In a September 15 letter to Prosecuting Attorney David Ethredge, a Department of Human Services official writes that the agency fully admits it “fell short of our mission and responsibilities,” in the case of a 15-year-old Baxter County male.The boy was kept in the family’s apartment naked and often unfed on a pallet laid on the floor of a locked bathroom.
Ethredge has been pushing DHS to provide answers as to why almost 30 reports were filed alleging that the teen was being abused and nothing was done to remove him from the situation or to even take an in-depth look into what was behind all of the reports.
Speaking with KTLO, Classic Hits and the Boot News following the release of the letter, the prosecuting attorney is happy to see accountability being taken.
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Nearly 30 reports on the welfare of the child were made since 2013 with no actionable steps taken. Is there anyway to explain how this happened?
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Ethredge looks now to see changes in how DHS handles cases with multiple reports.
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Despite the circumstances of this case, Ethredge speaks on his confidence in the dedication of local law enforcement to pursue justice and the welfare of children in need.
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One question many in the community want to know is how the boy doing since his ordeal. The prosecutor was able to share the following positive report.
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Two people, 41-year-old Daniel Alan Wright and 42-year-old Jaclyn Barnett are both charged with 112 counts of first-degree imprisonment along with one count each of endangering the welfare of a minor and permitting abuse of a minor.
It was expected Wright and Barnett would take a plea during a recent appearance in Baxter County Circuit Court/Criminal Division, but the attorney representing them said the couple had decided to take their case before a jury. A jury trial is now set for November 10.
They are both free on $50,000 bond.
Further investigation at the legislative level into the shortfalls of DHS in the case are beginning. KTLO, Classic Hits and the Boot News plans to hear from State Senator Scott Flippo in the coming days on his plans to find more answers and ensure the state run agency performs at a level that restores public trust.
MORE ON THE PROSECUTOR’S INVESTIGATION
When Ethredge discovered that a large number of reports concerning possible abuse of the teen had been filed with the child abuse hotline, some anonymously and others by mandated reporters which include teachers, social workers, coaches, and law enforcement officers, he launched an effort to attempt to pry information out of DHS, and to push the agency to find out where the system broke down and what steps were being taken to fix the problems so that another 15-year-old did not have to go through what happened to the boy in Baxter County.
The abuse reports are said to have included allegations of maltreatment, inadequate supervision, failure to provide food, failure to provide essential needs, extreme or repeated cruelty and failure to protect.
Ethredge began asking questions of DHS as to how all of the reports could have piled up since 2013 but nothing was done to remove the child from the environment.
A meeting was held in Ethredge’s Mountain Home office attended by now former DHS director Kristi Putman and the chief counsel for the agency.
It was at this meeting that a promise was made to do an in-depth investigation of the situation, to fix what was broken and to provide a report which would be given to Ethredge and made public.
KTLO, Classic Hits and the Boot News reached out to Gavin Lesnick, spokesman for DHS in Little Rock, several times after the meeting took place to get updates on when the requested report might be completed and released.
Initially, the replies to the inquiries provided the asked for updates — and then things changed. In fact, there was a complete reversal of the initial position taken by DHS regarding the report being released to the public.
In an e-mail from Lesnick to KTLO dated August 26, he reported the review of the 15-year-old’s case had been completed “however, we have determined that the details cannot be released publicly AS INITIALLY INTENDED due to the sensitive child maltreatment investigative information it concerned.”
Lesnick was asked if it was not possible to provide a redacted report detailing how none of the 29 abuse complaints were investigated. There was no offer from the agency to provide such a report.
In addition, DHS officials said the “fixes” needed to make sure a similar event did not happen again “would be handled internally.”
The DHS director who met with Ethredge has left the agency and returned to Kentucky and Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders appointed Janet Mann to assume the position.
It was when the leadership changed that the attitude toward releasing the investigative report also changed.
KTLO again sent an inquiry to DHS asking if the change in leadership at the agency would delay the report on the Baxter County case. Assurances were given that no delays were expected.
In the September 15 letter to Ethredge, Tiffany Wright, director of DHS’s Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS), wrote that agency officials should have handled the subject of a report on the Baxter County case differently from the beginning. “It was a mistake on our part to suggest that DHS could release a non-standard report that would include specifics” about the teen’s case to the public.
Wright reported that since the Baxter County case and DHS’ failure to protect the teen involved had come to light, there have been “training sessions in every region of the state to ensure best practices are being followed.”
The full history of the Baxter County case has been studied by DCFS staff and it was decided that “additional emphasis on the history in all cases is a necessary focus going forward,” the DCFS head wrote.
The letter also says that some of the abuse reports “were found to have been appropriately closed based on the facts and statements made at the time. However, it is a failure on our part that each report was not fully considered within the context of the growing number of complaints. This pattern of maltreatment reports coming into the system should have triggered a more thorough response with increased scrutiny that ultimately would have resulted in a better outcome.”
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