviewed Enoch’s suicide, Dipko said. However, the committee’s findings are confidential under state law, he added.

In Doyle’s proposed two-year budget, the state Building Commission has approved an $11 million proposal for a 45-bed female inmate treatment facility at the Wisconsin Resource Center. His budget also includes a request for 33 additional permanent positions for medical and mental health care at the prison, at a cost of $2.7 million.

Wendy Harris can be reached at 920-993-1000, ext. 526, or wharris@postcrescent.com. Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers contributed to this report.

Trial opens; Boy Scouts accused of hiding pedophiles

The Oregonian
Trial opens in Portland, with Boy Scouts accused of hiding pedophiles
By Aimee Green, The Oregonian
March 17, 2010, 9:13PM

Attorney Kelly Clark, who represents a 37-year-old man who as a boy was sexually abused by an assistant Scoutmaster, told Multnomah County jurors Wednesday: “You will see a different face of the Boy Scouts of America” in coming weeks.
BRENT WOJAHN/THE OREGONIAN

A civil trial that opened Wednesday in Portland will show that the Boy Scouts of America knew it had child molesters in its leadership for decades but kept the problem quiet, according to an attorney for one of the victims.

The case, expected to attract national attention, centers on a Portland man who confessed to Scout leaders that he had molested 17 Scouts but was allowed to continue joining boys in Scouting activities.

On a broader scale, the case is one of the first to bring into open court hundreds of confidential files that the 100-year-old organization kept on Scout leaders and others suspected of sexually abusing boys. Though the Scouts, based in Texas, have been sued dozens of times over allegations of sexual abuse, most cases have been settled out of court, keeping files from becoming public.

Patrick Boyle, the Washington, D.C.-based author of “Scout’s Honor: Sexual Abuse in America’s Most Trusted Institution,” said Wednesday that this case may be only the second time such files have been used in a trial.

“It’s very embarrassing to them,” Boyle said.

The case that opened Wednesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court was brought by Kelly Clark, a Portland attorney who specializes in child sex abuse cases, and involves a former assistant Scoutmaster named Timur Dykes. The lawsuit, brought by a victim of Dykes listed in court documents by the pseudonym Jack Doe, seeks at least $14 million from the Boy Scouts of America and the Cascade Pacific Council in Oregon.

The Scouts, Clark said in opening statements, knew it had pedophiles in its organization yet allowed Dykes and others to continue to associate with its members. He held up file folder after file folder from Boy Scout headquarters that he said proves the organization knew of at least 1,000 suspected child molesters from 1965 to 1985.

“Those decisions led naturally, predictably and foreseeably to the abuse of boys like” my client, he said.

Attorneys for the two Scouting organizations said in their opening statements that their clients weren’t at fault.

Boy Scouts of America attorney Charles T. Smith said he would call experts who would testify that sexual abuse of children wasn’t a problem specific to the Scouts but one that occurs throughout society. He also told jurors that child molesters are difficult to track and that the organization kept confidential files on them in an effort to protect children.

“These people move,” Smith said. “They go from state to state. And they change their names or their birth dates or they do something to try to slip back in.”

The trial, expected to last four weeks, focuses on Doe, who was a Boy Scout when he was abused by Dykes in the 1980s. The Oregonian is not naming Doe, now 37, because he is a victim of sex abuse.

According to Clark, Dykes was 25 when he met a 9-year-old Doe in 1981. Later, Doe joined a Southeast Portland Scout troop where Dykes was an assistant Scoutmaster. The troop met at a building, in the 9900 block of Southeast Caruthers Street, owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The boys also often went to Dykes’ apartment to work on merit badges or spend the night, with their parents’ approval, Clark told jurors.

“All of the parents trusted Timur Dykes because he was a Scout leader,” Clark said.

The apartment, Clark said, was like a playground for boys.

“He had ferrets,” Clark said. “He had snakes, including a boa constrictor. … He had a knife collection. He gave (Doe) french fries for breakfast on a regular basis.”

In January 1983, the mother of a Scout who said he had been molested by Dykes went to Gordon McEwen, a Mormon bishop who headed the local Scouting program, Clark said. McEwen confronted Dykes, who confessed to abusing 17 Scouts.

Nonetheless, Dykes was allowed to continue to spend time with the boys in the program, Clark said. McEwen contacted the parents of the 17 Scouts but “did nothing to warn the other parents of boys within Timur Dykes’ reach and grasp,” Clark said.

Dykes was arrested that year on accusations of molesting boys. He pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree sexual abuse, received probation and was ordered to stay away from children. Yet, Clark said, he continued Scouting activities.

After his confession, Dykes molested Doe at least six times, Clark said. Four times, Doe awoke to discover he was on top of Dykes, who was aroused. Another time, Dykes pulled Doe’s hand into his shorts. During a recent deposition, Dykes admitted abusing Doe.

