Denise Revels Robinson Goes to Washington

Denise Revels Robinson, the disgraced director of the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare, has been appointed to be the assistant secretary overseeing the Children's Administration in Washington State.

Remember, Robinson resigned in the wake of the horrific torture that 13-month-old Christopher Thomas Jr. suffered at the hands of his foster mother and aunt, Crystal Keith. Keith tortured Christopher to death and mercilessly abused his sister while they were in her care.

Many caring individuals wanted to be a parent to Christopher and love him. Instead, the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare determined that he belonged with Keith.

Read the details of what this foster mother did to Christopher. (Warning: Graphic)

Robinson, the head of the agency that placed Christopher with Keith and was responsible for monitoring his care, resigned in the wake of the baby's death; but she apparently landed on her feet.

The state of Washington wants Robinson to serve.

From The Olympian:

[Washington state Department of Social and Health Secretary Susan Dreyfus] said in a news release today she selected Revels Robinson as assistant secretary overseeing the Children's Administration because of her nationally recognized experience, and Gov. Chris Gregoire also applauded her as a leader:

"I was seeking someone with a proven and passionate commitment to public child welfare," said Dreyfus, "and Denise Revels Robinson is that person: she understands the function of child welfare within the spectrum of social services and community. She is recognized and respected at both the state and national level as a leader in child welfare. Denise believes in ensuring that our system has the resources and partnerships we need for quality practices and better outcomes for every child every time."

The DSHS release also said:

During her tenure with Milwaukee County, starting in 1997, Revels Robinson led the way to safely reduce the number of children in out-of-home care from 6,800 to 2,600 by 2003 by accomplishing reunification of children with their families in 70 percent of cases, and 30 percent adopted within 24 months of entering foster care.

Some in Washington are concerned about hiring Robinson, citing her shocking lapses and fatal failures during her tenure in Wisconsin, but officials in Washington have faith in her.

UPDATE: Thomas Shapley, spokesman for DSHS, said Revels Robinson’s long 40-year background in child services outweighed any controversy in the hiring. “There was a broad review. There was a national search and we had panels, both internal and external review panels, that talked to all the candidates. All the information was disclosed. Everything was taken into consideration. What was the overwhelming thing was the over 40 years of solid child-welfare service that she put in.’’

He added: “Of course, we were in contact with the union letting them know that this was taking place.”

The new assistant secretary replaces Cheryl Stephani, who left at the end of December.

What are they thinking?

Have Washington state officials really looked into what was going on at the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare?

How can they disregard the way Robinson handled the death of Christopher Thomas?

The problems at the bureau stretched far beyond Christopher's murder. Sadly and inexcusably, other children were victims of its incompetence.

I think there's reason for citizens in the state of Washington to be very concerned that Robinson is being given a position of responsibility in the Children's Administration.

Crystal Keith Sentenced

Finally some closure, though I do find closure to be overrated.

Crystal Keith was sentenced yesterday for the beating death of her nephew, 13-month-old Christopher Thomas Jr., and for torturing his 2-year-old sister.

She was the foster parent of the children. At the time she murdered and tortured them, she was acting as their mother.

It's hard to believe that any "mother" could do what she did to those little ones.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

[Crystal] Keith, 25, betrayed little emotion throughout most of the sentencing hearing, in which Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Patricia McMahon ordered her to serve the maximum penalty: 50 years in prison and 25 years of extended supervision.

"If this case doesn't deserve the maximum penalty, then I don't ever want to see the one that does," McMahon said before announcing the verdict.

...Keith's stoicism broke as she spoke to McMahon.

"I apologize for my wrongdoing," she said, her voice muffled by tears.

"I take responsibility."

Keith also said, "I was just trying to help."

What?

Help?

[Keith] said she choked him, hung him upside down and pressed his head on the floor. At some point, the infant's eyes rolled back into his head and he began to vomit. He stopped breathing. She then stuck the handle of a hairbrush down Christopher's throat, she said, in order to revive him.

The boy died the next day at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. He had suffered blunt-force trauma to his head, had a broken right arm, bruises on his thighs, throat and neck, multiple scalp injuries and a lacerated tongue. Keith described to police a number of beatings she had given the child since he began crawling.

Keith also told police she began abusing the boy's 2-year-old sister in June, the complaint states.

That's not "helping."

Video shows Keith reading her remarks, expressing her remorse. I'm not convinced that her words are heartfelt or even her own.

Christopher died Nov. 11, one day after being viciously beaten by Keith. His sister survived months of torture, even as Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare caseworkers repeatedly visited Keith's home.

Assistant District Attorney Mark Williams said the suffering endured by Christopher and his sister defies description.

He said, however, that he hoped the case would accomplish several things.

"I hope it will bring reform to the foster care system," he said.

"I hope and I pray that the system can be overhauled so that this case will never happen again."

And, Williams said, he hoped Keith's punishment would deter child abuse.

"If someone thinks of killing or abusing a child in the future, they will realize they are going to prison for a long time."

I doubt that Keith's sentence will deter others from committing such abuse.

