Florida Child Injury Lawyer Blog

After Somer Thompson was kidnapped and murdered last October, her memorial was held in the First Baptist Church of Orange Park, Florida. That same church was recently the site of a training seminar aimed at teaching parents how to keep their children safe from predators. Ken Wooden, a child protection expert, provided the 300 parents who attended with a list of “lures” that predators use to attract their victims. According to Wooden, if you teach your kids the lures, they will be better able to resist them.

Wooden, who runs the organization Child Lures and Teen Lures Prevention, told the audience that the most common lures play on a child’s need for attention, their desire to be helpful or to obey those with real or perceived authority. Wooden says that the lures are so powerful they can even be used on older “children” on college campuses or military bases.

Wooden’s program is so successful that it is even used by the United States Secret Service, United States - State Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations - FBI. Florida law enforcement officers in attendance at the Orange Park event said that they could remember many cases where the lures Wooden discussed were used to abduct a child.

Members of Somer's family attended the program, and said that they hoped the information would help other families. Read more about the program and the common lures at Child protection begins with recognizing the lures.

If your child has been injured, please contact our law firm for child injury legal counsel.

A Jacksonville, Florida Daycare owner, David James Hart, has been arrested and charged with lewd and lascivious molestation on a victim 12-16 years old, sexual battery on a victim younger than 12, and assault. Parents of some of the children who attend the A+ Just for Kids Academy on Crown Point Road in Mandarin, Florida are in shock.

One parent reported that her kids absolutely loved Hart, and that he seemed very friendly and caring and knew all of the parents and kids by name. She has been taking her children to the daycare center for three years, and now is devastated at the news of Hart’s alleged actions and very worried for her children.

Another daycare owner, Charles Schramm, who purchased the Just 4 Kids Learning Academy on Losco Road in Mandarin from Hart last summer, says he “never would have believed something like this," about Hart. Just the same, he is going to change the name of his daycare center immediately. He doesn’t want parents getting his business confused with Hart’s.

The Florida Department of Children and Families is working closely with Jacksonville law enforcement in the investigation. The A+ Just for Kids Academy was inspected just last month, and was found to be in full compliance. The center has had only a few minor violations in the past.

Read more details of David James Hart’s arrest at Jacksonville A+ Just 4 Kids Academy Owner Arrested on Molestation Charges.

If your child has been injured by a daycare or child care worker, please contact our law firm for child injury legal counsel.

At a home in Northeast Jacksonville, several children gathered recently for a child’s birthday party. The children were playing outside the home when witnesses say they heard a single gunshot. An unidentified two year old girl was hit by the gunfire.

A resident of the home, Charlene Johnson, reported that there were several children playing outside at the time, and wasn’t sure if anyone had been injured at first. When it was discovered that the two year old girl had been hit, her parents rushed her to Shands Jacksonville Medical Center.

According to Sergeant John Gay of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, aggravated battery unit, it is not clear if the girl was hit more than once, but she is expected to recover. Neither the motive for the shooting nor the intended target is known at this point. Police are still investigating the incident.

It is scary to think that someone would fire off shots in the direction of a group of young defenseless children right here in our own city. It is fortunate that the girl will be all right, but she will certainly carry emotional and physical scars from this tragic event throughout her life.

You can read more of the details of this story at Drive-by shooting wounds 2-year-old girl in Jacksonville.

If your child has been injured, please contact our firm for child injury legal counsel.

Nineteen year old Jasmine White apparently followed Augustin Duclos and his three week old son, Melvin, home from Shands Jacksonville Medical Center. At the hospital, she presented the man with false credentials and papers saying that she worked for the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF). She informed Duclos that his son was being taken into DCF custody because of suspected child abuse, and that an investigation of the family was underway.

When Duclos contacted authorities several hours later, he found out that there was no such investigation and that his child had been kidnapped. An Amber Alert was issued and the police got started trying to track down the missing child.