In July 1984, police pulled over Dykes while he was driving a van full of Scouts on a camping trip. Police discovered his 1983 conviction and arrested him. Doe’s parents learned of Dyke’s history and, alarmed, asked their son if he had been a victim.

“To protect his parents, he said, ‘No, Timur never touched me,’” Clark said. But the abuse deeply disturbed Doe, who started getting bad grades, using drugs and getting in trouble with the law, Clark said. Today, he suffers from depression, nightmares and flashbacks, Clark said.

Clark is also representing seven other victims of Dykes in lawsuits against the Boy Scouts. Those plaintiffs also sought damages from the Mormon church, and the church settled.

Paul Xochihua, an attorney for the Cascade Pacific Council, painted a much different picture. He disagreed with how Clark characterized McEwen’s response to Dykes’ confession, saying McEwen cooperated with a police investigation. Police also knew of McEwen’s plan to contact the parents of the abused children, he said.

“He will say he acted immediately,” Xochihua said.

Smith, the attorney for the Boy Scouts of America, said neither the local nor national organization was directly involved in the operation of Doe’s troop. That fell to the Mormon church. But, Smith told jurors, “Boy Scouts of America is not here to blame this on the church. Those decisions will be up to you.”

Boyle, the author, said Smith’s argument is one he’s heard before.

“‘We don’t run the local troop. We don’t choose the leaders,’” Boyle said. That argument has been successful in the past, he said. What’s more, Boyle said, the public has a lot of good will toward the Scouts.

“People are unwilling to punish the Boy Scouts,” Boyle said. “I draw a distinction with the Catholic Church, because a lot of people don’t like the Catholic Church.”

– Aimee Green

White House Boys / No charges filed

Investigation into child abuse at Marianna reform school brings no charges

By Ben Montgomery, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Friday, March 12, 2010

They have thought about revenge, daydreamed about swinging a leather strap at a feeble old man. Some have even driven back to Marianna, as grown men, with murderous intent.

One way or another, the former wards of the Florida School for Boys want the guard who beat them to pay.

But a 15-month investigation into decades-old abuse won’t result in criminal charges against Troy Tidwell or any other former staffers at the state’s oldest reform school, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said Thursday.

“With the passage of over 50 years,” the 13-page FDLE report states, “no tangible physical evidence was found to either support or refute the allegations of physical or sexual abuse.”

The FDLE interviewed more than 100 men, relatives and former staffers about allegations of brutal beatings in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s. Most of the statements were consistent, they found. Boys were given up to 100 licks with a heavy leather paddle in a putrid cinder block building called the White House. Many said their backsides bled, that they needed stitches, that they had to pick underwear from their lacerations. Eight said they had scars or suffered injuries.

Three former employees told investigators they either witnessed abuse or saw the effects, such as welts or bloody pajamas. The daughter of one deceased employee told the FDLE that her father came home one night and said, “That damn drunk son of a b—- beat another boy,” in reference to Arthur G. Dozier, after whom the school is now named. Her father later quit in disgust.

One former superintendent, Lenox Williams, told investigators he administered 10 to 12 licks. “That’s the number,” he said. “We didn’t go over that.”

He did recall hearing from a school physician that a boy had “gotten too many licks across his buttocks with that paddle.”

“He said there . . . were some, some lacerations,” Williams continued. “And it’s possible to do that with it if you choose to.”

The few men who claimed to have witnessed deaths at the school could provide few specifics and no names. Some former students said they were sexually abused, but they could not identify their abusers.

The investigators did not interview Tidwell; his attorneys declined their requests.

Forensic investigators did examine the inside of the White House and tested the walls for blood. “All areas tested had negative results.”

The FDLE gave its report to Glenn Hess, state attorney for the 14th Judicial Circuit of Florida. Hess declined to prosecute, citing the statute of limitations and the vague nature of some of the allegations.

The investigation was ordered by Gov. Charlie Crist after a number of men went public in 2008 with stories of abuse. The men, who call themselves the White House Boys, found each other online a few years ago. The school is the subject of a Times investigation, “For Their Own Good.”

Crist also asked the FDLE to investigate a small cemetery on the property. That investigation, concluded last year, found no evidence of foul play in the deaths of 31 boys believed to be buried on school property.

The White House Boys are critical of both reports, saying the FDLE has a conflict in investigating allegations against state employees and state agencies.

Robert Straley, 63, of Clearwater says he was beaten and sexually assaulted by Tidwell, a memory that he repressed for decades. “It seems like such an absolute travesty of justice that a person could do that and get away with it,” Straley said after reading the report.

Straley and more than 300 others are pursuing a claims bill in the Legislature seeking unspecified compensation.

