Abilene TX criminal inv re CPS

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fatherofthree
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Abilene TX criminal inv re CPS

Postby fatherofthree » Sun Jan 06, 2013 7:30 pm

http://www.reporternews.com/news/2012/d ... s-into-of/

Emergency Leave at CPS usually means they are being fired.

No. 1: Death of child at Dyess AFB evolves into inquiry of alleged tampering by CPS

By Tiffany Walden
Posted December 29, 2012 at 10 p.m.



Nellie Doneva/Reporter-News Police detectives come out of Abilene's Child Protective Services office after executing a search warrant as a part of the department's investigation of the alleged mishandling of a Dyess Air Force Base severe neglect case, which may have resulted in the death of a 22-month-old girl.

Photo by Nellie Doneva // Buy this photo

Nellie Doneva/Reporter-News Police detectives come out of Abilene's Child Protective Services office after executing a search warrant as a part of the department's investigation of the alleged mishandling of a Dyess Air Force Base severe neglect case, which may have resulted in the death of a 22-month-old girl.
Reporter-News' top 10 for 2012


The Aug. 28 death of Tamryn Klapheke, a 22-month-old girl whom authorities found not breathing at her Dyess Air Force Base home, spurred a separate investigation of a local Child Protective Services office and military hearing of a Dyess airman, who was believed to have had a relationship with the girl's mother.

In October, the Abilene Police Department announced its investigation of the Abilene CPS office, where employees possibly tampered with or withheld evidence in connection with the police investigation of Tamryn's death.

Three CPS employees — Regions 2 and 9 director Bit Whitaker, investigation supervisor Barbara McDaniel and resolution specialist Gretchen Denny — were placed on paid emergency leave pending the results of an investigation. Denny worked as CPS program director in Abilene at the time of Tamryn's death.

A fourth woman, Geneva Schroeder, who worked in the Wichita Falls office, was placed later on paid emergency leave in connection with the case. No arrests have been made.

"Ms. Schroeder was the program administrator who supervised the staff involved in the Klapheke CPS investigation," CPS spokeswoman Marleigh Meisner told the Reporter-News.

Tamryn died six days after CPS Investigator Claudia Gonzalez illegally closed a case investigating possible medical neglect of Tamryn and one of her sisters, according to a CPS involvement summary obtained by the Reporter-News.

First responders discovered Tamryn and her two sisters — ages 6 months and 3 years — in poor condition at their home before rushing Tamryn to Abilene Regional Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

A preliminary autopsy report showed the toddler weighed only 17.5 pounds, and had chemical burns from exposure to human waste.

Tamryn's sisters were hospitalized in Fort Worth before being placed into foster care where they remain today.

Their mother, Tiffany Nicole Klapheke, remains in Taylor County Jail after a grand jury indicted her on three counts of injury to a child. The indictment held Klapheke for failure to provide food, starving the child and adequate medical attention to her daughter Tamryn.

A Dyess senior airman, Christopher Perez, has four military charges against him in which three are in connection with Klapheke. Col. Glen VanHerck, Dyess Air Force Base 7th Bomb Wing Commander, is due to decide whether to dismiss the charges or direct them to a general court martial.

Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Perez faces charges of child abuse or neglect, adultery and child endangerment in connection to Klapheke. He also faces a fourth unrelated charge of wrongful sexual conduct.

Perez remains restricted to base.

The girls' father, Thomas Klapheke, was deployed at the time of Tamryn's death. He is now assigned to duties with the 7th Logistic Readiness Squadron on base, according to a Dyess spokeswoman.

A special prosecutor, Mark Parker of the McLennan County District Attorney's Office in Waco, was brought in as lead counsel in November to assist APD's investigation of Abilene's CPS office.

District Judge Lee Hamilton said Parker's help was requested because Taylor County district attorney's office employees may be potential witnesses in the investigation.

CPS made final contact with the Klapheke family Oct. 1, 2011. Afterward, the caseworker met with her supervisor, according to the summary, and agreed that the medical neglect allegations would be ruled out and the case closed.

The case was closed nearly a year later, however, and without mandatory caseworker visitation. CPS previously investigated the Klapheke family three times for possible neglect dating back to April 2010. The Dyess Family Advocacy Clinic also was involved with the CPS cases.

On Nov. 19, at Perez's military hearing, a Dyess clinic official testified CPS workers "refused to call me," referencing to numerous attempts to speak with the Klaphekes' caseworker.

Paul Zimmerman , a regional media specialist for the state, said CPS caseworkers have small windows of opportunity during family visits to determine whether a child is "at risk" for abuse and neglect.

"Caseworkers see things through windows of time," Zimmerman said. "That's why it's a shared responsibility of the community and people who see the family on a day-to-day bases."

An online Houston Chronicle story said the Klapheke case was one of hundreds of delinquent and backlogged CPS cases across the state that went unsolved. The state's Department of Family and Protective Services has 10,621 employees, of which 8,363 work in CPS.

Meisner told the Reporter-News in October that Abilene's CPS office is operating normally despite the ongoing investigation.
DISCLAIMER: I am not an attorney and am not providing legal advice.

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