The Awareness Center closed. We operated from April 30, 1999 - April 30, 2014. This site is being provided for educational & historical purposes. We were the international Jewish Coalition Against Sexual Abuse/Assault (JCASA); and were dedicated to ending sexual violence in Jewish communities globally. We did our best to operate as the make a wish foundation for Jewish survivors of sex crimes. In the past we offered a clearinghouse of information, resources, support and advocacy.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Case of Yehezkiel Greenbaum
Case of Yehezkiel Greenbaum
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| Yehezkiel Greenbaum - Convicted Sex Offender |
Gabbi - Jerusalem, Israel
This is a case of clergy sexual abuse. Yehezkiel Greenbaum was convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy who was intellectually challenged
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Table of Contents
Disclaimer: Inclusion in this website does not
constitute a recommendation or endorsement. Individuals must decide for
themselves whether the resources meet their own personal needs.
2012
-
עבריין מין שברח מהארץ זכה ל"הסדר מקל" (10/28/2012
- Synagogue Gabbai Who Repeatedly Raped A 14-Year-Old Developmentally Disabled Boy Gets Light Sentence – Even Though He Fled The Country To Avoid Prosecution (10/28/2012)
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עבריין מין שברח מהארץ זכה ל"הסדר מקל"
גבאי בית כנסת בירושלים ברח מהארץ לאחר שכבר הודה בביצוע שלושה מעשי סדום בבן 14. כששב לישראל, חזר בו וכתב האישום המתוקן מחק עבירה אחת ושינה אחרת. הוא נידון ל-30 חודשי מאסר
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בחירות בארה"ב 2012
- לכל הכתבות של CNN ו-ynet בעמוד מיוחדבמסגרת הסדר טיעון קודם שעליו חתם גרינבאום ב-2010 עם פרקליטות מחוז ירושלים, הוא הודה והורשע בביצוע שלושה מעשי סדום באותה פרשה. סמוך לחתימת ההסכם ברח גרינבאום לחו"ל, וכששב, חודשו ההליכים נגדו. אך הוא חזר בו מהודאתו, ובעקבות כך בוטלה הכרעת הדין הראשונה.
הנער, שאותו הכיר גרינבאום במסגרתו עבודתו, הוזמן שוב להעיד, והצדדים הגיעו להסדר הנוכחי. במסגרתו נמחקה עבירה אחת של מעשה סדום בקטין, ועבירת מעשה סדום אחרת הומרה במעשה מגונה. "ההסדר הנוכחי מקל לאין שיעור מן ההסדר המקורי", אמרו בגזר הדין השופטים צבי סגל, משה יועד הכהן ובן-ציון גרינברגר.
"טרף קל"
על פי כתב האישום המתוקן, בין גרינבאום ובין הקטין נקשרו קשרי חברות בתקופה שבין חודש יוני לאוגוסט 2007. גרינבאום היה מודע למצבו השכלי והרגשי של הקטין, אך למרות זאת הסיע אותו פעמיים במכוניתו - לאזור יער רמות בירושלים ולחניון הסמוך לביתו, ושם ביצע בו מעשים מגונים. במקרה החמור ביותר בכתב האישום, שאירע במהלך אוגוסט 2007, תקף גרינבאום את הנער בחדר בקומה השנייה של בית הכנסת.על פי השופטים, "פער הגילים ויחסי הקרבה בין הנאשם לבין המתלונן, כמו גם מצבו הרגשי והקוגניטיבי, הפכו את המתלונן ל'טרף קל' מבחינת הנאשם והקשו עליו להתנגד למעשים שבוצעו בו".
בנוסף, ציינו לחומרה את הישנות המקרים, שבוצעו תוך תכנון מוקדם, ואת הפגיעה הקשה שהסבו מעשי גרינבאום לקטין, שהיה זקוק
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Failed Messiah - October 28, 2012
In
another example of Israel's ethically challenged legal system, a
synagogue gabbai who fled prosecution for the repeated rapes of a
developmentally disabled child gets a short prison sentence on his
return to Israel.
Yehezkiel Greenbaum, a 41-year-old Jerusalem synagogue gabbai, was convicted in a plea bargain today to charges of sodomy and indecent assault against a 14 -year-old boy with low mental function and personality disorders, Ynet's Hebrew website reported.
Greenbaum fled the country in 2010 just before he was to slated to sign the agreement. When he recently returned to Israel, he was able to get some of the related charges dropped or altered, which reduced his sentence.
But Greenbaum also tried to claim that he had not forced the boys, a claim the judges rejected because of the boys' mental states.
"The age gap and the close relations between the defendant and the complainant, as well as cognitive and emotional state [of the complainant], made the complainant easy prey for the defendant," the judges said.
Greenbaum was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
The victim was so traumatized by the ongoing sexual abuse that he needed psychiatric hospitalization.
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Some of the information on The Awareness Center's
web pages may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always
been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material
available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political,
human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues,
etc.
We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any
such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this
site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest
in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtm . If you wish to use copyrighted material from this update for purposes
of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Where's the news coverage about those who called the NYC underground tunnels home?
Does anyone know about all the homeless kids that live in the underground tunnels in NY? You know, the ones they don't admit to..the ones they kind of turn a blind eye to? Where are they? What about all the other homeless people in these affected areas? Where's the news reports about these folks?
Remember many of these folks come from abusive homes and are survivors of sexual abuse/assault.
Remember many of these folks come from abusive homes and are survivors of sexual abuse/assault.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
The Murder of Zipora Yagodajev
Case of Raymond Vargas and Laura Sudol
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
This page is dedicated to the memory of Zipora Yagodajev who was raped and murdered.
Zipora Yagodajev was raped after Raymond Vargas strangled to death on December 16, 1991. He then charred body which was found under the Williamsburg Bridge. Zipora had left her Williamsburg home on the morning of December 16, 1990 to buy candy for a Hanukkah party. Her charred body was found the next morning.
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Table of Contents
1990
- Girl, 15, Found Strangled Under the Williamsburg Bridge (12/18/1990)
- Hasidim Try to Explain Girl's Killing (12/19/1990)
- Suspect Seized in Strangling of a Girl, 15 (02/18/1991)
- Parolee Confessed to Killing Of Girl, 15, Prosecutor Says (02/19/1991)
1992
- Brooklyn Man Convicted in Strangling of Girl, 15 (03/14/1992)
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Girl, 15, Found Strangled Under the Williamsburg Bridge
New York Times - December 18, 1990
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Hasidim Try to Explain Girl's Killing
New York Times - December 19, 1990
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Suspect Seized in Strangling of a Girl, 15
New York Times - February 18, 1991
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Parolee Confessed to Killing Of Girl, 15, Prosecutor Says
New York Times - February 19, 1991
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Brooklyn Man Convicted in Strangling of Girl, 15
New York Times - March 14, 1992
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FAIR USE NOTICE
Some of the information on The Awareness Center's
web pages may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always
been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material
available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political,
human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues,
etc.
We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any
such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this
site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest
in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this update for purposes
of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.
1913: Views regarding impotency, sterility, sexual abuse and self-abuse
Back in 1913 the views about impotency and sterility were quiet interesting. The belief back then was it was much better for those who were "idiots, criminally and hopelessly insane, disabled, sexual perverts, epileptic" along with a slew of others to be sterile.
The belief was that impotency and sterility were cause from "sowing your wild oats", injuries to reproductive organs caused "by falling astride on fences, horseback riding", sexually transmitted diseases, alcoholism, and various forms of self-abuse.
The belief was that impotency and sterility were cause from "sowing your wild oats", injuries to reproductive organs caused "by falling astride on fences, horseback riding", sexually transmitted diseases, alcoholism, and various forms of self-abuse.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Immunity for reporting child abuse in Illinois
As of July 1, 1975 those who report suspected cases of child abuse and or neglect would be given legal immunity. This included cases of sexual abuse and "mental injury". The law also changed the age limit for victims the from age of 16 to 18.
Female delinquents have rougher way to go
Considering the vast majority of those who were categorized as "female juvenile delinquents" back in the 1970s were also survivors of child abuse, I thought this article was extremely interesting. It saddens me a great deal that they were punished for promiscuity, but cause what we know today is that promiscuity is often symptomology of a child who was sexually abuse. It's also appalling that when a girl was arrested that it was common place to give her a gynecological exam.
This article was published in the Chicago Defender back in 1975.
This article was published in the Chicago Defender back in 1975.
Yakov Vershubsky - Attempts at Cyberbullying
For years various individuals have set their minds on cyberbullying, harassing and cyberstalking Vicki Polin, who is the founder and director of The Awareness Center. The attacks began when The Awareness Center was assisting survivors of a few alleged, confessed and convicted sexual predators. The attacks against Ms. Polin was created as an attempt to discredit her and to create a distraction from the real issues, which involved a long history within various Jewish communities of covering-up sex crimes, obstruction of justice and witness tampering. It's obvious that Yakov Vershubsky among others, are unaware of the history of the attacks, yet choose to continue with the discreditation of one of the pioneers in the Jewish anti-rape movement.
The cases in which started the cyber-bullying attempts against Vicki Polin include:
- Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach
- Rabbi Marc Gafni
- Rabbi David E. Lipman
- Rabbi Mordecai Tendler
- Rabbi Hershy Worch
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| Cyberbully - Yakov Vershubsky |
Cyber-bullying, harassment, stalking and all forms of hate is illegal in this country and those who perpetrate these types of crimes will be reported.
According to Yakov Vershubsky's facebook page, he currently resides in Monsey, NY and is a world traveler. He speaks Russina, Hebrew, Yiddish, Arabic and Українська.
As you can see from Yakov Vershubsky's photograph, he carries a gun.
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| Yakov Vershubsky's Attempts at Cyberbullying |
The Easy Way to Pain
The Easy Way to Pain
By Michael J. Salamon
Times of Israel - October 22, 2012
It seems that we are always looking for an easy way out. We all want easy, simple, straight forward answers to all of our questions, answers that provide us with an effortless way to deal with the problems we encounter in our daily lives. We expect to go to an authority and present our conundrum and within seconds get the magic bullet response that will immediately resolve the matter. This is precisely the reason why doctors give antibiotics to patients even when they know that the patients symptoms are caused by a virus and the antibiotic is not likely to help. But, as a potent type of placebo, and only because we want to believe it, the antibiotic does help to ease the patient who seeks the easy answer.
Doctors have been faulted for allowing this to continue but they are often pressured into compliance by the realities of the patients they treat. It is the silver bullet and that is what people want. Students want to know exactly what will be on the test so that all they have to study is that limited topic to succeed. There is only limited interest in learning and understanding for its own sake. So teachers have been put into the position of teaching only for the test and as a result scores in overall knowledge and achievement have been declining. No matter, this is what is demanded of both students and teachers so both groups are compelled to comply. Similarly, we seek answers for deep metaphysical and religious issues from our halachic leaders with the same expectation of a simple answer. But, even worse, we also seek answers to issues they are not prepared to deal with. Unfortunately, they too are often eager to comply with an easy response.
This is not a question of who is at fault, we all are. It is more an issue of buying into a simple mindset which says that “all we want is to be told what to do.” But there are severe consequences with this approach. In medicine the consequence is that we are seeing the emergence of the super bug, the germ that will no longer be curbed by any antibiotics now available to us. In education, according to many, we are seeing the demise of creative thinking and the expansion of a society of students eager to learn little and play a lot on the newest technology. In religion we are seeing the rise of the rigid thinker who cannot entertain two ideas simultaneously out of a misdirected fear that their spirituality will be compromised rather then seeing the possibility of it being enhanced.
The results of a recently released unpublished study which reportedly indicates that 50% of students from Daati Leumi, or modern orthodox, families drop out of religious observance (or is it complete belief that they drop out of – hard to know because the study is not available for review) is being touted as proof by several rabbis that the modern orthodox lifestyle is a failure. They are using this as proof that haredism is the only way toward orthodox spirituality. This is yet another simplistic reaction to an issue that is complex and may have more to do with how students perceive the rigid training they from these very same rabbis. Furthermore, it may not even be true – you cannot evaluate the accuracy or validity of a study that is not published. Meanwhile, the same rabbis overlook published studies with results that can be verified, if not necessarily replicated, that anxiety disorders, are higher in haredi communities, substance abuse rates are similar in haredi and daati leumi communities and the dirty little secret that is never discussed is that drop out rates for religious observance may be highest in the most restrictive religious communities according to at least one study. Some of the studies suggest that many may maintain the external dress and appearances of the haredi world but personally do not keep the religious obligations of their belief system.
In a similar vein by indicating to their followers that they must first get approval from their leaders before filing a complaint with the appropriate authorities they still seek easy answers to dealing with such horrific problems as childhood sexual abuse. In this case, the easy answer is to deny and sweep it under the rug. It is absolutely true that there is a new social approach which states that abusers should be reported but it comes with the caveat that an expert rabbi should still be first consulted. The law states otherwise. The law requires the reporting of any reasonable suspicion. This is a requirement of the law for good reason. Only trained forensic specialists, usually only those in police or investigative forensics work, have the knowledge and experience to properly determine the veracity of a report of abuse, not a rabbi. There is a good deal of replicated research to support this but the knowledge base is not reviewed, again we allow ourselves to take the easy way out. By telling the rabbi we assume we are protected. But, this way is the easy way again and we are not only not protected we may be culpable in causing more abuse. Easy answers, only create more conflicts and pain.
Doctors have been faulted for allowing this to continue but they are often pressured into compliance by the realities of the patients they treat. It is the silver bullet and that is what people want. Students want to know exactly what will be on the test so that all they have to study is that limited topic to succeed. There is only limited interest in learning and understanding for its own sake. So teachers have been put into the position of teaching only for the test and as a result scores in overall knowledge and achievement have been declining. No matter, this is what is demanded of both students and teachers so both groups are compelled to comply. Similarly, we seek answers for deep metaphysical and religious issues from our halachic leaders with the same expectation of a simple answer. But, even worse, we also seek answers to issues they are not prepared to deal with. Unfortunately, they too are often eager to comply with an easy response.
