Thursday, September 20, 2012

Check this conversation out...

Ngozi Angeline Godwell After working with a family, social services decides that it is not in the best interest that a toddler to remain with their mother. The young mother has REAL mental health problems, is on medication and also on sleeping tablets. Social services spent over a year working with the WHOLE family. Social services then approach the grandmother to take the toddler, but demand that the grandmother must not have any involvement with her daughter. Grandmother refuses stating that she and her daughter are close and cannot do without each other. Child is eventually adopted. Is this me, am I going around like I have balls made of steel? I would have taken my grand child and occasionally met up with my daughter in secret. I would have supported my child and taken the toddler and raised him. After a few years we would go to court and make an application for contact between a mother and her child. I the grand parent would have supported the application, so there would not be any problem. Why turn your back on your grandson, then spend over a year fighting in the family court circus, when you said NO? The child is now lost, gone. Unlike · · Share · about an hour ago · You and Connie Edgington like this. Rebecca Ward Social services are so under-educated! I bet if the shoe were on the other foot, they might wake up!!! about an hour ago · Like Ngozi Angeline Godwell Go on Rebecca Ward your views are important. Your wake up point is relevant ... mother is taking a number of meds for her problems, including sleeping tablets .... about an hour ago · Like Rebecca Ward I can only go on facts and more in debt of what the social workers observed within that year of observation, but as my personal opinion, meeting the daughter secretly is not abiding by the laws but there's another problem, the Justice System has many flaws and under-educated folks as well. It would all depend on whether or not the biological mother is abusive to the child to whether she would have restricted visitation with her child. As for the grandmother, if she can prove she is worthy of taking care of the child and abides by all the rules and regulations, I personally think that would be in the best interest of the child simply because she has grandmother rights but she has to abide and not break rules! Breaks my heart to see any child go to Foster care or be taken away from their immediate family because it messes their lit'l heads up but the whole point is 'What is in the best interest of the child?' 55 minutes ago · Like Jessica Lynn Hepner You tell them what they want to hear and you show them what they want to see, and then with out there knowledge you have contact with your daughter. What they don't know wont hurt you... Ngozi Angeline Godwell you are absolutely right here.... 43 minutes ago · Like Ngozi Angeline Godwell "meeting the daughter secretly is not abiding by the laws" - So far there was no law stating she cannot, only the comments of social services and Guardian. Rebecca, meeting your lovely child, who has committed NO crime is not breaking the law, unless the grandmother takes her grandchild with her? 'What is in the best interest of the child? To be with their parents or family. Whether they are rich or poor. No one is perfect. I have learnt from some parents who have and will always have SS on their backs, that it is a game with social services. Play the game and keep your children. Is this true? 41 minutes ago · Edited · Unlike · 1 Rebecca Ward I understand your point here Jessica, but I don't agree with it simply because your gonna be watched and if the grandmother has the child and she is caught sneaking around to allow the daughter to see him, where would you be then? You wouldn't get another chance!!! Why not abide by the laws, show them you are concerned about the lit'l one and let the daughter have healing time and go from there. The son was taken away for a reason and if the mother is any danger to her child and you allowed the child to see her and she hurt him, where would the grandmother be then? They do have restricted visitation you know and if it's not applicable at this time, maybe in time it will be. It's really hard to voice an opinion when we really don't have all the fact! 34 minutes ago · Like Rebecca Ward If comments from social services and guardians is all that was made, what is the problem with the mother seeing her child? Is there concrete evidence against the mother? Has she ...See More 31 minutes ago · Like Ngozi Angeline Godwell " if the grandmother has the child and she is caught sneaking around to allow the daughter to see him, where would you be then?" Rebecca we are not stating this. Any good barriste...See More 30 minutes ago · Like Jessica Lynn Hepner Do you honestly think CPS abides by the laws? No one stated that the child would be with her when she saw the daughter and secondly if there is no official court order stating the mother cannot see the child, then there is no law being broken now is there? As for let the daughter have healing time she has mental illness not a disease there is no real healing time. If there was any possibility that the mother hurt or would hurt her child then wouldn't there be legal actions taken? And if it is so hard to voice an opinion when you don't have all the facts then why are you saying anything? 