No Charges in Failure to Report Allegation
State says DA hasn't properly trained his investigators to know when they must pass along suspicions of child abuse.
By Aldrin Brown
Originally published in The Orange County Register, March 8, 2002
An Orange County district attorney's investigator who failed to pass along a report of child abuse a day before a 10-month-old Fullerton boy was found beaten to death in December was not properly trained about the law and will not face criminal charges, state officials said Thursday.
In a letter sent last week, the state Attorney General's Office recommended that District Attorney Tony Rackauckas improve staff training in child-abuse recognition and reporting.
By law, people in certain occupations, such as law enforcement, health care, teaching or ministering, can be charged with a misdemeanor if they fail to promptly report child abuse. They are known as "mandated reporters" under California law.
"We have suggested to the district attorney that he ensure that all mandated reporters in his office are trained in the mandatory-reporting law and in recognizing the symptoms or red flags of child abuse," said Gary Schons, a senior assistant with the state Attorney General's Office.
A timely report might have made a difference in the baby's death, police said.
"We would have taken immediate action, and the child would have been removed from the home," Sgt. Joe Klein said.
Rackauckas' office will heed the recommendations.
"Our investigators receive training on an ongoing basis," district attorney's spokeswoman Tori Richards said. "We will review the training process and the training subject matter to make sure all necessary subjects are covered. If it's necessary to add anything additional, then we will do it."
State and local authorities have refused to identify the investigator, who works in the district attorney's welfare-fraud unit. District attorney's officials said the law doesn't allow them to discuss whether he has been disciplined.
On Dec. 14, the investigator visited an apartment complex in the 1200 block of South Gilbert Street in Fullerton and interviewed Sherri Robinson about her living situation, according to police and the woman's next-door neighbor.
Immediately after the visit, neighbor Robert Rice said, he stopped the investigator in a nearby parking lot to report loud and frequent beatings that he alleged Robinson had meted out to her 10-month-old son, Darian.
"I'm no expert, but I know you're not supposed to be spanking a baby like that," Rice, 51, said later.
The investigator did not pass along the report. The next morning, police were summoned to Robinson's apartment, where they found the infant dead from apparent beatings.
Robinson, 24, remains jailed after pleading not guilty to charges of murder and child abuse. She is undergoing a psychiatric evaluation and is scheduled to appear in court March 25.