This is not a question of who is at fault, we all are. It is more an issue of buying into a simple mindset which says that “all we want is to be told what to do.” But there are severe consequences with this approach. In medicine the consequence is that we are seeing the emergence of the super bug, the germ that will no longer be curbed by any antibiotics now available to us. In education, according to many, we are seeing the demise of creative thinking and the expansion of a society of students eager to learn little and play a lot on the newest technology. In religion we are seeing the rise of the rigid thinker who cannot entertain two ideas simultaneously out of a misdirected fear that their spirituality will be compromised rather then seeing the possibility of it being enhanced.
The results of a recently released unpublished study which reportedly indicates that 50% of students from Daati Leumi, or modern orthodox, families drop out of religious observance (or is it complete belief that they drop out of – hard to know because the study is not available for review) is being touted as proof by several rabbis that the modern orthodox lifestyle is a failure. They are using this as proof that haredism is the only way toward orthodox spirituality. This is yet another simplistic reaction to an issue that is complex and may have more to do with how students perceive the rigid training they from these very same rabbis. Furthermore, it may not even be true – you cannot evaluate the accuracy or validity of a study that is not published. Meanwhile, the same rabbis overlook published studies with results that can be verified, if not necessarily replicated, that anxiety disorders, are higher in haredi communities, substance abuse rates are similar in haredi and daati leumi communities and the dirty little secret that is never discussed is that drop out rates for religious observance may be highest in the most restrictive religious communities according to at least one study. Some of the studies suggest that many may maintain the external dress and appearances of the haredi world but personally do not keep the religious obligations of their belief system.
In a similar vein by indicating to their followers that they must first get approval from their leaders before filing a complaint with the appropriate authorities they still seek easy answers to dealing with such horrific problems as childhood sexual abuse. In this case, the easy answer is to deny and sweep it under the rug. It is absolutely true that there is a new social approach which states that abusers should be reported but it comes with the caveat that an expert rabbi should still be first consulted. The law states otherwise. The law requires the reporting of any reasonable suspicion. This is a requirement of the law for good reason. Only trained forensic specialists, usually only those in police or investigative forensics work, have the knowledge and experience to properly determine the veracity of a report of abuse, not a rabbi. There is a good deal of replicated research to support this but the knowledge base is not reviewed, again we allow ourselves to take the easy way out. By telling the rabbi we assume we are protected. But, this way is the easy way again and we are not only not protected we may be culpable in causing more abuse. Easy answers, only create more conflicts and pain.
Are Some Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Kiruv Organizations Feeder Groups For Cults?
By Vicki Polin
The Examiner - October 22, 2012
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| Are some kiruv organizations cult connected? |
The majority of Shabbatons offered by non-cult like groups are amazing experiences. Over the years I’ve been to a few that were both cult
and non-cult like. Going to a legitimate shabbaton is like going to a
“spa for your soul”. A shabbaton is a weekend retreat over the Jewish sabbath, created for those who are wishing to learn more about Torah based Judaism.
I’ll admit that during cult like shabbatons I was aware of some of the manipulative techniques
that were being utilized, yet I found myself dismissing my thoughts and
feelings about what was being said and done. I was aware that these
cult-like groups were using shabbos as a way to lure in secular Jews for
their own personal gain. The truth is there’s a lot of money to be
made off of someone becoming orthodox. Between the cost of providing the
needed education, the purchases to create a kosher home and maintaining
it, the purchase of religious artifacts, and –– a lot of costs are
involved. As well, if someone is a devotee, they will show their thanks
by making donations to the cult-like institution for years to come. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Friday, October 19, 2012
The Problem with the Jewish Taskforce Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault
The Problem with the Jewish Taskforce Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault
By Vivien Resofsky
Galus Australia - October 19, 2012
I have been attempting to engage The Jewish Taskforce Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault (The Taskforce) since 2006, both directly and in the pages of The Australian Jewish News because I am deeply worried by their approach – particularly by their assertion that children can and should be taught to protect themselves against adult predators. The truth is, they can’t.
I am so concerned that I have also submitted complaints to the JCCV, Jewish Care and the Rabbinical Council of Victoria about what I believe is The Taskforce’s dangerously misguided approach to a very complex issue; however, nothing has changed.
The best evidence indicates that we cannot leave children to protect themselves; however, The Taskforce refuses to acknowledge this. The Protecting our Vulnerable Children Inquiry Report (Feb 2012), weighed up all the worldwide research and evidence about the effectiveness of teaching children personal safety to prevent abuse. It accepted Finkelhor (2009 ),Smallbone et al. (2008) “There is little convincing evidence for the effectiveness of these programs for preventing sexual abuse.”
Ms Weiner, who has no degree or equivalent in any field related to child protection does not agree with the research. She states that, “Giving a child the tools to say NO denies the perpetrator the opportunity to abuse.”
Why would Ms Weiner advocate a position that goes against the best evidence? Unfortunately, Ms Weiner’s position is echoed by Mrs Balfour, head of The Early Learning Centre at Beth Rivkah, who believes The Taskforce – that schools do not need to educate parents, because children under the age of five can protect themselves!
Alongside Debbie Weiner, Taskforce board member, Sheiny New, also speaks publicly on behalf of the group and about child abuse. Ms New has spoken and written extensively about this issue, however, like Ms Weiner, she has no degree or equivalent in the area.
This information, however, is not available on The Taskforce website. In fact, much information about who comprises the Taskforce and their work with children is absent from their website. There is a serious lack of transparency that characterises the group. It is usual practice for a group that purports to protect children to articulate this and to clearly state it as part of their vision; however, the word, “child,” is hardly mentioned on The Taskforce site.
While The Taskforce has existed for 17 years, it only first acknowledged the issue of child abuse in 2006. It then moved to gain a monopoly on the protection of our children despite its lack of experience and the lack of qualifications of Taskforce volunteers.
In 2006, The Taskforce emailed Di Hirsh of the NCJW, strongly requesting that Ms Hirsh and her organisation withdraw their support from a community child protection awareness and education campaign. The Taskforce’s reasoning for this demand was that they wanted to present an efficient and unified communal response to such a sensitive subject in The Taskforce’s forthcoming forum.
In doing this, The Taskforce successfully removed support for a campaign that included child welfare professionals so that a group of volunteers could be the sole providers of communal education on child abuse.
It is important to remember that The Taskforce is a voluntary organisation whose members are not professionals in the area of child protection; however, The Taskforce have positioned themselves as the community’s authority on the matter.
Because they have worked for 17 years to raise awareness of family violence, they believe that qualifies them to advise on child abuse. Not only is this a logical problem, it also requires a real leap of faith because The Taskforce has only spoken out against child abuse in the last 6 years.
The Taskforce personnel also base their credibility on the training they receive from experts. Many of these experts are highly respected in their fields; however, educational seminars that last for a couple of hours, or at most, a couple of days, can not qualify people to do the work of trained professionals. The Taskforce should not therefore position itself as able to give advice on a par with professional advice.
The Taskforce’s lack of professional personnel leads it to offer poor advice (such as the idea that children can protect themselves). Ms New’s public statement that with the right treatment, victims of child sexual abuse will be, “just fine,” goes against research that demonstrates that only 1 in 10 cases of abuse is even reported. Many abused children cannot get help at all, because their abuse is unknown. Educating parents to spot signs of abuse can address this issue. This is not, however, what The Taskforce is doing.
This makes Ms Weiner’s claim that The Taskforce is, “tackling abuse head on,” difficult to believe. Ms Weiner’s and The Taskforce’s refusal to support parent-directed education is evidence that best practice is not in place. Parents need guidance to help them learn how to assess whether or not good child protection procedures are in place in schools and other institutions. They need to know what to look for. For example, does the organization train staff about child sexual abuse? Does the organization have a code of conduct for adults working with children? Does it outline clear expectations about boundaries between staff and children? How is staff misconduct handled?
It is difficult to understand why The Taskforce relies on extremely out of date ideas of child self protection. We used to think programs that teach children to identify and refuse inappropriate touch would prevent child sexual abuse. Personal safety programs for children have been in existence for over 25 years but experts now advise that children can’t fend off would-be abusers by themselves.
The Protecting our Vulnerable Inquiry 2012, weighed up all the worldwide research and evidence about the effectiveness of teaching children personal safety to prevent abuse. It agreed with Finkelhor 2009 and Smallbone et al. 2008: “There is little convincing evidence for the effectiveness of these programs for preventing sexual abuse.” (The Protecting our Vulnerable Children’s Inquiry Report 2012)
Telling parents that something will prevent abuse when it clearly will not puts children at unacceptable risk. Sexual abuse is most commonly a gradual process of desensitization, further complicated by the power imbalance between the victim and perpetrator. Would-be abusers use a grooming process to gain trust and acceptance.
Grooming can be described as a psychological process that breaks down a child’s resistance by using techniques such as gift giving, engaging the child in peer like activities, desensitizing the child to touch, isolating the child and then making the child feel responsible for the abuse. Grooming can take place over months or longer. Those who would offend try to get themselves into a situation where they are alone with a child who trusts them. The abused child is then caught in a web of confusion, guilt, deceit and mistrust and a child commonly feels overwhelmed and powerless to stop the abuse.
Ms New, however, advises that parents should educate themselves and then educate their children. The Child Protection Inquiry, however, does not expect parents to educate themselves. It recommends that efforts should focus on raising public awareness of child sexual abuse and providing parents of all school-aged children with education.
Parents need to become aware and even trained in the defence of their children. They can create a barrier between those who would abuse and their children. They need to discuss matters with their children in language that is not threatening and gives the child age-appropriate references. Parents can vet situations when they leave their children in the care of others and ensure that stringent screening, monitoring, training and reporting policies are in place. They need to know the steps they can take when they suspect something is not right. Schools should continue to teach children about personal safety, but the responsibility for protecting children should be placed on adults.
Finally, we must ask ourselves if it is appropriate for a single group to address matters of abuse in both the Ultra Orthodox and less religious communities. The differences in attitudes, values, and culture are enormous between the extremely religious and the less religious sub-groups in our community. Can and should a single group be charged with such a broad agenda?
According to Ms New there are “Jewish” specific factors that impact on why victims of child sexual abuse don’t report. When she refers to “Jewish” factors, are these applicable across the board or only to the Ultra-Orthodox community?
When The Taskforce makes statements like, “We consider ourselves to be a light unto other nations, and if we start talking about violence and abuse in what we consider a perfect Jewish family that light will be dimmed just a little bit and she (the victim) did not want to be the cause of more anti-Semitism…”
or “Living in a host country we would prefer not to create anti Semitism.” or (referring to the Shidduch system)“…The first question asked is: “Is it a nice family?” sexual assault does not a nice family make. Don’t be judgemental. If your brother had to choose between two equally lovely girls but one had been raped 6 months ago which would you choose?”
Do any of these statements apply to non-religious Jews who are the vast majority in the community?
Why then have the JCCV and Jewish Care welcomed The Taskforce’s attempt to be the sole organisation dealing with abuse in the community? Many non-religious Jews are horrified by such attitudes and might wonder why The Taskforce is not doing more to combat them. Meanwhile Ms New asks us not to be judgmental of that belief system. Surely such a group cannot represent our entire community.
***
Vivien Resofsky is a social worker whose specialist training (in both Australia and the USA) underpins her extensive practical professional experience in areas relating to child protection and domestic violence. She has worked with children and families at Jewish Care, The Women’s Domestic Violence Crisis Service and DHS Child Protection and is an accredited trainer of several programs.
Her writing has appeared in numerous publications; for the Australian government; and for the wider media, including The Herald Sun, The Courier Mail, and The AJN. Vivien is also the author of the highly regarded Wesley World series of books which are parent/child guides to personal safety.
Vivien’s work, which has focused primarily on child abuse in the past six years, draws together research and evidence-based theory, practical experience and programmes with evaluated, evidence-based success.
***
The Jewish Taskforce Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault has been contacted to offer them a right-of-reply. To read a previous article about The Taskforce written from their own point of view, please see Breaking the Conspiracy of Silence.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Israel's Sexual Harassment Double-Standard
Israel's Sexual Harassment Double-Standard
The Atlantic - October 17, 2012
The joint statement issued on October 5 argued that "it is inconceivable that a convicted sex offender will be the main force behind Livni's return to politics." Ramon was convicted of molestation for forcing a female soldier to kiss him in 2006, earning him a $3,600 fine and 120 community service hours. Ramon resigned from his Knesset position in 2009, and remained as the council chairman of Kadima until May 2012.
These women's groups are right to condemn Livni for potentially collaborating with Ramon. Political leaders should be held to a high standard. With Israel's former President Moshe Katzav currently in jail after being convicted of rape, the Knesset needs to set a tone of zero tolerance for sexual assault and indecent behavior.
What is worrisome about these groups is their selective condemnation of Livni. Though some of the groups have long opposed Ramon's return to politics and his continued role in Kadima, their specific remarks against Livni were not joined by statements against former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other leaders who have met with Ramon and contemplated joining a Ramon-backed party. To single her out for reproach sends a troubling message: It is more problematic for a woman than a man to consider working with a man who has committed sexual assault. Their selective condemnation seems to imply that Livni should care more about sexual assault because she is a woman.
Sexual assault is not a women's issue; framing it as one undermines the legitimate concern that all people, regardless of gender, should have when it comes to sexual harassment. The condemnation should be directed at any politician who is willing to overlook such crimes, and to any voter or leader who does not take those crimes as a signal that Ramon is unfit to lead.
With women serving in the army in combat roles, and the growing number of female Knesset members, Israel has made laudable strides towards gender equality. However, the steps forward must be coupled with a consistently unyielding demand for equality.
On September 27, a female member of the Karakal brigade killed a terrorist during a patrol on the Egyptian border. Her successes were made newsworthy because of her gender, instead of being due to her ability and training as a soldier. If Israel wants to make real strides towards gender equality, it needs stop to looking at its women as female first and foremost, but rather begin to recognize and judge them according to their position, and hold them to the same standards as men in similar positions.