28 minutes ago · Like Rebecca Ward Just to set the record straight, the best interest of the child is not always with the parents or family! I have seen many families abuse and neglect their children to no end so I disagree! In many cases I would agree. Not enough to go on!!! I do agree with any contact between mother and child be applied through the court system with full support of the grandmother as long as no harm can be brought to that precious lit'l one, but you have to abide by the rules and sneaking around is not abiding! 26 minutes ago · Like Rebecca Ward Jessica, two wrongs dont make a right!!! If we all broke laws just because someone with authority did, where would we be? Eye for and eye, tooth for a tooth, etc., js 24 minutes ago · Like Rebecca Ward My personal opinion is that someone needs a good attorney out of state!!! If someone took my children away from me just because I take medications, I would be angry but I would hi...See More 20 minutes ago · Like Jessica Lynn Hepner Have you ever lost a child to Child Protection Services? You have no clue what these people are capable of, they lie under oath, they fabricate evidence. Their goal is no longer about whats in the best interest of the child, it is about how they can destroy the family. That and how much money they can make per child. 19 minutes ago · Like · 1 Rebecca Ward I agree Jessica! This is where we have to out smart them! Do your homework and pull ghost out of the closets cause we all have em you know... 18 minutes ago · Like Ngozi Angeline Godwell "Just to set the record straight, the best interest of the child is not always with the parents or family!" You need to read my comment again. Even if there is neglect, which parent is not neglectful sometimes. I did not mention families who abuse and neglect their children no end ... Sometimes children are better off with their family instead of being place in foster care. Do you think foster care is Butlins? Once you cut a child off from their family. This is emotional and mental abuse; which will harm the child forever in a negative way. Sometimes it is best that the child stays where they are an the family is given support. Baby P is different no one wanted to help, because where were they going to place him.. so they ignored him 17 minutes ago · Like Jessica Lynn Hepner what about two wrongs don't make a right. I did my research and then some the fact of the matter is Child Protection Services is above the law. 16 minutes ago · Like Rebecca Ward I started studying Criminal Justice 4 yrs. ago because the Justice system is lacking in education and is crooked as hell!!! We have to stand up for our rights and many of those have been taken away from us...Sad but true!!! 16 minutes ago · Like · 2 Jessica Lynn Hepner That is all we are trying to do here, is stand up for our rights as parents... 14 minutes ago · Like · 1 Ngozi Angeline Godwell Jessica is correct once a child is taken it is about their jobs. Rebecca let no one hoodwink you into believing otherwise. Care Proceedings: Public Law! Public law is about the wrong doing of an authority. Of course they will commit crimes against your family to save their jobs. 14 minutes ago · Unlike · 1 Rebecca Ward I think Foster Parents now days are all in it for the monies! Many of them could care less...I would take the lit'l darlin and raise him myself if I could cause that baby don't deserve this!!! and yes I agree Jessica, we have to stand up for our rights as parents but we have laws to abide by...Loop holes work for law so why couldn't it work for us as parents. I say dig all you can on the scum bags and fight for what you believe in!!! 11 minutes ago · Like Jessica Lynn Hepner That is what were are doing and during this process were are educating other parents so they do not make the same mistakes that we made. And to offer support because life in the web of CPS is hell. 9 minutes ago · Like Rebecca Ward You got your answer Ngozi, everyone slips up so be there to hook them when they do!!! We can't beat them fighting them in court unless you can have dirt on them! 8 minutes ago · Like · 1 Rebecca Ward I definitely agree Jessica... 7 minutes ago · Like Ngozi Angeline Godwell Rebecca Ward Criminal Law wow! Respect.. In the Family Court child care proceedings all a different matter .. I prefer to be stand trial in a criminal court for any allegations of child abuse, because the family court MUST produce all evidence of any wrong doing and submit the evidence into the criminal proceedings. In my case there was none and when it came to the evidence of the expert psychiatrist from the family court, the judge all barristers binned it stating that it was not worth the paper it was written on. It is against the law to introduce the evidence of the criminal proceedings into the the family court until the end of the criminal matter. 7 minutes ago · Like

