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Kidjacked | Jacked Up
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In Louisiana, a study conducted in conjunction with a civil suit found that 21 percent of abuse or neglect cases involved foster homes. Florida CPS News Archive
Florida News Coverage
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'On Strike' Mom Accused Of Neglect
Ocala -- A Central Florida mother of four boys was arrested on Tuesday after telling authorities that she went "on strike" more than a month ago, leaving the teens home alone for hours every day because they would constantly fight.
Melissa G. Dean, 33, was charged with child neglect after telling Ocala police and the Department of Children and Families that she leaves her children, ages 17, 16, 14 and 13, home alone.
Orlando News (FL)
February 20, 2008
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How well did Florida Gov. know alleged child porn peddler?
by Michael Roston
Floridians were shocked last week when police announced that the spokesman for the state's Department of Children and Families had been arrested and charged with peddling child pornography.
But buried in news accounts of the case was a curious detail: the official in question had listed the state's current Republican Governor, Charlie Crist, as a reference when he applied for his post in 2005.
The Raw Story
February 8, 2008
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Foster Mom Calls Foster Care System a Trainwreck
by Jackelyn Barnard
First Coast News has learned Lisa was missing an important log book that foster parents should have.
Case workers have to sign the log when they visit a child in the home. Lisa says it wasn't until months after she started taking in foster kids that a case worker realized a log was missing. "When she came, she asked me where was my booklet, and I told her I don't know what she was talking about.
First Coast News (FL)
February 4, 2008
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DCF had no hint of spokesman's troubled history
by Colavecchio-Van Sickler, Leary & Velde
State agents raided Al Zimmerman's rented house in Tallahassee Thursday, seeking evidence in connection with his child pornography arrest. They left with a computer, a monitor and several boxes, a neighbor said.
The DCF did not have a policy of fingerprinting potential employees when Zimmerman was hired two years ago, Butterworth said Saturday. So only after state and local law enforcement officials began investigating the recent pornography allegations did they turn up a DUI arrest in Georgia and an outstanding warrant for grand theft in Texas, where Zimmerman worked as a television reporter until 2001.
sptimes.com
February 3, 2008
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DCF spokesman arrested on child porn charges
by Brendan Farrington
Tallahassee -- A spokesman for the Department of Children & Families was arrested Friday on child pornography charges and officials believe at least one of the child victims has been or is in state custody.
Al Zimmerman has been charged with eight counts of using a child in a sexual performance. Zimmerman, who has been with the agency for nearly two years, has been fired, agency officials said. Authorities say Zimmerman, 40, solicited at least two victims between the ages of 16 and 17 to create child pornography.
Herald Tribune (FL)
February 1, 2008
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Self-styled false abuse expert arrested
by S. I. Rosenbaum
TAMPA - A Riverview man who has built a career as an expert on "false child abuse accusations" has been charged with domestic violence and tampering with a witness to avoid prosecution.
Dean Bryan Tong, 51, of 10246 Hunter's Haven Blvd., was accused of grabbing his wife's arm and slamming her foot in the bedroom door during an argument on Jan. 21, according to an arrest affidavit filed by sheriff's deputies.
St. Petersburg Times (FL)
January 30, 2008
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Abuse expert arrested on abuse charge
Tampa, Florida - Google the name "Dean Tong" and the search turns up hundreds of entries that list him as a "nationally recognized legal consultant and author on child abuse, custody and abduction cases."
Tampa, Florida - Google the name "Dean Tong" and the search turns up hundreds of entries that list him as a "nationally recognized legal consultant and author on child abuse, custody and abduction cases."
Tampa Bays Local News (FL)
January 28, 2008
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Foster care laws attacked
by Melanie Ave
TAMPA - Jacob Peters was placed in foster care at age 3 after his parents separated and his mother's boyfriend was accused of sexual molestation.
Fourteen years and 45 different foster placements later, he's still there. A well-known child advocate now wants the state to pay for what she says have been numerous wrongs against 17-year-old "Jacob Peters," a pseudonym he is called in a lawsuit filed recently in Hillsborough Circuit Court.
St. Petersburg Times
January 26, 2008
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Mother Tased In DCF Investigation
PUTNAM COUNTY, FL -- A DCF worker is recovering from a family investigation that turned violent.
Detectives say when the worker took the child from Hoppe, Hoppe became violent and attacked her. The officer stunned Hoppe with a taser gun to subdue her.
First Coast News
January 11, 2008
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State settles lawsuit with female raped in foster care
by Larry Hannan
The Florida Department of Children and Families has settled a lawsuit with the guardians of a mentally disabled girl who repeatedly was molested by her foster father in Immokalee and ended up pregnant.
DCF has agreed to pay the guardians of Pierreisna Archille $1.3 million for ignoring complaints of abuse made by Pierreisna's younger sister, Darlene Achille. Pierreisna's foster father, Bonifacio Valazquez, repeatedly raped Pierreisna when she was an underage minor and Pierreisna ended up pregnant at 17.