Livni should not join forces with Ramon, but not because she is a woman.
The Atlantic - October 17, 2012
 |
| Supporters write notes on a banner of Israel's Tzipi Livni ahead of Israel's 2009 general elections. |
The trouble with treating rape as a women's issue
Supporters write notes on a banner of Israel's Tzipi Livni ahead of Israel's 2009 general elections.
As a prominent Israeli female politician, Tzipi Livni is no stranger to criticism. The strong-willed attorney turned politician has needed thick skin to become the most influential female leader in Israel of her generation. This year, Newsweek named the former Foreign Minister and head of the opposition one of the top 150 most fearless women in the world, the only Israeli on the list. Ever since resigning from the Knesset in May after losing her position as head of the Kadima Party earlier this year, pundits have speculated about her imminent return to politics.
But these days, Livni finds herself under criticism from an unexpected source: feminist groups in Israel, who have usually been big supporters of Livni. On October 5, several high-profile organizations championing women's issues, who have since identified themselves as the Israeli Women's Coalition, authored a joint statement condemning Livni for discussing creating a new political party with Hayim Ramon, a former Knesset member who in 2006 was convicted of indecent behavior while he was serving as Minister of Justice.
Should Livni really care more about sexual assault because she is a woman?
As a prominent Israeli female politician, Tzipi Livni is no stranger to criticism. The strong-willed attorney turned politician has needed thick skin to become the most influential female leader in Israel of her generation. This year, Newsweek named the former Foreign Minister and head of the opposition one of the top 150 most fearless women in the world, the only Israeli on the list. Ever since resigning from the Knesset in May after losing her position as head of the Kadima Party earlier this year, pundits have speculated about her imminent return to politics.
But these days, Livni finds herself under criticism from an unexpected source: feminist groups in Israel, who have usually been big supporters of Livni. On October 5, several high-profile organizations championing women's issues, who have since identified themselves as the Israeli Women's Coalition, authored a joint statement condemning Livni for discussing creating a new political party with Hayim Ramon, a former Knesset member who in 2006 was convicted of indecent behavior while he was serving as Minister of Justice.
Should Livni really care more about sexual assault because she is a woman?
The joint statement issued on October 5 argued that "it is inconceivable that a convicted sex offender will be the main force behind Livni's return to politics." Ramon was convicted of molestation for forcing a female soldier to kiss him in 2006, earning him a $3,600 fine and 120 community service hours. Ramon resigned from his Knesset position in 2009, and remained as the council chairman of Kadima until May 2012.
These women's groups are right to condemn Livni for potentially collaborating with Ramon. Political leaders should be held to a high standard. With Israel's former President Moshe Katzav currently in jail after being convicted of rape, the Knesset needs to set a tone of zero tolerance for sexual assault and indecent behavior.
What is worrisome about these groups is their selective condemnation of Livni. Though some of the groups have long opposed Ramon's return to politics and his continued role in Kadima, their specific remarks against Livni were not joined by statements against former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other leaders who have met with Ramon and contemplated joining a Ramon-backed party. To single her out for reproach sends a troubling message: It is more problematic for a woman than a man to consider working with a man who has committed sexual assault. Their selective condemnation seems to imply that Livni should care more about sexual assault because she is a woman.
Sexual assault is not a women's issue; framing it as one undermines the legitimate concern that all people, regardless of gender, should have when it comes to sexual harassment. The condemnation should be directed at any politician who is willing to overlook such crimes, and to any voter or leader who does not take those crimes as a signal that Ramon is unfit to lead.
With women serving in the army in combat roles, and the growing number of female Knesset members, Israel has made laudable strides towards gender equality. However, the steps forward must be coupled with a consistently unyielding demand for equality.
On September 27, a female member of the Karakal brigade killed a terrorist during a patrol on the Egyptian border. Her successes were made newsworthy because of her gender, instead of being due to her ability and training as a soldier. If Israel wants to make real strides towards gender equality, it needs stop to looking at its women as female first and foremost, but rather begin to recognize and judge them according to their position, and hold them to the same standards as men in similar positions.
Livni should not join forces with Ramon, but not because she is a woman.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Rabbi: When religious freedom stops at the prison gate
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| Vic Toew - Public Safety Minister |
He said that as the only Jewish person in the facility, the Christian chaplains often came by his cell to offer prayers or words of comfort. But he told me that he sent them away, explaining that the chaplains did not understand his life as a Jew, and that their prayers meant nothing to him. He told me that he wasn’t a particularly religious man, but he wanted “to talk to a landesman (a fellow Jew).” And so, on the few visits I was able to make, we talked about his life and we studied the Torah. As far as I could tell, I was his only visitor.
 |
| Rabbi Howard Voss-Altman |
I feel confident that Toews shares these sentiments. But experience and common sense suggest that in the case of prison chaplains (and most other spiritual needs), one size does not fit all. Prison inmates, by definition, are a captive audience, and are particularly receptive to religious teachings of redemption and healing. However, this does not mean that any religious message will suffice. Indeed, Christian theology — especially its teachings about sin and forgiveness — are vastly different from Jewish beliefs, and would, in all likelihood, ring false to a Jewish inmate.
And while I cannot speak for Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists or First Nations people, my religious experience suggests that their spiritual needs could not be effectively met by Christian chaplains, who neither share their theology nor their cultural or historical narrative.
While it is true that the majority of federal inmates (57 per cent) identify themselves as Christian, this does not mean that all of the inmates will benefit from, or seek out, an entirely Christian experience. We must remember that a significant minority of non-Christian inmates will require non-Christian chaplains, capable of offering them religious teachings that are relevant, not only to their lives in prison, but also to their future lives out in the world.
In explaining Toews’
decision, his office said that “the government … is not in the business
of picking and choosing which religions will be given preferential
status through government funding.” But, of course, in employing only
chaplains of the Christian faith, the government is precisely in the
business of choosing only one religion — Christianity — to meet the
needs of inmates of all faiths.
A Jewish friend of mine has a son who is currently serving time in a Canadian prison. He is the only Jewish inmate in the facility, and several months ago, at his request, I sent a copy of the Torah so that he would be able to engage in traditional Jewish study. In Toews’ world, this young man has been sentenced, not just for his crime, but also to solitude and isolation in his own faith. He won’t be visited by a Jewish chaplain, nor will any other religious minority be visited by a chaplain of their own faith.
Surely, we are all proud of the extraordinary religious freedom we have in our nation. And we know how much our religious freedom contributes to the vitality and diversity found in Canadian life. But sadly, such religious freedom appears to stop at the jailhouse door. Let us hope Toews reverses this unfortunate decision, and restores non-Christian chaplains to Canada’s federal prisons. While Christian chaplains may be sufficient to meet the spiritual needs of Christian inmates, they are hardly adequate to meet the needs of inmates who believe or worship differently.
Howard Voss-Altman is rabbi of Calgary’s Temple B’nai Tikvah.
A Jewish friend of mine has a son who is currently serving time in a Canadian prison. He is the only Jewish inmate in the facility, and several months ago, at his request, I sent a copy of the Torah so that he would be able to engage in traditional Jewish study. In Toews’ world, this young man has been sentenced, not just for his crime, but also to solitude and isolation in his own faith. He won’t be visited by a Jewish chaplain, nor will any other religious minority be visited by a chaplain of their own faith.
Surely, we are all proud of the extraordinary religious freedom we have in our nation. And we know how much our religious freedom contributes to the vitality and diversity found in Canadian life. But sadly, such religious freedom appears to stop at the jailhouse door. Let us hope Toews reverses this unfortunate decision, and restores non-Christian chaplains to Canada’s federal prisons. While Christian chaplains may be sufficient to meet the spiritual needs of Christian inmates, they are hardly adequate to meet the needs of inmates who believe or worship differently.
Howard Voss-Altman is rabbi of Calgary’s Temple B’nai Tikvah.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Case of the Rogers Park JCC Day-Care Center (1984)
Case of the Rogers Park JCC
Day-Care Center
(1984)
 |
| Former home of the Rogers Park JCC Day Care Center |
Chicago, IL
This was a case of alleged ritual abuse and was one of the first mass molestation cases in the State of Illinois.
In April 1984, a mother suspected that her
four-year-old child had been sexually abused at the Jewish Community Center
(JCC) preschool in Chicago. Several other children told of molestations.
They described "strangers" engaging in sexual escapades at JCC and elsewhere.
Staff members of the center even stepped forward to supplement the allegations
with their own testimony.
___________________________________________________________________________
Disclaimer: Inclusion in this website does not constitute a recommendation
or endorsement. Individuals must decide for themselves if the resources meet
their own personal needs.
Table of Contents:
1984
1985
1986
1984
- Two families' tragic story (04/20/1984)
- 2 Day Care Teachers Suspended (04/20/1984)
- Chicago Center Checked for Child Molestation (04/21/1984)
- 2 teachers implicated in sex abuse at center (04/22/1984)
- Chicago Center Checked for Child Molestation (04/22/1984)
- Cartoons help detect victims of sex abuse (04/23/1984)
- 2 teachers implicated in sex abuse at center (04/24/1984)
- Parents feel lost as day care center closes (04/26/1984)
- Embattled day-care center will reopen (04/27/1984)
- Day-care's abuses tied to nap time (05/08/1984)
- Parents: Abusive teachers still at JCC (05/23/1984)
- Parents sue center over child sexual abuse (08/08/1984)
- State calls sex abuse charges at day care center unfounded (10/04/1984)
1985
- Abuse 'Expert' Misled State, Records Show (04/19/1985)
- 'Expert' in Day-Care Probe Can't Back Up HIs Resume (04/19/1985)
- State Called Remiss in Child-Sex Proble (04/20/1985)
- Day-care probe rife with errors: Rogers park case 'learning experience' for officials (04/21/1985)
- Sex-Abuse Probe Rife With Errors - Day-Care Case A 'Learning Experience' for Officials (04/21/1985)
- Embattled North Side Day-Care Center Will Close (05/181985)
- Trial Opens on Day Care Sex Abuse (09/20/1985)
- Girl, 7, tells of abuse and rape: Janitor's lawyer hammers at story (09/20/1985)
- Mom tells ordeal of girl, 7, at janitor trial (09/21/1985)
- Girl, 7, Testifies in Sex-Abuse Case (09/21/1985)
- Day-Care center janitor raped me, girl testifies (09/20/1985)
- Doctors Saw 'Possivle Abuse' of Pupil (09/24/1985)
- Doctors suspect girl molested (09/25/1985)
- Day-Care Worker Denies Sex Charges (10/02/1985)
- Janitor denies child sex abuse charges (10/02/1985)
- Janitor not guilty in rape of girl, 7; parents bitter (10/03/1985)
- Janitor Cleared of 1 Sex Charge - 'I Have No Choice' Judge Says' (10/03/1985)
- Janitor trial in preschool child abuse case put off (11/20/1985)
1986
- Child-molesting charges suspended (02/19/1986)
- Day-Care Janitor's Abuse Trials Off (02/19/1986)
- Day-care center sued for $50 million (02/22/1986)
1992
- Major Day-Care Abuse Cases (04/23/1992)
Also See:
- Case of David Kay
- Case of Rochelle Marcus
- Case of Anita Weinstein
- Case of the Rogers Park JCC Day-Care Center
___________________________________________________________________________
Two families' tragic story
By Carolyn Lenz, Asst. Managing Editor
Rogers Park - Edgewater News (Lerner Paper) - Wednesday, May 23, 1984
(Page 1 and 13)
|
| Former home of the Rogers Park JCC Day Care Center |
The mother said her family's therapist said her daughter, will have to deal with her trauma in each stage of her life.
Now, Becky is afraid to go to sleep or to go to the bathroom alone. Those were the occasions when she was attacked, her mother said. When she reaches puberty, her fears will take different forms, according to the therapist.
Another 4-year-old girl who was molested, Melissa, wants to sleep in the closet with the door closed, where she feels safe, said her mother. "I know she is scared to death. She is afraid of everything," she said.
The names of the children have been changed to protect their identity.
DURING QUESTIONING at the start of the investigation of abuse at the center, Melissa "would not let me out of her sight," her mother said, "because she was sure I was going to be killed while she was talking." Both mothers said their daughters told them their abusers had threatened to kill their families if they revealed what they had done.
Melissa is "regressing into infancy" because she thinks that when she first went to the center everyone loved her, but when she grew older they began hitting her and telling her she was stupid, "a dummy" and deserved to be hit. Through therapy, Melissa is learning that she is not a bad girl but a victim of child abuse.
According to Becky's mother, "She talked about it as if there were two Beckys -- bad Becky and good Becky. Good Becky didn't have these things happen to her."
WHILE THESE two mothers, along with a few others, have shared their experiences with each other, they feel fairly isolated from other parents of children who are or were enrolled at the center.
"When we did make statements in public, a lot of parents refused to believe us. It was too traumatic for them," one mother said.
"Since this is a Jewish Community Center and they have religious and community ties tied up in this, this contributes to their state of denial," she said.
Melissa, did not want to go back to the school or anywhere near the rooms where she said she was abused after she told what had happened, her mother said.
"There are children who have returned to the school who were pinpointed as victims, and their parents are still sending them there," said Becky's mother. "Meanwhile, who is protecting the children?"
BOTH MOTHERS said they now realize they missed earlier clues that something was wrong. For instance, reluctance to go to sleep and reports of being insulted and punished at the center were such clues.
"The counselor said children have a different language. We didn't realize that," Becky's mother said.
When Melissa's mother asked why her children hadn't told her sooner, Melissa answered, "I tried to tell you."
The families are convinced that both individual child therapy and family therapy are valuable. "I would sell the house if I had to" before giving up the therapy, said Melissa's mother.
 |
| Anita Weinstein |
Both families had enrolled their daughters part time at the center, hoping to enhance their socialization skills. Becky's mother also worked part-time, so she needed day care. She now is sure that her daughter was abused for more than a year before she told what had happened.