According the Jacksonville, Florida Sheriff’s office, they were able to get one fingerprint off of the forged paperwork, and identified Jasmine White from a juvenile arrest for auto theft. Melvin was found with Ms. White ate her mother’s home shortly thereafter. He was unharmed. Ms. White was arrested on several charges including kidnapping, fraudulent use of identification and interference with child custody.Sheriff John Rutherford said that the FBI, the US Marshall’s office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement were instrumental in helping his office find and arrest Ms. White.

Florida Parents should be aware that typically no government official will appear at their door and demand custody of their child for any reason. Any such person should be reported to authorities immediately. Read more about the Duclos family’s ordeal at Abducted Baby Home 'A Miracle From God'.

If you are involved in a child custody matter, please contact our firm for child injury legal counsel.

A new law under consideration in Florida would prohibit children aged sixteen and younger from getting tattoos, and require sixteen to eighteen year olds to be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian when getting “inked.” The law comes after years of complaints from parents whose children got tattoos without permission as the law requires; many of those children have contracted illnesses, infections or scarring from the experience.

Unlike almost every other state, Florida does not regulate tattoo artists. They are not required to have any credentials or special training, even though they are working with human blood. They are not required to wash their hands or use clean needles. Even hair stylists in Florida are required to complete training, pass a test and acquire a license before cutting a child’s hair. That will change if the new law is passed. The pending legislation would require tattoo shops and tattoo artists to be trained, tested and licensed. The training would include a course on blood-borne pathogens and communicable diseases. The Florida Professional Tattoo Artists Guild is in favor of the law. Local tattoo professionals are looking forward to improving the industry’s image.

The new licensing fees for shops and artists are expected to be less than what they currently pay for Florida’s supervisory doctor system, which would be replaced by the new licensing program. Read more about the proposed requirements for Florida Tattoo shops atFlorida tattoo shops focus of proposed regulations.

If your child has been injured by unsafe tattooing techniques, please contact our law firm for child injury legal counsel.

The contamination caused by the closed LCP Chemicals factory in Brunswick, Georgia may be affecting the fish consumed by Jacksonville, Florida residents and their children. Atlantic bottlenose dolphins in the area have been found to have record high levels of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), acquired by eating contaminated fish.

PCB is an industrial chemical that is believed to be a carcinogen. The director of the marine mammal office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Teri Rowles, said that contamination from the Brunswick site may be mobilized both up and down the east coast as contaminated prey fish move about. Biologists are planning to test the PCB levels of fish found off the Jacksonville coastline. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) will also be conducting a study of Georgian’s who eat local seafood on a regular basis.

The PCB poisoned dolphins had weak immune systems, low thyroid hormones and enzyme build-ups in their livers. Low thyroid activity in children can stunt development and cause fatigue, weakness and later reproductive problems. PCBs are especially hazardous for pregnant women, who might pass the effects of the pollution on to their children. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took over cleanup at the plant after LCP went bankrupt about fifteen years ago. While the most hazardous materials have been cleaned up for a long time, the EPA is still looking at a plan for long term remediation. Read more details of the possible fish contamination along the Jacksonville coastline at Chemical causes high contamination levels in Atlantic dolphins.

A monthly class held in Jacksonville, Florida is aimed at making teens better babysitters. Participants in the class learn many skills for good babysitting, including child safety, first aid, preventing accidents, helping a child who is choking, and determining what constitutes an emergency. They also learn how to feed an infant, change a diaper, burp a baby, and take a child’s temperature. They do not learn CPR because they are considered too young.

Participants also learn discipline techniques, which emphasize using time outs; a child should receive a time out in a special area of the home where there are no toys, and the time out should last one minute for each year of age. The teens also looked at the business side of babysitting, learning how to get jobs, what to charge, and how many children it is safe for them to care for at one time. (The going rate for a babysitter in the Jacksonville, Florida area is $6 per hour, with a $.50 surcharge for each additional child.) Teens are also reminded not to text, talk on the phone or play computer games while caring for children.

After the course, the teens receive a card from the American Red Cross, showing that they are certified in babysitting. They also get a reference handbook and CD to take home with them. The babysitting class is offered about once a month, usually on a day that kids are out of school. For more information about class location, costs and times, visit Baby-sitting class teaches students first aid, safety skills for watching children.