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

North Haven man gets 9 years in prison in 2009 death of his 4-month-old niece

By Randall Beach, Register Staff rbeach@nhregister.com Click to enlarge NEW HAVEN -- There was weeping and sobbing on both sides of the courtroom Friday as David Canizares was sent to prison for nine years for first-degree manslaughter in the death of his 4-month-old niece, Makayla Lynn Masella Aseltine. The lengthy sentencing session, which featured the reading of statements from the infant’s family and Canizares’ relatives, came four months after Canizares pleaded guilty to the manslaughter charge and risk of injury to a minor. He pleaded guilty under the Alford doctrine, meaning he did not agree with every allegation but conceded he would probably have been convicted by a jury. Under the agreement by prosecutors and the defense attorney, Canizares was to receive a sentence of between 7-10 years to serve. Superior Court Judge Roland Fasano imposed a 16-year sentence for manslaughter, suspended after nine years and a concurrent sentence of nine years for risk of injury. Canizares, 36, came to court with family members and friends from several states and Colombia. He was able to post $1 million bail two years ago and so appeared in the courtroom dressed in a suit and tie rather than a prison jumpsuit. Across the aisle sat Makayla’s mother and father as well as her grandparents and many other relatives and supporters. Some of them carried photos of the infant girl. The details of what happened the night of Oct. 25, 2009, when Canizares was entrusted to babysit his niece as well as taking care of his 14-month-old daughter were recited in the courtroom by Assistant State’s Attorney Kevin Doyle and Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Brian Sibley Sr. “Nobody wants to believe that an uncle would kill his 4-month-old niece,” Doyle said. He noted Canizares had no criminal record at the time and the night’s events were “out of character.” Doyle then screened a short video showing Makayla in her home shortly before her death. As she played with a toy and put her fingers in her mouth, crying could be heard in the courtroom. Doyle followed up the video with photos from the hospital, showing Makayla heavily bandaged from her injuries. He listed them: a large bruise in her left eye, an abrasion on her skull, hemorrhages throughout her body, marks on her bicep and palms as well as more extensive internal injuries. Doyle said the brain injuries are “what killed Makayla.” The examination at the hospital and during the autopsy “show the degree of trauma she suffered at this defendant’s hands,” Doyle added. Doyle also cited “the extreme indifference the defendant showed” by not calling 911 as soon as he realized he had hurt Makayla. His wife at the time, Melissa Canizares, and Makayla’s mother, Karen Masella, had gone out to see a show at Oakdale Theater. Doyle displayed a text message Canizares sent to one of them at 8:46 p.m.: “Does she go limp when she sleeps?” At 9:08 p.m., after the two women had gotten out of the show and turned their cell phones back on, Melissa Canizares told him, “You need to call 911.” Canizares did so. Doyle played the 911 tape, in which you can hear the baby breathing in the background. Canizares reported to the dispatcher, “She’s limp. She’s breathing but she’s not waking up to me. I don’t know what more to do.” Sibley recalled that when a paramedic arrived, he could tell something was wrong with the baby. Sibley recounted Canizares’ initial statement to North Haven police that he had changed Makayla’s diaper because she was crying. “That’s the trigger that ended Makayla’s life: a dirty diaper,” Sibley said. “His daughter reached for it. David got so angry that he started whipping her (Makayla) around. He said as he reached for the diaper, he crushed her between his thigh and chest.” But in a later police interview, Sibley noted, “We got closer to what might have happened.” Sibley said Canizares admitted he meant to tap Makayla on her cheek but “he hit her a little harder than he’d intended to. He struck her with the heel of his hand to her face.” Sibley said this caused “catastrophic injury.” Sibley told Fasano, “When you kill an infant who doesn’t even have the ability to roll over, let alone defend herself and you beat her to death, the maximum sentence under this cap should be imposed.” But defense attorney Hugh Keefe said, “There is not an iota of evidence that this child was beaten in any way. This was an accident.” During the prosecution’s presentation, several family members read angry and emotional statements. “He’s a monster,” said Lynn Aseltine, Makayla’s grandmother as she described Canizares. “How could he look in her little face and do this to her?” Aseltine cried and held up a photo of Makayla while Canizares stared straight ahead in his seat. Makayla’s father, Timothy Aseltine, said she must have felt “fear, confusion and pain for the first time” that night. He imagined she was wondering, “Why are you hitting me, Uncle Dave?” Aseltine asked Canizares: “How can you look down at a baby and punch her in the head, full strength?” Aseltine said he has lost his job, his house and his wife because he is “crushed” by the loss of his daughter. “She’ll never look up at me and say, ‘I love you, Daddy.’” Aseltine also said he can’t understand why Canizares isn’t eligible for a murder charge because intent can’t be proven. “Punching a child in the head is like shooting an adult.” Makayla’s mother, who has remarried and is now Karen Masella-Chartier, said the past three years have been “horrific and painful.” She added, “We’re all in prison for life.” She called Canizares “an evil murderer” and said, “Only a heartless monster could strike a child several times and neglect to call 911.” But Keefe then called forward several of Canizares’ relatives and supporters to paint a very different portrait of the man. His mother, Diane Quinn, said her son has always been “a kind, caring, responsible and generous person.” She said when she divorced her husband, David became a surrogate parent for his younger siblings. Quinn described her son’s joy when his daughter, Noella, was born. He was her primary caregiver, working at home. She asked Fasano to impose a short sentence so that he can return to Noella and the rest of the family. Canizares’ cousin, Monica Rosencrist, said her two young daughters adore him and he is their godfather. She said he has been a very positive influence for them. Canizares’ aunt, Gail Anderson Canizares, praised his “kindness, gentleness and strength of character.” She described him as a “gentle giant” and “adoring godfather.” Finally, Canizares’ father, Luis Canizares, called him “a good, kind-hearted person.” He asked for the shortest possible sentence “so that David can return to us to enrich our lives with his exemplary spirit.” And then Canizares himself rose to speak. “There is no way to convey the sadness I feel today,” he said. “Had I the chance, I’d take Makayla’s place, so she could be back with her family.” He said he wished everyone in the family “peace in the coming years.” He concluded, “I truly am so very sorry for this tragic accident.” As Fasano imposed the sentence, he said the crime was “an horrific instant in an otherwise blameless existence.” He acknowledged the 63 letters of glowing support but added, “I couldn’t help but think that there’s some sort of fatal flaw.” Fasano told Canizares he had committed “an outrageous breach of trust.” When Canizares was handcuffed and led away, he turned for a last look at his family. Loud applause broke out from several members of Makayla’s supporters as they saw him depart in custody. After court adjounred, Karen Masella-Chartier said no sentence could be sufficient except life in prison. Timothy Aseltine said, “The children of Connecticut can sleep a little safer tonight because there is one less monster hiding in the dark.” Call Randall Beach at 203-789-5766.

