Juvenile department official resigns after abusing youth under care

Chris Perkins, the director of detention for Maryland's Department of Juvenile Services resigned a day after acknowledging that he is the unnamed "Staff No. 2" mentioned in a redacted report that was issued in January 2006 by the Montana Department of Health and Human Services.

Photo: Juvenile department official resigns after abusing youth under care

The report said that Perkins "directly abused or neglected youth under his care" while running a military-style academy for juvenile offenders. Perkins denies the allegations and was never charged with a criminal offense.

According to a recent UNICEF report on child well-being the United States and the United Kingdom ranked lowest among rich nations with respect to the well being of their children. This study also found that child neglect and child abuse are far more common in single-parent families than in families where both parents are present.

There are many forms of abuse and neglect and many governments have developed their own legal definition of what constitutes child maltreatment for the purposes of removing a child and/or prosecuting a criminal charge. In the United States, the Federal Government puts out a full definition of child abuse and neglect and creates a summary of each State definition.

Pravda.Ru previously reported about a similar case. Officers of the St. Petersburg and Leningrad region police have detained and handed over to their American counterparts a US citizen, a pediatric doctor by profession, suspected of involvement in the sexual abuse of minors.

As reported to a Rosbalt correspondent by law enforcement sources, it has been established that the American visited St. Petersburg and Moscow repeatedly in order to meet minors, for the most part homeless children, or children from orphanages who voluntarily left.

It has been reported that his subsequent actions varied, from promises to feed them and provide expensive presents, to threats of reprisals and the use of psychotropic substances. The minors were brought to rented apartments in St. Petersburg, where they were subjected to depraved acts.

In all, law enforcement agencies in St. Petersburg registered nine such cases, although not one victim reported the crimes to police.

Source: agencies