If your child has been injured by a childcare or daycare worker, please contact our law firm for child injury legal counsel.

Two year old Serenity Bergey was found dead in September of 2007, her head wedged between the mattress and the drop railing of her broken Simplicity brand crib. Two days later, the United States government issued a recall of nearly 1 million cribs; several other children were already believed to have been asphyxiated by defective drop-sided cribs made by Simplicity, Inc.

Even though Serenity’s death was ruled an accident at the time, Florida detectives never believed that her death was accidental. The child’s home was dirty and full of drug paraphernalia, and her supposedly defective crib was broken and held together by duct tape. In 2008, detectives sought to charge the girl's mother, Connie Bergey, with aggravated manslaughter charges, but prosecutors declined to take the case due to the lack of evidence. Now a witness has come forward with new information that is allowing detectives to pursue criminal charges against Serenity’s mother.

Ms. Bergey’s lawyers have denied that she did anything wrong. Ms. Bergey is suing Simplicty, Inc., which has gone out of business, and Wal-Mart, where she purchased the crib. Read more about the recall of Simplicty cribs and the death of Serenity Bergey at Investigation reopened into toddler death that led to crib recall.

If your child has been injured by a defective product, please contact our law firm for child injury legal counsel.

In Florida schools as well as other schools around the nation, special needs and disabled students are unduly and aggressively restrained every day in the classroom. Many child safety advocates argue that in these modern times - child restraints should be limited or eliminated from the classroom. This is especially true when children are physically and emotionally harmed from the unnecessary or overuse of these restraints. Florida State Representative Dorothy Hukill - Republican from Port Orange, Florida is sponsoring a bill that would limit of the use of the public school use of restraints. Hopefully, the bill will pass and measures will be taken in public as well as private schools for the proper education and supervision of disabled and special needs children in the school system. You can read more about this topic at Florida - Limiting the Use of Restraints in the School System.

As a parent, it is important to thoroughly check out any child care center where you will be leaving your child. In Florida, the Department of Children and Families childcare licensing staff must inspect and license childcare centers in sixty one out of Florida’s sixty seven counties. Daycare inspection reports are available by visiting the Florida Department of Children and Families’ special website at: www.myflorida.com/childcare. On the website’s “provider search” page you can search by the provider’s name, by the county or even the zip code.

But checking into the center’s licensing status is only the first step. Making a visit to the center is important too. Parents should also keep in mind that religiously affiliated childcare centers may claim religious exemption from licensing. In these cases it is especially important for parents to visit and inspect the center for themselves before leaving their children there.

When checking out childcare center, keep the following tips in mind:

• Check the facility for cleanliness and ensure that there are no hazardous chemicals in reach of children
• Check the bathroom for cleanliness and appropriate paper goods
• Do the children seem happy and well-cared for?
• Do you feel comfortable in the environment?

Checking into the daycare center where your children will be cared for is a smart move that can help protect your children and give you better peace of mind. Get more tips at Web site helps public check on daycare compliance.

If your child has been injured while at daycare, please contact our Jacksonville, Florida area law firm for child injury legal counsel.

Ryan Gooding, of Palm Springs, Florida and friend saw a science experiment on YouTube.com that looked interesting to them, and decided to try to do the experiment on their own. The experiment was creating a rocket out of a plastic soda bottle using vinegar and baking soda.

But when Ryan and his friend were ready to launch the rocket, the bottle accidentally exploded in Ryan’s face, causing chemical burns, lacerations, a broken nose and temporary blindness in one eye. Ryan was hospitalized. Unfortunately, the family’s health insurance policy lapsed two days before the accident took place, and now his mother is trying to figure out how to pay the hospital bills for her son’s care.

Experiments and entertainment on TV and the Internet often look very tempting to young kids, who do not have a fully-developed sense of caution when it comes to dangerous activities. Parents need to help their children understand that mimicking stunts and experiments performed by professionals is dangerous and could get them hurt. The news story did not point out the link to the YouTube.com video Ryan was watching, but one can only hope that it had an appropriate warning for children not to try the experiment at home without supervision.