Anyone capable of doing what she did is probably not paying attention to the news or aware of this case.

However, hopefully Christopher's death will prompt decent people to realize that the system is in serious need of dramatic overhaul.

Keith killed him, but many in the system are responsible for failing to protect Christopher.


Christopher L. Thomas Jr., 1, plays at his West Allis foster home in 2008. (Photo courtesy of Robert J. and Darlene M. Logan)

Crystal Keith

UPDATE, July 7, 2009: Woman sentenced to 50 years for death of Christopher Thomas
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UPDATE, May 7, 2009: Aunt convicted in death of Christopher Thomas

Crystal Keith was convicted Thursday of beating 13-month-old Christopher Thomas to death and with torturing his 2-year-old sister.

The jury began deliberations at 10:37 a.m. and returned announced it had reached a verdict at 11:23 a.m.

...Keith, 25, the children's aunt and kinship foster mother, was found guilty of one count of first-degree reckless homicide and one count of physical abuse of a child (intentionally causing great bodily harm.)

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UPDATE, May 6, 2009: On tape, aunt recounts abuse
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How could anyone torture an innocent little child to death?

A report on Crystal Keith, the aunt and murderer of her foster child, 13-month-old Christopher Thomas Jr., sheds some light on the reasons she committed her crimes.

The report by forensic psychologist Kenneth Smail describes Keith as a victim in this tragic saga, too.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Days after state child welfare workers placed the infant Christopher Thomas and his 2-year-old sister in the care of their aunt, the 24-year-old woman miscarried, an event she blamed on the children. Within weeks, she was abusing them, believing Christopher wanted her sexually and that his sister was "sneaky," according to a court document filed Monday.

Crystal Keith is charged with beating Christopher to death and with torturing his older sister for months. She has pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. A report filed by forensic psychologist Kenneth Smail paints a portrait of a deeply troubled woman, but concludes Keith knew the difference between right and wrong.

"Her conduct occurred as an expression of her depression and stress," Smail writes. "It was not something that was out of her control."

According to the report, Keith grew up in large family where, she told Smail, she was sexually abused, depressed and at times suicidal. She moved in with Reginald Keith when she was 16. They had a child, then married four years later.

Question: Where is that child?

Last November, when Christopher was murdered, I don't recall hearing that Keith and her husband had a child of their own. Where was that child at the time of the murder and where is that child now?

Did Keith care for her baby properly?

If she did, I don't know why her depression and stress were expressed by torturing her foster children but not her own child.

And if she didn't care for her own baby properly, why would foster children be placed in the care of an unfit mother?

Crocker Stephenson provides some disturbing details of what Keith did to her foster daughter, like hitting her with the back of a hairbrush and putting her feet under hot water until her skin bubbled.

...According to the report, "one of her thought distortions that seemed particular to Christopher was that she perceived him to 'want me in a sexual way,' " based on how he looked at her when she changed his diaper.

"She said such observations on her part resulted in her hitting him in the leg and in other parts of the body. . . . She would keep hitting him until he stopped crying."

The report quotes Keith talking about the beating she gave Christopher on Nov. 10, which resulted in his death the next day.

"I had in my mind that I need to hit him. He was trying to control me, and I punched him in the leg. He was still crying. I hit him some more so I hoped that he would stop crying."

According to the report, she said she slapped him, choked him and shoved the handle of a hairbrush down his throat.

"All my life I wanted to die, but instead he died," she is quoted as saying in the report.

"That isn't fair. There was incest in my family. I was so sad. I've always been sad and alone."

The torture is horrible! How could she do that to a helpless 13-month-old?

I don't understand how someone as troubled as Keith could hide that from the case worker.

Didn't the case worker know anything of Keith's personal history -- her deep depression, suicidal thoughts, the abuse she endured?

As for Christopher's sister, the report noted that by the time she was hospitalized, her weight had fallen below the first percentile, she had four fractures, could not use her left arm, and had burns "from head to her foot, some of which were consistent with flowing water burns with blistering and oozing observed on those wounds."

Keith attempted to hide the children's injuries from her family, the report says.

"I believe the record is replete with indications that she appreciated that what she was doing was wrongful," Smail wrote.

Obviously, Keith's awareness that what she did to the children was wrong should be critical to the way her trial plays out.

But will a jury sympathize with Keith's personal trauma and consider her behavior to be an outgrowth of that, making her actions understandable and somewhat expected?

In the end, the most important factor to consider is whether Keith knew that what she was doing was wrong. Smail concludes that she most certainly did.

Of course, her own tortured past impacted the person she became. I'm not dismissing that. It's part of her. Dysfunction begets dysfunction.

Still, I don't see how such a troubled individual could present herself to a case worker as a fit foster mother.

Her husband, Reginald Keith, had to know that Crystal was deeply troubled and taking in two children wouldn't be wise.

Again, where is their biological child in all of this?

Such serious depression should have been noticed by the case worker.

Christopher Thomas and his sister should never have been taken away from other loving foster parents and placed with Crystal Keith. Never.

Responsibilities come with having children, to provide for their physical and emotional needs.

