The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page B10

THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER Thursday, July 8, 2004 The stirring power of one brutal death BIO East www.philly.com Porchia's Death Charged in Candice Geiger: In prison charged Jerry Chambers: In prison charged with first-degree murder, rape, sexual assault and related offenses. Tiffany Bennett: In prison awaiting trial on four counts of endangering the welfare of children and conspiracy. with third-degree murder and related offenses. PORCHIA from Bl som-Garner, acting Human Services commissioner. "You always think, 'What could we have done Under the glare of state legislators, and a University of Pennsylvania dean hired to aid its self-scrutiny, Human Services got the answer: Plenty.

The agency was blistered for two lapses: losing track of a family with a history of instability and abuse, and bungling a hotline call on the stifling summer weekend that Porchia died. Those issues have been addressed, Ransom-Garner said. Said John McGee, Human Services operations director: "We're trying to learn from this. It's much less likely that a case like Porchia's will happen again." Within a month of Porchia's death, Human Services Commissioner Alba Martinez, who has since left city government to run the regional United Way, ordered social workers to reopen 310 cases that the agency had closed because it could not find the children. It added research databases and hired a detective agency.

It surveyed six states, four counties, and the cities of New York and Los Angeles in developing a step-by-step procedure for locating children. "The Porchia Bennett case didn't lead to 'Oh, my gosh, we have to reform Martinez said. "We were al It was 36 hours before a Human Services social worker went to Porchia's home, responding to a hotline report of a stick-thin girl with a badly bruised face Porchia's sister Alexus, as it turned out. When the social worker visited the rowhouse in the 1700 block of South Fifth Street, no one answered. He put a note on the door and left.

The next day, police responding to a 911 call found Porchia dead. The social worker has since resigned. The department's new how-to approach addresses a shortcoming that Richard Gelles, dean of the School of Social Work at Penn, uncovered when he was hired to help redesign the agency's intake procedures. "This kind of change is pretty ready deep into reform, but it brought up other issues." In the 310 lost-family cases involving 558 children the agency has located all but 32 families with a total of 42 children. In 76 cases, the families needed intervention for neglect or abuse, or referral to community-based abuse-prevention programs.

In 164 others, the department determined that families had left the area, no longer needed services, or were ineligible because the tough to bring about; you're talking about organizational change, and you're talking about people embracing change," he said. "They're teed up to do what they have to do." For State Rep. Scott Petri Bucks), who in March conducted hearings in Harris-burg into the department's practices, change is not happening fast enough. "To not have totally implemented them new policies 10 months after the case seems absurd," Petri said. "It devastates you.

You always think, 'What could we have done filed against the department on behalf of Porchia's sisters. In May 1999, Bennett left a Salvation Army shelter with two of her daughters. The next year, the department, unable to locate her, closed the case. Two months later, Porchia was born. Bennett is in jail awaiting trial on four counts of endangering the welfare of children and conspiracy.

Her lawyer, Charles E. Dennis, said she hopes to be placed on electronic monitoring at a sister's South Philadelphia home. "She realizes there's nothing she can do as far as trying to gain custody of her children until this matter is resolved," Dennis said. "She does want her children." Geiger faces third-degree murder and related charges. Chambers is charged with first-degree murder, rape, sexual assault and related offenses.

He has testified that he has bipolar disorder. Bennett, Geiger and Chambers are to be tried together, probably in the spring, Assistant District Attorney Richard Sax said. Porchia is buried in Mount Moriah Cemetery in Southwest Philadelphia. Her sisters are living with foster families in Philadelphia. Each is being counseled by trauma specialists.

Alexus, now 11, who was so battered when police found her that she had to be hospitalized, is having the hardest time and has been separated from her sisters for intensive treatment. Aliyaha, 7, and Priscilla, 5, are together and "doing well," according to Ted Qualli, Human Services communications director. "What they experienced in that home is still being learned," Qualli said. "These things take a very long time for children to talk about. Ideally, we want them together, but until that is safe and healthy, it won't happen." Oliver Bynum Sr.

of Philadelphia, Alexus' paternal grandfather, has been permitted to see her twice in recent months. They hug and kiss, he said, "and we rub noses like we used to." "She's mentioned Porchia," Bynum said. "She told me, 'It wasn't my fault, Grandpa, it wasn't my I tell her, 'I know' Bynum was so devastated by revelations about what Alexus endured that he sank into depression and had to quit his job as a security officer. He works part time making deliveries. "It's been rough," he said.