According to Melissa's mother, "We sent her for a nice school experience. Now we're trying to undo the damage."
___________________________________________________________________________
2 Day Care Teachers Suspended
by Michael Arndt
Chicago Tribune (Page 1 and 4) - April 20, 1984
Two Teachers at a Rogers Park day care center were suspended because they allegedly knew of incidents of child molesting at the center but failed to report them to authorities, a spokesman also said that 32 children enrolled in the facility, the Rogers Park Jewish Community Center, 711 N. Greenview Ave., showed possible symptoms of sexual abuse as determined by a questionnaire filled out by parents.
The developments came a day after it was disclosed that a 19-year veteran janitor at the center, Decortic Parks, 45, of 7930 S. Peoria St., had been charged with taking indecent liberties with a 3-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl, police said.
 |
| Mark Rakoczy |
 |
| Donald Schlosser |
Parks was arrested Monday after the mother of the 4-year-old called the mother of the 3-year-old and both found their children telling similar stories about being abused, Rakoczy said.
The center, which has 67 students ranging in age from toddlers to 5-year-olds, will be open as usual Friday, said Jay Levenberg, assistant director of the Jewish Centers of Chicago, an affiliate of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago.
But many parents who brought their children to the facility Thursday said their decision was difficult after parents of the allegedly abused children described in a meeting Wednesday night what they said had happened to their children.
At that meeting with DCFS officials, police and center's staff, parents were given a questionnaire intended to aid investigators in determining if additional children had been molested, Schlosser said.
Schlosser said the questions asked among other things, whether the child experienced redness around the genital area, had urinary infections or nightmares or if the child was afraid to e alone with strangers.
Based on the parents' answers, he said 32 children exhibited at least one symptom of possible molestation.
Therapists, using coloring books and dolls, began interviewing the children Thursday to determine if any actually had been molested. The interviews will continue Friday.
He also said several parents have accepted an offer from department therapists for counseling for their children.
The department licenses day care centers, but Schlosser refused to comment on any action that might be taken against the center.
Levenberg said the center staff has been ordered to cooperate with police and department investigators, but he declined to say if any parents had withdrawn their children from the center, nor would he discuss the center's financing or the investigation.
The Day Care center receives no state funding, except for a $500.00 fee the state is paying for one child, Schlosser said. The bulk of the money comes from fees from parents.
Schlosser said there have been no significant complaints" previously filed against the center.
The community center is a converted three-story brick house with fenced-in yards on a quiet residential street. Its primary service, said Levenberg is providing day care, but the center also has programs for the elderly and the general community.
The center is licensed to handle 42 children, but has more enrolled because it offers both morning and afternoon care, Schlosser said. Its staff includes 13 teachers and a director and it has been in operation for more than 20 years.
Officials said that any parents who suspect their children may have been assaulted should call the state child abuse hot line 1-800-25A-BUSE.
Chicago Center Checked for Child Molestation
New York Times - April 21, 1984
Chicago, April 21 (UPI) –– A former janitor is in custody and two teachers have been suspended from a daycare center where offiicals say children have been sexually abused.
It appears that a significant number of children have been molested," said Donald Schlosser in the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
He said a survey of parents whose children have atteneded the Rogers Park Jewish Community Center have indicated that 32 children might have been molested.
The former janitor, Decortic Parks, 45 years old, was charged last week with taking indecent liberties with children. Two teachers were suspended because they did not report information Mr. Schlosser said.
2 teachers implicated in sex abuse at center
By Mark Eissman
Chicago Tribune - April 22, 1984
Cartoons help detect victims of sex abuse
Chicago Tribune - April 23, 1984
_______________________________________________________________________________
Chicago Center Checked for Child Molestation
New York Times - April 21, 1984
Chicago, April 21 (UPI) –– A former janitor is in custody and two teachers have been suspended from a daycare center where offiicals say children have been sexually abused.
It appears that a significant number of children have been molested," said Donald Schlosser in the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
He said a survey of parents whose children have atteneded the Rogers Park Jewish Community Center have indicated that 32 children might have been molested.
The former janitor, Decortic Parks, 45 years old, was charged last week with taking indecent liberties with children. Two teachers were suspended because they did not report information Mr. Schlosser said.
_______________________________________________________________________________
2 teachers implicated in sex abuse at center
By Mark Eissman
Chicago Tribune - April 22, 1984
 |
| Case of the Rogers Park JCC Day-Care Center |
_______________________________________________________________________________
Cartoons help detect victims of sex abuse
Chicago Tribune - April 23, 1984
 |
| Case of the Rogers Park JCC Day Care Center - Click on article to enlarge |
_______________________________________________________________________________
2 teachers implicated in sex abuse at center
by Mark Eissman
Chicago Tribune - Sunday, April 22, 1984
Authorities were not releasing the identities of the two staff members at the Rogers Park Jewish Community Center, 7101 N. Greenview Ave., but said the two are teachers and were named by children in interviews Saturday. Sources said that additional to the children's accusations, there is supporting medical evidence in at least one case. Each teacher was named by at least two children, the sources said.
One of the employees named by the children Saturday was one of two teachers suspended Thursday for failing to report children's complaints of sexual abuse, sources said, though at the time officials said neither was suspected of involvement in the molestation.
THE INTERVIEWS Saturday were done with 18 children who were considered "high risk" victims, said Allen Friedmann, who is conducting the interviews along with authorities Friedmann, a former investigator for the Illinois Department of children and Family Services, works for a not-for-profit agency, Human Effective Living Programs, Inc., and is a specialist in interviewing child abuse victims. He was called in last week by Chicago police to conduct the interviews.
Last week the janitor, Decortic Parks, 45, 7930 S. Peoria St., was arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a 4-year-old girl and a 3-year-old boy. Neither of the two teachers named by the children has been charged.
After preliminary interviews, the children were found to have a high likelihood of having been sexually abused based on their responses and physical exams, he said. Many of the Children have mentioned Parks during the interviews, Freidmann said.
AT LEAST three children told investigators they reported the incidents to two teachers. Those two teachers, whose identities have not be revealed, were suspended Thursday because of their alleged failure to report the incidents, Keenan said.
The two teachers, according to sources, deny that the children said they were attacked in the first-floor washroom outside classrooms, Friedmann said. Children older than 2 were allowed to go unattended to that washroom, according to sources.
CHILDREN ALSO reported that they were attacked in a boiler room in the basement of the building and in a stairwell leading from the first floor to the second floor.
According to Friedmann and a staff member who requested anonymity, Parks was the only one who had a key to that stairwell. Interviewers have been asking children where that stairwell leads, Freidmand said.
The interviews were to resume Monday, Once they are concluded and medical reports on the children are examined, prosecutors will decide which cases to bring before a grand jury, according to Assistant State's Atty. Irv Miller.
Parks is being held in Cook County Jail in lieu of $75,000 bond. He is to appear May 1 in Violence Court before Associate Judge Gino DiVito.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Parents feel lost as day care center closes
Chicago Tribune - April 26, 1984
Chicago Tribune - April 26, 1984
 |
| Case of the Rogers Park JCC Day Care Center |
_______________________________________________________________________________
Embattled day-care center will reopen
Chicago Tribune - April 27, 1984
Chicago Tribune - April 27, 1984
 |
| Case of The Rogers Park JCC Day-Care Center |
_______________________________________________________________________________
Day-care's abuses tied to nap time
By Lynn Emmerman
Chicago Tribune - May 8, 1984 (Page 1 and 4)
A janitor charged with taking indecent liberties with two youngsters in a Rogers Park day-care center had been placed solely in charge of the children's "nap-time," sources close to the investigation said Monday.
Up to 20 young children who attended the day-care center told therapists that they were sexually attacked during nap time, the sources said.
The janitor, Deloartic Parks, a 13 year employee at the Rogers Park Jewish Community Day Care Center, was arrested on April 16. He was charged with taking indecent liberties with two children, ages 3 and 4.
Anita Weinstein, director of the center, at 7101 N. Greenview Ave., was replaced on April 26 under an agreement allowing officials to re-open the center, which had been closed by the state Department of Children and Family Services after Parks' arrest.
Weinstein was replaced because Parks had been allowed to supervise the children, according to the sources, who asked not to be identified.
Attempts to reach Weinstein for comment were not successful.
Four unidentified staff members were suspended last month because they allegedly knew of incidents of sexual abuse of children and failed to report them to superiors or failed to adequately supervise the children, according to a suit filed by the Jewish Community Centers. The suit had asked that the Jewish Community Centers be allowed to reopen the day-car facility.
In addition to Parks, at least two people employed at the center were directly implicated last month in the sexual abuse, sources said.
In one case, a child alleged that one staff member took photographs of a sexual attack. In a separate instance, another child told investigators that a second staff member fondled the child's genitals, sources said.
In repeated interviews with police, social workers, and psychiatrists, children told of being bound, stripped and hung upside down with their heads in garbage cans as they were sexually molested, sources said.
The children said most of the attacks occurred in the center's basement furnace room, where they said Parks sent them when they misbehaved, sources said.
Sources described the sexual abuse as "semi-organized and frequent," saying that children reported that they sometimes were molested several times a day.
Investigators plan to complete their interviews with children this week and further question center staff members. "By Friday, we should have a good idea if anyone else will be indicted," said a source familiar with the investigation.
In an attempt to separate the children's fantasies from fact, they were interviewed repeatedly by trained professionals, sources said. Early questioning served to target children who appeared to be high-risk victims.
The high-risk children were interviewed up to three times as police and social workers compared each child's most current version of an attack with his prior accounts. Then all of the children's accounts of sexual abuse were re-examined for similarities.
To get accurate information about the sexual abuse of children, young victims must be interviewed before time and their parents' fearful reactions color their accounts, source said.
"Young children make bad witnesses," the investigator said. "Put a very little kid on the stand months after the fact, and you risk hearing a garbled, fantastic account. Ideally, we would show videotapes of children during early interviews but those videotapes are currently inadmissible in court."
To document their case, states' attorneys prosecuting Parks will rely on drawings by the children in special coloring books that deal with sexual abuse, sources said.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Parents: Abusive teachers still at JCC
By Carolyn Lenz, Asst. Managing Editor
Rogers Park - Edgewater News (Lerner Paper) - Wednesday, May 23, 1984
(Page 1 and 13)
Some staff members o the Rogers Park Jewish Community Center day-care center who have been implicated in sexually abusing children at the center are still on the job, two mothers of alleged victims charged.
Their children said teachers at the center had organized class games where both they are the children were unclothed and the teachers hit the children on their heads hard enough to hurt, the mother told The Lerner Newspapers Tuesday, May 22.
The women, who asked not to be identified said they are outraged that the staff members have not been suspended and that the center has not been closed. The parents said they suspect the abuse had been going on for a long time.
The children have told their stories to the police and to the Cook County assistant state's attorneys.
May 21 an assistant Illinois attorney general said the center may continue to operate because it has cooperated with the investigation and complied with licensing procedures.
William Sullivan, assistant attorney general and attorney for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, said the Jewish Community Centers of Chicago have suspended all staff members against whom sufficient evidence was found. "The fact that somebody made an allegation does not mean there was a basis for it.", he said.
The parents said their children told them of the following incidents:
In one came, called "Spooky Forrest," one teacher pretended to be a bear and the other a wolf. They growled at the children and the children ran from them. When the children were caught, the teacher's would beat them on the head, a mother said.
In Another class game, called "Punchinello," the children were instructed to hit each other. The parents said their two 4-year-old daughters told their stories independently.
When one mother confronted a teacher about her daughter's version of "Punchinello," the teacher "turned white and never answered me,' the mother said.
Two mothers said their daughters did not tell them sooner about their experiences because they had been threatened.
One girl told her mother that if she talked, she would be cut into pieces in thrown in the garbage can. The children also were told that their parents would be killed if they told them, the mother said.
Some children reported being beaten, having needles stuck into their feet, being hurt with screwdrivers and being held by the ankles and turned head-first into garbage cans.
One mother now, attributes mysterious scratches that appeared on her daughters feet in the winter, when she always wore shoes to needles. Bruises on the child's lower calves substantiated her story about being held upside-down by the ankles, her mother said.
Another Mother noted that since she withdrew her daughter from the center, the child has had no bruises. Since young children commonly fall or bump and bruise themselves, the mother did not at first suspect anything was wrong, she said.
The center did not report the children's allegations to DCFS until parents told Anita Weinstein, the center's director, that they were going to tell DCFS and the police, the mother said. At that time, the children had implicated only the janitor, Decortic Parks, who has been indicted on charges of rape and aggravated indecent liberties with a child.
The Jewish Community Centers of Chicago could not be reached for comment.
DCFS will use its regular licensing review procedures to determine if it will renew the centers license, due for renewal soon, Sullivan said.
Parents sue center over child sexual abuse
Chicago Tribune - August 8, 1984
_______________________________________________________________________________
Parents sue center over child sexual abuse
Chicago Tribune - August 8, 1984
 |
| Case of Rogers Park JCC Day Care Center |
_______________________________________________________________________________
Abuse 'Expert' Misled State, Records Show
by Lynn Emmerman and Marianne Taylor
Chicago Tribune - April 19, 1985
A man brought in by the State of Illinois as an expert to investigate key aspects of allegations of sexual child abuse at the Rogers Park Day Care Center misrepresented his credentials in his professional resume and during recent court testimony, records show.
Allen Friedmann, 34, 245 Court of Shorewood, Vernon Hills, played a critical role in the investigation. Working with a social worker and a Chicago detective, he conducted most of the sensitive interviews in which authorities tried to determine whether any of the 88 children enrolled at the center had been abused.
Friedmann was employed by Human Effectiveness Living Program (HELP), which treats sexually abused children and abusers. HELP was hired by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services to provide expertise in interviewing the day care center children.
Along with HELP`s director, Friedmann designed the format used in the interviews.
