Saturday, October 04, 2008

Another Child Endangerment Case puts African American Woman in Jail

Posted by Media Release

Photo courtesy of here.

Chennel Pace, a 29 year-old African American woman, was arrested and charged with four counts of child endangering on September 28, 2008 by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office.  She spent one night in jail and was released on an ORC bond (her own recognizance) by Judge Dwane Mallory.  All four of her children are alive and uninjured, but they have been removed from her care by Jobs and Family Services.  The court stipulated their removal and also instructed Ms. Pace not to contact them.  The endangerment charge was applied because Ms. Pace’s 12 year-old daughter was watching the other three children ages 8, 6, and 18 months while Ms. Pace went to work.  Ms. Pace works at Lincoln Crawford Nursing and was working a few hours of overtime to pay bills.  Ms. Pace was not in a bar while her children were at home.  She was at work.  Yet, the Hamilton County system has criminalized her and taken away all of her children. 

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters stated that there was no law to apply to Mrs. Edwards, a white female who recently left her infant in a car all day which resulted in the baby’s death. Joe Deters said in his press conference announcing no charges for Mrs. Edwards regarding her dead baby that there is no racism in the Hamilton County Justice system. Mrs. Slaby, a white woman, was just on the Oprah Winfrey Show nationally televising that she was responsible for her child’s death, but was not charged or jailed.  Neither of these white women were subjected to having their other children removed from their homes, nor were they restricted from being in contact with them.  Joe Deters is being protected by the Democratic Party because he is running unopposed.  The County Prosecutor and County Sheriff positions do not have any term limits like City Council and Mayor positions.

Cincinnati, here is another case in one week where African American parents are charged and jailed for child endangerment when all children in question are still alive.  The case regarding Mr. Reed did involve injury to the child.(The Cincinnati NAACP will be on court watch at 9a.m. on Monday in Judge Mocks’ court room) The case regarding Ms. Pace did not.  But the result for both parents was the same: legal charges, jail time, and removal plus restriction from all children.  The Cincinnati NAACP does not condone any harm to children. The Cincinnati NAACP is an advocacy organization for civil rights and fairness. 

The Branch President, Christopher Smitherman stated, “The Hamilton County Criminal Justice system is racist.  Justice is not blind in Hamilton County.  I ask the broader community to consider these examples and then ponder, ‘What does racism look like?’ “ The criminal justice system has not protected the safety of children; they have made an African American working woman into a criminal and possibly traumatized four children who don’t understand why they cannot be with or talk to their mother.  The Cincinnati NAACP thanks WCPO for covering the story and hopes the other stations will do the same.

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JFD says:
04 Oct 2008  at  08:36 am | #

Why does Smitherman continue to use a case from Clermont County, (Slaby), against Joe Deters, as if the Hamilton County Prosecutor had anything to say, or do with that case? Is Smitherman stupid? Is this the best he can do to create racial divisiveness?

Freedom Fighters says:
04 Oct 2008  at  08:49 am | #

.

Gosh, at twelve years old we were being paid to baby sit, watching young children of neighbors and friends.

Our ancestors were married and rising children of their own at twelve years old.

Racism at it’s finest !

This case should be dismissed.

.

Stan says:
04 Oct 2008  at  09:06 am | #

I have always found it sensible to leave an 18 month old child with a 12 year old.

cincysuz says:
04 Oct 2008  at  11:00 am | #

Babysitting at 12? I started babysitting at 10. It’s not enough that the case should be dismissed. She should have cause for legal action. She should get a shitload of money and people should be fired.  I hope the NAACP can help her find pro bono legal representation.

says:
04 Oct 2008  at  11:08 am | #

The state of Ohio has no law that specifies how old a child has to be to be left alone.  The YMCA offers Babysitting and CPR classes to those 11 years and older for certification to babysit.  Why were these children taken?  My 11 year old watches her 4 year old sister when I run to the store sometimes.  The state law just says that a parent can leave a child home when they feel that the child is mature enough to do so.

This really makes me mad.  This mother was out working...had arranged for the younger children to be monitored by her oldest.  She was not in a bar in the middle of the night with her babies at home by themselves.  She was not out hooking the streets trying to score drugs.  She was WORKING.  This case is complete BS.

Would the state prefer that she stop working and just be on welfare.  This is our flawed system.  12 years is plenty old enough to babysit siblings.

says:
04 Oct 2008  at  12:14 pm | #

JFD

Smitherman knows that Don White is in Clermont County.  Read closely. There is a message for you....no diviseness....

