Director for Hamilton County Job and Family Services Admits Fault in Death of 2 year old Glenara Bat
In a statement given to WCPO earlier this year, Moira Weir, Director for Hamilton County Job and Family Services openly admitted that a preliminary review shows they failed to follow their own policies and procedures with regards to 2-year old Glenara Bates. Three months before little Glenara was beathen to death, she was returned to the home of her parents, Glen Bates and Andrea Bradley, against the advice of the Hamilton County Prosecutor's office. "We fought it. We fought it. We didn't want those kids to go back to that home," Joe Deters, Hamilton County Prosecutor, said to WCPO. You can read their full article here: Job & Family Services admits mishandling case of 2-year-old allegedly 'tortured' to death by parents.
On October 1, 2015 the Washington Post covered the case once again when Andrea Bradley, who is facing the death penalty, told reporters that she doesn't care if she dies. Glenara's father, Glen Bates, has already been found guilty of the same charge and is facing the death peanlty after the jury's reccommendation. You can read the Washington Post story here: Mother charged with killing her 2-year-old shrugs at death penalty possibility.
As stated in the Washington Post, Glenara's abuse came as no surprise to county officials in Ohio. She had already been removed from the home of Bates and Bradley after she was born in 2013. However, she was placed back in the care of her parents where the abuse continued until her death on March 29th, 2015.
Now, a Federal Civil Rights case filed by Glenara's maternal grandmother, Desena Bradley, who is represented by the Law Offices of Blake R. Maislin, LLC, outlines how the County's decision to place Glenara Bates back with the parents, Andrea Bradley and Glen Bates, resulted in the deprivation of civil rights of the infant, which directly resulted in her death. The documents filed in December of 2015 go on to state that the County Employees acted with willful, wanton and reckless disregard for the welfare of the infant who was just two years old at the time she was killed.
During the trial of Glen Bates, Glenara's sister testified that she witnessed him swinging the toddler's head into the wall, in addition to stating that her mother, Andrea, beat the 2 year old because she did not like her. Hamilton County Coroner, Lakshmi Kode Sammarco, testified that Glenara weighed only 13 pounds when her parents brought her dead body to the hospital and they weren't sure of the last time she had been fed or given something to drink. Sammarco went on to say, "I've never seen starvation like this before and I've traveled around the world. There is no doubt in my mind this child was tortured for the majority of her pitifully short life." Glenara had numerous broken bones and almost more abrasions than they could count. At the time of her death, she weighed just 13 pounds - the normal weight for a 3 month old.
After acknowledging that the case was mishandled, two caseworkers from the Hamilton County Jobs and Family Services have resigned. Prosecuter Deters told WCPO, "The push to put babies back into these homes is so tragic. It's just got to stop. They just got to recognize there are some people who should just not have kids."
You can hear what Blake Maislin told WCPO by watching the interview here: Watch Story Now.
