The basics of the case sound like, and probably soon will be, the plot line for the latest Law & Order. An Autistic girl "communicates" that she has been abused to a school worker. The catch ... she does it while using what's known as an "augmenative" or "facilitated" communication device. These devices while commonly used to help people with severe communication challenges are open to "misinterpretations" because they require the assistance of an outside person.
When you mix in the fact that children with severe challenges (in this case Autism) sometimes require additional help in their day to day living (showering for example) you have all of the ingredients for a captivating, edge of your seat drama.
The only problem is that this wasn't a t.v. show and the police in their "aggressive" investigation of the case trampled the rights and lives of two children and their family.
The proof is detailed below in an excellent series (complete with interrogation video clips) by Detroit Free Press reporter Brian Dickerson.
Let's Get The Basics Out Of The Way First
- This is NOT AN ANTI-LAW ENFORCEMENT site.
- What Detective Joseph Brousseau did is not a reflection on ALL police officers.
- I don't think Detective Brousseau is an evil person. However, what he did and the way he did was evil and destructive.
- I have tremendous respect for most law enforcement officers and believe they do a remarkable job in a career that most of the rest of us would never have the courage to do.
- Despite my respect for the job most law enforcement officers do --- when the system, children and a family are clearly abused we have the OBLIGATION to aggressively scream for justice and change.
Police Work Gone Wrong
- Part one: How to wreck a boy's life | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press
- In early December, a 13-year-old boy sat in a West Bloomfield police interrogation room sobbing. For nearly an hour, Detective Joseph Brousseau had grilled the boy about accusations that he and his autistic sister had been sexually molested by their father. If it were merely what it purported to be
- Part two: Sex abuse case against Oakland couple was legal horror show | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press
- Last week, more than three months after judges jailed an autistic girl's father, confined her mother to an electronic tether, and sent the girl and her brother to foster homes, Oakland County Prosecutor Dave Gorcyca announced that all sexual abuse charges against the parents were dropped. How did t
- Police video of 13-year-old boy's interrogation | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press
- Last Dec. 4, without notice to a legal guardian appointed to represent the boy, West Bloomfield Police Detective Joseph Brousseau interrogated a 13-year-old witness about allegations of sexual abuse against his father.
- Interrogation abuses justice, and a child | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press
- There are good reasons why rules are in place about how to question kids in sex abuse cases. There do not appear to be any good reasons why a West Bloomfield Township police detective subjected a 13-year-old boy to an hour-long ordeal in an interrogation room, using falsehoods in an attempt to get
- Teenager's ordeal backs up case for taping interviews | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press
- A week ago today, the Free Press published video excerpts of West Bloomfield Detective Joseph Brousseau interrogating a 13-year-old boy whose father was suspected -- unjustly, it now appears -- of sexually molesting the boy's autistic sister. If you haven't watched the interrogation, take 10 minute
- Police may have violated rules during interrogation
- Legal experts say the video record of the boy's interrogation reveals numerous violations of rules that are supposed to protect minors who may have witnessed sexual abuse and to minimize false allegations of abuse. One called Brousseau's tactics, which included deception, threats and repeated insinuations that the boy was lying, "reprehensible."
"The bottom line here is that the detective wanted to get the truth. I don't know whether he went over the line or not." - WB Police Department
What Do You Think
It's easy to judge after the fact
Thoughts To Consider
"Liberty may be endangered by the abuse of liberty, but also by the abuse of power." - James Madison
"When you have police officers who abuse citizens, you erode public confidence in law enforcement. That makes the job of good police officers unsafe." - Mary Frances Berry
"When we begin to say to police officers that they're allowed to guess about who's dangerous, we're inviting the possibility of abuse." - Barry Steinhardt
My Two Cents About What Should Be Done
I'm going to give the police officers in this case the benefit of the doubt and say that I don't think there was malicious intent to hurt this family. Intentional or not though they clearly did substantial damage to both the family and the children. I have no doubt that piece will be taken up in a court case coming soon where the police department will find themselves on the losing end of an expensive lawsuit ... and they'll deserve it. I don't know how much the destruction of a relationship with a father is worth but I hope it's a painfully large amount.As for the police officers involved they should be suspended until a full investigation can be completed. The departments interrogation and investigation techniques should be closely scrutinized and all employees of the force required to take complete Autism awareness training. Then maybe next time a child with Autism is stopped or questioned by an officer the officer will be able to decipher between suspicious body language and signs of a neurological challenge.
For More About Autism Please Visit The Following Site
- Great Expectations Speech, Sensory & Learning Center - Livonia, MI
- This lens is dedicated to helping the children, and families of the children, who face challenges caused by Autism, Sensory Integration Disorder, Speech and Lanugage Delays, Developmental Delays, Fine and Gross Motor Challenges and other mental, emotional, neurological and learning hurdles that the
