Tuesday, January 13, 2004
By Wendy McElroy
Denise Moore is the Indiana caseworker
who recommended taking 4-year-old
Anthony Bars away from a loving foster
mother and placed him, instead, with
a couple who starved
and beat him to death over a 10-month
period.
Had Moore bothered
with the required background check,
she would have known that the new
"home" had a long record
of abuse within the child protective
services and that the new "father"
had a felony battery conviction for
savagely beating his own daughter
with an extension cord.
Last week, D. Sue
Roberson, director of the Indiana
Personnel Department, announced that
no disciplinary action would be taken
against Moore. Why? Citing confidentiality
laws, Roberson added, "I am not
at liberty to discuss the findings."
Days later, Cheryl
Sullivan, secretary of the Indiana
Family and Social Services Administration,
stated that disciplinary
action is still possible.
But she affirmed confidentiality and
painted her agency as the true victim.
Sullivan's statements
came in the wake of a four-month investigation
by TV-station WTHR. It came after
a court case that convicted Anthony's
killers, after criticism from Rep.
Phil Hinkle and Gov. Joe Kernan, and
heart-breaking questions from Florence
Hurst, the foster mom who spent 15
months caring for Anthon. She
wanted to adopt Anthony and his sister
before Moore recommended their removal. |