Read more about Ryan and his family’s plight at Child injured recreating YouTube experiment.

Last Fourth of July, Edward Weise Jr. helped his eight year old son, Edward Weise III, hollow out a pineapple grenade from World War II and fill it with firecracker powder. For some reason, they were unable to get the grenade to ignite and a family member put it on a shelf in the living room and forgot about it.

But Edward, now nine years old, did not forget about the grenade, and attempted to light it on his own recently. The child’s mother, Anne-Marie Weise, reported that she saw her son playing with a lighter in the kitchen just moments before the explosion. She told him to put it away. Apparently he did not listen to her, and continued to try to light the grenade. The resulting explosion critically injured the boy, who was flown to Tampa General for surgery.

A concerned neighbor called the Department of Children and Families’ abuse hotline to report the incident. The DCF is now looking into the matter. Deputies who searched the family’s home found marijuana in the bedroom Ms. Weise shares with her boyfriend, Larry Busby. According to the Polk County Florida Sheriff’s office there are charges pending but no one has been arrested. You can find out more details of this February fireworks accident at Injured Boy's Father Helped Him Fill Grenade With Firecracker Powder.

Whenever there is a Department of Children and Families investigation or criminal investigation, the family or parents under investigation have the right to defend themselves and hire an attorney. While the news reported the involvement of DCF, the results or disposition of the investigation are pending.

The prevalence of texting has skyrocketed shooting from 9.8 billion messages per month in December 2005 to 110.4 billion messages per month in December 2008. Sadly, it is estimated that cell phone usage contributes to approximately 342,000 car accident injuries and causes $43 billion dollars worth of damage every year!

Studies have even indicated that texting while driving is worse than drunk driving! Check out this YouTube video that shows the gut-wrenching consequences of texting while driving (WARNING: this video is graphic, with realistic, but potentially disturbing, reenactments). It is stunning to see how dangerous and how devastating the effects of texting while driving can be.

According to Florida's dangrous instrumentality doctrine, owners and possessors of inherently dangerous tools are liable for any injuries caused by the operation of those tools. This legal principle was applied to the realm of automobiles in Southern Cotton Oil Co. v. Anderson, 86 So. 629 (Fla. 1920). This means that if you own a car, you can be responsible for injuries caused by that car.

As a result of this watershed case, victims of car accidents occurring due to negligence may look to the vehicle owners for damages, regardless of whether it was the actual owner driving the vehicle or not. Likewise, employers may be pursued for the injurious acts of their employees under the theory of respondeat superior.

In order to be held liable, an owner must have the ability to exert control over his or her vehicle. For that reason, people whose cars are stolen may not be penalized for injuries involving their vehicles depending on the particular facts of the case. Furthermore, if an owner did not give permission to a driver to operate the car, the owner may avoid liability if he files a police report to show that the car was stolen at the time the injury was caused. These distinctions are critical for determining who needs to be brought into litigation via impleader and the bounds of a victim’s potential recovery.

Unsure of what all this means to you? Consult a personal injury attorney to learn the intricacies of the law!

Jacksonville, Florida ranks high in a disturbing category - hit and run accidents. Despite being the 7th most populated city in the State of Florida, Jacksonville, Florida is ranked 3rd according to hit and run statistics. It is not a category or recognition that the City wants to be known for. Unfortunately, many hit and run accidents take place when a driver is under the influence or has no insurance. The simple solution after an accident is to flee the scene rather than take legal or moral responsibility for the resulting damages, personal injuries, and / or possible criminal sanctions. You can read more about this story at Jacksonville, Florida Third in the State for Hit and Run Automobile Accidents.

In Orlando, Florida, a 3 year old boy suffered injuries as a result of a pit bull dog attack while the boy was playing at home in his backyard. The boy's father also suffered injuries as a result of this incident. The injured child was rushed to the hospital for medical care, treatment, and evaluation.

The identity of the dog owner was unknown at the time of the attack since the dog had no tags and no one knew at the time if the dog had a registered or possessive owner.