“This isn’t over,” Straley said. “We’re not in it for the money.”

http://www.tampabay.com/news/investigation-into-notorious-marianna-reform-school-brings-no-charges/1079048

$10.5 million awarded for teen’s death

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 12 (UPI) — A $10.5 million settlement has been reached between Philadelphia and the family of a teenager who died at a Tennessee treatment center, court records show.

In return for the money, the family of Omega “Manny” Leach has agreed to drop all claims against the city of Philadelphia and the Department of Human Services, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Friday.

Leach, 17, was sent to the Chad Youth Enhancement Center in Tennessee despite warnings that the facility was dangerous, the newspaper said.

Attorney Thomas P. Kline said a key piece of evidence in the federal lawsuit he filed on behalf of the family was a photograph from a surveillance camera showing a technician at the clinic with both hands around Leach’s neck as he pinned him to the floor.

Tennessee authorities ruled the teen’s death a homicide but the mental health worker who placed him in a restraint hold has not been charged with a crime.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/02/12/105-million-awarded-for-teens-death/UPI-13681266000890/

Ritual Abuse: Lawsuit Against Convicted Satanic Catholic Priest Dismissed because ‘Survivor Doe’ Filing is too Late, Judge Rules

A lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by Gerald Robinson, left, and others was dismissed by Common Pleas Judge Ruth Ann Franks.

By DAVID YONKE
TOLEDO BLADE | January 15, 2010

A lawsuit against Toledo priest Gerald Robinson, who was convicted in 2006 of murdering a nun, has been thrown out for being filed too late.

Judge Ruth Ann Franks of Lucas County Common Pleas Court said a Toledo woman’s civil suit, alleging that she was abused by Robinson and others in satanic rituals when she was a child, was not filed within Ohio’s statute of limitations, which in most cases is 12 years after the person turns 18.

The woman, now in her mid-40s, filed anonymously in 2005 as Survivor Doe along with her husband Spouse Doe, claiming that she could not have sued Robinson earlier because she did not know his identity until she saw him on television after his 2004 arrest for murder.

Mark Davis, the woman’s attorney, said he plans to appeal the ruling.

Judge Franks said in her 27-page decision, dated Tuesday, that while Survivor Doe did not know Robinson’s identity, she knew at least four people involved in the abuse and therefore could have attempted to learn the other abusers’ identities before the time limitations expired.

Judge Franks said child abuse may be the most “vile and vicious act that can be inflicted by a human” and that it stirs “very profound emotions,” but “the law does not allow the court to operate on emotion.”

She said Survivor Doe “could have sought assistance from law enforcement, and she could have attempted to act through other trusted individuals such as her husband” before the statute ex-pired.

Also named in the now-dismissed lawsuit were Gerald Mazuchowski, a Toledo lay Catholic; the Toledo Catholic Diocese, and St. Adalbert Parish and school, where some abuses allegedly occurred.

Survivor Doe claimed in the suit that she was sexually abused by the satanic cult between 1968 and 1975, and that her abusers included a hooded man “with evil eyes” and a hooded “fat” man who told other cult members what to do.

Judge Franks cited Survivor Doe as saying that she witnessed “her mother’s participation in the ritual-type murder of a child during the satanic rituals and of her brother sexually assaulting her with a snake at someone’s direction, also related to the satanic ritual abuse.”

The judge said the Toledo woman began to remember the satanic rituals in 1994, kept detailed journals she calls her “life’s work,” and sought assistance from an attorney in 1994 about possibly suing her uncle for child abuse in a separate matter.

Mr. Davis, Survivor Doe’s attorney, said he is convinced that “our case is even stronger this time … because the evidence is overwhelming that what she described is what actually happened.”

He said he believes an appeals court will side with Survivor Doe’s contention that the statute of limitations countdown should not have begun ticking until she recognized her alleged perpetrators.

Robinson’s attorney, John Donahue, said yesterday that he was “very pleased” with Judge Franks’ decision, calling it “sensitive to the concerns of child abuse victims” while also upholding the law – “that justice delayed is justice denied.”

Robinson, 71, is serving a 15-years-to-life sentence at Hocking Correctional Facility in southern Ohio for the 1980 murder of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl. He was barred from ministry and has retired from the diocese but remains a priest because he has not been laicized by the Vatican.

Sister Margaret Ann’s body was found, choked and stabbed 32 times, on the morning of April 5, 1980 – Holy Saturday – in the sacristy of the former Mercy Hospital.

Robinson was arrested by cold-case detectives in April, 2004, and found guilty of murder in Lucas County Common Pleas Court in May, 2006.

His legal appeals have been rejected by the Ohio 6th District Court of Appeals, the Ohio Supreme Court, and the U.S. Supreme Court. A petition for postconviction relief is pending before Judge Gene Zmuda in Lucas County Common Pleas Court, with a hearing scheduled for Jan. 22.

Source: http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100115/NEWS02/1150375