12:06 AM CDT on Saturday, May 30, 2009
By Rucks Russell / 11 News
PEARLAND, Texas -- Parents coping with the sexual assault of their 6-year-old daughter are blaming a Child Protective Services employee for compounding their pain by trying to cover-up the assault.
CPS employee accused of covering up child's sexual assault
"I can’t understand how someone in a position of trust could do something like this,” said the victim’s mother. “It’s devastated our family and turned my world upside down.”
The suspect is a 12-year-old boy and the alleged assault took place a year ago at the couple’s Pearland home.
The couple says neighborhood parents and children had been invited over for a graduation party. The boy’s mother, a CPS Supervisor, left her son unattended at the party even though she allegedly knew her son had a history of assaulting little girls.
According to the victim’s father, there was a scream upstairs and he found the boy molesting his daughter.
“It makes me feel less of a father. It makes me feel I didn’t do my job as a father,” the victim’s father said.
Both parents say the suspect’s mother urged them not to call the police, because involving the authorities was “not a good idea.”
They say when police did become involved, CPS workers began showing up at their house without explaining why.
“They were coming by without having any documentation to support that they should be coming by,” the victim’s father said.
The 12-year-old boy will face a judge next week on charges of taking indecent liberties with a minor. The victim’s parents have filed a lawsuit alleging the suspect’s mother used her position at CPS to try to cover-up the crime.
“We have material to support this claim and intend to prove it in court,” said Fernando Valdes, the attorney representing the victim’s parents.
The suspect’s mother refused to comment, but CPS officials said they found no evidence she did anything wrong.
“We conducted an investigation with her supervisor and found no wrong-doing on the employee’s part,” CPS Spokesperson Gwen Carter said.
The victim’s parents fear their daughter has been irreparably harmed.
“She’s changed and may never be the same little girl again,” her father said.
http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/khou090529_mp_sexual-assualt-coverup.2d4a5d09.html
Emphasis added by H4K Editor
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