Child Exploitation Cracks in the Floor

Two years ago, the Masha Allen story sent shock waves through the adoption and child welfare community in the United States and Russia. Since then Masha's story, which is recounted on my blog and elsewhere, has become the case study for not only everything that is wrong with the international adoption system, but everything that is wrong with the domestic adoption system, the child welfare system, the war on child pornography, access to civil justice by child victims, the guardianship and conservatorship system . . .

Masha is the case study for basically everything that is wrong with every system designed to help severely abused and exploited children.

Sadly, very few of the institutions seemingly dedicated to Masha and the countless other internationally trafficked children are even willing to acknowledge the problems let alone begin the fiscally painful task of "reforming the system."

Certainly not the National Council for Adoption which has powerful con$tituencie$ to protect. Immediately after last year's Congressional hearing on Masha Allen's international adoption, I asked the representatives of NCFA who were present to issue a statement in support of Masha and other victims like her. Not surprisingly, over a year later, NCFA has failed to utter one word on this topic.

Then there is the Joint Council on International Children’s Services which was also well-represented at the Congressional hearing. When I filed a formal complaint against the international adoption agency that arranged Masha's adoption, JCICS allowed Reaching Out Thru International Adoption to quickly and quietly resign instead of facing investigation. ROTIA recently changed their name to ChildPromise, Inc. and rejoined JCICS less then six months after my complaint was dismissed. So much for peer oversight.

Jeannene Smith, who Committee Chairman Ed Whitfiled said played a "central role in Mancuso’s adoption of Masha," continues her work in the international adoption field as treasurer of the reform group Focus on Adoption. She continued working at ROTIA even after the Congressional panel called for her to be jailed, brazenly attending the Ethica / Evan B Donaldson Ethics and Accountability conference in October where she was booed once by one person, but otherwise allowed to enjoy the regalement unmolested.

Smith's Congressman, Mike Ferguson, summed up Masha's - and many other child victim's - life best when he intoned that "what is even more frightening, however, is the number of times that her situation was overlooked. . . . No one called to speak to her, no one made sure she was getting along with her new father, no one seemed to really care if she was being taken care of at all."

Perhaps Congressman Dr. Michael C. Burgess said it best when he lamented that "the system failed this child repeatedly for a number of years. . . . but I got a feeling from this panel in front of us, some people are more responsible than others. It is a bad case. I will be surprised if there wasn’t litigation. I don’t understand why someone is not in jail."

Regrettably the only person in jail is Matthew Mancuso, even while "the system" continues to fail Masha repeatedly in ways unimaginable even to those who supposedly know her best.

According to Masha's Russian forever-sister-by-birth Oksana, almost everything about the mythology of Masha's orphan life in Russia is a lie. She was never removed from her mother by state officials. Although heavy drinkers, Masha's parents never abused her. Most shockingly, Masha was not stabbed in the neck, but had a birth mark which was surgically removed at the age of two months leaving a scar.

At the last of then 17 year old Oksana's numerous visits to the orphanage where Masha was staying, she was told that her lucky sister had been adopted by a loving American family with a wife and daughter, that it was "all for the best," and that she should leave Masha alone to enjoy her fabulous new life in America.

Author Peter Sotos, the first person convicted for child pornography in the United States, knowingly contemplates Masha's neck scar in his recently published book Show Adult which contains dozens of pages about what he calls the "child porn star Masha Allen."

Sotos writes, "when I finally found the pictures of her being homeraped by Mr. Mancuso, I had no idea that she had been knifed by her mother when only three years old. I didn't see the scar, I think it would have made an impression but I'm sure I would have thought it was simply some childhood ailment surgery that may have been connected to her crossed eyes and otherwise white slip looks."

Efforts to stop publication of this book were spearheaded by the international adoption parent group Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption whose motto is "improving the lives of children." After a great deal of back and forth with someone named Butterfly (ironically the symbol of the international pedophile movement), many FRUA members called for a national boycott of the Sotos book with repeated unanswered calls to Oprah, Fox News and Dr. Laura.

Finally in mid-July, someone called "New Member" suggested that FRUA discontinue its commercial relationship with Amazon, "not that this would hurt Amazon much, but it seems a little strange that FRUA's Book Store is sending customers to a retailer who's selling this book."

