Child Abuse Hotline Ignored Calls On Phoebe Jonchuck, Girl Thrown Over Bridge By Dad

Just 12 hours before police say a man threw his 5-year-old daughter to her death off a Tampa Bay bridge last month, his own attorney called Florida’s child abuse hotline, warning that his client was suffering from mental delusions. But the hotline operator didn’t refer the call to investigators because she didn’t think the child was in danger, according to documents released by Florida child welfare officials Monday.

One week earlier, another worried caller told the Department of Children and Families that Jonchuck’s daughter Phoebe had been physically abused in the past. But that call also failed to get to DCF investigators because the operator hung up before she got John Jonchuck’s address. Instead of calling back, she simply closed the case, according to the state’s investigation.

The lapses have cast the already troubled DCF in a harsh spotlight, prompting new Secretary Mike Carroll to change hotline protocol. Going forward, if a caregiver seems to be experiencing a psychotic episode, a child protective investigator will be required to visit within four hours.

Investigators also seemed more focused on whether Phoebe and her siblings’ basic needs were being met, instead of addressing the histories of domestic violence, mental health, and substance abuse issues in the home, according to the report. DCF investigators have struggled over the years to look at the big picture in several other high profile child abuse deaths.

A call in June of 2013 first brought child investigators to the Jonchuck home where they closed the case, agreeing that family violence threatened Phoebe. Jonchuck was arrested as a result of the call after an altercation with Phoebe’s mother. He and Phoebe later moved out of the home, but Monday’s report noted that no services or interventions were put in place.

The Huffington Post