Opinion ID: 3026511
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Porchia

Text: In late 1999, Tiffany Bennett and her daughters began living periodically with Dale Geiger. Porchia was born on July 7, 2000. The Bennett sisters were exposed to unsuitable, unstable living conditions and to unfit care givers. For example, Jayson Chambers, a convicted child sex offender, was a babysitter for the Bennett sisters. Beginning in the fall of 2002, Tiffany Bennett paid Jerry Chambers, who suffered from a schizoaffective bipolar type disorder and a history of drug and alcohol abuse, fifty to eighty dollars per week to look after her children. With rare visits from their mother, the four Bennett sisters lived with Jerry Chambers and his girlfriend, Candace Geiger, who was Tiffany Bennett’s younger sister. Through its telephone hotline, DHS received a report at 7:25 p.m. on August 14, 2003 that Jerry Chambers beat the 6 Bennett sisters.4 The hotline report was classified as a General Protective Services report, which applies to allegations of neglect, and a DHS social worker was required to respond within twenty-four hours. During the morning of August 15, 2003, DHS social worker Joe Maiden was assigned to investigate the hotline report. Maiden reported that he visited the Bennett sisters’ home twice on August 16, 2003, leaving a note at the first visit, and once on August 17, 2003, but he never got a response at the door. The facts surrounding Maiden’s response to the hotline report are disputed, but the parties agree that Maiden did not respond as he reported in his case progress notes. On August 17, 2003 at approximately 1 p.m., emergency personnel rushed a brutally beaten Porchia to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. Alexus described the events leading to Porchia’s death as follows. SHE STATED THAT ON SATURDAY PORTIA [sic] GOT A BEATING FROM JERRY WITH AN EXTENSION CORD. SHE STATED THAT PORTIA’S [sic] WOUNDS WERE SO SEVERE THAT SHE COULD NOT LAY DOWN AND GO TO SLEEP. JERRY BEAT HER AGAIN FOR MAKING NOISE. HE PICKED HER UP AND SLAMMED HER TO THE FLOOR IN THE 4 The DHS Report Referral Data Narrative, which refers to Chambers as “Smokie,” reads: RFRL REPORTER ALLEGED THAT “SMOKIE” (FAT) BEATS THE CHILDREN LIKE THEY ARE MEN. ACCORDING TO THE REPORTER FAT HANDS ARE SWOLLEN FROM BEATING ON THE CHILDREN. FAT MAKES THE GIRLS STAY IN THE HOUSE ALL THE TIME. REPORTER STATED THAT RECENTLY SHE SAW THE OLDEST GIRL COME TO THE DOOR AND SHE HAD A SWOLLEN EYE. HOWEVER, REPORTER HAS NEVER SEEN OR HEARD THE CHILDREN BEING BEAT. 7 CORNER. HE TOLD HER TO STAND UP IN THE CORNER ALL NIGHT BUT THE SLAM TO THE FLOOR HAD INJURED HER LEG AND SHE COULD NOT STAND UP. HE THEN CHOKED AND KICKED HER. SHE STATED THAT THEY ALL WENT TO SLEEP AND IN THE MORNING THEY FOUND PORTIS [sic] WEDGED BETWEEN THE MATTRESS AND THE RADIATOR. “WE COULD NOT WAKE HER.” Porchia’s cause of death was listed as multiple blunt trauma, asphyxia and inanition.5 Porchia’s autopsy revealed malnourishment, laceration of the liver, “[m]ultiple blunt force injuries to the head, chest, abdomen, back and extremities,” and “[m]ultiple scars and healing injuries of varying ages from past episodes of blunt force injuries to head, trunk and extremities.” Alexus, Aliyaha and Priscilla were admitted to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (“CHOP”), and they were given admission and discharge diagnoses of child abuse. Alexus had facial injuries, a fractured eye socket, bruised and swollen eyes, scabbed-over back lesions, and scars on her buttocks. Aliyaha and Priscilla also had scars, lesions, and bruises. F. The Aftermath from the Bennett Sisters’ Tragedy In relation to Porchia’s death, Jerry Chambers was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death and seventy-three to one hundred forty-six years in prison. Candace Geiger was convicted of third-degree murder and sentenced to seventeen to thirty-four years in prison. Tiffany Bennett was 5 Inanition “covers not getting enough food; or in very stressed infants, even if they get enough food and they are forced to digest it, they just don’t derive any nourishment from it. It’s a peculiar condition, well recognized in neglected and abused infants and children.” Young children “have to receive emotional support and feel safe; and when they don’t, you tend to see this phenomena of wasting away. We call that inanition, for want of a better term.” 8 convicted of conspiracy and endangering the welfare of her children, and she was sentenced to twenty to forty years in prison. A DHS Employee Violation Report was filed on Maiden for his activities related to the Bennett hotline report. The report stated that Maiden was being disciplined for failing to make reasonable efforts to access the Bennetts’ home, for failing to notify his supervisors that he did not make the required home visit within twenty-four hours, and for making false and misleading representations regarding his response to the hotline report. Maiden resigned before DHS could proceed with its disciplinary process. Since August 2003, Alexus, Aliyaha and Priscilla have required a variety of mental health services, and they remain severely traumatized.