I Speak For This Child: True Stories of a Child Advocate

by Gay Courter

  “She told me, ‘Don’t worry, they’ll get theirs in the end.’ And your father will get his too.”

  “Nobody believed me,” Alicia said, her voice more furious than sad.

  “I believed you,” Grace said sincerely.

  “Guess I can’t sit at your desk anymore,” Alicia said dejectedly.

  “Sure you can. You can come to see me anytime.”

  Ruth had to be home for the other girls and asked me to join them as soon as I could. I said I would and then spent a few moments alone with Grace. I thanked her for everything and she generously acknowledged my assistance.

  I ran my hand along the mahogany rim of her desk. “The most important thing you did was to give Alicia control of your office. It was therapeutic somehow.”

  “I noticed that,” Grace replied simply. “And I meant it when I said I wanted her to come to visit. Tell her I care, okay?”

  I spent the next hour sitting around the table at the Levy household trying to deflect questions from Alicia’s furious foster sisters. “It just goes to show you,” one of them said, “adults can abuse kids as much as they want and get away with it.”

  “Yeah,” another one chimed in, “nobody has ever listened to us and nobody ever will.”

  My next stop was to the Castillos’. Marta had bought Cory’s favorite coffee ice cream and they offered me a bowl. “When can he go home?” Marta asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  “May he call his father?”

  “Yes, of course. Call him now if you want.”

  There was only one course of action for Cory. He had to go home, otherwise he would never accept a placement in a foster home or be willing to visit his mother.

  As soon as Mitzi heard my viewpoint, she became irate and said she would never be party to “offering up a child to a pedophile on a platter.”

  “Cory can resist sexual advances from his father,” I argued. “Also, do you think after Red’s recent experiences in jail and court, he would try anything with his son?”

  “He’s free to molest anyone he wants.”

  “That’s true. He’s a free man, and there is nothing you or I can do about that.”

  “Oh, no?” Mitzi said. “I can hold Cory in foster care.”

  “Why? To prove a point or keep him safe? You know Cory had some sort of sexual escapade at the ranch and another at the Levys’ with Larry, so what are you protecting him from when you keep him away from the one place he wants to be?”

  I started to build a case for sending Cory home.

  Red had finished the parenting class required by the performance agreement. Cory’s therapist, Dr. Farrington, said he would write a report suggesting that Cory be allowed to have a trial visit home again, but only if he continued in therapy and remained under the court’s protection as a child in need of services.

  Next the guidance counselor reported that Cory had been suspended from school because a friend of the Castillos had come by claiming to be his brother and had signed him out. When Mitzi heard this, she claimed it was proof that “Cory is like his father and brother, and to send him home would be to insure he would become a criminal.”

  I reminded Mitzi that HRS did not have a sterling record for parenting him either and that this latest incident involved a friend of the foster parents and not anyone in his family. “I think Cory is trying to tell us that he is going to continue to act out until he gets his way and goes home.”

  “So, you think we should reward that behavior?” Mitzi asked as a challenge.

  “I believe he will never accept the rules of HRS, or society, because he feels he and his father have been wronged. Now his father has been cleared by a jury of his peers, further justifying Cory’s position.”

  “But, Gay,” Mitzi pleaded, “you believe Red is a pedophile, don’t you?”

  “I think Red molested Alicia, Sunny, Dawn, and all the other girls, and I think he murdered his first wife. I think he is a creep and a lousy father. And I believe that Cory will figure this out after he lives there again. When he does, he can decide whether to return to foster care, this time with a positive attitude, or go to his mother in Washington State.”

  “That’s probably where we are going to send him anyway.”

  “Not without his agreement, Mitzi. I won’t have him transported like luggage.”

  “That’s where we differ.”

  “There’s a judicial review coming up in a month with Judge Donovan, who presided over the trial. He heard the evidence,” I said. “You and I will both present the facts to him and he can decide.”