Worse child abuse death case in az history

Az Cps Murder

Az Cps Victims Mother Takes A Stand

PD: Mom didn't report teen daughter's sexual relationship with teacher

PHOENIX (CBS5) - Police have arrested a Phoenix teacher accused of having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl. The teenager's mom has also been arrested for knowingly allowing her daughter to be in the relationship, police said. Phoenix police said they were contacted by school officials at Paradise Valley High School on Thursday about a possible inappropriate relationship between a student and a teacher. MORE SLIDESHOW: Mug shots During the investigation, police learned Jordan Doneskey, 26, had been in a relationship with the teen for several months. "It's kind of surprising cause he didn't seem like he'd do anything like that, he seemed like a good teacher too, we had a sub today and I just thought he was sick or something, I didn't know," said sophomore Tyler Vandenheuval. "I mean I think that's sad, I mean I don't think people should be doing that kind of thing. Especially from a teacher to a student," said sophomore Ernesto Rocha. Police also learned the girl's mother had allowed her daughter to have a sexual relationship with Doneskey at her home. According to the police report, the mother knew since April and that both her daughter and the teacher told her their relationship was sexual in nature. Police said the mother has had an extensive employment history with Child Protective Services and as a social worker had an obligation to report the relationship. Police said Doneskey admitted his involvement and was booked into jail on one charge of sexual conduct with a minor. The girl's mother was charged with child abuse and failure to report. Donesky was arrested at home Thursday night. "I just saw seven cops come up and my neighbor walk out in hand cuffs," said his next-door neighbor, Kendra Hamilton. The name of the victim's 49-year-old mother is being withheld to protect the identity of the victim. Doneskey has been placed on administrative leave. He's an English and journalism teacher at the school. Paradise Valley School District released the following statement on Friday afternoon. "The administration of Paradise Valley High School called Phoenix Police yesterday, Aug. 23, after a member of the school community expressed concern that teacher Jordan P. Doneskey was having a relationship with a 17-year-old female student at PVHS. Phoenix police arrested Doneskey last night, and also arrested the student's mother, whom they report was aware of the relationship and approved of it. "Doneskey was hired at PVHS in August 2009, possessed a valid fingerprint card from DPS, and has no disciplinary actions on his personnel record with the district. There is no indication at this time that he had relationships with any other students during his tenure at PVHS. "Upon Doneskey's arrest the Paradise Valley School District contacted the Arizona Department of Public Safety to invalidate his fingerprint clearance card, without which Doneskey cannot return to the classroom. Doneskey has been placed on paid leave, as required by state law (ARS 15-549, Compulsory leaves of absence for criminal charges, continued salary)." Copyright 2012 CBS 5 (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved. http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/story/19369786/phoenix-teacher-arrested-in-sexual-relationship-with-student