So many people in this terribly sad story behaved irresponsibly.

Promises and Secrets: Investigating Christopher Thomas Jr.'s Death

On the murder of Christopher Thomas Jr., December 5, 2008:

Before closed meeting, officials promise answers in boy's death

Officials from the state Division of Children and Family Services and the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare said this morning they are working diligently to investigate the death of 13-month-old Christopher Thomas - but they will do it in secret.

Although some officials, including Denise Revels Robinson, director of the bureau, made brief statements this morning at a meeting of the Milwaukee Child Welfare Partnership Council, they would not say whether the case worker assigned to Christopher's case had been suspended or disciplined; nor would they release any other information about their investigation thus far.

The partnership council, an advisory board made up of children's services workers, legislators and community members, was established in 1995. They meet quarterly and review deaths and "egregious incidents" concerning children in the Milwaukee County welfare system. Among other things, they are supposed to make recommendations for improvement to the state, which took over the county system in 1998 as the result of a lawsuit.

A special meeting of the council was convened today to discuss Christopher's death.

A preliminary report is expected in mid-January with a final report to follow 60 days after that, said Cyrus Behroozi, administrator for the state division of safety and permanence. That is the soonest the findings could be made public. However, there are half a dozen other criteria that must be met, including approval from Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, who is overseeing the prosecution of Crystal P. Keith, 24.

...Reggie Bicha, secretary of the state Department of Children and Families, called Christopher's death and the abuse of his sister "inexcusable and unacceptable." Major changes in the Milwaukee County child welfare system will be made as a result, Bicha said, but he didn't elaborate on what those changes might be.

"I am very troubled by what I have learned so far," he said.

Revels Robinson, too, said she had been both personally and professionally affected by Christopher's death.

"We are all very saddened and very much affected by this very, very difficult situation," she said.

She and her staff will work to figure out what happened to Christopher and why, as well as how things can be improved, she said. Although she issued a written statement in the immediate aftermath of Christopher's death last month, Revels Robinson has not returned reporters' phone calls in intervening weeks.

Bicha said he had instructed Revels Robinson to focus on her job and avoid talking with the media since Christopher's death. Bicha said he and Behroozi would continue to be available to the media but are limited by state law in terms of what they can say. In response to a question from state Sen. Spencer Coggs (D-Milwaukee), who serves on the partnership council, Bicha said the secrecy provisions of the law are "terribly frustrating." At the same time, the public's need for information, which is necessary to provide checks on the child welfare system, must be balanced with the privacy of the children whose lives are affected, he said.

In short, the death of Christopher Thomas Jr. is being investigated.

Same old, same old.

However, there was some news.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

The caseworker responsible for Christopher Thomas's sister, who police say was tortured for months by the children's foster parent, remains assigned to the girl's case, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has learned.

The aunt, Crystal Keith, was charged last month with beating 13-month-old Christopher to death and with abusing his two-year-old sister. According to a police report, Keith began abusing the girl as soon as officials placed the children in her home in June for foster care.

A doctor who examined the girl, whose injuries included repeated scalding, multiple broken bones and ligature scars – called her wounds blatant, and she spent weeks in the hospital after she was taken from Keith's home after Christopher's death Nov. 11.

The Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare has yet to explain how the caseworker could have visited the child for months and not noticed her condition.

It is shocking to me that the same caseworker is still responsible for monitoring Christopher's sister.

How is it possible that this incompetent caseworker would be allowed to follow a child who had been tortured under the caseworker's watch?

I don't think this caseworker should be directly involved with any children at all during the course of the investigation.

Finally, Milwaukee Child Welfare Director Denise Revels Robinson made a public statement on camera. This was the first time she has said anything since Christopher's murder.

From TMJ 4:

TOM MURRAY (TMJ 4): Do you feel like your agency has some responsibility for baby Christopher's death?

DENISE REVELS ROBINSON: I think that as we continue our investigation all of that information will be provided.

That's not saying much. Revels Robinson also is on camera saying, "This very tragic situation has affected me both personally and professionally."

Who cares?

The issue is not about how the child's death has affected her.

Obviously, the agency has some responsibility.

There were many people who loved Christopher and wanted to care for him. Christopher's relatives reported to the agency that he and his sister were being abused and needed to be removed from the home of Crystal Keith. The relatives offered to take the children. Darlene and Robert Logan, Christopher's past foster parents, wanted to adopt him. They were denied.

Yes, the agency failed to protect Christopher and his sister. It failed miserably.

At least when Reggie Bicha, secretary of the state Department of Children and Families, commented on camera, he wasn't afraid to fault the system.

REGGIE BICHA: The system did not serve its purpose for Christopher.

That's an understatement.
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Video.
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The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel assembled information on Friday's proceedings and other news on the case in another article, "Review will be handled in secret," posted on Dec. 5, 2008, 11:58 p.m.

New information:

So far, the only action taken by officials that the public knows is that they suspended the foster care license of a West Allis couple who tried to adopt Christopher before he was placed in Keith's home. The couple said they were told lawyers were reviewing the couple's contacts with news media after Christopher's death.