"It can't get any rougher." Cheryl Ransom-Garner acting commissioner of Human Services children had turned 18. In 38 cases, the department found that families had been miscoded as lost due to data-entry errors. Social workers and private investigators were unable to find eight families and are still looking for 24 others. The department also has drafted and expects to adopt a how-to policy for social workers investigating reports of abuse, including the requirement that they review progress with a supervisor in the first 24 hours of a search attempt. In hotline cases in which workers do not find children on the first attempt, they are required to make a second visit within 24 hours of receiving such a report.

"The difference is, we're putting all the pieces together, clarifying step-by-step what is to happen in these cases," said Ransom-Garner, who started with Human Services 21 years ago as a social worker trainee. For an agency with as much as 20 percent turnover a year among social workers, explicit written policies are critical, she said. "What are they waiting for, someone else to die?" Porchia died in a filthy room at the back of a rowhouse where she lived with her aunt, Candice Geiger, then 18, and Geiger's boyfriend, Jerry Chambers, then 31. The threat of beatings, according to court testimony, was as potent as the stench of urine. Rules were posted on the wall.

One read: Respect Jerry at all times or everybody gets their asses whooped. Porchia was bashed against a radiator, whipped with a belt and extension cord, and wedged between a wall and a mattress. The reason: Chambers caught her watching him and Geiger having sex. She and her sisters had been left with Chambers sometime in 2002 by their mother, Tiffany Bennett, who was 27 when Porchia died. Bennett had been under Human Services supervision on and off since 1994, when an older daughter ended up in an intensive-care unit, the victim of shaken-baby syndrome, according to a federal civil suit Contact staff writer Julie Stoiber at 215-854-2468 or jstoiberphillynews.com.

Arson charges tossed in Delimar case gate. DNA testing confirmed Cuevas' suspicions. Delimar now lives with Cuevas in the Oxford Circle section of Northeast Philadelphia. Pedro Vera has joint custody. Correa is due back in court later this month for a pretrial conference.

She will face trial on charges of kidnapping, burglary, conspiracy, concealing the whereabouts of a child, interfering with child custody, unlawful restraint, criminal trespass, and false imprisonment, according to Abookire. Correa's police record includes other arson charges. In 1996, she was arrested and charged with setting fire to the Mercer County, N.J., medical office from which she was stealing and cashing business checks. Correa pleaded guilty to third-degree arson in exchange for five years' probation and community service. Prosecutors argue that Correa must have had an accomplice but have not named or charged anyone else in the case.

Correa allegedly took Delimar back to her home in Willing-boro, Burlington County, and passed the child off as her own. Before the alleged kidnapping, Correa had reportedly told friends and family she was pregnant. Police have said that Correa somehow obtained a phony birth certificate for Delimar in the weeks after the fire. Cuevas finally found her missing and presumed dead daughter in January. Cuevas, who has three sons, has said she recognized Correa and a 6-year-old girl with a telltale dimple at the birthday party of an extended family member.

Cuevas followed the girl and, while pretending to remove gum from the child's hair, took a few strands. With a strand of hair in her possession, Cuevas pressed State Rep. Angel Cruz Phila.) and authorities to further investi C0RREA from Bl for the office, said yesterday the office planned to "review everything." She called an appeal "not unusual." Correa's attorneys did not return calls for comment. The 1997 kidnapping case gained international attention earlier this year when, according to Cuevas, she recognized the girl, now 6, at a neighborhood birthday party. DNA tests later proved that the child given the name Aaliyah, and raised by Cor-rea, was in fact Cuevas' daughter.

The details of the bizarre kidnapping case have unfolded following Correa's arrest. On the night of Dec. 15, 1997, Correa visited Cuevas' Hurley Street home unexpectedly. Shortly after 7 p.m., according to testimony, Cuevas ran upstairs to check on the sleeping infant. In the room, Cuevas started to smell smoke and spied a mysterious open window and a childless crib.

Fire units arrived and controlled the blaze in less than 14 minutes. Sale ends Tuesday, July 20th, except as noted. No adjustments to prior sale purchases. Selected collections; not every style in every store. Our regular and original prices are offering prices only and may or may not have resulted in sales.

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