mike stone
October 17th 03, 05:22 PM
Has there been anything further on this case? According to
http://www.aclu-co.org/news/pressrelease/release_child.htm
there was a Federal lawsuit pending. Did it ever get anywhere?
Kids jailed for nothing, lawsuit says
Suspected child abuse victims were cuffed, jailed, suit says
By Karen Abbott, News Staff Writer
Two suspected child abuse victims were locked up for a week and paraded through
the airport in shackles and handcuffs like
criminals last year, according to a federal lawsuit.
"It's truly outrageous," said Rich Gabriel, a lawyer with Holme
Roberts & Owen who is working on the case.
The sister and brother, who are living in foster homes in Oregon,
were 12 and 15 when Denver police arrested their parents on Aug.
8, 2000, at the request of law enforcement authorities in Oregon.
The parents had been accused of molesting the children in 1992
and also were wanted for kidnapping them.
An Oregon judge ordered both the parents and the children, who
had been living with extended family in Denver, returned.
Denver police put the children in a cell, then turned them over
to a private company, Correctional Connections, that took them by
van in shackles and handcuffs to youth jails where they were
locked up for a week, the lawsuit charged.
When an Oregon social worker came to Denver to fetch the
children, they were paraded through Denver International Airport
in handcuffs and shackles until the social worker protested --
twice -- to a Correctional Connections employee, the lawsuit
said.
Gabriel said the Oregon social worker was so outraged she
reported the treatment of the children to the American Civil
Liberties Union. The ACLU of Colorado filed the lawsuit.
An employee at Correctional Connections said inquiries had to be
addressed to co-owner Vicki Ackerman, who was not available
Monday.
Also named in the suit are the Fillmore Youth Detention Center,
where the girl was confined, and the Dahlia Street Youth Center,
where the boy was confined, the lawsuit said.
Fillmore Youth Detention Center counselor Mia Davis said she
could not discuss the lawsuit by telephone "for security
reasons."
>
> Dahlia Street Youth Center director Darryl Taylor was not
> available, according to a staff member.
>
> The lawsuit said the parents and the two children were living
> with members of their extended family in Denver when police
> arrived, woke up the children and took them into custody.
>
> Denver officers interrogated them and put them in a cell,
> according to the ACLU's lawsuit. It said the children then were
> placed in handcuffs and leg shackles and transported by van to
> the juvenile detention centers.
>
> The lawsuit said someone wrongly categorized the children in
> paperwork as runaways who had to be locked up.
>
> "In short, the children were effectively jailed, even though they
> never committed any crime and had never even been accused of
> committing any crime," the lawsuit said.
>
> Denver police spokesman Tony Lombard said Monday he knew nothing
> about the alleged incident. The police department was not sued.
>
> "It would be unusual for them to be actually detained because
> they're not criminals," Lombard said. "Social Services would be
> the one we'd probably contact -- they do have foster care. But
> all of this depends on the circumstances."
>
> The lawsuit said the children were twice taken to Denver Juvenile
> Court and back to the detention centers in shackles and
> handcuffs.
>
> They were not allowed any visits from family members and, at
> first, were not allowed to telephone any family members to let
> them know their whereabouts. That violates state youth
> corrections rules, the lawsuit said.
>
> When they were taken to the airport to meet the Oregon social
> worker, the children had to walk through DIA's parking lot and
> terminal in shackles and handcuffs, the lawsuit said.
>
> "To their substantial embarrassment and humiliation, the children
> were wrongly referred to as 'criminals' by DIA officials who
> initially refused to allow them to pass through a general
> entrance," it said.
>
> People stared -- at the teen boy especially, because the pain of
> walking in shackles required him to jump in order to move
> forward, according to the lawsuit.
>
> After the Oregon social worker insisted the handcuffs and
> shackles be removed, the children were allowed to move freely
> through the airport to order food and beverages, the lawsuit
> said.
>
> Gabriel said the children have denied being molested, and Oregon
> authorities have dropped the abuse case against their parents.