Darlene and Robert Logan's license has been suspended, but the caseworker responsible for Christopher's 2-year-old sister has been retained?

Unbelievable.

Is the system broken?

Yes.

Until it's fixed, more lives will be broken. Guaranteed.

How many other children in foster care are not being monitored adequately? How many are suffering abuse?

Denise Revels Robinson

Crocker Stephenson of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has been covering the story of the death of Christopher Thomas Jr.

The father of four writes that little Christopher's murder is not an abstraction to him.

A small child's vulnerability is not an abstraction to me. A small child's trust is not an abstraction. A small child's innocent and helpless love is not an abstraction.

Christopher, whose unbreathing chest I touched as he lay in his child-sized casket, is not an abstraction.

It was all too easy, as I read the medical examiner's report and the criminal complaint charging the siblings' aunt/foster mother with their calamity, to imagine the suffering these children endured.

To read such things is to break one's heart.

And though it is a reporter's task is to be objective, I believe objectivity is a discipline; I believe a disciplined reporter can write objectively about atrocities and feel - as I felt as I wrote my initial stories about Christopher and his sister - outrage.

I still feel outrage.

Readers feel it, too.

Few stories in my career have generated as many e-mails, phone calls and letters.

Most people want to express their sorrow and pain.

Many, many readers want to tell me their own nightmarish stories about Wisconsin's child welfare system.

And just about everyone wants to know who in the child welfare system will be held accountable for what happened to Christopher and his sister.

Denise Revels Robinson is the director of the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare, the agency responsible for placing and monitoring Christopher and his sister in the home where she suffered and he died.

I've never had the pleasure of talking to Robinson. Not for lack of trying.

A public servant whose salary is paid by you and me, she has yet to see fit to return our calls.

That ticks me off.

...Her secretary no longer even bothers to take my messages.

I do not understand how the director of the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare can have a baby beaten to death and a toddler tortured and not feel an obligation to appear in public to express her pain, to extend her condolences, to explain what happened and what she is going to do about it.

But as a father and as a journalist, I will do my best to find this out.

This and other questions raised by Christopher Thomas' death.

Nearly a month ago, shortly after Christopher was murdered, I wrote:

People who are aware of this story are extremely upset, for now. There is outrage, but will the cries be loud enough and will they be sustained enough to bring about real change in a system that did not look out for the best interests of the children?

I'm afraid the case will be forgotten. Another story will replace this one and community outrage will shift to the latest ghastly news.

I hope that's not the way this plays out.

I hope that disgust over the death of Christopher and the torture of his sister will mean change in the system so that it will effectively prevent other children from experiencing similar suffering.

I'm confident that the outrage over what was allowed to happen to Christopher, an innocent 13-month-old, will not ebb.

Yesterday, a small group of protesters gatherered at the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare demanding answers.

Crocker Stephenson reports:

The handful of protesters who stood outside the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare on Wednesday morning carried posters demanding that foster children be protected and that those responsible for their safety be held accountable. Rob Whitman did not carry a poster. What he carried instead were the cremated remains of his 2-month-old son.

Whitman's son - named Robert but whom Whitman calls "Junior" - died Oct. 2, two days after the baby was removed from his home and placed in foster care.

"Two days," Whitman said.

Whitman, 37, had taken a bus from his south side apartment to the protest in front of the bureau's S. 13th St. office. He had 36 cents in his pocket. That was, he said, all the money he had left.

In his right arm, Whitman held a ceramic angel. The angel contained Junior's ashes. Less than an ounce worth, Whitman said.

In his right arm, he held a teddy bear that had belonged to Junior. He had dressed the bear in Junior's clothes. He held the bear the way one might hold a living, breathing infant child.

Whitman stood with the protesters for about a half-hour. The demonstration had been organized to decry the death of Christopher L. Thomas Jr., the 13-month-old whom police say was beaten to death last month by his foster mother and whose sister suffered months of torture, even as child welfare caseworkers periodically visited the home.

...When Whitman got home from the protest, [Valissa Reynolds] was tacking sheets in front of the windows to keep out the cold. He placed Junior's ashes and his bear in Junior's crib, which has been turned into a kind of shrine: Pictures, clothes, a diaper, a blanket, the sweat shirt Whitman was wearing when Junior was removed.

The reason for the sweat shirt, Whitman said: "I believe I can still smell him in it."

This is another heartbreaking story.

What makes the stories of the innocent little victims of the foster care system so unbearable is that the heartbreak is preventable.

There is no excuse for a bureau supposedly functioning to oversee the protection of children to be unaccountable for its catastrophic failures.

There must be accountability.

I trust that Stephenson will not give up.

He will demand answers from Denise Revels Robinson and the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare.

It is mind-boggling to me that she has been completely unwilling to publicly address the torture and murder of little Christopher.

Stephenson is doing the community a great service. Hopefully, his persistence will save other children from suffering Christopher's fate and his efforts will spare parents the pain that Rob Whitman and Valissa Reynolds know.

