Amsterdam dad acquitted of abuse-one more reason why Montgomery County DSS & CPS need investigating

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I have written again and again about the shenanigans at the Montgomery County, New York Department of Child Protective Services and Department of Social Services. I have written about my own experiences with them, which lasted for five years and resulted in two hearings in which the State of New York's Department of Children and Family Services came down unequivocally on my side and against the county. Since writing about my dealings with Montgomery County DSS and CPS, I have heard from nearly a dozen other people in the county who have gone through similar experiences.

A news report in yesterday's Amsterdam Recorder, however, puts the icing on the cake, and when we are speaking of Montgomery County's Departments of Social Services and Child Protective Services we are talking most definitely about an upside down cake. I say that because DSS and CPS in my county go after innocent parents, while neglected and abused children roam the streets of Amsterdam and other cities and villages, and DSS and CPS do not lift a finger to help them.

According to Linda Kellet's report in the Recorder, Albert G. Rodeo, who had custody of his children, accidentally burned his daughter while giving her a bath. He had complained to the landlord several times about how hot the water was, but the landlord did nothing about it. Eventually, the water was tested at 154 degrees F. The factory setting for water heaters is 120 degrees F. for safety.

Rodeo was running twice as much cold water into the tub as hot water at the time of the bath. There were other children in the house, and he was distracted by them and ended up turning off the cold water by mistake instead of the hot water. This resulted in second degree burns on his daughter.

Although there was no evidence that Rodeo deliberately burned his daughter, Child Protective Services and the Department of Social Services started proceedings against Rodeo in family court. (Did they ever go after the landlord for endangering children by not fixing the hot water heater?) Eventually the case ended up in criminal court, where after a week long trial, a jury acquitted Rodeo of all charges.

In spite of the acquittal, Rodeo had already been punished. According to Rodeo's attorney, Michael Sutton, he lost his apartment, his children for ten months and was jailed for over seven months because of the false allegations of abuse.

Having lived in Montgomery County, New York for more than thirty years I can tell you that when a Montgomery County jury acquits you of child abuse, you are innocent. Your chances of being acquitted of child abuse charges in this county are not good, as most people and juries have a built in bias against someone accused of child abuse.

Rodeo's attorney, Michael Sutton, also said in the Recorder report that he believed county officials were going after Rodeo. The way I read that is they were out to get Rodeo, regardless of the evidence or lack thereof.

This is not surprising at all. Having had experience with the senior Child Protective Services investigator, her boss, the lead attorney as well as other attorneys in the Department of Social Services, I am not surprised by Sutton's allegations. Something is amiss in both departments. From my vantage point, it appears that one tail in the Child Protective Services office wags the whole dog. I also don't think the lead Social Services attorney has a mind of her own, and she does whatever Child Protective Services tells her to do. Plus she works as a part-time city court judge in Amsterdam, which must make it difficult to focus on her work in Fonda. (She must also have to recuse herself a lot because many  people who get involved with CPS and DSS also end up at times in Amsterdam's city court).

I wonder how much Rodeo's prosecution persecution cost taxpayers? Child Protective Services was involved, the Department of Social Services was involved, the DA's office was involved, the police were involved, Montgomery County Family Court was involved, the child support unit was involved, the criminal court was involved, and the county jail was involved. And a jury sat for an entire week.

Just as a starter, the criminal court judge's salary and benefits for one week are nearly 3,000 dollars.  Jury pay was around $3,000. Incarcerating Rodeo for six months cost approximately 20,000 dollars. Total up the other salaries, benefits and monies that were expended on this attempted lynching, and I wouldn't be surprised if the entire fiasco cost the county around 100,000 dollars.

And what is Rodeo's lawsuit against the county going to cost us? He hasn't filed one yet, but he would be foolish if he didn't, after what the county's actions have cost him. Furthermore, Rodeo will have to have a separate hearing to get his name removed from the New York State Child Abuse Register, which will cost him, the state and the county money.

All this money was expended because of an accident, when there never was any proof that it was other than an accident. How many children were really abused while Child Protective Services workers and the police wasted time investigating and testifying in court about abuse that never happened?

The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, the New York Department of Family and Children Services and other responsible parties need to investigate Montgomery County's Department of Social Services and Child Protective Services, not just for this incident, but for the recurring waste of money spent going after innocent parents and the child endangerment that the county causes by not focusing on real child abuse. 

Copyright 2009 Daniel Weaver. Permission is granted to republish the first two paragraphs of this article, as long as a link to the entire article is provided. Selective quotations are also permissable under the provisions of Fair Use laws. Republishing the entire article on any website, including blogs, is both unethical and illegal.