The Stench from the Besnch is making me clench

udge Criticized For Giving Custody Of Girl To Convicted Sex Offender

Nov 19, 2004 11:29 am US/Central
Hastings, Minn. (AP) A court-appointed evaluator who recommended that a convicted sex offender get custody of his girlfriend's daughter said he now wishes a judge had appointed an advocate to speak on the child's behalf.

Attorney David Jaehne said Thursday he spoke with the girl and visited the home before recommending she permanently live with Justin Farnsworth, 31, of Hastings.

"I always talk to the kids. I always go to the home. I interview neighbors," Jaehne told the St. Paul Pioneer Press for a Friday story.

Jaehne filed his report with Dakota County District Judge Joseph T. Carter, who last month awarded custody to Farnsworth without appointing an advocate for the child, known as a guardian ad litem.

On Wednesday, Farnsworth was charged with three counts of felony sexual misconduct involving the girl. He was jailed on $300,000 bond.

A number of people expressed outrage at the situation Thursday, and some attorneys who represent children questioned why Carter did not appoint an advocate for the girl.

But the Minnesota State Bar Association defended the judge, who has said judicial ethics preclude him from commenting.

"Given Farnsworth's reported admission of guilt, it is easy to see that he should not have been given custody of the young girl he is charged with sexually molesting," Bar Association President David Stowman said in a statement.

"Ideally, Farnsworth wouldn't have had any contact with the girl," he continued. "However, Judge Carter wasn't dealing with the ideal; he was dealing with the reality of a little girl who didn't have a responsible parent to care for her."

Farnsworth received custody of three girls under age 10 -- two of his own daughters in addition to his girlfriend's daughter. He had been registered as a sex offender after being convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl in 1994.

The girlfriend, who is the mother of all three children, repeatedly "abandoned" the children in Farnsworth's care, according to court files.

All three girls are now staying with their mother, police said.

Jaehne, who essentially investigated the custody request for the judge, said he knew about Farnsworth's previous felony sexual offense. Farnsworth spent six months in jail and 10 years on probation.

"You get two choices in a custody evaluation. In this case, only one parent was asking for the kids to live with him," Jaehne said.

Gail Chang Bohr, executive director of the Children's Law Center of Minnesota, said a guardian ad litem likely would have done his or her own independent investigation.

"You need to get the kids' voices in there somehow," she said.

Bohr said it's easy to criticize the judge, but that this case is just one example of a system plagued with troubled families, neglected and abused children and tough decisions.

"Over and over, in child protection, these things happen. As a community, we should always be concerned," Bohr said. "I am pretty sure in hindsight (the judge) would have done it differently if he had all the information. I am not sure he did."

It's not clear what other options the judge might have had, but according to Jaehne's report, Farnsworth's girlfriend had an older child living with her parents.

Minnesota law requires judges to appoint guardians ad litem for children involved in protection cases where there is alleged domestic violence, child abuse or neglect. Judges can also choose to appoint them in difficult custody cases. Guardians ad litem represented 12,500 children in Minnesota last year.

"We really are the eyes and ears for the court to investigate child welfare matters and to report back what we've found, and sometimes recommend in the child's best interest in terms of custody and contact," said Mark Toogood, state program manager for guardians ad litem.

"We are careful not to second-guess the judicial determination of cases because we don't have all the facts," he added.

Dakota County prosecutor Scott Hersey put the blame on Farnsworth.

"In my view, the situation in this case is unconscionable -- the fact that he is sexually abusing the victim and going into court to get custody to enable his ongoing sexual abuse of that child," Hersey said.