Naples Daily News (FL)
July 21, 2007
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State: Failures persist in child welfare
by Melanie Ave
It was supposed to be a new era. Florida began handing over its child welfare duties to private agencies a decade ago, vowing children would be safer.
Courtney is safe now. But what about the 585 other children missing from Florida's foster care system, and the 47, 000 under the state's supervision? Probing questions are being raised anew about the state's ability to protect its most vulnerable charges.
St. Petersburg Times (FL)
June 24, 2007
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GPS device leads police to sex abuse of 13-year-old
A man who was convicted of sex crimes against a 13-year-old girl with the help of her suspicious father -- who placed a global positioning satellite tracking device in her back pack.
Ocala police arrested Carlos Antonio Montanez, 28, in August after being tipped off by the girl's father, who suspected his daughter was being sexually abused.
Ocala Star Banner (FL)
April 13, 2007
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Sex-offender ruling reversed
by Ludmilla Lelis
DAYTONA BEACH -- An appellate court Thursday struck down a 2-year-old court order that had tried to resolve what one judge called a "Hotel California"-like dilemma for sex offenders.
A sex offender may temporarily reside in a motel. If the offender is homeless, he or she is monitored wherever the offender is living, she said. In one example, she said, probation officers are monitoring four sex offenders who are living under a bridge in Miami.
Orlando Sentinel (FL)
April 6, 2007
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Isabelle Zehnder: Son abused at Dozier, father reaches out for help
by Mark Caldwell
Father needs help to expose his son's abuse in the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice - Read boy's diary exposing abuse
Justin Caldwell, an 18-year old boy, has been incarcerated in the Florida Juvenile Justice System since he was 13. What was to be a 12-15 month stay in a residential treatment center to help Justin turned into a 5-year nightmare.
Abuse at Dozier
March 18, 2007
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State Investigates Reported Abuse At DCF Facility
Four state agencies are looking into reports of abuse at a Department of Children & Families facility that holds mentally ill and disabled juvenile delinquents who aren't competent to stand trial.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating and will likely decide next week whether any charges should be filed in the cases, Commissioner Gerald Bailey said. There is a video tape of the first case, but not of the second, which occurred outside one of the facility's buildings.
Local News 10 (FL)
March 14, 2007
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Citrus: Teen wants someone punished
by Chandra Broadwater
It was Dec. 15 when a Hernando County 17-year-old sat in the passenger seat of his former caseworker's car and told him the story of sexual abuse.
In the quiet car, the teen told Cecilio Deleon about how Kejerald C. "K.J." Jackson, a 30-year-old Brooksville foster parent pinched the teen's nipples, wrestled him to the ground and put his hands down the teen's pants just before the boy got away.
St. Petersburg Times (FL)
January 22, 2007
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Ballot Initiative for a Constitutional Amendment to Abolish Alimony
by Citizens For Liberty And Privacy
The Citizens for Liberty and Privacy have a ballot initiative petition that if passed would free thousands of Floridians from the perpetual burden of the lifetime alimony statutes of Florida.
Every person whose marriage has been dissolved shall not be encumbered by any type of governmental intrusion in the form of an alimony obligation to the former spouse.
cflap.org
October 3, 2006
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Terminate Rights
Courts may terminate parent's rights without evidentiary hearing
Ex-judge Cain cries foul as Ashleigh case appeal rejected without explanation
extralove.com
October 3, 2006
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Policies and Procedures of the Florida DCFS
Florida Department of Children and Families Information.
Because knowledge is power, it's important to understand how the system works and what information is publicly available.
dcf.state.fl.us
October 3, 2006
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Rescue My Kids
by Greg Pound
Greg Pound of Pinellas County, Florida provides video testimony from Florida families who have had their children stolen by the county.
Most of these cases are families with little means to defend themselves legally. We need individuals with legal expertise and the media at large to take an active role in helping these families to rescue their children against a lawless court.
rescuemykids.com
September 18, 2006
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Sex offender back in court on probation violation
A sexual offender who attracted statewide attention when he was jailed because he could not find a place to live was back in court Thursday for violating his probation.
The judge intervened -- and ordered the Department of Corrections to stop making such arrests -- after Daughtry was locked up for 60 days after his seven-year prison sentence ended because he could not find a home.
The Daytona Beach News-Journal (FL)
April 7, 2006
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DCF Worker Arrested For DUI
by NBC 6 News Team
MIAMI -- A DCF caseworker is under arrest, charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. But police say what she had in the back seat of her car is an even bigger outrage.
According to police, 56-year-old Mirla Pronga was found by officers, parked in the middle of the road along Biltmore Drive in Coral Gables on Thursday.
NBC News 10 (FL)
July 26, 2002
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