Examination of Friedmann`s college transcripts, court transcripts and interviews with former employers show that he built his reputation in part on exaggerations and sometimes fabricated his qualifications.
In an interview Thursday, Friedmann said he ``never intentionally misrepresented`` his qualifications.
Allegations of sexual abuse of children at the Rogers Park Day Care Center, 7101 N. Greenview Ave., surfaced in April, 1984. The center`s janitor, Deloartic Parks, was charged with three counts of sexual child abuse. His case is pending.
The Cook County state`s attorney`s office is investigating accusations made by some children against center staff members. A DCFS investigation that ended last September found insufficient evidence to support those charges.
Questions about Friedmann`s qualifications are the latest in a series of problems, which DCFS officials say stemmed from their lack of experience in such cases and outdated regulations, that have stymied the investigations.
Friedmann is no longer involved in the case, and he resigned from HELP in February.
DCFS Director Gordon Johnson said that cases such as Friedmann`s are prompting his agency to more carefully scrutinize the qualifications of staff and people hired under contract.
Sources in the state`s attorney`s office said they would review evidence of Friedmann`s misstatements but added that questions about his credentials would not have ``much impact.``
Park`s lawyer, Adam Bourgeois, disagreed. ``Whenever the court has an expert, all the parties tend to rely on that expert,`` he said. ``If someone doesn`t have qualifications, it turns the trial into a charade.``
While testifying under oath as an expert witness last year in a civil suit, Friedmann said he had completed a year of graduate work at Loyola University and ``about a year`` of graduate work at the University of Illinois.
Loyola records show that Friedmann took one undergraduate course in 1977 but show no graduate work. U. of I. records show that he attended one semester and took two graduate courses, one of which he did not complete.
_______________________________________________________________________________
State calls sex abuse charges at day care center unfounded
Chicago Tribune - October 4, 1984
Expert in Day-Care Probe Can't Back Up His Resume
 |
| The case of the Rogers Park JCC - Day Care Center |
_______________________________________________________________________________
Expert in Day-Care Probe Can't Back Up His Resume
By Lynn Emmerman and Marianne Taylor
Chicago Tribune - April 19, 1985
Allen Friedmann, 34, of 245 Court of Shorewood, Vernon Hills, played a critical role in the investigation. Working with a social worker and a Chicago detective, he conducted most of the sensitive interviews in which authorities tried to determine whether any of the 88 children enrolled at the center had been abused.
Friedmann was employed by Human Effectiveness Living Program (HELP), which treats sexually abused children and abusers. HELP was hired by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services to provide expertise in interviewing the children who attended the center.
Along with HELP`s director, Friedmann designed the format used in the interviews.
Examination of Friedmann`s college transcripts, court transcripts and interviews with former employers show that he built his reputation in part on exaggerations and sometimes fabricated his qualifications.
In an interview Thursday, Friedmann said he ``never intentionally misrepresented`` his qualifications.
He acknowledged that he once told a prospective employer that he held a master`s degree when he had not yet earned a bachelor`s degree, but said that was ``a onetime, stupid`` ploy.
Allegations of sexual abuse of children at the Rogers Park Day Care Center, 7101 N. Greenview Ave., surfaced in April, 1984. The center`s janitor, Deloartic Parks, was charged with three counts of sexual child abuse. His case is pending.
The Cook County state`s attorney`s office is investigating accusations made by some children against center staff members. A DCFS investigation that ended last September found insufficient evidence to support those charges.
Questions about Friedmann`s qualifications are the latest in a series of problems, which DCFS officials say stemmed from outdated regulations and their lack of experience in such cases, that have stymied the investigations.
Friedmann is no longer involved in the case, and he resigned from HELP in February.
DCFS Director Gordon Johnson said cases like Friedmann`s are prompting his agency to more carefully scrutinize the qualifications of staff members and people hired under contract.
Sources in the state`s attorney`s office said they would review evidence of Friedmann`s misstatements but added that questions about his credentials would not have "much impact." Chicago police detective Scott Keenan agreed, pointing out that investigators had ``used a team approach`` in the interviews.
Park`s lawyer, Adam Bourgeois, disagreed. ``Whenever the court has an expert, all the parties tend to rely on that expert,`` he said. ``If someone doesn't have qualifications, it turns the trial into a charade.``
 |
| Jon Conte, PhD |
Friedmann has some experience in the field of child abuse investigation, including more than two years as an abuse investigator with DCFS and one year as a counselor at the Center for Children`s Services in Danville.
Some of those who have seen Friedmann`s techniques say he is a skilled interviewer. ``I feel comfortable having him instruct doctors on how to talk to children,`` said Dr. Howard Levy, director of pediatrics for Mt. Sinai Hospital, where Friedmann teaches a course to doctors.
According to Friedmann`s school transcripts, he does not hold a degree in psychology, medicine or social work, courses of study most commonly followed by sexual abuse experts. His only formal instruction in these fields consisted of undergraduate courses, one completed graduate course and several professional seminars, transcripts show.
While testifying under oath as an expert witness last year in a civil suit, Friedmann said he had completed a year of graduate work at Loyola University and ``about a year`` of graduate work at the University of Illinois.
Loyola records show that Friedmann took one undergraduate course in 1977 but show no graduate work. U. of I. records show that he attended one semester and took two graduate courses, one of which he did not complete.
In further testimony in that civil case, Friedmann said he "spent a year and a half under Dr. Nahmon Greenberg at an agency called CAUSES," a program affiliated with Illinois Masonic Hospital that treats sexually abused children.
"Not only did he not work with me for 1 1/2 years, he never worked with me," said Greenberg, CAUSES director. ``He attended one weeklong course that I taught.``
Friedmann testified that he ``was trained as a family therapist`` at the Northwestern University Family Institute. Friedmann said Thursday that he meant that he had attended several workshops there.
Dr. William Pinsoff, associate director of the institute, said, ``Being in a workshop is not training.``
Friedmann earned his only academic degree, a bachelor of arts in ``social advocacy,`` from University Without Walls, a nontraditional program at Northeastern Illinois University. The program allows students to use work experience to earn academic credit.
To gain credits toward his degree, Friedmann listed experience that included work for the Northbrook Ecumenical Committee on Youth, a job he obtained after claiming he held a master`s degree in psychophysics from New York University and a bachelor`s degree from U. of I., according to committee staff members. Friedmann acknowledges that that claim was false.
According to school records, Friedmann stated that he worked as a ``group therapist`` at Ridgeway Hospital, now Hartgrove Hospital, in Chicago. On Thursday, he said his actual title was mental health technician.
The hospital could find no record of his employment.
_______________________________________________________________________________
State Called Remiss In Child-Sex Probe
Chicago Tribune - April 20, 1985
Parents of children once enrolled in the Rogers Park Day Care Center, 7101 N. Greenview Ave., criticized the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services Friday for ``mishandling`` its investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse at the center. ``We feel DCFS has been remiss in its obligation to provide safety for our children,`` said Beth Vargo, 34, one of the parents. The center`s janitor, Deloartic Parks, was charged a year ago with abusing three children at the center. The parents charged the DCFS mishandled the case because the initial investigative interviews with children were too short and social workers failed to reinterview children when some later told parents they had been abused by staff members other than Parks. An investigation by the Cook County state`s attorney continues, but no other staff member has been charged. DCFS has closed its own investigation.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Sex-Abuse Probe Rife With Errors - Day-Care Case A 'Learning Experience' for Officials
Chicago Tribune - April 21, 1985
The mistakes in the case of the Rogers Park Day Care Center, a case that made headlines last April with the arrest of a janitor, reflect weaknesses in state and local efforts to handle inquiries into sexual abuse cases that may involve more than one adult.
The weaknesses--which include outdated policies, insufficient training of investigators and a reluctance on the part of some investigators to believe that this type of abuse occurs--persist despite national recognition of sexual child exploitation as a growing problem.
The case, the first recorded in Illinois to involve accusations of sexual abuse by a group of adults, consists of 246 allegations that staff members abused children enrolled at the center, according to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS).
Only the janitor has been charged, and additional allegations have not resulted in charges in the continuing investigation.
The DCFS, which is responsible for regulating day-care centers and employees, also investigated the case and found insufficient evidence to support allegations against other staff members.
Police and DCFS officials describe the day-care case as ``a learning experience.`` They acknowledge that their investigators made errors but say the mistakes had little impact on the outcome of the case.
DCFS Director Gordon Johnson said he has asked Jon Conte of the University of Chicago, an expert on child sexual abuse, and Jeremy Margolis, Illinois` inspector general, to review all aspects of the investigation ``so we don`t repeat our mistakes.``
The case involved the following apparent errors:
-- The children were initially screened in cursory, ineffective interviews that lasted an average of only 15 minutes. In most cases, they were never re-interviewed by police or DCFS investigators.
-- One of the key interviewers brought in by the state to question the children had little formal training and misrepresented his credentials in his resume and during recent court testimony.
-- Based on the cursory screening interviews, investigators decided which children had been abused. Many child sexual-abuse experts say that determination can be made only after extensive interviews.
-- Despite the existence of a special child sexual-abuse police unit, the chief investigator in the Rogers Park Day Care Center case was a regular violent-crimes detective who had no formal training in child sexual abuse.
Burdened with the customary heavy workload, the detective said he was forced to investigate much of the case on his own time.
-- During the crucial early interviews, investigators did not act immediately when one child accused seven day-care center staff members of sexually abusing her. ``This was not our finest moment,`` said Belmont Area Detective Scott Keenan. ``We had one simple case with one offender, and we felt uncomfortable with the nature of her allegations.``
-- Weeks later, when the DCFS and police began to examine allegations of wider abuse, they created a reporting system in which parents relayed their children`s accusations to investigators. Many child sexual-abuse experts describe this procedure as ``ridiculous.``
-- The DCFS concluded its investigation partly on the basis of reports by a criminal psychologist and a child analyst who were asked by the agency to review the investigation but who were never asked to interview the children or their parents.
-- An outdated state law imposed a 90-day limit on the DCFS investigation, forcing the agency to make its conclusions over the objections of the children`s therapists, who said their young patients had only begun to talk about the alleged abuse.
``The tragedy in this case is that every institution that was supposed to protect kids failed to do so,`` said Conte, who advised the DCFS as well as parents of children enrolled at the day-care center about the case.
``The investigation was, at best, ineffective,`` he said. ``The system broke down.``
``What we need, what we needed then, was experience,`` said Assistant Deputy DCFS Director Bill Ryan. ``We had to feel our way. Honestly, I think we could have done way, way worse.``
The problems of investigating allegations of child sexual abuse by more than one adult are not unique to Illinois. Police, therapists and social workers across the country liken interviewing traumatized youngsters to gathering fine sand with their bare hands. Despite their best efforts, the truth often seems to slip through their fingers.
The Rogers Park case has polarized the parents of the 88 children enrolled at the center into emotional factions. Some are dissatisfied with the DCFS findings and the lack of indictments. They believe that abusers are escaping punishment because of an incompetent investigation.
Other parents discount stories of widespread abuse as fantasies of the children or their parents. Still others say they are uncertain whether the abuse occurred.
Despite their differences, none of the parents dreamed their children could be endangered in the rambling brown brick house at 7101 N. Greenview Ave. The center enjoyed a good reputation among young professional parents in the Rogers Park and Evanston communities.
But during the investigation, John Goad, who investigated the center for the DCFS, said he discovered that it was ``an administrative mess`` and that teachers often didn`t know where the children were. He said the center has since made changes to eliminate these problems and to conform to state requirements.
The first hint of problems at the day-care center came April 5, 1984, when a mother saw her little girl react angrily to what appeared to be a playful tickle by the center`s janitor, Deloartic Parks.
``My daughter shouted, `No, don`t touch me. Leave me alone,` `` the woman said in an interview. Later, the girl told her mother that Parks had abused her.
The woman notified police and DCFS, sparking an investigation that quickly grew to include two other children who also accused Parks. He was arrested and charged April 16 with three counts of child sexual abuse.
Investigators conducted a series of ``screening`` interviews with all 88 children at the center to learn whether others had been abused.
It was these important interviews--which in many cases were the only direct interviews with children--that outside experts believe laid a faulty groundwork.
The first weakness, they said, was the brevity of the questioning. The interviews were conducted over three days by teams that included DCFS social workers, police and a prosecutor and were led by specialists from Human Effective Living Program (HELP), a private group that treats child-sex offenders and their victims.
The interviews lasted an average of 10 to 15 minutes, according to Keenan.
 |
| Tina Grossman, MSW |
Conte agreed. ``You can`t interview a kid suffering from this kind of trauma in 10 or 15 minutes. Your questions to the child should be very broad and open-ended. This takes several sessions.``
Keenan said the interviews were long enough. Questioning was kept short to minimize the trauma that questioning inflicts on children and because investigators had so many children to see.
Allen Friedmann of HELP added that a workbook he helped design for the investigation elicited information quickly.
Questions that surfaced last week about Friedmann`s qualifications have caused investigators to wonder what impact his participation will have on the case. An examination of his court testimony and school records show that he exaggerated some credentials. Friedmann denies this.
He was a key member of the teams that determined 19 children showed evidence of abuse. These children were re-interviewed within two days.
Some experts say they made the decision too soon.
Therapists say youngsters often make disclosures through a painfully slow process, complicated by contradictions and recantations. This process may take anywhere from days to months, Conte said.
Because the interviews were so brief, the questions were necessarily too direct. Direct questioning can encourage an abused child to fantasize, said Dr. Elayne Yates of the University of Arizona, who serves on an American Medical Association Committee working to standardize methods for investigating these cases.
``If a child has prior sexual knowledge (from being abused previously), improper questioning is likely to prompt the child to tell wild tales,`` said Yates. She recommends three to six therapeutic sessions before children are questioned by police.
