We have been critical of the State Dept. of Children & Families (DCF) and the State Attorney's Office for mindlessly pursuing child abuse charges when they don't have a case, not only costing taxpayers many thousands of dollars but, also, virtually bankrupting the parents. But we would be just as critical— if not more so— if we were to learn that they arbitrarily plea bargain away abuse charges that are valid.
Three weeks ago, we reported to you the story of local artist Pat Lloyd, a divorced mother of three, who asked the DCF for help with her unruly 15-year-old son. He was, she said, often staying out all night, refusing to go to school and was, sometimes, abusive to her. DCF officials reportedly told her that they couldn't help— unless she would stipulate that she was an unfit mother. She didn't want to do that, but the DCF charged her with abusing the boy and placed him with foster parents.
"I supported the idea of foster care as long as he was going to get some counseling and whatever other help he needed to prepare him to come home again," Lloyd said. "But he's been in foster care since March— and he has received no counseling at all." She said she is also unhappy because the foster parents selected by the DCF are two gay men. "I'm not homophobic," she said, "but this arrangement just doesn't seem appropriate."
Then, in April, Lloyd was horrified to learn that DCF officials and the State Attorney had expanded their dependency action to include her two younger children— a 7-year-old daughter and an 11-year-old son. "I was stunned by this development," she said. "I live for my children. Everybody who knows me knows that I'm a good mother. I asked the Dept. of Children & Families for help with my 15-year-old son. I thought that's what they do— help children and families. But all of a sudden they're threatening to take all my children. Where did that come from?"
The objective of that strategy may have become apparent this week. On Monday, Lloyd was told that the State Attorney's Office would be willing to drop charges that she neglected and abused her two younger children if she would plead guilty to neglecting and abusing her older son. See how it works? The State Attorney piles on the charges and, then, can typically get an easy conviction by offering to drop or reduce some of those charges— charges that may or may not be bogus— if the hapless defendant will just plead guilty to other charges. The only time this doesn't work is when, occasionally, defendants feel that they are being pressured to plead guilty to something that they just didn't do— and have the courage to stand up and fight. And it does take courage. The DCF and the State Attorney's Office have been known to be quite ruthless when it comes to dealing with defendants who won't cave in. You will recall that, in the Nowatney case, they held those little children hostage for 200 days!
In the Lloyd case, we don't understand why the State Attorney would now offer to drop abuse charges concerning two of the three children— unless they were phony charges in the first place, added on just to give them some bargaining leverage. If there was really a case for abuse, why would they even think of dropping the charges? This is child abuse we're talking about here, not petty theft!
Pat Lloyd turned down the plea bargain offer. So State Attorney Kirk Zuelch will now probably take her to trial, charging that she neglected and abused all three of her children— although he has already admitted that the case concerning the two younger children is, apparently, so weak that he was willing to plea bargain it away.
We will admit that we only know one side of this story. But what we do know is that Zuelch will be able to draw on the virtually unlimited financial resources of the taxpayers to prosecute Lloyd. He has already shown in the Nowatney case that he cares more about winning than in finding the truth.
And what about Pat Lloyd? It's unlikely that she has a chance in hell of winning, no matter the merits of her case. Even her court-appointed attorney urged her to take the easy way out by accepting the State Attorney's plea bargain offer. That's probably one of the problems in this town. Most attorneys just don't have the stomach to seriously take on the State Attorney and the DCF.
If Lloyd continues to try to protect her family and clear her name, the State Attorney will run her into the ground. She will be driven hopelessly into debt to pay her legal expenses. And, sadly, even if she should, somehow, be able to prevail, no one at the DCF or the State Attorney's Office will feel even the slightest obligation to say "I'm sorry."