And hopefully, the families and the loving foster parents of the children eventually tortured and murdered in foster care will find some peace.
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From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Editorial Board: A deafening silence: Stonewalling in the tragic death of a boy is bad enough, but some of the child welfare bureau's actions seem plain bizarre.

Christopher Thomas Jr. and his Biological Grandmother, Shantrice Freeman-McClellan

UPDATE, July 7, 2009: Woman sentenced to 50 years for death of Christopher Thomas
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UPDATE, January 27, 2009: Crystal Keith
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UPDATE, December 4, 2008: Denise Revels Robinson
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UPDATE, November 26, 2008: Protest planned next week over child welfare agencies
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Christopher L. Thomas Jr.'s biological grandmother, Shantrice Freeman-McClellan, is saying that she was given approval from the state to have Christopher and his sister live with her.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Two months before police say 13-month-old Christopher L. Thomas Jr. was beaten to death by his foster mother and his 2-year-old-sister was rescued from months of torture, the state approved placing the children in their biological grandmother's home, their grandfather said Monday.

The children, however, were never moved.

Week after week, the grandfather, Kenny McClellan, said repeated calls to the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare asking to have the children moved from their foster home and placed with their grandmother went unanswered.

Even calls warning the bureau that the siblings might be being abused were never returned, he said.

"This is a professional, public organization?" McClellan asked. "C'mon."

McClellan, however, was unable to recall the full name of the person that he and his wife say they called.

Attempts Monday to speak to Denise Revels Robinson, bureau director, were unsuccessful. A receptionist told a reporter to call the media number for the state Department of Children and Families, where questions were left in a message bank.

Altogether, three couples have now said they tried to adopt Christopher or have him and his sister placed in their homes after they were taken from their birth mother in March. Two of the couples have said they alerted the child welfare bureau to possible abuse.

Crystal P. Keith, 24, the children's aunt, is charged with killing Christopher and abusing his sister after state officials placed them in Keith's foster care in June. Christopher died of his injuries Nov. 11. His sister remains hospitalized.

This is inexcusable.

Apparently, Christopher and his 2-year-old sister were to be placed with their biological grandmother, but it never happened.

Why?

Why would the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare allegedly fail to return repeated phone calls?

When the agency receives warnings about the possible abuse of a foster child, why isn't there an immediate response?

McClellan, 36, worked for Cooper Industries in Wisconsin. Last November, he was transferred to Cooper Wiring Devices in Atlanta, where he is a senior electrical technician. His wife, Shantrice Freeman-McClellan, 38, is a personal care assistant. Her daughter, Candace Glover, 23, is the mother of Christopher and his sister.

The grandmother, Shantrice Freeman-McClellan, is just 38 years old. Only 15 years separate her from her daughter, Candace Glover, mother of Christopher and his sister.

It's another instance of a child having a child. Freeman-McClellan is easily young enough to be the biological mother of her own grandchildren.

Earlier, the Journal Sentinel reported that the great-grandparents of Christopher, Katherine and Frank Shaw, had "begged a state case worker in September to immediately remove the then-11-month-old and his 2-year-old sister from their Milwaukee foster home."

Katherine Shaw reportedly raised Glover, not Freeman-McClellan. Obviously, there are issues in this family when it comes to raising one's own children. Freeman-McClellan didn't raise her daughter, Candace Glover, and Glover wasn't raising her daughter and her son, Christopher.

On the matter of caring for Christopher and his sister, communication within the family seems to have been a problem.

Anyway, the children's biological grandmother and great-grandmother both attempted to have them removed from the care of foster mother Crystal Keith, confessed torturer and murderer.

How many red flags need to be raised before the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare takes notice that there's a serious problem?

Child services removed the children from Glover's home in March.

In April, as soon as she found out, Freeman-McClellan petitioned to have the children placed with her. The children at that time were in temporary foster homes.

The children's case worker, McClellan said, told them the agency would not place the children in a home in another state. So Freeman-McClellan rented an apartment in Milwaukee and moved here.

In September, McClellan said, they were informed the children could be placed with their grandmother.

"We got the paperwork, everything seemed ready to go," McClellan said.

McClellan said the couple thought they would get the children in their care, and then tackle the issue of state residence.

His wife, he said, tried over and over to contact the children's case worker, but her calls were never returned.

Nor, McClellan said, was his wife allowed to visit the children. When Glover reported to them that the children seemed injured, Freeman-McClellan called the children's case worker. Those calls also were not returned, he said.

To say that this case worker was incompetent is an understatement.

Multiple calls from multiple relatives were not returned.

Both Freeman-McClellan and Shaw left their homes and traveled to Wisconsin to get the children.

It's odd that the case worker would be assisting more than one relative to pursue having the children placed in their homes.

Was more than one case worker involved?

Whatever, signals were crossed.

Here's a strange twist:

McClellan said, however, that when he and his wife returned to Milwaukee after Christopher's death, they spoke to the case worker, at the hospital where their granddaughter is being treated.

"She said, 'I just want you to know I got your messages,' " McClellan said.

She was apologetic, McClellan said. He wanted to know why she did not call them back.

"It was never clear why she didn't return the messages," he said.

That's just weird.

