If you listen, people cry out for help years before things happen.
Girl told CPS of abuse 2 years before stepdad's rampage, documents show
By Marjie Lundstrom and Sam Stanton
mlundstrom@sacbee.com
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Published: Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008 | Page 11A
The 14-year-old girl who survived the slaying of her mother and siblings by her stepfather Dec. 1 had reported him to authorities two years earlier for allegedly beating her with a stick, forcing her to go without food, shaving her head and making her sleep in the garage without blankets, documents from Sacramento County's Child Protective Services show.
CPS briefly took the children out of the home in September 2006. Yet it determined that the then-12-year-old's claims were "unfounded" and returned the children to the south Sacramento home of her stepfather, Ying "Chris" Moua, and her mother, Bouavanh "Kim" Moua, internal documents released to The Bee Wednesday indicate.
Sacramento sheriff's officials say Ying Moua, 33, went on a rampage Dec. 1 and killed his wife and the couple's 2-year-old twins, and seriously injured their 3-year-old daughter, before he shot himself.
The 14-year-old was not harmed because CPS had placed her in protective custody on Nov. 21, after a teacher at her school discovered a journal she had kept for more than a year that described her stepfather's abuse of her. Another sibling, an 8-year-old boy, also escaped harm because he had been living in a different home at the time.
The deaths raise new questions about CPS' decision to leave the three siblings in the home after the teenager reported her abuse allegations last month, and for its failure to even go to the home to investigate. Instead, the agency asked sheriff's deputies to inspect the home on Nov. 22, and no further action was taken.
"I don't know how many more little coffins the people of Sacramento County have to see before the Board of Supervisors, who run this program, start taking personal responsibility for the number and nature of these crimes," said Ed Howard of Sacramento, senior counsel for the Children's Advocacy Institute.
"The accumulated weight of these deaths indicates a deeply rooted, systemic problem" that transcends individual social workers, Howard said.
A CPS spokeswoman reiterated Wednesday that the agency cannot comment beyond the required release of the documents because of confidentiality laws.
With a few exceptions, the Board of Supervisors has been largely silent about the string of deaths. In August, they signed off on a $100,000 review of CPS' policies and procedures. That audit is under way.
Supervisor Roger Dickinson said the board has been, and continues to be, deeply involved in CPS issues. "I don't think there's been any lack of attention or concern," he said.
CPS has been under scrutiny for much of this year following a series of deaths of children whose families were known to the agency. A Bee investigation published in June found that the agency still was troubled, despite large funding increases that followed the 1996 death of 3-year-old Adrian Conway.
The agency also is the subject of a county grand jury investigation that was sparked by The Bee's revelation that documents in the death of one child this year had been altered. But recalcitrance inside the agency apparently was so great the grand jury took the unusual step of warning all CPS workers and management in October that they must cooperate with the probe, which is ongoing.
The documents released Wednesday indicate that CPS was told about three weeks ago about violence in the home, as detailed by the 14-year-old in new abuse claims. Portions of the documents were redacted, but it is clear the girl reported one member of the family "has been thrown onto a wall" by the stepfather.
That document, an emergency response sheet that indicates it was compiled the afternoon the girl lodged her allegations, also states that "mom is being hit by the stepfather" and "the stepfather is reported to have anger issues."
It notes that "(m)om knows about the abuse and has not interceded," and lists allegations against the stepfather as including "emotional abuse, general neglect, physical abuse." The document also indicates that CPS was aware of the September 2006 abuse report but states those earlier accusations were "unfounded."
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