Day-care probe rife with errors: Rogers Park case "learning experience"

State officials and Chicago police made a series of errors investigating alleged sexual abuse at a North Side day-care center, making it unlikely that the year-old inquiry will determine the scope of inquiry will determine the scope of inquiry will determine the scope of the abuse or whether it occurred it all.

The mistakes in the case of the Rogers Park Day Care Center, a case that made headlines last April with the arrest of a janitor, reflect weaknesses in state and local efforts to handle inquiries into sexual abuse cases that may involve more than one adult.

The weaknesses--which include outdated policies, insufficient training of investigators and a reluctance on the part of some investigators to believe that this type of abuse occurs--persist despite national recognition of child sexual exploitation as a growing problem.

The case, the first recorded in Illinois to involve accusations of sexual abuse by a group of adults, consists of 246 allegations that staff members abused children enrolled at the center, according to the Illinois Department of children and Family Services (DCFS).

Only the janitor has been charged, and additional allegations have not resulted in charges in the continuing investigation.

The DCFS, which is responsible for regulating day-care centers and employees, also investigated the case and found insufficient evidence to support allegations against other staff.
Police and DCFS officials describe the day-care case as a "learning experience." They acknowledge that their investigators made errors but say the mistakes had little impact on the outcome of the case.

DCFS Director, Gordon Johnson said he has asked Jon Conte of the University of Chicago, an expert on child sexual abuse, and Jeremy Margolis, Illinois' inspector general, to review all aspects of the investigation "so we don't repeat our mistakes.

The case involved the following apparent errors:

• The children were initially screened in cursory, ineffective interviews that lasted an average of only 15 minutes. In most cases, they were never re-interviewed by police or DCFS investigators.

• One of the key interviewers brought in by the state to question the children had little formal training and misrepresented his credentials in his resume and during recent court testimony.

• Based on the cursory screening interviews, investigators decided which children had been abused. Many child sexual-abuse experts say that determination can be made only after extensive interviews.
  

• Despite the existence of a special child sexual-abuse police unit, the chief investigator in the Rogers Park Day Care Center was a regular violent-crimes detective who had no formal training in child sexual abuse. Burdened with the customary heavy workload, the detective said he was forced to investigate much of the case on his own time.
  

• During the crucial early interviews, investigators did not act immediately when one child accused seven day-care center staff members of sexually abusing her. "This was not our finest moment," said Belmont Area Detective Scott Keenan. "We had one simple case with one offender, and we felt uncomfortable with the nature of her allegations".
  

• Weeks later when DCFS and police began to examine allegations of wider abuse, they created a reporting system in which parents relayed their children's accusations to investigators. Many child sexual-abuse experts described this procedure as "ridiculous."
  

• The DCFS concluded its investigation partly on the basis of reports by a criminal psychologist and a child analyst who were asked by the agency to review the investigation but who were never asked to interview the children or parents.
  

• An outdated state law imposed a 90-day limit on the DCFS investigation, forcing the agency to make its concussions over the objections of the children's therapists, who said their young patients had only began to talk about the alleged abuse. Read more here.

Expert in Day-Care Probe Can't Back Up His Resume

A man brought in by the State of Illinois as an expert to investigate key aspects of allegations of sexual child abuse at the Rogers Park Day Care Center misrepresented his credentials in his resume and during recent court testimony, records show.

Allen Friedmann, 34, of 245 Court of Shorewood, Vernon Hills, played a critical role in the investigation. Working with a social worker and a Chicago detective, he conducted most of the sensitive interviews in which authorities tried to determine whether any of the 88 children enrolled at the center had been abused.

Friedmann was employed by Human Effectiveness Living Program (HELP), which treats sexually abused children and abusers. HELP was hired by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services to provide expertise in interviewing the children who attended the center.
Along with HELP's director, Friedmann designed the format used in the interviews.

Examination of Friedmann's college transcripts, court transcripts and interviews with former employers show that he built his reputation in part on exaggerations and sometimes fabricated his qualifications.

In an interview Thursday, Friedmann said he "never intentionally misrepresented" his qualifications.

He acknowledged that he once told a prospective employer that he held a master's degree when he had not yet earned a bachelor`s degree, but said that was "a onetime, stupid" ploy.

Allegations of sexual abuse of children at the Rogers Park Day Care Center, 7101 N. Greenview Ave., surfaced in April, 1984. The center`s janitor, Deloartic Parks, was charged with three counts of sexual child abuse. His case is pending.

The Cook County state`s attorney's office is investigating accusations made by some children against center staff members. A DCFS investigation that ended last September found insufficient evidence to support those charges.

Questions about Friedmann's qualifications are the latest in a series of problems, which DCFS officials say stemmed from outdated regulations and their lack of experience in such cases, that have stymied the investigations.

Friedmann is no longer involved in the case, and he resigned from HELP in February.

DCFS Director Gordon Johnson said cases like Friedmann's are prompting his agency to more carefully scrutinize the qualifications of staff members and people hired under contract.

Sources in the state's attorney's office said they would review evidence of Friedmann's misstatements but added that questions about his credentials would not have "much impact." Chicago police detective Scott Keenan agreed, pointing out that investigators had "used a team approach" in the interviews.

Park`s lawyer, Adam Bourgeois, disagreed. "Whenever the court has an expert, all the parties tend to rely on that expert", he said. "If someone doesn`t have qualifications, it turns the trial into a charade."

"If what children say is not believed alone, then people who do the interviewing have to be beyond reproach. Anything else invalidates the process", said Jon Conte, a University of Chicago professor and abuse expert who advised DCFS in this case.

Friedmann has some experience in the field of child abuse investigation, including more than two years as an abuse investigator with DCFS and one year as a counselor at the Center for Children`s Services in Danville.

Some of those who have seen Friedmann`s techniques say he is a skilled interviewer. "I feel comfortable having him instruct doctors on how to talk to children," said Dr. Howard Levy, director of pediatrics for Mt. Sinai Hospital, where Friedmann teaches a course to doctors.

According to Friedmann's school transcripts, he does not hold a degree in psychology, medicine or social work, courses of study most commonly followed by sexual abuse experts. His only formal instruction in these fields consisted of undergraduate courses, one completed graduate course and several professional seminars, transcripts show.

While testifying under oath as an expert witness last year in a civil suit, Friedmann said he had completed a year of graduate work at Loyola University and "about a year" of graduate work at the University of Illinois.

Loyola records show that Friedmann took one undergraduate course in 1977 but show no graduate work. U. of I. records show that he attended one semester and took two graduate courses, one of which he did not complete. Read more here.