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Suit filed over charges vs. 6-year-old Nov. 18, 2011 11:32 AM Associated Press MADISON, Wis. -- The parents of a 6-year-old boy charged in Grant County with sexual assault have filed a federal lawsuit against prosecutors and others. The lawsuit contends Grant County officials violated the boy's civil rights and those of his parents. Court documents say the boy was playing doctor with a 5-year-old girl and her brother last fall when the girl's mother thought the boy had touched the girl indecently. That led to juvenile charges of sexual assault. The Journal Sentinel says the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Madison, contends an investigation into the incident was biased because the girl's father is a well-known political figure in Grant County. The defendants could not immediately be reached for comment.
Parents of boy, 6, accused of sex assault file lawsuit By Sandy Cullen | Wisconsin State Journal Posted: Friday, November 18, 2011 12:00 am The parents of a Grant County boy who authorities have accused of first-degree sexual assault for playing doctor with a 5-year-old girl when he was 6 years old have filed a federal lawsuit against the county's district attorney, a social worker and a former sheriff's department investigator. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Madison, seeks $12 million in damages for alleged violations of the constitutional rights of the boy and his parents. It names as defendants Grant County District Attorney Lisa Riniker, as well as Jan Moravits, a social worker with Grant County Social Services, and Sgt. James Kopp, recently retired from the Grant County Sheriff's Department. Tomah attorney Richard Radcliffe, who is representing Riniker, Radcliffe and Kopp, did not return a call for comment. Chief Deputy Jack Johnson of the Grant County Sheriff's Department said he has not seen the lawsuit and declined comment. Among the suit's claims is that the boy was selectively accused of a felony for playing doctor with the daughter of a Grant County political figure. It also alleges that the investigations by Kopp and Moravits were haphazard and biased in favor of the girl's father because of his political status and that Riniker did not act reasonably in charging a 6-year-old with first-degree sexual assault. "I think his life has been ruined, and I think it's been ruined by reckless conduct by the defendants without any regard for the little boy and his future," said Chicago attorney Christopher Cooper, who is representing the boy and his parents in the lawsuit. The boy, who is now 7 and has a developmental disability, has been diagnosed with stress disorders that medical professionals attribute to the defendants' actions, according to the suit. He has experienced fear of going to jail, as well as anxiety, depression, sleepless nights, vomiting, crying and missed school time. The lawsuit also asks that a judge issue a permanent injunction to stop Riniker's "attempts to coerce" the boy's parents into forcing the boy to admit guilt. The boy - who under Wisconsin law is too young to be charged with a crime or in a juvenile delinquency petition, the equivalent of a criminal complaint for adults - was accused of first-degree sexual assault in a petition seeking protection or services for the boy. Such petitions are typically used by parents or authorities to identify children younger than 10 who need services to change inappropriate behavior. According to the petition for protection or services, the girl's mother found her daughter in the boy's yard "with her skirt and underpants around her ankles" and the boy sitting underneath her, penetrating her with his finger. The girl told her mother they were playing doctor and told authorities the boy touched her only on the outside of her body, court documents state.
Boy, 6, caught playing doctor, is accused of sex assault Parents file suit saying investigators violated civil rights By Bruce Vielmetti of the Journal Sentinel Nov. 17, 2011 Three young children caught playing doctor last year have unintentionally landed themselves, their families and some Grant County officials in a federal civil rights case sure to raise questions and outrage. The parents of a 6-year-old boy who faced charges of first-degree sexual assault have sued Grant County officials who investigated and filed the juvenile petition. The charges came after a 5-year-old girl's mother suspected that play had gone too far. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Madison, contends that officials violated the civil rights of the boy and his parents, and seeks damages and an injunction against Grant County District Attorney Lisa Riniker. The suit also names a sheriff's deputy and social worker as defendants. None of them could be reached for comment late Thursday. The plaintiffs are identified only as D, who is now 7, and his parents as Jennifer and Kurt D. According to the lawsuit, in the fall of last year the boy was playing with the girl and her 5-year-old brother when the mother arrived. The children said they had been playing doctor. Their mother told investigators she suspected D had put his finger in the girl's anus. The lawsuit states that prior to the play date, D had medical conditions that required rectal examinations. Riniker wound up accusing D of first-degree sexual assault, as part of a juvenile court petition for protective services filed last November. In the spring, according to a report in the Wisconsin State Journal, which was granted access to the juvenile records, a judge declined to dismiss the petitions, which a criminal attorney for the boy called "crazy." The report stated that the girl said that D had only touched the outside of her buttocks. The boy's parents said they provided evidence their son did not act out with other children and had gotten appropriate services. The girl's parents told the paper that they tried to work things out privately but that D's parents did not provide that opportunity. The new federal lawsuit contends the whole investigation was biased because the girl's father is a "well-known political figure in Grant County," and her aunt a regional social services supervisor. It claims now-retired Grant County Sheriff's Sgt. James Kopp "waged a relentless campaign to discredit and embarrass and humiliate 6-year-old D," and that the entire process was unreasonable and unconscionable. More recently, Riniker has tried to coerce D's parents into signing a consent decree by implying she will seek to remove the couple's children from their custody, the suit says. The plaintiffs contend the guardian appointed in the case thinks they are fit parents. The lawsuit says the boy, who had ADHD, now also suffers from anxiety, depression, vomiting, crying and lack of sleep because of the investigation and prosecution. The boy's mother did decline to let him be interviewed without an attorney present but says in the lawsuit that the boy denies the acts that would constitute first-degree sexual assault. That led to implications from social worker Jan Moravits that the parents were witness tampering, according to the lawsuit. Christopher Cooper, an Illinois attorney representing D and his parents, said his clients oppose any kind of consent agreement because they believe it implies some guilt or responsibility for a wrongful act that the 6-year-old boy could not have understood. |