A FRUA administrator responded "Ummmm . . . at this point Amazon has not sold this book. Only listed it for sale WHEN it is published. A lot can change between now and then. . . . At such time if Amazon does really offer this book for sale then the FRUA BoD will discuss the matter. . . . So don't condemn Amazon until they have actually done something that may be wrong. The possibility of wrong doing is not cause to drop them at this time. Do continue to put the pressure on them to encourage them, and the others, to do the right thing."

"Encourage them, and the others, to do the right thing" . . . fine words indeed. Even inspiring, high-minded, righteous. Well apparently these words are just that since anyone can easily order Show Adult from the only publisher still carrying the book - Amazon.com. In fact, I just ordered it from the Amazon.com FRUA book store. So much for "improving the lives of children." How about "improving the bottom line of pedophile publishers and authors?" Sadly, not much has "changed between now and then," for Masha or the countless others deserving improvement.

At least FRUA dealt with the issue. When I wrote the Executive Director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute Adam Pertman last spring expressing my concern about the Sotos "picture book of Masha Allen 'child porn star' complete with a novel about her abuse written from the abuser's perspective," Pertman sent polite greetings and then wished me the best with "the important work" I continue to do. He then returned to the apparently much more important work of rallying the adoption community to boycott the Disney movie Meet the Robinsons.

Clearly much of "the system," even when awake and fully oriented in all spheres, has no idea how to handle cases like Masha's. Or maybe they just don't want to. Ignore it and hope it goes away. It's too dark, too negative, too icky for the warm and fuzzy Home-for-the-Holidays-carefully-constructed-adoption-ethos.

When exploitation leads to exploitation upon exploitation the simple answer is to give up, pass the case along, shuffle papers, hope for the best. A little prayer and a little faith, mixed with some CYA and a good dose of public relations, can turn even the nastiest tale into the American dream.

That's clearly what Mary Beth Buchanan, US attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, did when she told CNN on May 14, 2005 that after the FBI rescued Masha from Matthew Mancuso "they then immediately placed the girl in a foster home, and after she was adopted by a family, they moved her out of Pennsylvania."

A few weeks later, on June 8, 2005, Buchanan told CNN Insight's Jonathan Mann that Masha "has been adopted by a very loving family who has changed her name and moved her to another part of the country, where she can make a new start and have a very, very wonderful life ahead of her." Mann's response: "That's astounding!"

Since then Masha's astounding and very, very wonderful life has included five name changes, six schools, and ten addresses across two states and four counties. To date the system has continually failed Masha repeatedly for a number of years. As Masha once said, "you expect me to trust the system after all they've done to me?"

Quite simply "the system" - EVERY system - is unable and unwilling to deal with the incredible needs of internationally trafficked children like Masha.

When kidnapped Austrian girl Natascha Kampusch, who was imprisoned by a pedophile for 8 years, was rescued, she received $665,000 from the Austrian criminal injuries compensation board and all the costs of her medical care including a team of psychiatrists who worked around-the-clock to help her get back to a normal life in a special house where a medical team remained on duty full-time for over a year.

When Masha was rescued, she was placed with a young single foster parent with her own history of sexual abuse, given an unlicensed Christian therapist and a Medicaid card. When the FBI reportedly "moved her to another part of the country" a few months after her adoption, Masha was taken from the only community she knew and her thin support system was shattered. She began an unstable lifestyle which continues to this day. No therapists, no medical team, no house or meaningful compensation. Just a prayer and a press release and a one way ticket to nowhere.

Unfortunately Masha is not alone in this disturbing plight. Right after Masha's story aired on ABC Primetime, William D. Peckenpaugh was sentenced to 30 years in prison for sexually abusing a boy he adopted from Romania. The sexual abuse, which lasted for four years, started within weeks after Peckenpaugh arrived home with the boy in Oregon.

When the State Department found out about Peckenpaugh, they strongly advised the Marion County deputy district attorney to redact any mention of international adoption from all press releases relating to the case. Warnings of vague "international repercussions" were not enough to recast the truth - at least not in this case.

In June 2005, a pastor from St. Paul, Oregon named David Charles Gilmore, was sentenced in Marion County Circuit Court to 19 years for sexually abusing a nine-year-old girl he adopted from Russia. Gilmore, who was married, is a gifted pianist and cellist who sought and received donations from the community to adopt the victim. He also performed concerts of Russian music to raise funds.

