The Cincinnati Post from Cincinnati, Ohio • 4

The Gncfcmatt Post Thursday Juty 29 19S2 Gradison wants probe of Children's Services ing under great strain because of the allegations that have been made Each of seven caseworkers In Services has about SO cases to handle she said Clermont County has no Juvenile Jail and the former receiving house for Juveniles has been dosed "IT'S LIKE YOU would send a soldier to do his battle and you give him two men to help him and they go out against a she said "He comes back and you chew him out for not doing his She said valid complaints about Services have been raised but she also said there has been no evidence offered to prove any rape went unreported or any home was not By Nancy Berlier Pott Suit Ifapmr BATAVIA US Congressman Bill Gradison has asked for a federal probe of the Clermont County Welfare Department Services Division The division already is being evaluated by a private Columbus agency hired by Clermont County commissioners to Investigate various allegations that have been made Gradison In Clermont County campaigning this week asked for the investigation in response to complaints by a loosely-knit group called Concerned Citizens of Clermont County That group's statements at county meetings also led to the probe by the Institute for Human Services of Columbus s- CONCERNED CITIZENS of Clermont County has raised several questions with respect to the care and placement of children In the community Gradison said in his letter to Thomas Don I "I thought that what was being done by the commissioners now was to respond to their (Concerned request to have this done Mrs Prlsock said WHILE MRS PRISOCK admitted Services has problems she disagreed with the allegations mentioned In letter Prosecutor George Pattlson has stated his Investigation of the agency concluded there has been no criminal wrongdoing In the division Foster homes are investigated and all rapes discovered by staff workers are repeated to the Clermont County Sheriff's Office Mrs Prlsock said Staff workers are aware of drug problems among some of the youth served by the agency and frequently refer young people Into drug programs she said Any parent who disagrees with the decision to take a child out of a home has the right to challenge that decision In court she said Mrs Prlsock said her staff workers are labor nelly Jr assistant secretary for legislation In the US Department of Health and Human Services Gradison said the group alleged that foster homes are not adequately investigated by the Services Division letter also said that other allegations that have been made Included "drug abuse on the part of the children and "unreported cases of rape and violation of parents' rights" MARTHA PRISOCK director of social services in the welfare department said Wednesday those allegations are unfounded Mrs Prlsock said Services has serious problems and she welcomes the of the Institute for Human Services She said she believes the evaluation will show the county agency Is offering only minimal services to children who have been abused neglected sexually abused or abandoned Also she said the evaluation should show the reason for that deficiency In services Is because the agency Is understaffed and 111-equlpped County commissioners are planning the construction of a Juvenile Justice center and have 1 provided $30000 In the budget for two additional social workers One of the two has been hired Bashful bovines These cows at the Clermont County Fair seem to be intrigued at haying their photograph taken' but still seem somewhat bashful aboutit all The Clermont County Fair continues through Saturday highlighted by a bicycle race and horse show Friday and two four-by-four truck pull competitions on Saturday ROKRT DCUMON Court reverses Mt Carmel man's conviction whom testified that the behavior had been of a bizarre nature for several months prior to the shooting we feel that the appellant clearly established by a preponderance of the evidence that he was Insane at the time of the the Judges said In their decision "Since no rebuttal testimony was offered by the prosecution on this Issue we are resigned to conclude that the verdict of the trial court was against the manifest weight of the they said However Linder said he and Ferenc presented rebuttal evidence through cross-examination of the defense witnesses most certainly will Linder said that Brown be kept In prison pending an appeal to the Ohio Supreme CourL Brown has had (wo trials thus far on the charge of murder In the first trial Clermont County Common Pleas Court Judge Louis Schwartz found Brown guilty In October I960 A second trial was ordered after attorneys William Fitzgerald and Robert Bums of Cincinnati said they had discovered new evidence about mental state The attorneys claimed Brown was not guilty by reason of Insanity i IN THAT SECOND TRIAL visiting Judge Thomas Dowd of Hardin County found brown guilty on March 10 1981 Appellate Judges said this week the prosecutors Robert Linder and Richard Ferenc Introduced no evidence to prove Brown was sane so Dowd should have concluded from the of defense evidence that Brown was Insane The appellate Judges said attorneys had the burden of proving Brown was Insane "HAVING OFFERED the testimony of three qualified expert witnesses all of whom testified that the appellant was legally Insane at the time of the shooting as well as the testimony of two family members and a friend of the family all of The 12th District Court of Appeals In Middle-town has reversed the conviction of a 23-year-old ML Carniel man who was charged with murder Appellate Judges said prosecutors failed to prove that Bradley Brown was sane on Feb 17 1980 when he was accused of shooting his father Russell a well-known ML Carmel businessman A spokesman for the Middletown court said the appellate decision should be filed today In Clermont County Common Pleas Court in'Bata-' via Assistant County Prosecutor Robert Linder said his office will appeal BRADLEY BROWN ljas been serving 15 years to life on the conviction Linder said he will ask Missing persons reports get serious treatment Miami Township Chief Harry Snyder A steady worker Banks failed to report for work on March 12 and then did not meet his wife at the Greater Cincinnati Airport the next day Snyder said