Second person fired in DCF scandal
A technician who cleaned out the ex-spokesman's computer admits a
***ual relation****p.
By Kevin Graham, Times Staff Writer
Published February 13, 2008
http://www.sptimes.com/2008/02/13/Hillsborough/Second_person_fired_i.shtml
TAMPA - The Department of Children and Families has fired a second
employee connected to an unfolding investigation into the agency's
former spokesman, who was arrested Feb. 1 on child ****ography charges.
Michael Hernandez, who worked for the DCF as a computer technician, told
investigators that he tossed former DCF spokesman Al Zimmerman's home
computer in a trash bin because Zimmerman, 40, told him he was afraid of
what police would find on them.
Hernandez, who told authorities he had a ***ual relation****p with
Zimmerman, also admitted to wiping clean and reformatting a DCF-issued
laptop that Zimmerman used for work, at Zimmerman's request, authorities
said.
DCF spokeswoman Erin Geraghty said Tuesday that Hernandez was fired Feb.
1, the same day authorities brought state charges of child ****ography
against Zimmerman.
Geraghty said that Hernandez had worked for the DCF since 2001 and that
he had a clean personnel file. Investigators have not seized any of
Hernandez's DCF equipment and he has not been charged with a crime, she
said.
Zimmerman had been out on $120,000 bail after being arraigned on state
child ****ography charges. Federal agents arrested him Monday on federal
charges of producing child ****ography.
During a hearing in federal court Tuesday about whether to grant
Zimmerman bail, Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen Murphy-Davis said
Zimmerman's home computer was apparently thrown into a trash bin behind
a downtown Tallahassee dentist office, and it has not been found.
Investigators are still working to see whether any files deleted from
Zimmerman's work laptop can be recovered.
Lt. Michael Baute of the Attorney General's Office said Hernandez told
investigators that he and Zimmerman had a ***ual relation****p.
If convicted on the federal charges, Zimmerman would get a mandatory
minimum sentence of 15 years in prison. If he's convicted on the eight
state charges against him, Zimmerman could get up to 120 years.
The federal case will be prosecuted before the state case.
Authorities said Zimmerman took **** photographs of at least two teen
boys, one who has been identified as a foster child in DCF care. He paid
them for the pictures he took, saying he planned to sell them to buyers
in Germany, England, Sweden and Scotland.
Investigators said thatZimmerman once offered $200 to one of the boys in
exchange for oral ***, but the boy refused. Both the victims authorities
have identified live in Tampa.
Zimmerman had been living with his parents in his hometown of Lakeland
since being released on bail on the state charges. Brian Albritton, one
of three finalist for the U.S. attorney job in the Middle District of
Florida, is Zimmerman's attorney. He said his client was on his parents'
back ****ch reading a book when he was taken into custody Monday.
Zimmerman's mother, Marilyn Zimmerman, testified at Tuesday's bail
hearing about how close she is with her son. She said he has always been
helpful to her and his father, and they welcomed the chance for him to
stay with them until his case is resolved.
When Murphy-Davis asked Marilyn Zimmerman whether she knew her son was
involved in the ****ography business, she said she didn't.
"What you've got here is a deceptive and manipulative person,"
Murphy-Davis told the judge. "The person he has probably deceived the
most, he wants to go and live with her at this point."
Before denying Zimmerman's bail request, U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark
Pizzo cited three times where Zimmerman failed to show up for court
hearings, including for a case in Texas.
"While working at DCF, Mr. Zimmerman was in fact living two lives,"
Pizzo said. "To do that, to me, is telling."
Kevin Graham can be reached at kgraham@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
or 813 226-3433.