It is important that all dog owners maintain control of their dogs. Leash laws and regulations are in place for a purpose - to protect adults and children from the unpredictable acts and temperaments of dogs. You can read more about this Florida pit bull attack at Child Injured in Orlando Pit Bull Attack.

The arrival of thousands of Haitian children in Florida after the recent earthquake in that country has created a huge challenge for the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF). The DCF has been plagued recently with a series of scandals that call into question its ability to handle Florida’s own children, let alone a large influx of injured and orphaned children from another country. George Sheldon, the secretary of the DCF, has acknowledged that the challenge is a big one said that he is ready to meet it head on.

Within a few short weeks after the earthquake in Haiti, the DCF had found shelter for 720 orphans, overseen medical care for 628 evacuees, and distributed $26 million in assistance along with 3,500 teddy bears. Sheldon said the teddy bears may have been the best medicine for most of the frightened children coming off the planes from Haiti.

Longtime critics of the department are hopeful that Sheldon will improve the situation for Florida children as well, who have been left behind by the system in the past. Roy Miller of the Florida Children’s Campaign has applauded Sheldon for addressing the department’s problems rather than trying to cover them up. Read more about what Florida has done for Haitian children at Florida DCF chief ready for a challenge.

A three year old Orlando boy was seriously injured when he was attacked by a neighbor’s dog. The child was reportedly playing with his parents in their yard, when the child’s parents noticed that their family dog was acting out of character.

Soon after, a strange pit bull ran into the yard and bit the child in the face. The family’s dog chased the pit bull off while the parents rushed the child into the house. Deputies who responded to the incident tried to corner the pit bull and were forced to shoot and kill the dog when it attempted to charge them.

The boy was rushed to the hospital with serious injuries including lacerations on head; the child’s father was injured in the attack as well. Neighbors are quite upset that someone would let an aggressive pit bull wander around the neighborhood unattended. Police have still not identified the dog’s owners.

This is not the first time the child was attacked by a dog. The boy had his leg bitten by a dog about a year ago when his family was visiting with friends. You can read more about this story at Boy Seriously Injured In Dog Attack.

Gabriel Delrisco has been accused of killing three children from Homestead, Florida in a drunk driving incident that took place last year. The children, Hector, Esmeralda and Amber Serrano were killed when Delrisco allegedly ran into the back of their minivan with a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit.

The Serrano family’s attorney has filed a civil lawsuit against the El Paso bar for damages and compensation, charging that employees of the bar should have known that Delrisco was a habitual drinker and refused to serve him. Details of this case and disputes regarding some of the facts were reported in the Sun Sentinel newspaper.

There are factual disputes that may be litigated in the civil case including the following:

How much alcohol did Gabriel Delrisco consume prior to the automobile accident?

Where did Delrisco consume the alcohol?

What individuals / businesses sold or provided alcohol to Delrisco?

Did the individuals / businesses who sold or provided alcohol to Delrisco know that he was a habitual drunk or intoxicated at the time that the alcohol was sold or provided?

Whatever results from the civil suit, the case is tragic in that children died as a result of a drunk driving crash.

The Hillsborough County, Florida Sheriff’s Office will be changing how it handles child abuse cases. The changes are due to the recent resignation of Heather Stokes, a child protection investigator who has been charged with falsifying documents.

An internal affairs investigation revealed that Ms. Stokes allegedly falsified and / or fabricated twenty five investigations. Ms. Stokes has said that she did so because she was overwhelmed by the number of cases she had to deal with. She resigned shortly after the results of the probe were brought to her attention. She is the second investigator from her office to resign after being charged with falsifying documents. According to the Tampa Tribune, no children or families were harmed by the falsifications.

Investigators will now be required to photograph every child at their home, and place the photo in the case file to prove that they visited the child when they said they did. Supervisors will randomly review cases and make up to thirty quality assurance checks every month.

Statewide, more than seventy Florida child welfare workers have been caught lying about their activities in the last two years. When caught, workers almost always point to work overload to excuse their behavior.

Ms. Stokes has avoided criminal prosecution by performing more than two hundred hours of community service.

Read more about the falsification of child protection documents in Florida at Falsifications bring change in child abuse cases.