It sounds like the case worker needs a case worker. She certainly doesn't appear fit to be handling matters involving something as important as the welfare of children.

Bottom line: Repeated attempts were made by relatives to have the children removed from their foster home.

The system was unresponsive in spite of the relatives' concern that the children were in an unsafe environment. There was no sense of urgency shown by the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare.

Christopher and his sister were abused by their foster mother, Crystal Keith, and on a different level, by Milwaukee child services.

Brawl at Christopher Thomas Jr.'s Funeral

UPDATE, July 7, 2009: Woman sentenced to 50 years for death of Christopher Thomas
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UPDATE, January 27, 2009: Crystal Keith
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UPDATE, December 4, 2008: Denise Revels Robinson
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UPDATE, November 26, 2008: Protest planned next week over child welfare agencies
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UPDATE, November 21, 2008: Foster mother pleads not guilty in boy's homicide, girl's abuse
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Innocent 13-month-old Christopher Thomas Jr. was tortured and murdered by his aunt, foster parent Crystal Keith.

During Christopher's funeral today, there was a horrible scene. A fight broke out. It was caught on tape by TMJ 4.

Video.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

A fight broke this morning during the funeral for a 13-month-old boy whose aunt and foster mother has been charged with beating him to death last week.

Christopher L. Thomas Jr.'s biological father was punched in the face during the melee and was carried out, bleeding from the face, and an ambulance was arriving as other mourners began heading to Graceland Cemetery for the boy's burial.

More than 100 people had turned out at Serenity Funeral Home, 4217 W. Fond du Lac Ave. for the 9 a.m. services. Both sides of Christopher's family began exchanging words, and despite the urging of calm from ministers and funeral home staff, a fight broke out among several people.

Some from Christopher's mother's side of the family were blaming his father's side for killing the boy. Crystal Keith, 24, who is charged in his death, is the sister of Christopher L. Thomas, who was injured in the brawl.

I can understand that emotions would be running high given the circumstances of little Christopher's death.

I cannot understand that some people in attendance would have such disrespect for the child that they would behave this way at his funeral. Unbelievable.

I extend my deepest sympathies to the mourners.

To the thugs--

They're a disgrace. No self-control whatsoever. Disgusting.

If only foster parents Darlene and Robert Logan had been allowed to adopt Christopher.

What would he be doing today?

Christopher would be smiling, playing, laughing, and being loved.
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Raw video from WDJT

Trying to Save Christopher Thomas Jr.

UPDATE, July 7, 2009: Woman sentenced to 50 years for death of Christopher Thomas
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UPDATE, January 27, 2009: Crystal Keith
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UPDATE, December 4, 2008: Denise Revels Robinson
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UPDATE, November 26, 2008: Protest planned next week over child welfare agencies
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UPDATE, November 21, 2008: Foster mother pleads not guilty in boy's homicide, girl's abuse
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UPDATE, November 19, 2008: Brawl at Christopher Thomas Jr.'s Funeral
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There were people who cared about 13-month-old Christopher Thomas Jr. and his 2-year-old sister.

Darlene and Robert Logan, Christopher's foster parents, tried to adopt the baby. They were denied.

Rosie Ferguson, a special treatment foster parent, cared for Christopher's sister and briefly for Christopher. After the children left her home in June, she called frequently to check up on them. She even visited them in the summer.

Now, Crocker Stephenson of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that Christoper's great-grandparents also tried to help the children.

The great-grandparents of Christopher L. Thomas Jr. said Monday they begged a state case worker in September to immediately remove the then-11-month-old and his 2-year-old sister from their Milwaukee foster home. Last week, police say, Christopher's foster mother beat him to death.

"Help me, Lord; help me, Lord," Katherine Shaw said, hugging the children's mother, Candace Glover, as they prepared to visit the girl at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. Police said the child suffered months of torture at the hands of Crystal P. Keith, her aunt and foster mother.

Keith, 28, remains in jail on charges of first-degree intentional homicide and felony child abuse. Her husband, Reginald Keith, the children's biological uncle, has not been charged.

The case has sparked public outcry and calls by lawmakers for the state Department of Children and Families to conduct an in-depth investigation into how case workers tasked with monitoring the children's well-being didn't notice their injuries. Department officials say a review is under way.

"If I had been able to get those children out of there, he would be alive," Katherine Shaw said.

"Help me, Lord," she said, weeping. "This would not have happened."

The Shaws, who raised Glover, 23, live in Lanett, Ala. In September, they said, they drove to Milwaukee and stayed with Glover, hoping to catch a glimpse of the children, who had been taken from Glover in March. After temporary stays with other foster families in West Allis and Germantown, the children were placed with the Keiths in June.

Frank Shaw said he and his wife met with a Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare case worker, who, they said, promised them four supervised visits at a child welfare center. The Shaws said they stayed a month; Keith and her husband, Reginald, did not show up for any of the meetings, the Shaws said.

"Every time we got ready to go, they canceled their visit," Frank Shaw said.

Katherine Shaw said she called Reginald Keith's mother and told her: "I done come 1,000 miles to see those children. Don't make me act stupid and come over there and kick the door down."