[Last modified February 12, 2008, 22:57:10]
An Inconvenient Truth about Child Protective Services, Foster care, and
the Child Protection "INDUSTRY"
Child Protective Services Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of CPS.
every parent should read the free handbook from
connecticut dcf watch...
http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com
Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US
These numbers come from The National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect in Wa****ngton. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS
Perpetrators of Maltreatment
Physical Abuse CPS/Foster care 160, biological Parents 59
***ual Abuse CPS/Foster care 112, biological Parents 13
Neglect CPS/Foster care 410, biological Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS/Foster care 14 biological Parents 12
Fatalities CPS/Foster care 6.4, biological Parents 1.5
Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that
are supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per
100,000 children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and ***ual abuse
and kills more children then parents in the United States. If the
citizens of this country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold
parents too. No judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY
government agency because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and
death than any human being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more
human rights violations and deaths of children then the homes from which
they were removed. When are the judges going to wake up and see that
they are sending children to their death and a life of abuse when
children are removed from safe homes based on the mere opinion of a
bunch of social workers.
AMERICA'S HIDDEN HOLOCAUST
Currently Child Protective Services violates more Constitutionally
guaranteed liberties & Civil rights on a daily basis then all other
agencies combined, Including the National Security agency/Central
intelligence agency wiretaping programs…
THE CORRUPT BUSINESS OF CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES
BY: Nancy Schaefer Senator, 50th District of Georgia
http://www.senatornancyschaefer.com/articles.php?filter=6
This is Child Protection?
By Gregory A. Hession, J.D.
http://www.jbs.org/node/4632
Mercenary Motherhood: "Memoirs of a Babystealer."
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-callahan16oct16,0,5019944.story?coll=la-opinion-rightrail
FOSTER CARE IS A 80 PERCENT FAILURE:. A Brief Analysis of the Casey
Family Programs. Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study. By Richard Wexler
http://www.nccpr.org/re****ts/cfpanalysis.doc
HOW THE WAR AGAINST CHILD ABUSE BECAME A WAR AGAINST CHILDREN
http://www.nccpr.org/issues/1.html
Adoption Bonuses: The Money Behind the Madness
DSS and affiliates rewarded for breaking up families
By Nev Moore Massachusetts News
http://www.massnews.com/past_issues/2000/5_May/mayds4.htm
A recent study has found that 12-18 months after leaving foster care:
30% of the nation’s homeless are former foster children.
27% of the males and 10% of the females had been incarcerated
33% were receiving public assistance
37% had not finished high school
2% receive a college degree
50% were unemployed
Children in foster care are three to six times more likely than children
not in care to have emotional, behavioral and developmental problems,
including conduct disorders, depression, difficulties in school and
impaired social relation****ps. Some experts estimate that about 30% of
the children in care have marked or severe emotional problems. Various
studies have indicated that children and young people in foster care
tend to have limited education and job skills, perform poorly in school
compared to children who are not in foster care, lag behind in their
education by at least one year, and have lower educational attainment
than the general population.
*Casey Family Programs National Center for Resource Family Sup****t
80 percent of prison inmates have been through the foster care system.
The highest ranking federal official in charge of foster care, Wade Horn
of the Department of Health and Human Services, is a former child
psychologist who says the foster care system is a giant mess and should
just be blown up.
http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=2017991
Four rigorous studies have found that at least 30 percent of America’s
foster children could be home right now if their parents had decent
housing.
This study found thousands of children already in foster care who would
have done better had child protection agencies not taken them away in
the first place.
Front-page story in USA Today.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-07-02-foster-study_N.htm?csp=34#Close
The full study is available here.
http://www.mit.edu/~jjdoyle/doyle_fosterlt_march07_aer.pdf
The bottom line? - Child Protective Services and the Foster Care system
for the most part turns out young adults that are nothing more than
walking wreckage...
CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CONSTITUTIONALLY
GUARANTEED LIBERTIES & CIVIL RIGHTS ON A DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER
AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY/CENTRAL
INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WIRETAPPING PROGRAMS....
CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT
FAMILIES YEARLY NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO YOU'RE HOME SOON...
BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF
REFORMING OR ABOLI****NG CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES
TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY
ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...
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