And a message for Joe Deters......

Westie Westsider says:
04 Oct 2008  at  03:33 pm | #

We tried to work with our local police about a situation where a 12 year old was left in charge of 4 children ranging in age from 8 to 13 months to babysit over night. Now that wasn’t the issue. What the issue was-was all of the older teen boys hanging out- the foul language- the drinking taking place- and the damage to our property. There are no laws on the books that a 12 year old can’t babysit her siblings over night. All that could be done- is the other kids chased off.
The adults in the neighborhood were concerned about the 13 month old and the 3 year old all over the neighborhood all hours of the night- the 3 pools within 3 yards from the house- and the girl having her girlfriends hanging out with the boys.

Nothing was done- because nothing could be done. Eventually- something happened! And not because we didn’t warn them- one of the GF’s put her arm thru the glass front door- and then one of the smaller children fell down the front steps. Eventually they moved.

It was sheer hell with these people in the block. It was’t a race issue. We tried to approach mom- we tried of offer her babysitting alternatives with rotating the younger kids thru our houses until she got home at 11 pm. WE TRIED. We were told butt out. We made attempts- but we weren’t about to let these older kids destroy our property, curse at us, throw garbage in our yards, put up with underage drinking and the like.  BUT WE TRIED.

Yes in some areas I want to agree- but in others- this goes both ways.

says:
04 Oct 2008  at  03:46 pm | #

I’m sorry - I didn’t know this woman was jailed over being a bother to her neighbors…

What are you talking about?

Westie Westsider says:
04 Oct 2008  at  11:03 pm | #

She was NEVER Jailed. We didn’t want that. We wanted her to get a decent babysitter for the kids- and the older boys to stop hanging out. We offered her suggestions. We tried to help her- We wanted to keep her as a neighbor. We didn’t want the now forclosed house in the neighborhood.

You read the post wrong. We tried to help and we got told to mind our own business. Well an 18 month old and 3 year old wandering the neighborhood after dark when we have pools that were open at the time- un-supervised bothered us. We TRIED TO HELP. But the girls had way too many older boys over the house unattended. We were tired of them taking trash bags and emptying them in our yards as a joke and then laughing at us and running. Setting small fires and then laughing and cursing us. The 12 year old in charge was not in charge.

Legally she could have been- and was. We wanted to help. We had nothing but this family’s best interest in mind. But the influence of the older boys and the visiting GF’s that were the concern. And when the kids started getting hurt- that is what got the police really involved. She was NEVER arrested. WE DIDN’T WANT THAT. We only wanted to help her out.  We offered to babysit the younger kids until she got home. What else could we have done?  We tried. She was the one who went all racist on us! We tried. Including her black neighbors. She went off on them!

says:
05 Oct 2008  at  03:00 am | #

Westie Westsider

I understand your point in regards to your situation which is a separate issue.  Clearly the girl who was left to baby sit where you live wasn’t being responsible.  However, in the case of Chennel Pace she left her 12 year old with the other kids while she worked. I’m sure Pace would appreciate a neighbor like you offering support and babysitting alternatives.

The problem our group Citizens Against Joe Deters has with these cases is that if one is Weary but Wealthy and well-connected (one or the other) they are given the benefit of the doubt. But if one is Weary and Working-class-- as quick as the person is arrested accusations fly questioning the persons morals or lack thereof….questioning their judgment….drug and alcohol use.

Yet a person such as Slaby (Don White) or Edwards gets coached by law enforcement and gets a pat on the back by Joe Deters saying…we forgive you…go on with your life as best you can…they don’t get “dings” also known as criminal records.  They can go on with their life and become poster Moms for other Moms….what a load of…..  Folks say they’ve suffered enough-NO THEY HAVEN’T- if their act was intentional.  8 plus hours is intentional.  Have you ever sat in a hot car for just a few minutes on a sizzling hot day? Ever been sun burned????  Burned and your skin peels????????

If Pace gets convicted will she NOT be offered a diversion program….she’ll get “dings” on her criminal record? 

Any of you who are sick of all threads leading to Joe Deters I’ll tell you one damn thing and that is all who break the law deserve to be brought to justice but no one deserves injustice.  If the wealthy and well-connected get off.  Let the weary and working mom off. If you charge the soccer moms charge the football moms too!  You get my point.