A day or two later, the Shaws said, the Keiths parked their car across the street from Candace Glover's home. They refused to bring the children to the house. At first, they refused to even take them out of the car. The Shaws said they went across the street to peek at the two children through the car's windows.

Frank Shaw said it was early evening, just getting dark. The Keiths removed Christopher from his car seat and allowed Frank Shaw to hold him.

"It was wonderful," Shaw said.

Katherine Shaw said she insisted that Christopher's sister also come out of the car. Crystal Keith removed the girl from her car seat and placed her on the curb. Katherine Shaw said she bent down on the street and stroked the child's hair.

"I said, 'Give me a hug and a kiss,' " she said, but noticed something was wrong with the girl.

Frank Shaw said he called a case worker and told her, "My great-grandson's got scratches. He's got marks on his face."

The Shaws said they spoke with a case worker about taking the children with them, that day, to Alabama. They said they offered to sell their home and move to Milwaukee. The case worker, they said, was encouraging, but said they would have to go to court.

...According to police records, the children were removed from Glover's home because she was mentally ill. Glover said she is not mentally ill but has epilepsy. According to online state court records, she has no criminal record in Wisconsin.

Glover said she does not know when her daughter will get out of the hospital. But, she said, she hopes to take her home.

"She ain't going back into no system," she said.

The Shaws tried to save their great-grandchildren. They were even willing to sell their home and move to Milwaukee to care for the children.

They not only had to struggle with the uncooperative Keiths, but they had to struggle with the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare.

There are some gaps in Stephenson's account, some unanswered questions.

What happened after the Shaws were told they had to go to court if they wanted to take the children? Did they go back to Alabama? Were they continuing to pursue getting custody of the little ones?

What about the mother? Glover says she's not mentally ill, that she has epilepsy. Police records indicate her children were taken away from her in March because she was mentally ill.

What has Glover been doing since March? Where has she been? Did she try to regain custody? Did she have any contact with her children? What was her status when she lost her children and what is it now?

When Frank Shaw reported the injuries on Christopher to the case worker, did the case worker do appropriate follow-up?

The case worker knew that the Shaws were alarmed and believed their great-grandchildren were at risk. What was done in response to that?

Crystal Keith, Christopher's torturer and murderer, will be held accountable for what she did. Will case workers be held accountable for what they didn't do?

Time will tell. An investigation is underway.

What's so sad is that there were family members and foster families trying to care for these innocent children, but there were obstacles to prevent that. The result was tragic.

One more thing--

Candace Glover is 23. Her grandmother, Katherine Shaw, the woman who raised her, is 56.

Why didn't Glover's mother raise her? Is she alive? What circumstances led to Glover being raised by Shaw?

In any event, we do know that Katherine Shaw was a grandmother at 33. That's young to be a biological grandmother.

Christopher Thomas Jr.

UPDATE, July 7, 2009: Woman sentenced to 50 years for death of Christopher Thomas
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UPDATE, May 7, 2009: Aunt convicted in death of Christopher Thomas

Crystal Keith was convicted Thursday of beating 13-month-old Christopher Thomas to death and with torturing his 2-year-old sister.

The jury began deliberations at 10:37 a.m. and returned announced it had reached a verdict at 11:23 a.m.

...Keith, 25, the children's aunt and kinship foster mother, was found guilty of one count of first-degree reckless homicide and one count of physical abuse of a child (intentionally causing great bodily harm.)

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UPDATE, May 6, 2009: On tape, aunt recounts abuse
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UPDATE, January 27, 2009: Crystal Keith
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UPDATE, December 4, 2008: Denise Revels Robinson
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UPDATE, November 26, 2008: Protest planned next week over child welfare agencies
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UPDATE, November 21, 2008: Foster mother pleads not guilty in boy's homicide, girl's abuse
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UPDATE, November 19, 2008: Brawl at Christopher Thomas Jr.'s Funeral
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Christopher L. Thomas Jr., 1, plays at his West Allis foster home earlier this year. (Photo courtesy of Robert J. and Darlene M. Logan)

How could Crystal P. Keith, foster mother to her 13-month-old nephew and 2-year-old niece, torture those innocent babies?

What she did to little Christopher Thomas Jr. is incomprehensible.

What she put his sister through is absolutely sickening.

Keith told police, whom she called to her home Monday, that she repeatedly slapped Christopher in the face for not eating, according to the criminal complaint. She said she choked him, hung him upside down and pressed his head on the floor. At some point, the infant's eyes rolled back into his head and he began to vomit. He stopped breathing. She then stuck the handle of a hairbrush down Christopher's throat, she said, in order to revive him.

The boy died the next day at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. He had suffered blunt-force trauma to his head, had a broken right arm, bruises on his thighs, throat and neck, multiple scalp injuries and a lacerated tongue. Keith described to police a number of beatings she had given the child since he began crawling.

Keith also told police she began abusing the boy's 2-year-old sister in June, the complaint states.