CPS hands another young child over to die

She would have been 10 months old by now. She would have been sitting up and crawling and laughing, as babies do. Who knows what she might have become had she been blessed with halfway-decent parents or halfway-competent help from Child Protective Services. Instead, Vanessa Martinez got the worst of both and paid dearly for it. The infant's autopsy was released this month, indicating that she had 23 rib fractures and died of "multiple blunt-force injuries." Basically, somebody literally squeezed the life out of the child before dumping her into a shallow grave in the southern Arizona desert. This two weeks after CPS gave her back to her loving parents and walked away -- another family reunified. It's been four months since we learned of Baby Vanessa's fate and the state's role in dispatching her to the hereafter, so I figured it was time to find out how she went free-falling through the state's safety net. Or not. The matter, I am told, has been taken care of. "The majority of the individuals involved with this case are no longer with the department," Department of Economic Security spokeswoman Tasya Peterson wrote in a statement sent to me on Friday. "Agency officials conducted a thorough investigation in order to determine what happened and has taken appropriate measures to address the issues identified." What those "appropriate measures" are, we evidently aren't entitled to know. Just as it apparently isn't any of our business what specifically went wrong or how the agency plans to ensure that it doesn't happen again. We can know only that "the majority" of the workers are gone -- though not fired, as that would be public record -- and that "appropriate measures" have been taken. Translation: Trust us, CPS says. Vanessa was born on Oct. 21 in Tucson, the second daughter of Olivia Martinez, 20, and possibly her boyfriend, Jonathan Kesterson, 26. The infant had both methamphetamine and cocaine in her system. CPS records indicate that Martinez initially lied about her drug use, saying smoke from the meth and residue from the cocaine had somehow "seeped" into her system. But she later admitted being an addict. Tests show Kesterson also lied about his cocaine addiction. Confronted with the truth, the couple agreed to give up the baby for 90 days. For two months, they underwent parenting classes and drug testing. They even went to church once a week, a caseworker noted. So when Kesterson called on Dec. 20 and said the couple wanted their baby back, CPS handed her over. Two days later, the agency closed the case, at the parents' request. It's impossible to tell from the records what the CPS workers assigned to this case were thinking or why they would walk away, given the parents' lies and their drug histories and the fact that Mommy was a stripper who was around drugs every night. Yet on Dec. 22, the caseworker, the in-home therapist and a supervisor signed off on the deal. "We ... agreed that there are not safety concerns that would require CPS to keep the case open," the caseworker wrote a month later. By then, the child was dead. On Jan. 8, we would later find out, Vanessa was killed and buried in the desert. Her body was found in April after Kesterson was arrested in San Diego on an unrelated matter and told police about the child. Martinez told authorities that Kesterson killed Vanessa because she was fussy. He has since committed suicide and Martinez is awaiting trial for murder. And us? We're left to ponder how the state failed Vanessa and, more importantly, how to make sure that it never happens again. According to a source inside the agency, two CPS employees have resigned and a third retired. A fourth person remains under investigation. DES Director Clarence Carter -- he who talks of the need for transparency -- declined to comment, on the advice of the agency's attorney. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. For now. In recent months, he's demoted some of the CPS brass, including the longtime program manager in Tucson where so many babies turn up dead, and he fired the caseworker for 22-month-old Za'Naya Flores, who starved to death in January. Now comes Vanessa, handed over by the state to die. "The majority of the individuals involved with this case are no longer with the Department," CPS assures us. That's good to know. But it doesn't come close to explaining what happened here. Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com.