Clearly, passing trafficked children from the international adoption system to the law enforcement system to the domestic adoption system is a recipe for disaster. Add criminal sex abuse and pornographic exploitation to this toxic mix and the result is a lifetime of suffering for victims whose emotional problems, like Masha's, often go ignored and untreated for years.

International adoption, child pornography, and human trafficking are multi-billion dollar industries in this country. Until we begin to create a system which honestly and meaningfully deals with the victims of these human rights abuses, children will continue to be exploited with impunity. The well worn chorus of "deny, deflect and defend" can not be allowed to drown out the voices of children who suffer in the name of adoption, privacy, child welfare or anything else.

No well-wishing or hoping or sincerely intentioned desire that some other "system" take care of these victims is adequate. Instead of a Lifetime made-for-television happy ending, victims like Masha don't just fall through the cracks; there are no cracks because there is no floor.

New York Times Censorship?

By now almost everyone has heard about the bizarre saga of renowned reporter Kurt Eichenwald and his New York Times front page rescue of teenage porn huckster Justin Berry. Oddly, over two years after it's debut, the story keeps circulating on the web and in the national news.

What isn't known about the Eichenwald-Berry saga is the curious juxtaposition with the Masha Allen story:

Consider the following statement:

“Viewing images of child porn is not essential when researching the issue," Eichenwald says. He described his research on Masha Allen, who he said at age 8 was adopted from a Russian orphanage by a pedophile, and whose repeated rapes were caught on film for four years. “Now, I haven’t seen any of them because they’re illegal. What I have seen are cropped versions, what I have seen are images where they have the images removed but you can see what’s happened,” he said.”

These “cropped versions” are rare and hard to find - there are maybe two or three on the internet. And it is far from obvious about “what’s happened” in the images. Even as Masha’s lawyer, I have not seen these images, other than those few which are publicly available online.

The time line surrounding Masha and Justin’s story raises many questions. Masha’s “cropped images” first appeared in the media on February 2, 2005 (in Canada only). Her story broke in the United States in late April 2005. After a brief but intense media frenzy the LA Times, in a major scoop engineered by Masha's mother, interviewed “the Disney World Girl” and featured her story on June 18, 2005.

The LA Times reporter, Maggie Farley, immediately moved to option Masha’s life rights. The Masha “story” – she is a much more compelling figure than Justin – quickly evaporated. Any of Eichenwald’s research into her life, including his careful consideration of her “cropped pictures,” became worthless. Not conicidentially, according to Eichenwald, Justin goes from “personal” interest to “major story” weeks later in early July 2005.

The next appearance of Masha on the media scene was December 2, 2005 when ABC Primetime aired a major interview of Masha. A worldwide media frenzy started within minutes of that show, including an eventual appearance on Oprah. Not surprisingly, Justin’s story was rushed into production in the NY Times less than two weeks later.

Is it no coincidence that the NYTimes carries no mention of Masha Allen? Not one word. Was the Masha story suppressed in order to promote Justin? Masha testified in Congress, just like Justin. In Masha’s case a major new federal law resulted. Not so for Justin. Still no word of Masha in the NYTimes even though Eichenwald himself admits that he was researching her story. Clearly they knew about her.

Is this all just a coincidence or perhaps more media favoritism (ie., suppressing the “real news” for sensationalist pseudo-news?) Many more questions, even fewer answers.

Masha's Story - The Reaction Continues

Disney World Girl

Disney World Girl, earlier known as Internet Girl or Internet Porn Girl, is the term originally used for a young girl named Masha who appeared in over 200 sexually explicit images, usually under the name "vicky," that circulated for several years among pedophiles on the Internet. Police feared she was still being abused in the manner depicted.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - read the full post here . . .

From Marly Greiner's EXCELLENT blog:

It's All About Me! A PAP Response to Masha

Masha Update

Masha Testifies Before Congress: "No one from any of the adoption agencies ever came to check on me"

Pound Pup's Demons in Adoption Awards

Ethics and Accountability Conference: Meet and Greet the Bloggers

From Desiriee and Usha Smolin's EXCELLENT blog:

Masha Allen Congressional Transcripts Available

From Mirah Riben's EXCELLENT blog:

CALL FOR ACTION: Help Masha Allen - Stop Additional Abuse!