Investigators said they limited the number of interviews to avoid what later became the most critical point in the undoing of the case against an alleged child sex ring in Jordan, Minn. In that case, the Minnesota attorney general believed the victims` stories were tainted by incessant questioning sessions--as many as 50 per child--in which information might have been planted in their minds.
Another problem in the investigation was the Police Department`s lack of a formal procedure to assign child sexual abuse cases to the officers most qualified to handle them.
The Rogers Park case was assigned to the busy Belmont Area violent crimes unit--which routinely handles murders, robberies, and rapes--and not to the special unit that was set up to concentrate solely on cases involving serious child exploitation, the special investigations unit of the youth division.
Belmont Area Detective Cmdr. Edward Wodnicki said department policy dictates that all reported sex cases be assigned to violent crimes units.
Responsibility for the Rogers Park case was given to Keenan, who previously handled many sex cases and some single-offender child-abuse cases. Although many parents of children at the center regard his efforts highly, Keenan has no formal training in the area of child exploitation.
An error that illustrates the system`s reluctance to recognize the possible scope of the abuse came when authorities ignored a girl`s description of bizarre incidents involving eight staff members.
Keenan said that during the second day of the interviews, the child told of being sexually abused, pricked with pins, forced to watch animals being tortured, and covered with urine and feces.
Keenan re-interviewed the girl but said she could not provide enough details.
``To be honest with you, I didn`t want to hear this,`` Keenan said.
``This was going to destroy our case`` against Parks. In the following two weeks, two other children made similar allegations, he said.
This was the last time children were ever directly interviewed.
Saying that their children`s allegations were being ignored, some parents met with state officials, including DCFS director Johnson. DCFS agreed to pay for therapy sessions for the children and to re-examine the allegations of widespread abuse.
The DCFS asked parents to question their children and to pass along any descriptions of abuse, but said they would not re-interview the children, DCFS official Ryan said.
Experts dispute this practice and count it as one of the case`s problems. ``Interviewing kids through their parents is absurd,`` said Conte.
``You`re asking a child to elicit information that he doesn`t want to talk about and his parents don`t want to hear.``
Yates, of the University of Arizona, added, ``You`re getting information filtered through the parents` fears and biases. You don`t know if they even questioned their children at all, or how they questioned them.``
Based on this reporting system, investigators gathered allegations that 35 children had been abused. They found no corroboration from any child other than those whose parents were the most vocal and angry. Meanwhile, staff members adamantly denied the allegations, police said.
In September, the DCFS closed its second phase of the investigation when it found insufficient evidence to support the allegations against staff members, rejecting the results of its own reporting system. DCFS administrator Goad noted that the parents had discussed the case repeatedly among themselves and could have inadvertently planted ideas in their children`s minds.
DCFS, however, initiated the discussions among parents, first at the initial group meetings called by the agency and then while parents were waiting at a community center during the questioning of the children.
The agency defended its decision to close the case by calling in two specialists--James Chandler, a criminal psychologist with the Illinois Department of Law Enforcement, and Dr. Moises Shopper, a child analyst from St. Louis--who both recommended that the allegations be considered ``unfounded,`` Goad said.
But Chandler and Shopper made those recommendations without interviewing the children or their parents, Goad said.
The DCFS`s haste in closing the case stems from a state law that requires the agency to investigate abuse cases within 90 days.
Ryan complained that 90 days is ``not enough time for a comprehensive investigation.`` He said the limit was established to apply to incest cases in which a longer investigation could unduly disrupt the family.
One therapist treating the children said the DCFS closed the investigation prematurely at a time when children were only beginning to talk freely about the alleged abuse.
The therapist, who did not want to be identified, said all those treating the children continue to report any abuse to the Cook County state`s attorney`s office. The office has kept its investigation open, as has Keenan, but a spokesman would not comment on its progress.
During the course of investigation police have sought clues such as medical evidence and adult witnesses, and have examined stacks of recently seized child pornography to see whether any of the Rogers Park children appeared in the publications.
Police continue to try to correct the investigation`s problems by searching for such corroboration, if it exists, for the children`s accusations.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Day-care probe rife with errors: Rogers park case 'learning experience"
Chicago Tribune - Sunday, April 21, 1985 (page 1 and 4)
by Lynn Emmerman and Marianne Taylor
State officials and Chicago police made a series of errors investigating alleged sexual abuse at a North Side day-care center, making it unlikely that the year-old inquiry will determine the scope of inquiry will determine the scope of inquiry will determine the scope of the abuse or whether it occurred it all.
The mistakes in the case of the Rogers Park Day Care Center, a case that made headlines last April with the arrest of a janitor, reflect weaknesses in state and local efforts to handle inquiries into sexual abuse cases that may involve more than one adult.
The weaknesses--which include outdated policies, insufficient training of investigators and a reluctance on the part of some investigators to believe that this type of abuse occurs--persist despite national recognition of child sexual exploitation as a growing problem.
The case, the first recorded in Illinois to involve accusations of sexual abuse by a group of adults, consists of 246 allegations that staff members abused children enrolled at the center, according to the Illinois Department of children and Family Services (DCFS).
Only the janitor has been charged, and additional allegations have not resulted in charges in the continuing investigation.
The DCFS, which is responsible for regulating day-care centers and employees, also investigated the case and found insufficient evidence to support allegations against other staff.
Police and DCFS officials describe the day-care case as a "learning experience." They acknowledge that their investigators made errors but say the mistakes had little impact on the outcome of the case.
DCFS Director, Gordon Johnson said he has asked Jon Conte of the University of Chicago, an expert on child sexual abuse, and Jeremy Margolis, Illinois' inspector general, to review all aspects of the investigation "so we don't repeat our mistakes.
The case involved the following apparent errors:
- The children were initially screened in cursory, ineffective interviews that lasted an average of only 15 minutes. In most cases, they were never re-interviewed by police or DCFS investigators.
- One of the key interviewers brought in by the state to question the children had little formal training and misrepresented his credentials in his resume and during recent court testimony.
- Based on the cursory screening interviews, investigators decided which children had been abused. Many child sexual-abuse experts say that determination can be made only after extensive interviews.
- Despite the existence of a special child sexual-abuse police unit, the chief investigator in the Rogers Park Day Care Center was a regular violent-crimes detective who had no formal training in child sexual abuse. Burdened with the customary heavy workload, the detective said he was forced to investigate much of the case on his own time.
- During the crucial early interviews, investigators did not act immediately when one child accused seven day-care center staff members of sexually abusing her. "This was not our finest moment," said Belmont Area Detective Scott Keenan. "We had one simple case with one offender, and we felt uncomfortable with the nature of her allegations".
- Weeks later when DCFS and police began to examine allegations of wider abuse, they created a reporting system in which parents relayed their children's accusations to investigators. Many child sexual-abuse experts described this procedure as "ridiculous."
- The DCFS concluded its investigation partly on the basis of reports by a criminal psychologist and a child analyst who were asked by the agency to review the investigation but who were never asked to interview the children or parents.
- An outdated state law imposed a 90-day limit on the DCFS investigation, forcing the agency to make its concussions over the objections of the children's therapists, who said their young patients had only began to talk about the alleged abuse.
"The tragedy in this case is that every institution was supposed to protect kids failed to do so," said Conte, who advised the DCFS as well as parents of children enrolled at the day-care center about the case.
"The investigation was, at best, ineffective," he said. "The system broke down."
"What we need, what we needed then, was experience," and Assistant Deputy DCFS Director Billy Ryan. "We had to feel our way. Honestly, I think we could have done way, way worse."
The problems of investigating allegations of child sexual abuse by more than one adult are not unique to Illinois. Police, therapist and social workers across the country liken interviewing traumatized youngsters to gathering fine sand with their bar hands. Despite their best efforts, the truth often seems to slip their fingers.
The Rogers Park case has polarized the parents of the 88 children enrolled at the center into emotional factions. Some are dissatisfied with the DCFS findings and the lack of indictments. They believe that abusers are escaping punishment because of an incompetent investigation.
Other parents discount stories of widespread abuse as fantasies of the children or their parents. Still others say they are uncertain whether the abuse occurred.
Despite their differences, none of the parents dreamed their children could be endangered in the rambling brown brick house at 7101 N. Greenview Ave. The center enjoyed a good reputation among professional parents in the Rogers Park and Evanston communities.
But during the investigation, John Goad, who investigated the center for the DCFS, said he discovered that it was "an administrative mess" and that teachers often didn't know where the children were. He said the center has since made changes to eliminate those problems and to conform to state requirements.
The first hint of problems at the day-care center came April 5, 1984, when a mother saw her little girl react angrily to what appeared to be a playful tickle by the center's janitor, Deloaric Parks.
"My daughter shouted, 'No don't touch me. Leave me alone,'" the woman said in an interview. Later, the girl told her mother that Parks had abused her.
The woman notified police and the DCFS, sparking an investigation that quickly grew to include tow other children who also accused Parks. He was arrested and charged April 16 with three counts of child sexual abuse.
Investigators conducted a series of "screenings" interviews with all 88 children at the center to learn whether others had been abused.
Investigators conducted a series of "screening" interviews with all 88 children at the center to learn whether others had been abused.
It was these important interviews--which in many cases were the only direct interviews with children--that outside experts believed laid a faulty groundwork.
The first weakness, they said, was the brevity of the questioning. The interviews were conducted over three days by teams that included DCFS social workers, police and a prosecutor and were led by specialists from Human Effective Living Program (HELP)., a private group that treated child-sex-offenders and their victims.
The interviews lasted an average of 10 to 15 minutes, according to Keenan.
"You cannot do it in minutes. If you push (children) for answers then you are just as abusive as the one who abused them," said Tina Grossman, a child therapist.
Conte agreed. "You can't interview a kid suffering from this kind of trauma in 10 or 15 minutes. Your questions to the child should be very broad and open-ended. This takes several sessions."
Keenan said the interviews were long enough. Questioning was kept short to minimize the trauma that questioning inflicts on children and because investigators had so many children to see.
But Allen Friedmann of HELP added that a workbook he helped design for the investigation elicited information quickly.
Questions that surfaced last week about Friedmann's qualification have caused investigators to wonder what impact his participation will have on the case. An examination of his court testimony and school records show that he exaggerated some credentials. Friedmann denies this.
He was a key member of the team that determined 18 children showed evidence of abuse. These children were re-interviewed within two days.
Some experts say they made the decision too soon.
Therapists say youngsters often make disclosures through a painfully slow process, complicated by contradictions and recantations. This process may take anywhere from days to months, Conte said.
Because the interviews were so brief, the questions were necessarily too direct. Direct questioning can encourage an abused child to fantasize, said Dr. Elayne Yates of the University of Arizona, who serves on the American Medical Association Committee working to standardize methods for investigating these cases.
"If a child has prior sexual knowledge (from being abused previously), improper questioning is likely to prompt the child to tell wild tales," said Yates. She recommends three to six therapeutic sessions before children are questioned by police.
Investigators said they limited the number of interviews to avoid what later became the most critical point in the undoing of the case against an alleged child sex ring in Jordan, Minn. In that case, the Minnesota attorney general believed the victims stories were tainted by incessant, questioning sessions -- as many as 50 her child--in which information might have been planted in their minds.
Another problem in the investigation was the Police Department laced of a formal procedures to assign child sexual abuse cases to the officers most qualified to handle them.
The Rogers Park case was assigned to the busy Belmont Area violent crimes unit--which routinely handles 'murders, robberies and rapes-- and not to the special unit that was set up to concentrate solely on cases involving serious child exploitation, the special investigations unit of the youth division.
Belmont Area detective Cmdr. Edward Wodnicki said department policy dictates that all reported sex cases be assigned to violent crimes units.
Responsibility for the Rogers Park case was given to Keenan who previously handled many sex cases and some single-offender child-abuse cases. Although many parents of children at the center regard his efforts highly, Keenan has no formal training in the area of child exploitation.
An error that illustrates the system's reluctance to recognize the possible scope of the abuse came when authorities ignored a girls description of bizarre incidents involving eight staff members.
Keenan said that during the second day of the interviews, the child told of being sexually abused, pricked with pins, forced to watch animals being tortured, and covered with urine and feces.
Keenan re-interviewed the girl but said she could not provide enough details.
"This was not our finest moment," said Keenan. "To be honest, with you, I didn't want to hear this. This was going to destroy our case" against Parks. During the following two weeks, two other children made similar allegations, he said.
This was the last time children were ever directly interviewed.
"Saying that their children's allegations were being ignored, some parents met with state officials, including DCFS Director Johnson. He agreed to pay for therapy sessions for the children and to re-examine the allegations of widespread abuse.
The DCFS asked parents to question their children and to pass along any descriptions of abuse, but said they would not re-interview the children, DCFS officially Ryan said.
Experts dispute this practice and count it as one of the case's problems.
'Interviewing kids through their parents is absurd, said Conte.
You're asking a child to elicit information that he doesn't want to talk about and his parents don't want to hear.
Based on this reporting system investigators gathered allegations that 35 children had been abused. They found no corroboration from any child other then those whose parents were the most vocal and angry. Meanwhile, staff members adamantly denied the allegations police said.
In September, the DCFS closed its second phase of the investigation when it found insufficient evidence to support the allegations against the staff members, rejecting the results of the own reporting system. DCFS administrator Goad noted that the parents had discussed the case repeatedly among themselves and could have inadvertently planted ideas in their children's minds.
The DCFS, however initiated the discussions among parents first at the initial group meeting called by the agency and then while parents were waiting at a community center.
The agency defended its decision to close the case by calling in two specialists -- James Chandler, a criminal psychologist with the Illinois department of Law Enforcement, and Dr. Moses Shopper, a child analyst from St. Louis -- who both recommended that the allegations be considered "unfounded", said Goad.
But Chandler and Shopper made those recommendations without interviewing the children or their parents, Goad said.
The DCFS's haste in closed the case stems from a state law that requires the agency to investigate abuse cases within 90 days.
Ryan complained that 90 days is "not enough time for a comprehensive investigation."
One therapist treating the children said the DCFS closed the investigation prematurely at a time when children were only beginning to talk freely.
