Breach of Contract with Fraud Claims | LegalMatch Law Library

Breach of Contract with Fraud Claims | LegalMatch Law Library

Breach of Contract with Fraud Claims | LegalMatch Law Library

Breach of Contract with Fraud Claims | LegalMatch Law Library

Child Protective Services in 2013 had removed from home 6 kids killed in Houston shooting

Kids killed in shooting had been taken from home by state By JUAN A. LOZANO | Associated Press | Aug 11, 2015 4:47 PM CDT HOUSTON (AP) — Six children who were fatally shot in their Houston home along with their mother and her husband were temporarily removed by Child Protective Services from the household in 2013 after allegations of domestic violence and a lack of supervision. The children were placed in foster care in September 2013 when the agency filed a lawsuit to remove them from the home. They were returned about a month later after the suit was dismissed by a judge, Patrick Crimmins, a spokesman for Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, which includes CPS, said Tuesday. Questions about the agency's dealings with the family have arisen since the six children, their mother, Valerie Jackson, and her husband were killed Saturday. Jackson's former domestic partner, David Conley, is charged with capital murder for their deaths, and the Harris County Sheriff's Office has said problems between Conley and Jackson might have led to the shootings. Court records show Conley, 48, had a history of domestic violence against Jackson, something Child Protective Services noted in its 2013 lawsuit. Crimmins said he couldn't comment on why Juvenile Court Judge Glenn Devlin dismissed the lawsuit. Natalie Yates, Devlin's court coordinator, said the judge can't comment on the lawsuit due to confidentiality issues. Donna Everson, an attorney who was appointed to represent the six children, did not immediately return a call seeking comment. According to CPS' lawsuit, the children told authorities they were often left alone. On at least two occasions, then-7-year-old Caleb left the home and wandered around the family's neighborhood unsupervised. Another child, Nathaniel, told investigators "he gets whooped all the time." Killed in the shooting on Saturday were: Jackson, 40; her husband, Dwayne Jackson; and her children, 13-year-old Nathaniel; 11-year-old Honesty; 10-year-old Dwayne; 9-year-old Caleb; 7-year-old Trinity; and 6-year-old Jonah. Authorities say Nathaniel was Conley's son from his relationship with Valerie Jackson, while the Jacksons were the parents of the other five children. All were shot in the head. Conley's court appointed attorney, Joseph Scardino, didn't return a phone call seeking comment on the allegations Tuesday. Court records show Conley had been charged at least twice with assaulting Valerie Jackson, most recently last month. They had recently ended their relationship. Neighbors told reporters after the shooting that they had been concerned about the children. "The little one, Jonah, he used to be on the street by himself with the other kids, cars driving by and everything and no adult supervision," said Carlos Sanchez, 40, who lived across the street from the family. Crimmins said in an email that although the children were returned to the home, Conley and Valerie Jackson were ordered to participate in counseling and random drug testing. That part of the case was dismissed in March 2014 after they successfully completed all court-ordered services, Crimmins said. The agency conducted periodic visits and interviews with the children until the case was closed on May 27, 2014, he said. --- This story has been corrected to show the first name of two of the shooting victims is Dwayne, not Dewayne. ___ Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter at www.twitter.com/juanlozano70 http://www.newser.com/article/0576dc51cfc64bc1bca4385168d9f89c/child-protective-services-in-2013-had-removed-from-home-6-kids-killed-in-houston-shooting.html