From Baby Love Child's EXCELLENT blog:

Masha

From Law Professor David Smolin:

Child Laundering as Exploitation: Applying Anti-Trafficking Norms to Intercountry Adoption under the coming Hague Regime

Masha's Story Reaction

MASHA SPEAKS--THE ADOPTION INDUSTRY BUNKERS IN: "DISNEY WORLD GIRL" AND THE SHAME OF COMPLICITY

Holy Who's Your Daddy! Should we be surprised that the National Council for Adoption--or at least its member agencies and adoptocrat friends in high places--have spearheaded a campaign to censor the scheduled December 1 ABC Primetime feature on the Russian adoptee known as "Disney World Girl" who was grossly sexually abused by her "forever father"?

From The Daily Bastardette - read the full post here . . .

Masha’s Story

Tomorrow night an extraordinary and unprecedented story will air on ABC Primetime about my client, a Russian orphan girl who was adopted by an American pedophile.

When millionaire Matthew A. Mancuso adopted five year old Masha from a Russian orphanage, she had already lived a tragic life. Stabbed by her drunken mother at age three, Masha hoped for a better life in the United States. Instead she was sent to live near Pittsburgh with a pedophile who had a long history of abusing young girls. During the next five years, Mancuso sexually assaulted Masha almost daily while slowly starving her to keep her body thin and childlike. Some of the abuse was photographed, both at their home in Plum Borough and at Disney World. Mancuso traded many of these hard core images on the internet which is how the FBI caught him and rescued Masha.

The ABC Primetime report chronicles Masha’s adoption from a small industrial city in the south of Russia to her new home in the outskirts of Pittsburgh and questions many events that could have stopped the depraved abuse, including why no one from the adoption agency ever visited Masha in her new home and why Mancuso’s ex-wife and grown daughter were never interviewed about his past. The later could have exposed the claims of his biological daughter that she, too, was sexually abused as a child.

Masha, who was adopted by another family, says she is speaking out now at the age of 13 “because I think that it’s wrong what he did. And this is happening so often now. And a lot of times nobody ever tells anybody. Some kids just give up. And they don’t have any faith.”

Recently Mancuso was sentenced to a minimum of 35 years in prison on top of 15 years from a federal conviction. He could face more time in Florida, including the death penalty, for the crimes he committed in a Disney World hotel room.

During the past month there was an organized effort by the international adoption phalanx to silence this story, and to deny and cover up the actions of the agencies which facilitated this adoption and Masha’s abuse. These “Cowards in Adoption” despise the truth, dismiss the victim and defend their entrenched pecuniary interests. Tomorrow they will start answering, both in the court of public opinion and ultimately in a court of law, for their reprobate acts, careless omissions and willful ignorance.

Tomorrow night’s shocking account is simply the first chapter of Masha’s unimaginable story.

Child Trafficking and International Adoption

Following the recent devastating earthquake, and concerned about the potential for child trafficking, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz ordered that all earthquake orphans be registered and taken into government care. None of them would be put up for adoption.

In a grotesque way, international child trafficking and international adoption seem to have much in common, but one is an evil disease and the other is a welcome cure. The legitimate international adoption system may, in rare instances, be the vehicle through which trafficking takes place. Despite our best efforts to safeguard the system, the child traffickers, like criminals everywhere, will use legitimate channels to accomplish their ends. Because they are sometimes successful, does this mean we should shut down international adoptions? Certainly not.

Child trafficking is an affront to any definition of human rights. According to UNICEF, approximately 1.2 million children are trafficked every year. The International Labor Organization believes that 12.3 million people are enslaved in forced labor, bonded labor, forced child labor, sexual servitude, and involuntary servitude at any given time.

A recent UNICEF report catalogs trafficking information from 53 African countries. It analyzes “the patterns, root causes, and existing national and regional policy responses and effective practices.” It concludes that trafficking occurs when “a child's protective environment collapses from such things as conflict, economic hardship, and discrimination.” These same explanations justify why international adoptions are so necessary!

When an unwanted child anywhere in the world is spared a devastating, neglected life, the well intentioned adoptive parents, no matter where they reside, are doing an act of great love and kindness. Let’s continue to do our part in helping legitimate adoptive parents and agencies provide a loving home to a lonely child.