The Therapist, who did not want to be identified, said all those treating the children continue to report any abuse to the Cook County state's attorney's office. The office has kept its investigation open, as has Keenan, but a spokesman would not comment.
During the course of the investigation police have sought clues such as medical evidence and adult witnesses, and have examined stacks of recently seized child pornography to see whether any of the Rogers Park children appeared in the publications.
Police continue to try to correct the investigation's problems by searching for such corroboration if it exists, for the children's accusations.
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Embattled North Side Day-Care Center Will Close
by Lynn Emmerman and Marianne Taylor
Chicago Tribune - May 18, 1985
A North Side day-care center that made headlines last year when children accused staff members of sexual abuse will close this summer for financial reasons, Jewish Community Center officials said Friday.
The announcement came three days after national child sex-abuse experts met at the request of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and reviewed the allegations of abuse at the Rogers Park Day Care Center, 7101 N. Greenview Ave. The experts recommended that the center be closed pending further investigation, according to Gordon Johnson, DCFS director.
On Friday, Jerry Witkovsky, Jewish Community Center general director, said the experts` recommendation did not influence his decision to shut the center. ``Up until today, I was unaware that these people had re-examined the case,`` he said.
Witkovsky said the center will close because the ``changing demographics of the East Rogers Park community have decreased the demand for day care of Jewish children.`` He said the center`s dwindling enrollment has not been adversely affected by publicity surrounding the investigation. The facility will continue to operate as a senior citizen center, he said.
The center`s teaching staff, some of whom are under investigation, will be transferred to Jewish Community Center facilities throughout Chicago and the suburbs, Witkovsky said. Children enrolled at the center will be given the option to attend other area community centers, including the Bernard Horwich Center, 3003 W. Touhy Ave.
The Rogers Park Day Care Center case was the first recorded in Illinois to involve accusations of sexual abuse by a group of adults. It consisted of 246 allegations that teachers and other staff members abused children there.
Last April the center`s janitor was charged with criminal sexual abuse. His case is pending.
None of the remaining allegations have resulted in arrests.
State officials and Chicago police acknowledged that they made errors while investigating the case. Some experts say those mistakes--including a failure to thoroughly interview the children and a delay in responding to some children`s allegations of widespread abuse--made it unlikely that the year-old inquiry would determine the scope of the alleged abuse or if it occurred at all.
In an effort to improve the state`s investigatory procedures in large-scale abuse investigations, Johnson invited noted child-abuse experts to meet here earlier this week to discuss child sexual abuse and review the Rogers Park case.
The experts concluded that the allegations of widespread abuse appeared to have some foundation, Johnson said. The experts included Dr. Eli H. Newberger of Children`s Hospital in Boston; Ann Wolbert Burgess, a psychiatric nurse at the University of Pennsylvania`s School of Nursing; Jon Conte of the University of Chicago; and Dr. Howard Levy of Mt. Sinai Hospital.
Parents of children enrolled at the center had mixed reactions to news of the center`s closing.
"I think it`s a real shame," said Daniel Zifkin, father of a 5-year-old girl who has attended the center for three years. "It`s a good program. I don`t believe the charges about the teachers. . . . I think it`s a tremendous loss for the community."
Beth Vargo, whose 6-year-old daughter allegedly was abused at the center, said, ``The allegations against the teachers who were there when my child was there are very serious. Transferring those teachers to other facilities is no solution to this nightmare.``
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Trial Opens On Day Care Sex Abuse
by Ray Gibson
Chicago Tribune - September 20, 1985
A prosecutor said Thursday that a 4-year-old girl who told authorities she was sexually abused at a North Side day care center ``regressed almost into infancy`` after the child was repeatedly assaulted.
Kathleen Warnick, an assistant state`s attorney, made the charges in opening statements at the start of the trial of a former janitor charged with sexually abusing three children at the Rogers Park Day Care Center, 7101 N. Greenview Ave.
But lawyers for the defendant, Deloartic Parks, who was a janitor at the center for 13 years, depicted Parks as an innocent victim of children`s fantasies that resulted when the 88 youngsters at the day care center were shown a movie about sexual abuse.
The bench trial began Thursday before Judge Jack Stein in the Skokie branch of Cook County Circuit Court.
The charges are the result of an investigation in April, 1984, into 246 allegations of sexual abuse by the staff at the center. The probe, in which Parks was the only person to be charged, was the first in Illinois to involve accusations of widespread child abuse by a group of adults.
Warnick said the 4-year-old`s mother began noticing startling changes in her daughter`s behavior after she began attending the day care center.
The prosecutor also said the little girl developed ``unexplained bruises`` and a ``vaginal rash.``
The case began to unfold, Warnick said, when the little girl first denied and then later admitted to her mother that she had ``been forced to have sexual intercourse`` at the school.
But defense attorney Adam Bourgeois contended the girl, who is now 7, fabricated stories, telling authorities that she witnessed a baby being killed and that Parks put her in the furnace at the center.
``It is impossible to put anything or anyone in the furnace,`` Bourgeois told Judge Stein.``
Bourgeois said evidence would show that many of the little girl`s illnesses, such as the vaginal rash, were known side effects of drugs prescribed by a doctor for an infection.
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Mom tells ordeal of girl, 7, at janitor trial
by Gary Wisby
Chicago Sun-Times - September 21, 1985
Testifying against a janitor accused of sexually abusing her daughter, a Rogers Park woman yesterday said the healthy, cheerful girl became emaciated, crabby and fearful.
The changes began in 1983 when the girl, now 7, started attending kindergarten at the now-closed Rogers Park Jewish Community Center, 7101 N. Greenview, her mother said.
The center's janitor, Deloartic Parks, 47, of 7930 S. Peoria, is on trial before Judge Jack G. Stein in Skokie branch of Circuit Court.
Questioned by Assistant State's Attorney Kathleen Warnick, the woman said her daughter, previously "friendly and outgoing," became "cantankerous, clinging and whiny."
The girl was afraid to visit the bathroom alone, even at home, her mother said. The child has testified that Parks frequently raped her and committed other sex acts in a bathroom at the center.
"She would procrastinate when I was trying to get her ready for school," the mother said. And at school, "she did not want me to leave until the other children got there."
The woman said her daughter stopped sleeping well and ate so poorly that "she looked . . . emaciated."
She said the girl suffered from rashes on her genitals and buttocks. Sometimes "a very strong odor" came from the girl's vagina, and sometimes her underpants were stained, the mother said.
After a talk with a parent whose child also attended the school, she asked her daughter in April, 1984, if Parks had molested her.
At first the girl said no, but later accused Parks, the mother said. After that, the child "regressed almost back to infancy," the woman testified. She wet the bed and "I had to carry her around the house, spoon-feed her, sing lullabies to her and rock her constantly."
Earlier, the girl concluded testimony that began Thursday. Under questioning by defense attorney Adam Bourgeois, she continued to recant many of the accusations she had made in pretrial interviews and admitted she sometimes lies.
But she insisted Parks had raped and otherwise abused her. And she said staff members witnessed some of the acts. For example, the child testified, the center's director watched as the defendant "made me hurt other kids."
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Girl, 7, Testifies in Sex-Abuse Case
Chicago Tribune - September 21, 1985
A 7-year-old girl who testified she was sexually abused at a North Side day care center was so frightened after admitting she was the victim of repeated sexual attacks that she had to be spoon-fed and began wetting her bed, the child`s mother testified Friday. ``She was very frightened. . . . She regressed almost back to infancy. I had to sing lullabies to her and rock her constantly,`` the mother told a judge in the Skokie Branch of Cook County Circuit Court. The mother`s testimony came in the trial of the school`s former janitor, Deloartic Parks, 47, 7930 S. Peoria St., who is charged with rape and with taking indecent liberties with the girl at the Rogers Park Day Care Center, 7101 N. Greenview Ave.
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Girl, 7, tells of abuse and rape: Janitor's lawyer hammers at story
by Gary Wisby
Chicago Sun-Times, Friday - September 20, 1985 (page 26)
Safe on the witness stand with her Winnie the Pooh doll, a 7-year-old girl testified yesterday that a janitor at her Rogers Park nursery school had repeatedly raped and sexually abused her.
But the child contradicted a score of other accusations made earlier to police and her mother, and admitted twice she had lied.
Her alleged attacker, Deloartic Parks, 47, of 7030 S. Peoria, is on trail in Skokie branch of the Circuit Court before Judge Jack G. Stein.
Parks is accused of abusing the girl over the past two years while she was attending the Rogers Park Jewish Community Center school, 7101 N. Greenview. The school closed Aug. 9.
Statements by the child and 20 classmates--about one-forth of the enrollment--claim the janitor, at least 10 staff members and people from outside the school sexually abused them. Only Parks has been charged.
Sex film cited
His attorney, Adam Bougeois, noted that the child's accusations came a month after pupils attended a child sexual-assault prevention program at the school.
The program, presented by a Chicago police officer, included the showing a film, "Mr. Stranger Danger."
The girl, answering questions brightly and with self-composure, but often after 10-second intervals, pointed out Parks and said he had forced intercourse and other sex acts on her at school.
She said he warned her, "Don't tell no one or I'll kill all of you," meaning the child and her parents.
But under questioning by Bourgeois, she denied charges that court records show she made to police and her mother: That Park's put her in the school's furnace and oven, that he gave her a drink that made her dizzy, that nude pictures of the children were taken at the school, that Parks killed a turtle in front other and more than a dozen other allegations.
Testimony shaken
Though sticking by parts of her story, the girl admitted lying when she said she had been given a shot that "made her sleepy," and that Parks had defecated on her.
"What else did you make?" Bourgeois asked. She didn't answer.
The case has split parents into two camps. "Some parents are in denial. They've taken the attitude that nothing ever happened," Bob Levine said outside court.
He said others-particularly one whose children, like his 4-year-old daughter are now in therapy--believe the children's charges.
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Day-care center janitor raped me, girl testifies
By Ray Gibson
Chicago Sun-Times (page 26) - September 20, 1985
Cuddling her yellow teddy bear, a 7-year old girl took the witness stand Thursday to accuse a janitor at her former day-care center of raping and sexually molestation her.
The girl, now in 2nd grade, fidgeted and smiled as she testified for nearly two hours in the trial of the North Side center's former janitor, Deloaric Parks, 47, of 7930 S. Peoria St. Her testimony came in the first day of trail in the Skokie branch of Cook county Circuit Court.
Parks is the only person facing criminal charges stemming from an April, 1984 investigation by the Chicago Police Department of allegations of abuse at the Rogers Park Day Care Center.
But defense attorneys Thursday introduced as evidence earlier investigative interviews with other children from the center in which some said other staff members had committed sexual abuse. The interviews were conducted after accusations were made against Parks.
The earlier investigation, conducted by state agencies, ended without charges, but Parks attorneys introduced the interviews in an effort to question the credibility of the girl's testimony
Whether the accusations made in the interviews against other staff members and the charges against Parks are true is what Judge Jack Stein, conducting a bench trial, will have to determine.
Under questioning by Assistant State's Atty. Kathleen Warnick, the girl told Stein that she was raped and sexually molested "many times" by Parks between September 1983, and April, 1984, at the center, which cared for 88 students aged 2 through 6.
The girl testified that she "cried" after Parks allegedly forced her to have oral sex. She said Parks told her after attacking her, "Don't tell anybody or I'll kill your family,'"
The girl said the sexual assaults by Parks occurred in washrooms at the center, 7101 N. Greenview Ave.
Warnick told the judge that the child "regressed almost into infancy" because of the repeated sexual attacks.
Outside the courtroom, Parks and his attorney, Adam Bougeois, Maintained that Parks is innocent.
Under cross-examination by Bourgeois, the girl admitted that she had made up some tales about Parks and other staff members allegedly sexually abusing her.
Boureois said that "a lot of the fantasies since dreamed up are going to be exposed" when cross examination continues Friday.
In an unusual move after the day's session, Stein visited the center to see where the alleged attacks occurred, Bourgeois had argued in his opening remarks that the sexual assaults could not have occurred in the center's bathrooms because they are extremely small.
Parks is being tried on charges of rape, unlawful restraint and taking indecent liberties with a child. He is also charged in attacks on two other girls.
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Doctors Saw 'Possible' Abuse of Pupil
by Robert Enstad
Chicago Tribune - September 24, 1985
A 7-year-old girl who allegedly was sexually abused by a janitor at a Rogers Park day-care center showed signs of ``possible sexual abuse,`` according to testimony Monday by two physicians in the janitor`s trial.
The physicians said they examined the girl in April, 1984.
Dr. Jeffrey Grabenstein, the girl`s family physician, said he found the evidence in a urinalysis of the girl. Dr. Lorraine Ling, who examined the girl at Children`s Memorial Hospital, said an enlarged vaginal area indicated possible abuse.
``I (suspected) that she was sexually abused, but not to a medical certainty,`` Ling testified.
The doctors testified as state witnesses in the trial of Deloartic Parks, 47, of 7930 S. Peoria St., a former janitor at the Rogers Park Day Care Center, 7101 N. Greenview Ave. He is charged with taking indecent liberties with a child. The bench trial is being held before Judge Jack Stein in the Skokie branch of Cook County Circuit Court.
After the doctors testified, the state rested its case against Parks.
Defense attorneys said they will begin their case Tuesday with testimony from teachers at the center, now closed.
Parks is the only person to face criminal charges as a result of an April, 1984, Chicago Police Department investigation of alleged abuse at the center.
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Doctors suspect girl molested
by Gary Wisby
Chicago Sun-Times - September 24, 1985
Two doctors testified yesterday that they suspected but couldn't prove that a private-school kindergartener had been sexually abused.
They gave evidence at the trial of a janitor at the now-shuttered Rogers Park Jewish Community Center. Deloartic Parks, 47, of 7930 S. Peoria, is accused of raping and committing other sex acts against the girl, 7.