  Lillian Elliott had agreed to accompany me on my first visit to the Stevenson home. I had borrowed my husband’s pickup truck for the drive to the groves because I felt it would be more inconspicuous. Even though we had been expected, Jeremiah greeted us in his bathrobe and explained that Red Stevenson had to see someone at the marina about a temporary job and would be back soon. The kitchen counters were covered with soiled pots and dishes, and roaches moved around with impunity. There were cigarette butts shoved into beer and soda cans and a smoky residue in the air.

  The phone rang. It was Red apologizing for not being there. He asked if we could meet him at a fish restaurant near the marina instead.

  “Please let me have my Cory back,” Jeremiah begged as we left.

  When Lillian and I arrived at the restaurant, we found Red sitting at the table with the woman he had hugged in the courthouse. Red introduced us to his “fiancée,” Bernadette Gonzales. Bernadette couldn’t have been more than twenty-five. She had creamy skin and wore a black velvet choker around her neck with a dangling heart pinned in the center. Her lips were painted a purplish red and she had a thick layer of violet eye shadow. She reminded me of a cheap imitation of Liz Taylor.

  Bernadette explained that she was a dental hygienist who had recently completed formal training and was finally “making good money.”

  In her inimitable way, Lillian didn’t flinch from the direct approach. “Are you currently living with Mr. Stevenson?” Bernadette nodded. “Will you continue to cohabit with him if Cory comes home?” Again she agreed.

  “Do you have any children of your own?” I asked, then was relieved to learn she had none, especially no young daughters.

  I then pulled out the performance agreement and went over what Red had to accomplish legally to get Cory back. Bernadette seemed to understand what had to be done and encouraged him to do it. Red, however, acted confused and resistant. Bernadette patted his hand and explained why it was time to put all that aside for “Cory’s sake.”

  Bernadette mentioned that she was looking forward to spending time with Cory during the weekly supervised visits. “I know the importance of doing well in school and I am working on an advanced course at night, so we can study together.”

  After we left, Lillian and I agreed that having Bernadette in the home might be a positive influence. But I was nagged with one further doubt. Red Stevenson had undergone extensive psychological testing. I needed to know if this had revealed any threat to Cory.

  I called Walt Hilliard and introduced myself as one of those “well-meaning women” on the benches, congratulated him on his splendid defense, and said that I was not concerned with his client’s guilt or innocence, but in the welfare of his children. “I want you to know that the position of the Guardian ad Litem office is that Cory should be returned to his home. However, I have one serious concern.”

  “And what is that?” he asked cordially.

  “Before I can go before the judge and unequivocally recommend Cory’s return to his father, I must see the psychological that Dr. Osterman has on file.”

  “I can assure you that there is nothing in that record that would indicate a problem for Cory.”

  “I need to see it for myself.”

  “I’ll have to ask my client for a release.”

  “As per my court order, he doesn’t have to give one, but if that will expedite matters before the judicial review
, fine. Mitzi Keller has announced that HRS’s position will be to oppose Cory’s return home. However, if I am satisfied that Red offers no danger to Cory, I will join your side to return Cory home under the condition that you will encourage your client to continue therapy for himself as well as his son.”

  Not long after I hung up the phone, Mitzi Keller reported that Cory had been asked to leave the Castillos’ that afternoon. He had cut school again and they didn’t want to be responsible for him if he was going to be a truant.

  “Where will you take him?”

  “Anyplace that will hold him long enough for us to procure a one way ticket to Spokane.”

  “Wasn’t Cory supposed to have a visit with his father last night?”

  “That was canceled because he was on in-school suspension for cutting classes.”

  “But that was going to be the first scheduled visit in more than three months. He was really looking forward to it.”

  “We’re not going to reward the kid for being a jerk.”

  “Don’t you think his actions might be related to his anger at not seeing his father as promised?”

