Opinion ID: 2977383
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Investigation of Alleged Abuse

Text: In May 1992, Connolly and Linda Stiles (“Stiles”) lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan with their son and three daughters. On May 22, 1992, during a routine pre-school assessment interview, a school readiness counselor asked one of Connolly’s daughters, who was four years old, what her No. 04-2075 father does. The girl answered, “[h]e gets up in the middle of the night.” The counselor asked, “[t]o go to work?” The girl responded no, and when asked again what her father does, she said, “[p]uts his middle finger in my butt.” (J.A. at 48) When asked if her father hurt her, she nodded. The counselor reported the girl’s statements to the Kent County Office of Child Protective Services (“Protective Services”). Debra Benner (“Benner”) investigated the matter for Protective Services, and Christine Karpowicz (“Karpowicz”), an officer with the Grand Rapids Police Department, investigated as well. Upon learning that the girl was scheduled for a pre-kindergarten medical examination, Benner asked the girl’s physician to give her a gynecological exam. The exam took place on June 8, 1992. The physician reported that the girl had a one to two millimeter tear in her anus, and that while the tear was consistent with sexual abuse, it could also have resulted from other causes, including constipation. Stiles did not view the exam as corroborating the girl’s allegation, because the doctor estimated that the tear was only two to three days old, and Stiles had kept Connolly away from the children since the allegations first surfaced on May 22. Benner interviewed the girl, who told Benner that “Daddy comes in bedroom” and “[d]oes something naughty,” and, when asked if it was good or bad when her father hugged her, she said, “bad.” (J.A. at 49) Benner also interviewed the girl’s six-year-old brother, who said that “there was no way” his sister’s allegation was true. (J.A. at 49) On June 8, 1992, Benner interviewed Stiles, who told Benner that Connolly had been accused in 1983 of sexually abusing a four-year-old. Stiles also told Benner that “if anyone sexually abused the kids, it would have to be their father,” since he was the only one that ever watched them besides her. (J.A. at 50) 2 No. 04-2075 Benner then interviewed Connolly, who told her that he had been in prison fourteen years earlier for attempting to rape a twenty-year old girl in 1978. Connolly said that he attempted to rape the twenty-year-old because he was on drugs at the time. Connolly acknowledged the child molestation accusation from 1983 and volunteered that he had actually been accused of molesting two four-year-olds at the time, but said that he had passed polygraph tests with respect to both incidents. He also volunteered that he had twice beaten Stiles, but that he was not aware he had done so until the following mornings and attributed his lack of awareness to alcohol. Connolly told Benner he was scheduled to take a polygraph test on July 9, 1992 in regard to his daughter’s allegation. Benner learned from Karpowicz that the polygraph test Connolly took on July 9, 1992 was inconclusive. Karpowicz also told Benner that Connolly had not passed either of the polygraph tests he took in 1983 with regard to the earlier sexual abuse allegations. Benner asked Karpowicz for documentation of the tests, but never received any. In January 1993, Benner wrote a report detailing her investigation, in which she concluded that she could not substantiate the alleged sexual abuse. She consequently closed Protective Services’ investigation into the matter. In October 1993, Karpowicz submitted to the prosecutor’s office her police report from her own investigation into the allegation. On November 11, 1993, Karpowicz requested that Protective Services re-open its investigation into the case. A different investigator at Protective Services concluded his investigation in January 1994, finding contradictions between Benner’s findings and Karpowicz’ police report. 3 No. 04-2075