Child Protective Services Had Contact with Family Prior to Killing

Updated: 08/09/2015 6:45 PM Created: 08/09/2015 9:00 PM KAALtv.com HOUSTON (AP) — The latest on eight people — including six children and two parents — found dead inside a Houston-area home (all times local): ___ 4:45 p.m. An official with Texas Child Protective Services said the agency had prior contact with people at a Houston home where two adults and six children were shot to death. Spokeswoman Estella Olguin said Sunday that a preliminary review found the previous involvement. She said an internal review was under way by their Office of Child Safety to evaluate "any prior contacts with the family to ensure they were handled appropriately." She had no further details Sunday afternoon. David Conley has been charged with three counts of capital murder after the discovery of the bodies. Authorities discovered the bodies after they were called to the home for a welfare check Saturday. Conley was taken into custody after surrendering to authorities. ___ 3 p.m. Authorities identified the eight people fatally shot at a Houston home as two adults and six children ranging in age from six to 50 years. At a Sunday afternoon news conference, prosecutors and police said that a 40-year-old female victim had a prior relationship with David Conley, who is charged with capital murder in the family's death. The children, two girls and four boys, were ages 13, 11, 10, 9, 7 and 6. At least one of those was believed to be Conley's child, they said. ___ 2 p.m. All eight victims — two adults and six children— found in a Houston-area home were shot in the head, according to an arrest affidavit for a man charged with capital murder. The arrest affidavit was read in court Sunday afternoon at a probable cause hearing for 48-year-old David Conley. He didn't appear in court. The judge denied him bond. According to the arrest affidavit, Conley said he had discovered on Saturday morning that the locks had been changed at the house after he'd moved out. He then entered the home through an unlocked window and restrained, shot and killed the eight people. Police later responded to a welfare check at the house and got no response at the door but saw through a window a male on the floor with a gunshot wound. Police then heard gunshots coming from the front of the house. A standoff ensued between officials and Conley and he later gave himself up to authorities and was arrested. ___ 11:30 a.m. The man charged following the discovery of two adults and six children slain in a Houston-area home has a long criminal history that includes violence. David Conley, 48, was charged with three counts of capital murder after the discovery of the bodies. One capital murder count covers multiple deaths. Another is for a person under 6 years of age, according to court records. He was being held Sunday in Harris County Jail. Bond has not yet been set. Court records show Conley's criminal history dates back until at least 1988, with the most recent incident last month, when was charged with assault of a family member. In court documents, authorities say the suspect had been arrested for allegedly assaulting the woman he was living with at the home where the bodies were found. Court documents say that in the incident last month Conley pushed the woman's head against a refrigerator multiple times after she tried to stop him from disciplining her son with a belt. The case was still pending. In 2013, he was charged with aggravated assault for threatening the same woman with a knife. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to nine months in the county jail. In 2000, he was arrested for retaliation, accused of putting a knife to his then-girlfriend, threatening to kill her, her baby and himself. That came after she filed an assault charge for cutting her with a knife and punching her in the face. He was sentenced to five years in prison for retaliation. ___ 11 a.m. Court records show that a 48-year-old man has been charged with three counts of capital murder after authorities discovered the bodies of two adults and six children slain in a Houston-area home. David Conley was being held Sunday in Harris County Jail. Bond has not yet been set for him. An attorney is not yet listed for him. Court records show that one capital murder count covers multiple deaths. Another capital murder count is for a person under 6 years of age. Authorities had been called to the home for a welfare check. Conley was taken into custody after surrendering to authorities. By late Sunday morning, authorities had begun removing bodies from the home. ___ 10 a.m. The area around a Houston-area home where authorities say two adults and six children have been found dead is still cordoned off, with sheriff's deputies coming in and out of the house and the medical examiner's office having arrived at the scene. The Harris County Sheriff's Office says a 48-year-old man is in custody after surrendering to authorities. The eight people were found dead in the home after a welfare check. Neighbor Dalila Mercado says when she arrived home last night officers had already blocked off the area. She said she was sitting in her driveway when she heard gunshots coming from the house and officials then told her and her family to go inside their home. Mercado said she could still see from her bedroom window and watched as a man was escorted out of the house after midnight. She said officials then had him next to her fence, taking fingerprints and photographs. She says, "It was shocking. I haven't slept all night." Mercado says she didn't know the residents of the house well, but would occasionally say hello to a woman and see children waiting to catch the school bus. She said she didn't recognize the man taken out of the house. The relationship between the man and the victims wasn't immediately known. ___ 9:25 a.m. Texas authorities say two adults and six children have been found dead inside a Houston-area home and a 48-year-old man who exchanged gunfire with police is in custody. The Harris County Sheriff's Office said in a statement Sunday morning that the eight people were found dead after a welfare check was conducted at the home. The man was taken into custody after members of the Harris County Sheriff's Office High Risk Operations Unit and Hostage Negotiation Team negotiated his surrender. Harris County Sheriff spokesman Thomas Gilliland tells KHOU-TV (http://bit.ly/1HyVKtb ) that deputies were called to the home about 9 p.m. Saturday. He says deputies subsequently received information indicating that a man inside the home was wanted on an aggravated assault warrant. Gilliland says while waiting for a High Risk Operations Unit, deputies spotted the body of a juvenile through a window. Four deputies forced themselves inside, prompting the suspect to begin shooting. Deputies pulled back, and the man surrendered about an hour later. Officials say more information will be given at a news conference set for 3 p.m.

http://www.kaaltv.com/article/stories/s3874613.shtml

Child Protection Protocol in final draft

By Sharon Mathala The Child Protection Protocol, which is in its final draft, is said to be the solution to the problem of growing crimes against children, which attract low conviction rates. - See more at: http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?aid=53219&dir=2015/august/11#sthash.Em1JvVzq.dpuf The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) in conjunction with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) presented the final draft yesterday. Speaking at the official launch yesterday, the deputy permanent secretary in the Ministry of Local Government, Halakangwa Mbulai says, “Botswana and its partners continue to observe the incidence of issues that affect children, and on which immediate action needs to be taken”. “Such issues include orphanhood, increasing incidents of child abuse, exploitation, neglect, juvenile delinquency as well as children who are forced to take up parenting roles, engage in employment to support families as well as survive on the streets,” says Mbulai. She also stated that the draft Protocol is largely derived from the current challenges related to facilitating access to justice for children. “In spite of increased volumes of offences against children, we still get very low conviction rates and worse still very few cases reaching trial stage. This may be largely attributed to the unclear process and roles of service providers throughout the child protection continuum,” she explains. A UNICEF assessment conducted in 2013 dubbed Botswana Youth Risk Behavioural Surveillance Survey on 10- to 19-year-old students indicated that physical and sexual violence was rampant in schools. The survey also revealed that 12.8 percent of sexually experienced students were forced to have sexual intercourse during the 12 months prior to the survey whilst 13 percent of sexually experienced students had been raped the first time they had sexual intercourse. Child protection specialist, Ben Semommung said, “40 percent of students were reported to have been picked on or bullied during the 30 days prior to the survey, whilst 25.1 percent of students were threatened or injured with a weapon”. The draft also addresses issues ranging from interviewing a child in a case of sexual or physical abuse, discipline that violates the child’s dignity, actions of social worker upon receipt of allegations to when the child does and does not need protection. “A child protection service or provider or agency must intervene to protect a child who might actually suffer cruel or inconsiderable discipline, harmful discipline is correcting or disciplining a child in a cruel or inconsiderable way not matching the child’s age or condition or that whose purpose the child does not understand,” reads the draft. The Protocol will also challenge the issue of child negligence. It states, “Child negligence is failure to provide the child or young person with an adequate standard of nutrition, medical care, clothing shelter or supervision to the extent where the health development of the child is significantly impaired or placed under serious risk”. It (Protocol) aims to define respective roles and responsibilities for child protection in Botswana so that all children in the country are protected. - See more at: http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?aid=53219&dir=2015/august/11#sthash.Em1JvVzq.dpuf http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?aid=53219&dir=2015/august/11