Guest commentary by

Daniel Pollack, MSW, JD

Professor at Yeshiva University’s School of Social Work in NYC

Senior Fellow, Center for Adoption Research,

University of Massachusetts Medical School

Dan can be contacted at (212) 960-0836

Individual Liability of Social Work Supervisors

Supervisors are often named as defendants in lawsuits even though they have no direct involvement in the event itself. Individuals alleging discrimination or other wrongful behavior in the workplace frequently sue both the agency and their supervisors. Such allegations may be made because plaintiffs seek to impute the supervisors’ actions to the agency. Notwithstanding such allegations, claims may also be made against supervisors in their individual capacities.

Some state and federal laws prohibit plaintiffs from suing their supervisor in their individual capacity. In other circumstances, personal liability is a realistic result. For instance, there are numerous federal statutes barring discrimination and other wrongful actions against individuals in the employment context: the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ("ADA"); Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII"); the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 ("ADEA"); the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (the "FLSA"); and the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 (the "FMLA").

Each state has similar legislation – and this just covers the area of employment discrimination! Other statues address defamation (slander and libel), intentional infliction of emotional distress, and intentional interference with contractual relations.

A number of federal and state courts have held that certain conduct will support claims against human services defendants in their individual capacity. However, they have struggled, and differ, over the exact parameters of the covered conduct. Still very much undecided is the nature of action or inaction which will form a basis for such liability. Some of these decisions have explored the exact reach of the statute, while others have merely decided the matter with little or no discussion.

Consequently, you should take appropriate steps to protect yourself from personal liability and to help your fellow supervisors in your agency do the same.

No matter how careful you are lawsuits can be brought against even the most vigilant supervisor. There are certain steps to avoid or limit your liability. Of prime importance is to understand the different kinds of claims that can be brought, and avoid behavior which may be fertile ground for filing a lawsuit. You don't have to spend thousands of dollars to take the following preventive measures:

1. Listen to your conscience. Be mindful of your own actions and those of your supervisees. Even if you are personally blameless in a moral sense, your oversight of what occurs around you and under your supervision may, at a future time, be alleged as the basis for your liability.

2. Adhere to your policies. Do you need clarifications or interpretations of your agency’s policies? Do you in fact have a policy manual? The failure to have written policies is an open invitation to the allegation that no policy existed or that the policy was different than you claim. You may need to approach your supervisor or counsel to confirm or even formulate written policy on important matters.

3. Stay updated. State and federal laws change daily. Policies that were legal or “best practice” one month may later subject you to claims of personal liability.

4. Consult with your supervisor, agency attorney, and colleagues. Doing so will confirm that you did not act in a unilateral, impulsive way.

5. Keep records. As a supervisor, you should keep written documentation pertaining to all major decisions and the reasons for those actions. In the event a lawsuit is initiated, it may not be resolved for years. Consequently, you may need to refer back to these records. Make sure your documents are detailed and complete.

6. Stay cool. If you are sued, immediately seek legal counsel. This person may not be the same as the counsel for the agency. Continue to communicate with your counsel after your initial contacts. Update your attorney on developments as they occur.

There are many potential defenses to individual liability. Among others, they include:

Contributory Negligence -- this is where you can show that the plaintiff was also negligent, and contributed to their own injury or damage.

Comparative Negligence -- this is when the court decides on a percentage split (say 60-40) in terms of who is negligent. This defense tends to mitigate, or reduce the size of the monetary award.

Assumption of Risk -- this is when the court decides that the plaintiff engaged in behaviors that assumed the risk of damages or injuries, and cannot expect to sue the human service agency to recover.

Good faith, Absolute or Qualified Immunity -- this is a defense covering duties of a discretionary nature.

In human services, the doctrine of individual liability is clearly expanding in some jurisdictions. It’s still an exclusive club, but you don’t want to become a member!

This commentary originally appeared in Policy & Practice,

(September, 2005), 63 (3), 26.

Guest commentary by

Daniel Pollack, MSW, JD

Professor at Yeshiva University’s School of Social Work in NYC and

Senior Fellow, Center for Adoption Research,

University of Massachusetts Medical School

Dan can be contacted at (212) 960-0836.