...while local officials celebrate April’s “Child Abuse Prevention Month.”
Cherokee County TX:
According to an April 9, 2008 Cherokeean Herald article, Cherokee County Child Protective Services (CPS) investigated a staggering 433 child abuse allegations in the year 2007. Only 18 children were removed from their homes and placed in foster care. A small number compared to statewide statistics, however the 2000 US Census indicates that 25.8% of the 47,000 residents in Cherokee County Texas are under 18-years old.25.8% X 47000 = 12126 minors
433 : 12126 = 1 : 28 ratio
or approx. 1 in 30
There are 15,700 households with children in Cherokee County TX also according to the 2000 US census.
This means over 1 in 500 households in the county have been visited by CPS.
This means over 3 % of the households in Cherokee County TX have had some type of alleged abuse.
Not a good number for any Cherokee County TX official pretending to be a "victim's rights" champion. The Cherokee County Criminal Docket can certainly attest that a tiny fraction of these cases actually saw the light of day. Meanwhile, a related article cites that Cherokee County officials responsible for the statistics are in fact observing a self imposed "Child Abuse Prevention Month" during the month of April. A celebration of sorts led by County Judge Chris Davis and attended by the District Attorney and County Attorney's offices.
Our invited State Representative and State Senator all gather on April 9th for a photo op to express their solidarity with the Cherokee County district attorney and county attorney offices to rally the county’s overblown abuse statistics. Forgetting about their other districts’ drug and child porn arrests, e.g. Rusk County, stinking corruption and local sex offenders tooling around the courthouse on probation given by Elmer Beckworth and associates. No moratorium needed to cleanse the region of rampant child porn and drug dealing by law enforcement; a ribbon cutting ceremony will rally voters back into a mental slumber.
Remember, they care so much about children that they believe probation is acceptable to every and all child molesters arrested and living within the county- well, those related to the right official.
The fact is the first, second and third cousins of Cherokee County’s “officials” have gotten away with sexual assault of minors for decades. Because the Cherokee County Sheriff Department ignores the reports and the current District and County Attorneys only prosecute non-relatives of Cherokee County’s “officials.” Cherokee County citizens do not need to be made aware of the child porn epidemic in its schools or the high incidence of incest occurring under their noses.
The folks are probably wondering why rapists are recruited to patrol the streets of Jacksonville, TX a la Larry Pugh. And the audacity of the Jacksonville police department to print that the JPD recruiting policies have changed for the better.
They are probably wondering how for decades a Rusk ISD drama teacher can take students to overnight and out-of-town Theater Camp, while simultaneously trading in child porno on the Internet. That is Rusk Texas high school teacher Harold "Bo" Scallon , who pleaded guilty to his child porn collection in federal court Tuesday April 9, 2008.
Most importantly, the taxpayers are probably wondering why Sex Offenders are walking around town on probation given to them by the District Attorney.
Cherokee County's District Attorney Elmer Beckworth has consistently given probation to child molesters whose victims were as young as 1-year-old baby girls, all the while the local Cherokeean Herald and Jacksonville Daily Progress have swept the incidents of incest and statutory rape under the proverbial carpet. What can the taxpayer expect when neither of the two local Cherokee County papers printed the fact that the US Postmaster Herbert Michael Dominguez in the Alto Texas Post Office was sentenced this year "for stealing over $27,000 in money and stamps" ?
The local CPS claims to have investigated over 400 abuse allegations last year alone, in a county with a little over 12000 minors. If that is the case, why doesn't the County Court at Law docket reflect it? It's not because the abuse wasn't reported, it is because the victims were ignored by Cherokee County officials as usual. Because these officials spend taxpayer money promoting themselves as victims by bleeding the county coffers and local businesses dry with frivolous Personal Injury lawsuits.
Cherokee County would rather solicit the hiring of an extra "mental health" deputy via ACCESS grant money, knowing it is MHMR's policy to have 2 deputies present during the transport of an unruly mental patient. How many mental health commitments and out-patient "shepherding" duties does a county of 47000 have each year to justify what a staff of deputies are already required by law to perform? They certainly aren't investigating child abuse.
400 out of 12000 children have possibly been abused while the Sheriff Department is going to hire another deputy to sit on his or her laurels and help the Jail Coordinator eavesdrop on inmates' payphone calls.
That means in 2007 over 3 % of Cherokee County's children may have been neglected, abused or worse. A statistic Cherokee County should be ashamed of. And apparently they are:
They all got together and had a big ol' ribbon cutting ceremony on the Rusk Texas courthouse steps in an attempt to 'Fool 'em All Over Again' for the month of April. If they know the truth makes them look bad, as in the preventable murder of Faye Bell Harris in 2003, then taxpayers can expect to see their officials in full regalia on the courthouse lawn, telling everyone "the world is actually flat." And pretending to care more about victimized and helpless children than protecting their collective government paychecks.
Read the Cherokee County TX court dockets for a comparison of actual CPS child abuse cases reported, and those Elmer Beckworth, et al threw in the courthouse dumpster. Next year they'll be smart enough not to let CPS report its local abuse statistics. Now that's Awareness to rally around.
[courtesy of the Rusk TX Cherokeean Herald 4-09-08]
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (TDFPS) is observing April as Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Month.
http://cherokeecountytexas.blogspot.com/
