Saturday, July 26, 2008

Judge rules children must testify in front of parents

Clara Garcia News-Bulletin Staff Writer; cgarcia@news-bulletin.com

Two young children who have made allegations that their parents tied them up and refused to feed them will have to testify in open court despite the prosecutor's contention that it would be too traumatizing for them.

District Judge John Pope on Thursday denied a motion requesting that the two children be allowed to testify outside the presence of their parents, Matthew Hepple, 40 and his wife, Sarah Burton-Hepple, 33. The couple has been indicted on two counts of kidnapping, two counts of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and six counts of child abuse. Both have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Assistant District Attorney Judith Reed argued that both children, ages 14 and 10, have been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of what the parents allegedly did to them. Reed told Pope that if the children were forced to testify with their parents in the same room, there's a concern that the children would feel too intimidated to talk about their alleged abuse.

The couple's attorneys, Jack Jacks and Kathleen Rhinehart, argued that the state hasn't proven that the children would be traumatized if they testify and that their clients have a constitutional right under the Sixth Amendment to confront their accusers.

During Thursday's hearing, Carol Long, a treatment worker for the Children Youth and Families Department, testified that she doesn't believe it's in the best interest to testify in front of their parents. She said the older daughter, only referred to as R.B., told her that she didn't want to testify in front of her parents because she was afraid that if she saw her mother in the courtroom she would say anything her mom wanted.

Long said the girl's younger brother, referred to as J.B. in court, said that he would only testify if she was there and if the courtroom was filled with a lot of police officers.

Long did reveal that R.B. had attended two custody hearings in which the two defendants were present. The treatment worker testified that while the girl wasn't required to testify at either of the two hearings, she did attend.

Under cross examination by Jacks, Long said that J.B. had disclosed after being placed in foster care that he had been abused by another family member and was verbally abused in a treatment foster care home — allegations that Long said hadn't been substantiated.

During a previous hearing in June, two witnesses, a counselor and therapist for the two children, said that testifying in front of their parents might be too traumatic and cause further emotional distress.

Before ruling on the motion, Pope said that while the prosecution made a good argument and believes the children "more than likely" do suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, the defendants are presumed innocent.

"In my legal opinion, there hasn't been one scintilla of proof at this point that the Hepples are guilty of anything," Pope said. "I want to make sure that they get their day in court with the presumption of innocence. That's where I'm going to start, and that's where the jury is doing to start.

"One the other side, we're not going to traumatize anyone more than we have to," the judge said. "I'm not minimizing the trauma of the children, but there is potential that we can make the seating arrangements (in the courtroom). The harm seems reasonably inconsequential weighed against the Sixth Amendment right to confrontation."

The trial is scheduled to begin in early September, but Reed indicated to the judge that she would like more time and would be ready for trial in October.

The couple had initially been indicted on 71 counts of child abuse, but Pope dismissed the majority of the charges against the couple last year citing prosecutorial misconduct during the grand jury proceedings. The judge said that while presenting the case to the grand jury in July 2007, a former assistant district attorney vouched as to the timeline of the alleged abuse.

Pope dismissed the charges against the couple without prejudice, meaning that the district attorney's office can present the dismissed charges in the case again to a grand jury. A second grand jury was reconvened in November 2007, returning a true bill.

The sheriff's department was first made aware of the allegations a month after Burton-Hepple's 13-year-old girl ran away from home. While living in protective custody, she had refused to give Children Youth and Children Department officials her real name. It wasn't until June 4, 2007, that the teenager finally revealed her identity and the reason she said she had left home.

The girl claimed to have left her home in Highland Meadows after months of allegedly being abused. The teenager told investigators that she was afraid to reveal her true identity for fear that she would be returned to her parents.

When deputies searched the family's Highland Meadow's home, they discovered that the family had moved out.

According to an affidavit for an arrest warrant, the girl told authorities that her mother and stepfather would tie her and her 9-year-old brother to either their beds or to a wooden structure with either ropes or handcuffs for up to a week and deprive them both of food and water.

When asked if she had been told why her parents did this to her, the girl said that her mother believed that she (the girl) was stealing her prescription medication. The teenager also told police that she had been tied up on a daily basis.

"(The girl said) that she would generally only be allowed one meal per week," the affidavit said. "That it would be leftovers and that she would have to earn food ... that she would have to clean things or feed animals in order to earn the food."

The court document says that the girl also alleged that she would be allowed to shower once a week when she was going to be taken out in public, and that her parents told her not to tell anyone what was going on at home.

When authorities questioned the boy, he said that when he was tied up he was given a piece of bread and a small cup of water in the morning and in the evening, the court document says. The boy told police that the longest he had ever been tied up was a week, but that it only happened once.

Detectives said that a medical examination of both children showed what appeared to be rope or handcuff marks on both of their wrists, arms and legs. Photographs taken of the boy showed what appeared to be marks that had been scabbed over.

On June 12, CYFD, along with the Torrance County Sheriff's Department went to a house in Moriarty, where the family had moved from Highland Meadows. Officials took all the remaining children into protective custody.

The court documents allege that the husband and wife both told authorities that it was their 13-year-old daughter who caused the injuries to her brother.

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