Family practitioner Dr. Jeffrey Grabenstein, examining the child for a sore throat and other ailments in April, 1984, said that when he found pus cells in the child's urine "the first thing that came to mind was child sex abuse."
Later that month, after the girl told her mother Parks had molested her, Grabenstein did a pelvic exam.
"She was visibly shaking," he testified. "The usual response is giggling and looking at mom."
The physician found a rash that "can be caused" by abuse, he said. But the child resisted so violently he was unable to determine whether her hymen was intact. "I asked her if anyone else had done this to her before," Grabenstein said. "She said, `yes.' "
He referred the girl to Children's Memorial Hospital, where Dr. Lorraine Ling, with the help of a nurse who held the child down, was able to do a more thorough exam.
Ling, who had been told of the suspected abuse, testified she could find no hymen. She added that the child's vaginal opening was about 2 1/2 times as wide as in most girls her age.
Under cross-examination by defense attorney Adam Bourgeois, Ling said she could not be medically certain the child had been abused.
Parks also has been charged with sexually abusing two younger children at the school.
A 90-day state investigation found no basis for most of the charges against Parks leveled by a score of children and several teachers.
Parental pressure prompted reopening of the investigation last month.
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Day-Care Worker Denies Sex Charges
Chicago Tribune - October 2, 1985
A man accused of sexually abusing a 7-year-old girl at a Rogers Park day- care center denied the charge Tuesday and said he didn`t even know the girl.
Deloartic Parks, 47, a former janitor at the Rogers Park Jewish Community Center, 7101 N. Greenview Ave., testified in Skokie branch of Cook County Circuit Court that he had a good relationship with children at the center. He said he sometimes would tease the children and play games with them. But he denied the allegations of a 7-year-girl that over a period of months in 1983 and 1984 he sexually abused her. Asked whether he knew the girl, Parks said,``No.``
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Janitor denies child sex abuse charges
Chicago Sun-Times - October 2, 1985
A janitor accused of raping a kindergartner yesterday denied he did anything but his job at the Rogers Park Jewish Community Center.
Deloartic Parks, 47, testified at Skokie branch of Circuit Court that he never treated the children cruelly and was never left alone with them at the now-shuttered JCC at 7101 N. Greenview.
Parks specifically denied raping and otherwise sexually abusing his chief accuser, now 7, in bathrooms at the center.
He also is charged with sexually abusing two other children at the JCC. In addition, city and state agencies are jointly investigating accusations by scores of children against other staff members.
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Janitor not guilty in rape of girl, 7; parents bitter
by Gary Wisby
Chicago Sun-Times - October 3, 1985
A janitor accused of raping a kindergartener at the Rogers Park Jewish Community Center was found not guilty on all charges yesterday.
"These are not easy cases to decide," Circuit Judge Jack G. Stein said in acquitting Deloartic Parks after a six-day bench trial.
Noting that he had to weigh testimony of a 7-year-old girl against that of a 47-year-old man with no previous arrests, Stein said he was bound by the legal requirement of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
Given that, the judge said, "I have no choice but to discharge the defendant."
The verdict prompted bitter remarks about Stein and the legal system from parents who believe their children were molested by Parks and other staff members at the now-shuttered JCC school. Only Parks was charged.
"I think it stinks," said the father of the 7-year-old outside the Skokie branch courtroom. "I hope {Stein} can sleep tonight."
Now, the father said, he will have to tell his daughter, "The judge said you lied. Grownups don't lie, but kids do."
He said the verdict "sends a clear message to child molesters and abusers. . . . Come to Illinois and do your dirty work here."
It is "child's play" for defense attorneys to trip up young witnesses on the stand, he said.
The mother said she believed Parks raped her daughter and as many as 20 other children at the JCC.
The defendant wiped tears from his eyes after Stein cleared him of rape, taking indecent liberties with a child, taking aggravated indecent liberties with a child and unlawful restraint.
Parks still faces lesser charges involving two preschoolers at the JCC, but said he's not worried. "You didn't do anything, you're not gonna be nervous," he said.
While parents said the accuser's youth was to her disadvantage, the head of Parks' defense team, Adam Bourgeois, said, "If an adult had alleged rape, {the judge} would have tossed it out right away" in such a case.
In closing arguments, Bourgeois said there was no corroboration of the girl's charges - "no panties, no marks, no bruises . . . no medical certainty."
He noted that the girl withdrew many of her allegations and admitted she sometimes lied.
Assistant State's Attorney Fred Minelli countered that the child stuck by the most serious charges, involving rape and sexual abuse
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Janitor Cleared of 1 Sex Charge - 'I Have No Choice', Judge Says
Chicago Tribune - October 3, 1985
A former janitor at a Rogers Park day-care center was acquitted Wednesday on charges that he sexually abused a 7-year-old girl at the center over a period of more than a year.
Judge Jack G. Stein, sitting in the Skokie branch of Cook County Circuit Court, ruled there was insufficient evidence against Deloartic Parks, 47, who worked at the Rogers Park Jewish Community Center, 7101 N. Greenview Ave.
``There is a reasonable doubt in my mind, so I have no choice but to discharge the defendant,`` said Stein, who heard the case without a jury.
Parents of children from the day-care center, who had sat through much of the trial that began Sept. 18, reacted angrily at the verdict. Some broke into tears and audible anger in the nearly filled courtroom, prompting Stein to warn them against demonstrations.
``I think the judge bought the easy way out,`` said Mrs. Hillary Levine of Chicago, mother of a child formerly enrolled at the center.
Parks, of 7930 S. Peoria St., sat alone in the courtroom and sobbed for several minutes after everyone else left. He said he thanked God for the judge`s ruling and is not concerned about two other sexual abuse charges pending against him.
``God will take care of those,`` he said.
During the trial, the girl testified that in 1983 and 1984 Parks sexually abused her and raped her and threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the incidents.
The child`s father said the verdict showed that the judge did not believe his daughter, who testified for more than five hours as the state`s principal witness.
``I think this all stinks,`` the father said. ``I hope the judge sleeps well tonight. He said a kid can be molested but that, as long as it is an adult that does it and no one is around to see it, he can`t do anything about it.``
The day-care center, which had an enrollment of about 80, was closed in August. Five local and state agencies have been investigating alleged abuse at the center, although Parks is the only staff member who has been criminally charged.
Parks, a deacon at the Christ Temple Missionary Baptist Church, 41 W. 95th St., testified that he never abused the children, was never alone with them and didn`t even know the alleged victim. But several parents testified Wednesday that they had often seen Parks alone with their children. And the mother of the 7-year-old said Parks knew her daughter by name and always knew where she was in the building.
Parks` attorney, Adam Bourgeois, in arguing for acquittal, said the girl`s testimony was filled with contradictions, including where the alleged abuse took place, and that there was no conclusive medical evidence that the girl was raped or otherwise sexually abused. ``This is a situation where we have no corroboration,`` Bourgeois said.
In a brief explanation of his ruling, Judge Stein noted that child abuse cases are not easy to decide. This case was particularly difficult, he said, because the defendant had never before been arrested and had a good reputation in his neighborhood. ``As luck would have it, I have to decide it,`` said Stein.
Then, without further explanation, the judge said he didn`t think the state had met the legal burden of proving Parks guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
``This is a very sad sort of thing because it involves a child,`` Bourgeois said. ``That`s why there is all the hysteria.``
Stein set an Oct. 17 hearing for the two other sexual abuse charges against Parks. Both of those charges involve alleged incidents at the day-care center.
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Janitor trial in preschool child abuse case put off
by Gary Wisby
Chicago Sun-Times - November 20, 1985
Child-abuse cases involving the janitor at a Rogers Park preschool were delayed yesterday because the two alleged victims are "psychologically unavailable" to testify.
Over defense objections, Judge Jack G. Stein continued the cases against Deloartic Parks to Feb. 18 in Skokie branch of Circuit Court.
Assistant State's Attorney Kathy Warnick said the children, both 5-year-old girls, were too traumatized by their experiences at the now-closed Rogers Park Jewish Community Center to testify at this time.
Warnick said she will keep in touch with the girls' therapists in hopes the children can appear in court before Feb. 18.
Parks' attorney, Adam Bourgeois, called the delay unreasonable and harmful to his client.
"He can't get a job or unemployment compensation as long as the case is pending," Bourgeois said outside court.
The mother of one girl said that because of threats by Parks, her daughter feared she and her family would be killed if she testified.
Parks, 47, is accused of taking indecent liberties with the girls while they attended preschool last year. He has denied the charges.
On Oct. 2, Parks was found not guilty of rape and other charges brought by a 7-year-old girl who attended the school.
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Child-molesting charges suspended
Chicago Sun-Times - February 19, 1986
Child-molesting charges against the former janitor at a Rogers Park school were suspended yesterday, perhaps permanently, because the two alleged victims were psychologically unprepared to testify.
Circuit Judge Jack G. Stein said the case against Deloartic Parks, 47, could be reinstated in 60 days if the girls, ages 5 and 6, are ready.
But Assistant State's Attorney Fred Minelli said the children's parents and therapists feel a court appearance in the near future would be too traumatic.
Parks' alleged offense took place in 1983-84 at the now-shut Rogers Park Jewish Community Center. Stein had acquitted him Oct. 2 of rape charges involving a 7-year-old.
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Day-Care Janitor's Abuse Trials Off
by Andy Knott
Chicago Tribune -February 19, 1986
Prosecutors on Tuesday dropped charges against a 46-year-old former janitor accused of sexually molesting three children at a North Side day-care center, after telling a judge that two of the young victims were psychologically unequipped to testify.
One of the children, a 6-year-old girl, said she was afraid to testify against Deloartic Parks shortly after his acquittal last October in the first of what was to have been three trials, according to the child`s mother.
Judge Jack Stein on Tuesday was told by prosecutors that a psychologist and a child-abuse therapist concurred in finding that the victims in the two cases remaining against Parks could not testify because they were too afraid to testify competently. In addition, prosecutors said they feared that calling the children to testify would be too traumatic and would outweigh any legal benefit of calling them.
``I just prayed to God that everything would be all right,`` Parks said Tuesday after the court hearing. He said he also took steps to regain his job by applying to the Jewish Community Center of Chicago for reinstatement. ``I think I was the scapegoat,`` he said, referring to the other allegations of abuse.
The 6-year-old girl was the first of nearly 30 children to allege that they were sexually abused by some workers at the Rogers Park Jewish Community Center, 7101 N. Greenview Ave. No worker other than Parks has ever been charged in the case, which involved 36 state, county and city investigators.
Parks` attorney, Adam Bourgeois Sr., disputed the contention the charges were dropped on a technicality. ``We went to trial once before and the state put their on their strongest case with the strongest facts and we won,`` he said.
Bourgeois referred to the first trial involving Parks when, on Oct. 2, Stein ruled that there was insufficient evidence against Parks.
In that trial in the Skokie branch of Cook County Circuit Court, Parks took the witness stand and denied knowing the victim. Bourgeois said that there was no medical evidence to support prosecutors` contention that the girl had been abused.
The mother remembers returning home that day in October to tell her young daughter the news.
According to the mother, the daughter asked if that meant ``the judge didn`t believe`` her 7-year-old former schoolmate in the first case, who had testified in the October trial that Parks had molested her.
``We were satisfied and still are that, under the right circumstances, these victims would be competent,`` said Assistant State`s Atty. Fred Minelli, assigned to the case with Kathy Warnick, also an assistant state`s attorney.
``But one person can be more shy than another, or can be stronger than another. We are disappointed, but concur in the findings made by those who are treating the victims.``
The child`s mother admitted that although the treatment reports were the official reason for keeping the victims off the witness stand, the victims` parents also had a say in the decision.
``It was the only alternative we had left,`` she said. The mother had been outspoken and critical of the investigative techniques used by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Chicago police and the Cook County state`s attorney`s office in the investigation of allegations of wider abuse at the center.
The facility closed last year for reasons unrelated to the investigation, center officials said.
The girl who testified in the October case ``never wavered in her story,`` the mother said. ``She demonstrated how she was abused. And at the end of all this, the judge basically said he didn`t believe her.``
The girl`s mother and others, including University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration professor Jon R. Conte, called Tuesday for a change in state laws to make courtrooms more amenable for child victims.
But Conte, who has followed the Rogers Park case as well as child abuse cases in Jordan, Minn., Los Angeles and Miami, admitted that asking a judge to believe allegations by 4- or 5-year-old children over the denials of an adult when there is no physical evidence is ``tough.``
``This is not a surprising scenario,`` Conte said. ``The whole handling of child abuse is at a pivotal point now. Our social policies must change.``
The Parks case made headlines within days of the first allegation of abuse on April 13, 1984. Parks was indicted on May 11, 1984, on charges of indecent liberties and others in three alleged attacks.
State social workers, police and prosecutors investigated 246 allegations of abuse made by some children against several adults at the center, but no indictments ever followed.
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Day-care center sued for $50 million
Chicago Sun-Times - February 22, 1986
The parents of a girl who they contend was sexually molested while attending a Rogers Park day-care center filed a $50 million lawsuit yesterday against the center and four employees.
The suit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, says the girl, then 2 years old, was "brutalized, assaulted, battered and tortured" while attending the now-closed Rogers Park Jewish Community Center, 7101 N. Greenview.
Named as defendants in the case are the center, Jewish Community Centers of Chicago, Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, and employees Deloartic Parks, Peggy Compton, Rochelle Marcus and David Kay.
The defendants "jointly and severally engaged in a pattern of conduct to physically, sexually, and mentally abuse" the child "and other children in her presence," lasting from September, 1983, to April of 1984, the suit states.
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Major Day-Care Abuse Cases
The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA) - April 23, 1992
April 1984 - Chicago: A janitor is charged with the sexual assault of preschoolers at the Rogers Park Day Care Center. Children also accuse teachers of abusing them in satanic rituals. The janitor is acquitted. Child services investigators determine that most of the allegations involving other staff members are unfounded. Prosecutors drop the remaining charges in February 1986.
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