Doctors found burn marks on the child from her head to her feet. She had ligature scars on her back and chest, as well as to her neck, left armpit and legs. She had many broken bones. She was severely undernourished; her body weight, according to the complaint, put her among the lowest 1% of children her age.

Keith told police she scalded the girl with hot water. Her scalded feet had been bandaged, but the blisters broke, adhering the bandages to her feet.

When the girl was brought to Children's Hospital of Wisconsin after her brother's death, medical workers had to soak the bandages off, records show.

A medical report called the girl's injuries blatant, and it is unclear why Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare case workers did not notice the abuse.

"With the Police Department, medical examiner and other authorities, we are investigating this tragic incident," said Denise Revels Robinson, director of the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare.

"When we learn all of the facts surrounding this situation, we will take all necessary and appropriate action," Robinson said.

She said the agency vetted Keith before placing the two children in her home.

The agony that these children endured is just horrible. The mistreatment of the children was no accident. Keith meant to torture the children. She granted Christopher no mercy. She brutally murdered him.

These innocent children were tortured. That's not an overstatement.

People who are aware of this story are extremely upset, for now. There is outrage, but will the cries be loud enough and will they be sustained enough to bring about real change in a system that did not look out for the best interests of the children?

I'm afraid the case will be forgotten. Another story will replace this one and community outrage will shift to the latest ghastly news.

I hope that's not the way this plays out.

I hope that disgust over the death of Christopher and the torture of his sister will mean change in the system so that it will effectively prevent other children from experiencing similar suffering.

How could the agency have been so terribly wrong about Keith?

According to a medical examiner's office report:

The boy and girl were taken from their mother about five months after the boy's birth on Oct. 14, 2007. The mother suffered from mental illness and admitted to shaking her daughter, who was diagnosed at the time with failure to thrive. The mother told police she punished the children twice a day.

The boy's father was arrested in late 2007. He pleaded guilty in June to manufacturing/delivering cocaine and is now in custody at the House of Correction, according to court records.

Christopher was placed in temporary custody with the Logans.

"He was a good baby. He laughed all the time. It made you feel good just to be around him," Darlene Logan recalled.

Christopher's sister, who was unable to talk, was placed with Rosie Ferguson, a 63-year-old special treatment foster parent in Germantown. Ferguson said Christopher joined his sister with Ferguson in May.

In June, they were placed with the Keiths.

Ferguson said she called the Keiths frequently and visited them over the summer. The children appeared to her to be doing well.

But two weeks ago, Ferguson said, she called and spoke to Keith, who told Ferguson the children were still sleeping. That struck Ferguson as odd because it was 10 a.m.

What is so tragic about this case is that both Christopher and his sister were being cared for by responsible and loving foster parents.

Ferguson followed up on the children, even visiting them after they left her care.

Darlene and Robert Logan actually tried to adopt Christopher, make him their son, but they were denied.

Why?

Who is responsible for denying that adoption?

It was a death sentence for Christopher.

Christopher died on Tuesday and as of early on Friday, no family member had come forward to claim his remains.

That is heartbreaking, tragic beyond words.

JSOnline is reporting that no one has come forward to claim the child's remains. Christopher Thomas Jr. died at the hands of his aunt, who told prosecutors she repeatedly abused the boy and his 2-year-old sister. Crystal Keith is now facing charges in the case.

According to the report, the child's biological mother would be responsible for claiming his body and seeing to his remains. That has not happened.

The Logans, the couple who wanted to adopt Christopher, stepped forward again, this time to care for him in death.

On Friday, they sought a way to help with his burial, but could find no assistance in figuring out how.

Darlene Logan, 63, said she tried to call her case worker at the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare to find out how she might go about doing this, whom she should contact or for any guidance at all, but no one responded.

"They don't even have the common courtesy to return my calls," she said.

"It is important for us - and for him - that we get closure on this," Robert Logan said.

Friday afternoon, the Serenity Funeral Home picked up Christopher's remains from the Milwaukee medical examiner's office.

The funeral home's owner, Randy Guy, said the funeral home would pay for Christopher's burial.

"We're just helping the family out a little bit," Guy said. "They've gone through enough."

There is something terribly wrong when a system supposedly designed to protect children does the opposite.

State Sen. Alberta Darling has taken up this cause, demanding that the Department of Children and Families investigate Christopher's death.

In a letter to Reggie Bicha, secretary of the Department of Children and Families, Darling wrote: "It is clear that something in the child welfare system is broken and as Secretary, it is your job to identify that something and work with legislators, staff, advocates, and citizens to fix it.

"I am calling on you to investigate the death of Christopher L. Thomas thoroughly and to evaluate the appropriateness of BMCW staff actions while he was in the Bureau's protection. Please identify what should have been done to prevent this tragedy, especially since the case worker had not fulfilled the monthly visit requirement.

"In addition, I would like an explanation as to why the sister's broken bones were not brought to the attention of the case worker by the medical staff treating her. If the case worker had received this information, why wasn't it a red flag for possible placement concerns?"

Christopher could have had a stable home and loving parents, but the Logans weren't allowed to adopt him.

The Logans were denied Christopher and Christopher was denied his right to live.

Heartbreaking.