Family sues L.A. County in Jackson case
Wednesday, May 26, 2004 Posted: 9:02 PM EDT (0102 GMT)
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- The family of the alleged victim in pop star Michael Jackson's child molestation case has filed a claim for damages against the County of Los Angeles and its Department of Children and Family Services.
The claim, filed Tuesday in Los Angeles, is intended to preserve the family's right to sue and recover damages resulting from the leak of a confidential report from the Department of Children and Family Services.
The report, which first became public in December, questioned the validity of allegations made by the victim in the current Jackson case.
It specifically said the department's investigation determined the allegations were "unfounded."
In the claim, family attorney Larry R. Feldman accused the department of possibly creating the report for the sole purpose of releasing it to the press.
According to Feldman, six months after the investigation concluded and following the arrest of Michael Jackson, Jennifer Hottenroth, assistant regional administrator of the department, prepared a memorandum to DCFS Bureau Chief Charles Sophy regarding the investigation and interviews that were conducted with claimants.
"This report was almost immediately leaked to the press," Feldman said.
Feldman speculated in his filing that since the memorandum was prepared more than six months after the investigation concluded, that it "may well have been requested or prepared for the specific purpose of leaking it to the press."
He also took issue with the department for not having "the human decency to apologize" to his clients, and for the department's "total failure to maintain their privacy as required by law."
Feldman told CNN Wednesday that filing of the claim was not about financial gain but was intended to hold the county accountable so that such leaks "will never occur in the future to another innocent child."
"This is not about money, but about prevention," he said. "This can be corrected and must be corrected by law."
According to Feldman, the improper release of the memorandum injured and damaged his clients "in an amount to be established."
Feldman was also angered with the department for not living up to its promise to investigate the release of the internal memorandum. He said the department had not provided any information regarding a purported investigation.
This is not the first time the Department of Children and Family Services has come under fire for leaks regarding confidential documents. In 1993, a confidential report detailing molestation allegations in the Jackson case at that time was also leaked to the public.
"Knowing that occurred then, I personally went to the department of Children and Family Services and to its director in order to prevent it from occurring again in this case," Feldman said.
"After receiving their assurances that all information would be kept confidential, it has occurred again," he said. "This time we want to make sure that all future children are protected from these types of invasions of privacy. And we will keep the pressure on the county until we are satisfied this won't happen again."
Michael Jackson was never charged in the 1993 case. He settled out of court after reaching a multimillion dollar settlement with the then accuser.
In the new case, Jackson pleaded not guilty April 30 to charges of child molestation, administering an intoxicating agent and conspiracy.
The current accuser's family faced a deadline to file their claim for damages. Their opportunity to file was set to expire Wednesday.
CNN
Breve riassunto!
La famiglia di Gavin,presunta vittima di Michael Jackson ha citato per danni la Contea di Los Angeles e il suo Dipartimento di Servizi per Bambini e Famiglia.
Io la vedo solo come una minaccia,per far intimidire piu gente possibile per ostacolare difensori di Mike!