>
http://www.aclu-co.org/news/pressrelease/release_child.htm
--
Mike Stone - Peterborough England
Call nothing true until it has been officially denied
http://www.aclu-co.org/news/pressrelease/release_child.htm
there was a Federal lawsuit pending. Did it ever get anywhere?
Kids jailed for nothing, lawsuit says
Suspected child abuse victims were cuffed, jailed, suit says
By Karen Abbott, News Staff Writer
Two suspected child abuse victims were locked up for a week and paraded through
the airport in shackles and handcuffs like
criminals last year, according to a federal lawsuit.
"It's truly outrageous," said Rich Gabriel, a lawyer with Holme
Roberts & Owen who is working on the case.
The sister and brother, who are living in foster homes in Oregon,
were 12 and 15 when Denver police arrested their parents on Aug.
8, 2000, at the request of law enforcement authorities in Oregon.
The parents had been accused of molesting the children in 1992
and also were wanted for kidnapping them.
An Oregon judge ordered both the parents and the children, who
had been living with extended family in Denver, returned.
Denver police put the children in a cell, then turned them over
to a private company, Correctional Connections, that took them by
van in shackles and handcuffs to youth jails where they were
locked up for a week, the lawsuit charged.
When an Oregon social worker came to Denver to fetch the
children, they were paraded through Denver International Airport
in handcuffs and shackles until the social worker protested --
twice -- to a Correctional Connections employee, the lawsuit
said.
Gabriel said the Oregon social worker was so outraged she
reported the treatment of the children to the American Civil
Liberties Union. The ACLU of Colorado filed the lawsuit.
An employee at Correctional Connections said inquiries had to be
addressed to co-owner Vicki Ackerman, who was not available
Monday.
Also named in the suit are the Fillmore Youth Detention Center,
where the girl was confined, and the Dahlia Street Youth Center,
where the boy was confined, the lawsuit said.
Fillmore Youth Detention Center counselor Mia Davis said she
could not discuss the lawsuit by telephone "for security
reasons."
>
> Dahlia Street Youth Center director Darryl Taylor was not
> available, according to a staff member.
>
> The lawsuit said the parents and the two children were living
> with members of their extended family in Denver when police
> arrived, woke up the children and took them into custody.
>
> Denver officers interrogated them and put them in a cell,
> according to the ACLU's lawsuit. It said the children then were
> placed in handcuffs and leg shackles and transported by van to
> the juvenile detention centers.
>
> The lawsuit said someone wrongly categorized the children in
> paperwork as runaways who had to be locked up.
>
> "In short, the children were effectively jailed, even though they
> never committed any crime and had never even been accused of
> committing any crime," the lawsuit said.
>
> Denver police spokesman Tony Lombard said Monday he knew nothing
> about the alleged incident. The police department was not sued.
>
> "It would be unusual for them to be actually detained because
> they're not criminals," Lombard said. "Social Services would be
> the one we'd probably contact -- they do have foster care. But
> all of this depends on the circumstances."
>
> The lawsuit said the children were twice taken to Denver Juvenile
> Court and back to the detention centers in shackles and
> handcuffs.
>
> They were not allowed any visits from family members and, at
> first, were not allowed to telephone any family members to let
> them know their whereabouts. That violates state youth
> corrections rules, the lawsuit said.
>
> When they were taken to the airport to meet the Oregon social
> worker, the children had to walk through DIA's parking lot and
> terminal in shackles and handcuffs, the lawsuit said.
>
> "To their substantial embarrassment and humiliation, the children
> were wrongly referred to as 'criminals' by DIA officials who
> initially refused to allow them to pass through a general
> entrance," it said.
>
> People stared -- at the teen boy especially, because the pain of
> walking in shackles required him to jump in order to move
> forward, according to the lawsuit.
>
> After the Oregon social worker insisted the handcuffs and
> shackles be removed, the children were allowed to move freely
> through the airport to order food and beverages, the lawsuit
> said.
>
> Gabriel said the children have denied being molested, and Oregon
> authorities have dropped the abuse case against their parents.
>
http://www.aclu-co.org/news/pressrelease/release_child.htm
--
Mike Stone - Peterborough England
Call nothing true until it has been officially denied