It’s 3:53 am. I’m up working the final details on Make A Difference Day--

Make A Difference Day is the most encompassing national day of helping others.  MADD was created by USA WEEKEND Magazine.  It is America’s largest day of doing good.  This year Citizens Against Joe Deters will Make A Difference in the lives of Cincinnati citizens by leading a peaceful protest, and calling for Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters resignation on Friday October 24 (1:00 pm).  The Protest will take place at Joe Deter’s office located at 230 E. Ninth Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202.

cincysuz says:
05 Oct 2008  at  07:22 pm | #

I can tell a tale too of a nightmare neighbor, that didn’t watch her 7 kids and she wasn’t working. Eventually she moved and everyone was happy. I’m sure we all have had a neighbor from hell. I don’t know what that has to do with this case. And I kind of doubt that there is such a helpful, arms-wide-open village on the westside ready to take on a single mom’s burdens. Call me cynical.

CAJD, that was good. I like your “weary but wealthy” analogy as a credible defense and will heretofore use your slogan with your permission. I assume that no real harm, and probably no harm at all came to Pace’s children. Contrast that to Slaby and Edwards’ tragically abused and neglected children that are now dead. I heard someone ask if they had been drug tested. If it was conclusive that they were not impaired. I guess we’ll never know since the weary but wealthy are just taken on their word and a handshake.

says:
05 Oct 2008  at  11:35 pm | #

Following Joe Deter’s decision not to prosecute Mrs. Edwards for her child’s death, he went around to the political radio talk shows and addressed questions concerning his decision.  He adressed the charge that his non-prosecution of the white Mrs. Edwards revealed racial disparity in prosecution.  He pointed out that there has been around 30 cases (the figure is my best recollection of the number and is therefore not exactly precise) in the past 5 or so years in Hamilton County where parents made the mistake of letting their infant sleep in the same bed as them and accidently rolled over on the child while sleeping and killed the child through suffocation.  A majority of the unfortunate parents were African-American (something like 20 of 30--that is a guess again but I’m sure it was a majority) and none of the parents were charged with a crime. This set of circumstances more closely resembles the Slaby or Edwards case than the rash of cases that Mr. Smitherman keeps trying to compare to Slaby-Edwards and in my opinion completely rebutts the charges of racial discrepancy in prosecution.

Glad to know I'm not the only one up.... says:
06 Oct 2008  at  03:14 am | #

I get all pissy to think that they let off these people. I can talk about it now since it is over 10 years. I did grand jury. We refused to indite an AA male who left his 2 twins in his apartment while he was across a parking lot looking for work in the complex. Kittens knocked over a halogen lamp into a laundry basket and started a fire. They couldn’t get to the kids. They wanted a Death Pentalty case. We REFUSED. We made them go get the lamp, we made them get us pictures, we spent an entire afternooon, we made them read us the coroner report over and over- and the worse part- we looked at the death pictures of the girls. He propped open the door to listen for anything- didn’t have a baby monitor. We couldn’t come back with a murder charge. They were mad at us- fumming. Even the fire chief. Why- how many times have you left your childen asleep in the house to go out front or out back to do something? We all had. And what are the chances of a kitten knocking over a lamp- so it had a penny for a switch- big deal. the knob was broken. We knocked it down to manslaughter. He only got I think 3 years and 5 years probation when it was all over. But he had to live with the death of his girls for the rest of his life. They wanted him to go to jail forever. We couldn’t do it. We tried- to look at all angles. But we couldn’t do it. All of us had left our kids in the house alone to sit on the porch or cut the grass- we were all guilty of the same thing. And that is what we told them. Deters was fuming at us. We got even- that was the same month that the Hustler shop opened- we went and bought big. And took it back with us. They wanted to know if we brought them anything...yeah....grandma’s over 80!!! Now that was our revenge.

But we couldn’t do it- and they hated us. But each and every one of us- had left our kids for over 5 minutes alone in the house to do something outside. It could have been us. So we couldn’t do it. Manslaughter instead of murder. Too friggin’ bad.

cincysuz says:
06 Oct 2008  at  06:10 am | #

Glad = I think your story points out the obvious. The father you referred to wasn’t given a hankey to cry into and sent home even though clearly there was no negligence. He was charged. That’s the difference. If the system were fair or maybe equitable, it would have been deemed a tragic accident and he would have been released immediately. No grand jury. No charges. How is your case similar?

says:
06 Oct 2008  at  08:36 am | #

REF #1 above:
JFD says:
04 Oct 2008 at 08:36 am | #

Why does Smitherman continue to use a case from Clermont County, (Slaby), against Joe Deters, as if the Hamilton County Prosecutor had anything to say, or do with that case? Is Smitherman stupid? Is this the best he can do to create racial divisiveness?