  I called Mrs. Castillo to see if Cory might be able to remain with her until we were able to see the judge, and was surprised to learn she had gone to Texas to pick up her niece and nephew. Apparently their single mother was in the military reserves and had just been drafted for duty in the Gulf War. Marta had volunteered to care for her children. Knowing how many beds were available at the Castillo home, I understood why the rush to get rid of Cory. Despite all of Marta’s promises to him, a foster child was still expendable.

  Lillian helped me arrange a special emergency hearing the next day to decide Cory’s placement.

  “Where do you think he should go?” Lillian asked me.

  “Cory’s been a dismal failure in foster care, or perhaps the fault is the other way around. In any case, this child has two parents, both of whom want him.”

  “Do you think his mother will take him?”

  “I’ll check, but he won’t go there unless he definitely isn’t permitted to live with his father, and even then, I think he’ll rebel until he gets his way eventually.”

  Lillian said she’d back me any way I wanted to go. In the meantime Cory was moved to a shelter home for the night. I phoned Tammy Spate to ask whether she would take Cory immediately. “Of course,” she replied, “you didn’t even have to ask.”

  As I readied for the emergency court hearing I realized how ironic it was to be fighting to send a child back to live with his abusing father, and yet I saw no other solution. To me Cory was a young wildfire almost out of control. Dousing with water had not sufficed. The way to cut this conflagration off was to set a backfire to contain it. In doing so, though, there was always the risk that matters could become worse.

  Fortunately, Lillian was there for support, but everyone else was openly hostile. The HRS attorney insisted he was not prepared and that his witnesses, including Mitzi Keller, were away at a conference, and so he asked for a continuance. I told the judge that I could see no harm in a preliminary two-week visit because the father had been judged not guilty and that HRS had no better plan for Cory. The judge concurred, and that afternoon Cory went home with his father for the first time in almost one and a half years.

  In the corridor Walt Hilliard shook my hand and told his client, “The guardian program is the shining star of the judicial system.”

  Mitzi was furious. “You are the only Guardian ad Litem who has ever recommended a child be sent back to an abusing home.” I stated that it had been what Cory wanted. “Since when do we do what kids want? I’ve had abused kids claim they want to go back to parents who have cut their fingers off. Are you going to recommend that Alicia go home as well?” I shook my head. “Why Cory and not her?”

  Lillian suggested that for more ammunition to use in the judicial review, I talk to a forensic psychologist whose specialty was reuniting children with abusive parents. The expert listened to my description of the case, then she asked, “Is the father scared? If he is, so much the better. Warn him he will be constantly under your scrutiny. Tell the kid that if his father hurts him, he should tell someone so his father can get help, and insist that the father and son must remain in therapy. Inform the therapist and significant teachers to report any unusual behavior or nonverbal acting out promptly.” She suggested that I enlist Bernadette’s help in reporting problems with Cory or evidence of abuse, “if only to protect the father from more legal entanglements.”

  The next day I steeled myself and drove alone to the groves in our pickup truck. There was a noticeable difference in the house. The musty odor had been relieved and the whole place was picked up and tidy with a neat stack of magazines on the coffee table. Red, Jeremiah, Bernadette, and Cory sat around drinking iced tea from clean glasses while I discussed the antagonism that we all faced with HRS. Red became infuriated and blamed everything on “that bitch, Mitzi. If she comes around here, I can’t be responsible for what happens.” Bernadette calmed Red down, saying, “Listen to Gay. She is trying to help.”

  I took Cory outside and talked to him. He said he was happy and wanted to remain, but I could see tension in his face. I told him to come inside the cab of the truck. “I’m not going to beat around the bush. I believe that your father may very well have harmed other children, including your brother and your sister. I also think that if he tries anything, you are old enough to protect yourself. Now, I am willing to go back to court and fight to allow you to stay home, but only if I know you will be safe, or if you feel threatened, you will get the hell out of there as fast as you can.”