the sheriffs office and his department have handled the case with the same Intensity as a homicide Investigation "We believe there was foul Snyder said "BuL we believed It necessary to go Into an intensive ous Investigation Into the original May 22 report body was found In a ditch In Bethel The case of Clarence Banks Is also being treated as a disappearance that needs Intensive Investigation Banks 49 Ring Lane ML Repose has been missing since March 12 WHILE THERE has been no direct evidence that he has come to harms the circumstances of the disappearance led Miami Township police and title sheriffs office to treat the case with a full Investigation according to First reported missing on Jan 14 police quickly concluded after Interviews with family friends and her employer that It was unlikely she would simply walk away was always prompt about coming home and going where she said she was he said A massive search was then undertaken Tragically 13 days after her disappearance Mrs body was found IN THE Permon Gilbert Instance again the case began with a missing person report However before seri tigation police try to determine whether or not the disappearance breaks any of the known habits of the Individual "We talk to employers friends and the family to try to get a picture of what this person Is he said Pennington said it Is on those occasions when a disappearance does not seem to fit Into an behavioral pattern that the Investigation will go Into a second phase JERILYN Stanfield is a good example he said By Ramon McLeod Pott Suff Rtporttr BATAVIA Since the beginning of this year 78 people have been reported as missing In Clermont County Two of those Jerllyn Stanfield and Permon GllberL will never return to their homes The whereabouts of many others remains a mystery Inspector Clarence Pennington of the Clermont County Office says that In the overwhelming number of cases no foul play Is Involved IN THE Initial stages of an Inves news briefs Prosecutor says use of funds was proper Horse show on fair schedule OWENSVILLE Activities scheduled for Friday at the 133rd annual Clermont County fair are: 930 am dahlia flower show 130 pm livestock sale 2 pm bicycle race 7 pm horse show (double rings) Activities for Saturday include: 930 am dahlia flower show 10 am crowing contesL 2 pm and 7 pm four-by-four truck pull Soap box derby coming Friday HILLSBORO 175th anniversary celebration Is continuing with gospel music scheduled tonight and a soap box derby race on Friday agenda Includes: 6 pm and 11 pm gospel music show 9 pm sesqulcentennlal movie at Episcopal Church Jaycees goat raffle activities Include: 10 am to 5 pm tours of Bells Opera House and Ayres Drug 8tore 11 am Larlos Italian festival K-Mart Plaza Noon 4th Artillery camp courthouse lawn 2:45 pm 4-H educational day demonstrations 6 pm blue grass music uptown stage soap box derby race West Main Street 7 pm karate demonstration uptown stage Milton Caniff dinner Hillsboro Elks Lodge 8 pm blue grass music uptown stage 9 pm sesqulcentennlal movie Episcopal Church Gold Rush Junction uptown stage Leaving scene of accident charge filed BATAVIA Police report that a charge of leaving the scene of an accident has been filed against Richard Crocker 19 4642 Shepherd Road Batavia Police said the charge Is In connection with an Incident earlier this month Involving Michael SecresL 16 Batavia Officials said Secrest died after apparently being struck by a vehicle on Ohio 32 near Williamsburg According to police a vehicle apparently struck Secrest as he was lying on the road West Union gets grant for sewer project WEST UNION A community development block grant of $160000 ha been awarded to the county seat of Adams County for a sanitary sewer proJecL According to State Rep Harry Malott of Mount Orab the award waff made because "the city of West Union foundtltself) In a health-threatening situation when Its sewage system broke i Malott said this grant was the first under new federal guidelines permitting an Ohio community the use of the block grant funds to alleviate unhealthy conditions Science fiction called modern mythology Science fiction once looked upon as "garbage has become a kind of modem mythology That Is one of the conclusions of Casey Fredericks an Indiana University professor whose new book "The Future of will be published by the IU Press this The book Is a study of the Impact of mythology on modem science fiction and fantasy literature: A professor of classical mythology Fredericks said he has been a science fiction enthusiast since he was a child the money can also be used for equlpmenL The prosecutor said It was the Highland County position that vehicles used exclusively for the supervision of public works projects Including cars thus were a proper expenditure COSS AGREED with a finding In the audit report that It was Improper to use the funds to pay salaries of county tax map department employees but added that practice was stopped In 1978 Only general funds have been used for the salaries since that time He further said that the county should be credited with having made adjustments of $250000 to the fund and not simply the $80544 which has been credited because repairs to the Barrett Mill Road bridge which could have been paid with vehicle and gas tax funds came from bonds that the county floated The audit stated that Highland County should replace $185756 In the motor vehicle funds by a transfer from the county general fund HILL8BORO Highland County Prosecutor Rocky Coss said Wednesday that the county acted properly In using motor vehicle and road tax funds to purchase vehicles for the departmenL A state audit had questioned the use of the funds for that purpose COSS SAID the county disagreed with the findings in the audit and added that no action Is planned In reaction to the report which covered the years from 1972 to 1981 The report advised the county that money for vehicles is supposed to come from general county funds and not from motor -vehicle and road tax funds Highland County had reportedly used these funds to buy vehicles for the county office THE PROSECUTOR said that state statutes say that the money can be for road or bridge repairs but not specify whether you can or cannot use It for He said a number of legal have determined that X' I- 1 lc i---5 -W 4 it ji.