Child Porn, Coke Smuggling: Hundreds of DHS Employees Arrested Last Year

Border Patrol agents smuggling weed and coke. Immigration agents forging documents and robbing drug dealers. TSA employees caught with child porn. Those are just a few of the crimes perpetrated by Department of Homeland Security employees in just the past year. Since the creation of the Department of Homeland Security nearly a decade ago, the agency’s inspector general has been tasked with uncovering corruption, waste and criminality within its own ranks. The IG has had his hands full. According to a newly released DHS inspector general’s summary of its significant investigations, 318 DHS employees and contractors were arrested in 2011 (.pdf). That’s about one arrest per weekday of the men and women who are supposed to be keeping the country safe. The report lets us not only see how corrupt some agents tasked with protecting the homeland can be, it also gives us a scale of the problem. In short: There are a lot of dirty immigration and border officers. That might send the wrong impression. DHS is a massive agency of more than 225,000 employees. Within DHS, sub-agency Customs and Border Protection has more than doubled in recent years to nearly 59,000 employees. Maybe it’s not so surprising an organization of that size has a few bad apples. There’s also some good news. The number of arrests is going down: there were 519 arrests in 2010, compared to the 318 last year. Still, within that number includes some serious crimes. “Border corruption may take the form of cash bribes, sexual favors, and other gratuities in return for allowing contraband or undocumented aliens through primary inspection lanes or even protecting and escorting border crossings; leaking sensitive law enforcement information to persons under investigation and selling law enforcement intelligence to smugglers; and providing needed documents such as immigration papers,” Charles Edwards, the acting inspector general for DHS, told Congress earlier this month (.pdf). According to the report, a Border Patrol agent from Tucson named Yamilkar Fierros was given 20 months in prison for providing “sensor location maps, trail maps, and communications technology” to cartel members in exchange for more than $5,000 in bribes. Another incident involved an 8-year veteran CBP agent who conspired with cocaine traffickers to let drugs past his border inspection post. The agent, whose name and former location are undisclosed in the report, was sentenced to 110 months in federal prison. Other corruption cases read like a list of bad career decisions, some appalling; others involve petty greed. The appalling includes at least two employees — one from CBP and another from the TSA — who were caught in possession of child pornography. A Border Patrol agent in Arizona “punched a fellow agent and threatened him with his service-issued weapon after the fellow agent joked about the excessive amount of tactical gear the [Border Patrol] routinely wore,” according to the report. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent named Valentino Johnson was sentenced to 120 months in prison for working an off-duty job robbing drug dealers, according to the report. Johnson, who was busted after attempting to steal a load of fake cocaine, worked with a stick-up crew who saw him as a means to portray a sense of legitimacy to their robberies. A Border Patrol agent in Arizona named Michael Atondo was convicted for attempting to distribute marijuana. The agent, according to the report, using his patrol vehicle to bypass checkpoints and smuggle more than 100 kilos of marijuana. Among ICE agents, many cases involve forging fake immigration documents for bribes. A CBP agent posted to Logan International Airport in Boston even reportedly stole astronaut Neil Armstrong’s customs declaration form and attempted to sell it on the internet. The corruption investigations have also netted contractors. At least one contractor with the Federal Emergency Management Agency was convicted of defrauding the agency of more than one million dollars. A company employee for security contractor MVM was discovered to have falsified training documents to the Federal Protective Service, which oversees security at government buildings. There’s also a caveat. While the numbers of arrests have fallen this year, the long-term trend of cases against CBP agents, at least, has been on a rise since 2004, according to the Arizona Daily Star. Between 2004 and 2010, the number of cases doubled. Former Border Patrol agent Lee Morgan told the Daily Star the increase was due to the agency expanding its ranks so quickly. “This is just such a tarnish on the badge of the U.S. Border Patrol,” he told the paper. Homeland Security’s inspectors are also overloaded, and are now framing out more criminal cases to sub-agencies. The CBP, meanwhile, is boosting its own internal affairs staff, and is implementing lie-detector tests starting in January. “While the number of corrupt individuals within our ranks who have betrayed the trust of the American public and their peers is a fraction of one percent of our workforce, we continue to focus our efforts on rooting out this unacceptable and deplorable behavior,” CBP acting commissioner David Aguilar told Congress (.pdf).