Where does it say that Smitherman wrote the piece?

What difference does it make whether it was Clermont County anyway? This is an area-wide problem and nitpicking only served to detract from the issue. It is as much about the citizens tolerating this kind of treatment. If it were just Deters, it would be easy to solve the problem, but then he would just be replaced by another racist.

says:
06 Oct 2008  at  08:49 am | #

I don’t know why people even have children anymore. I am glad I didn’t grow up in this atmosphere of self-righteous critics and I am glad I didn’t raise my kids in such an environment.

This environment is a good reason for abortion!

Vera Z says:
06 Oct 2008  at  09:38 am | #

Chock another one up to Sheriff Leis, another of Hamilton County’s politicians who always seems to run unopposed, and who also demanded we build a new jail to hold all these terrible, horrible criminal types.  I have a better solution, if we are going to force all poor single mothers to go to work, why don’t we provide adequate
child care?  But of course we can’t do that, that would be socialism.  Vera Z The word I wrote in the space below is exactly the same.  You try again

Vera Z says:
06 Oct 2008  at  09:50 am | #

I have an even better idea, why don’t we get someone to run against both Simon Leis and Joe Deters who are better qualified for their job. Vera Z

develop68 And by the way, I would like to know who keeps cutting me off every time I try to post a comment.  I always check carefully and I know I am submitting the correct word.

says:
06 Oct 2008  at  12:26 pm | #

The most disgusting thing about this incidence is that the woman will have to endure and suffer our famous legal system. She can’t possibly win even if the verdict is in her favor.

They will assign her counsel if she passes the indigence test. If she has some money, she will lose it to attorneys while the state is funded by the taxpayers. If counsel is assigned , it will be an attorney that needs money or does not have enough business. In either case, the state will pay the attorney so little to guarantee that there will be a limited and often ineffective defense. She knows this so the attorney will go for a plea bargain whether she is guilty or not. The prosecution has ten times the resources as the defense and even at that he can refuse to bargain if he can get another win for his job resume. Then there are the judges, many who run unopposed and are picked because they are good little republican Nazis who reflect the republican ideology, which has little to do with ideals or morality.

She gets charged with child endangerment. Our justice system endangers the poor and the destiny of poor children, who also suffer at the expense of our purposely complex system of injustice or I should say the system of the elitist lawyers and politicians.

L.G. says:
06 Oct 2008  at  02:02 pm | #

Whether the Slaby case was in Hamilton County or Clermont County makes no difference between both counties abide by the SAME LAWS AS OUTLINED IN THE OHIO REVISED CODE (ORC).  There should be no differences in the execution of the law from county to county because the criminal laws are created by the state legislature.  What we see if clearly a difference in how the law was applied.  The case regarding Timothy Reed is a perfect example.  When he went to sleep, it was not a situation where he intended to see harm done to his child.  If Slaby or Jodie Edwards didn’t create a substantial risk of harm to their kids when they left them in a hot car, there’s no way Mr. Reed created a substantial risk of harm to his child when he fell asleep.

says:
06 Oct 2008  at  08:12 pm | #

Dieter and LG, please review my post in #12. If the info Deters gave over the airwaves is correct (and do you really believe he’d lie about something so easily disproved?) then the Edwards - Slaby no-prosecution decision is no different than the no-prosecution decisions with the African-American parents mentioned above. So cries of discrimination are without merit.

says:
06 Oct 2008  at  08:58 pm | #

Hell yes, Trey, Deters would like about a snake on his mother in laws back if it would help him accomplish something.

says:
06 Oct 2008  at  11:20 pm | #

Don’t fear rationality CAJD. It can be your friend.

How is it the same? says:
07 Oct 2008  at  04:10 pm | #

Because he was an African American Male-and because we REFUSED to come back with a MURDER inditement- the prosecutors were MAD at us. That is what made it just like so many of the other cases. We bucked the system and they weren’t happy with us. We didn’t do what Deters wanted us to do. We acted like adults with brains. We gave the lightest thing that we could- we actually wanted to drop all the charges but couldn’t because of how they were brought to us.

says:
13 Oct 2008  at  09:37 am | #

Trey please click link below for your invitation to go to HELL with Deters.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/6045606/Citizens-Against-Joe-Deters
http://citizensagainstjoedeters.blogspot.com

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