  “I already have a plan,” Cory told me, then explained where he would go and what he would do if anyone tried to hurt him. I took out something I had written and showed it to Cory.

  A CONTRACT OF TRUST

  I, Gay Courter, as Guardian ad Litem for Cory Stevenson promise to continue to work for Cory’s best interests no matter where he is living or how he is doing. I will pass on information between all family members including parents, sister, and brother, and will assist family members in visiting one another. I will do my best to come to see Cory whenever he says it is important to do so. I will be available by telephone and will accept collect phone calls. [I then listed three telephone numbers.]

  I, Cory Stevenson, promise to stay in touch with Gay Courter and let her know how I am doing, both during good times and bad. I promise to call her whenever my situation changes, if I move my residence, if I run away from any home or facility where I am living, if I am in any trouble at home with either of my parents, or grandparents, in a foster home, or living elsewhere. I will contact her if I am in difficulty in school or have been picked up or arrested by authorities, or will have my attorney contact her within 24 hours of an arrest. I will let her know if anyone harms me physically or if I feel unusually upset or unhappy, within 24 hours of the problem. I will also let her know of special things that happen too.

  The first copy was on regular paper. We signed it together, then I handed him a copy I had reduced several times on my copy machine so it would fit in his wallet. We both signed this as well and shook hands.

  Three days later Cory called. His voice sounded scared and wavering. Something had happened already! My heart pounded wildly until he explained that he was home from school with a fever. I thanked him for letting me know why he was home and was pleased he had “tested our contract.”

  The regularly scheduled six-month judicial review to discuss Cory’s placement in foster care was set for the anniversary of the week Cory had become a foster child a year earlier. But this was anything but a routine hearing. Lined up on one side of the table were Lillian Elliott, Nancy Hastedt, me, the guardian program attorney, Kit Thorndike, Walt Hilliard, Red Stevenson, and Cory. Jeremiah Stevenson, not officially a party to the case, was kept in the antechamber, where Alicia and Ruth Levy also were waiting to testify. Mitzi was flanked by the HRS attorney, Calvin Reynolds, as well as
her supervisor.

  As perfunctorily as possible, I reviewed recent events for the judge. “Cory flared up with emotional problems, got in trouble with teachers, went through in-school suspension, and cut school with an older boy, a friend of his last foster family. He also was accused of mischief around the school, but no charges were pressed. This was due in part to a rejection by this foster family because they had to take in two small children of a relative on an emergency basis. He also was denied the first supervised visit with his father in more than three months, which made him extremely angry. The sum of these events caused him to lose his placement and resulted in the emergency hearing, after which he was allowed to visit his father. While I realize that Mr. Stevenson has hardly been a model father, HRS, due to various administrative problems, has failed to provide any but the most rudimentary services for Cory. No counseling was offered until I enrolled Cory myself.”

  Calvin Reynolds insisted that these facts had nothing to do with the problem at hand. “We maintain that Mr. Stevenson has a history of abuse dating back more than ten years. He has been confirmed as a perpetrator of crimes against several children and these cases have been disposed of in juvenile court, where the standard of proof is a preponderance of evidence. Simply because Cory has not made allegations of sexual abuse does not mean that he would not be at risk for such abuse.”

  I pointed to the third page in my report. “I know there are concerns about whether Cory might be at risk for sexual abuse in his father’s home. Cory’s therapist, Dr. Farrington, has felt that Cory may be at risk if he returns there, since he thinks Mr. Stevenson may have pedophiliac tendencies and these have never been treated. The psychological report prepared by Dr. Osterman reveals a long history of Richard Stevenson, Sr.’s, problems. Mr. Stevenson has been married at least five times, has had a traumatic childhood, and was sexually abused himself. All three of his offspring are experiencing psychological problems, some in the extreme. If Cory were to have permanent placement with his father, I would like to see an updated and more complete evaluation along with evidence of ongoing therapy for his current presenting problems and an analysis of Cory’s jeopardy in his care.”