From another ng. No URL.

Feb 3, 2004 6:53 pm US/Eastern
(1010 WINS) (CLARK, NJ) A couple has been charged with forcing their
13-year-old foster daughter to take meals to a dead man's room even
though they knew the man had passed away, prosecutors said.

Police were called to the house in August and an autopsy determined
that the 82-year-old man had been dead for several weeks in the room
where the girl was sent every day with food.

Kenneth and Donna Keaveney were charged Tuesday with child cruelty and
elder neglect following a five-month investigation, Union County
Prosecutor Theodore J. Romankow said.

"They both knew the grandfather had passed away and was rotting to the
point where the house reeked of death," Romankow said.

The decaying remains of Donna Keaveney's father, Nicola Lombardi, were
found Aug. 28.

The 13-year-old and two other foster children, ages 11 and 4, who were
living in the house, were immediately removed by the state Division of
Youth and Family Services, said Andy Williams, a spokesman for the
agency.

Assistant Prosecutor Robert O'Leary said the girl did not tell anyone
about the situation.

The Keaveneys had been foster parents for almost five years, Williams
said. It was not known how long the three foster children were living
at the home before the body was found.

The Keaveneys were scheduled to make their first court appearance on
the charges next week. O'Leary said the couple did not yet have a
lawyer.

No one answered the door at the Keaveney home, even though a
late-model Mercury SUV was parked in the driveway Tuesday evening.

Bill Megee, a 60-year-old retired electrician who lives next door to
the Keaveneys in the solidly middle-class neighborhood, said the
couple moved in to the blue, split-level home about 10 years ago with
Lombardi and his wife. But the wife was killed in an auto accident
four or five years ago, Megee said, and the family underwent drastic
changes afterward.

Megee said he sometimes heard Kenneth Keaveneys ridiculing the older
man. "You could hear his yelling and screaming, 'your father stinks --
can't you give him a shower?' " They treated Lombardi badly, the
neighbor said.

Megee said for a day or two before the body was discovered, he noticed
a stench coming from his neighbors' house. "I told my wife, 'there is
something dead out here,"' he said believing it was probably the
rotting corpse of an animal.

The troubling case is the latest involving children under the care of
DYFS. A Collingswood couple was charged in October with starving their
four adopted children.

That case caused outrage after DYFS officials said a caseworker was
supposed to have been visiting the Collingswood home on a regular
basis yet made no report that anything was wrong with the children.

Troubles at the agency previously had led officials to order a safety
assessment of every one of the thousands of children under foster care
in the state last year. Williams said it was not known if the Keaveney
home had been visited as part of those assessments.

James Davy, the newly appointed human services commissioner, called
the assessments into question last month and ordered that about half
of them be repeated with DYFS caseworkers under the supervision of
independent supervisors.

Kevin Ryan, the state's new Child Advocate, said the case in Clark
"once again raises very profound questions about the safety
assessments and whether children in foster care are safe. We intend to
address that as part of our report that we plan to release to the
public later this month."

What is interesting about this post is the fact that this is the time period
where NJ stated they were sending cw's to every home to examine problems in
foster care.

This is the same time period that Childrensrights.org forced re-examination of
all foster homes, based on the starvation death of one of the twins in Newark,
NJ.

And folks may remember that they starved, adopted 4 boys were also visited (as
they supposedly had been 38x previously, since the Collingswood couple was in
pre-adoptive status evaluation phase for approval to adopt a girl).

Apparently another egregious case of abuse missed. How could the stench be
missed? Especially in the summer?


Thanks.

Marley found:
Subject: Waiting on a corpse--foste rcare contentFrom: "Marley Greiner" maddogmarley@worldnet.att.netDate: 2/3/2004 9:05 PM Eastern Standard TimeMessage-id: <ErYTb.170801$6y6.3334310@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net>From another ng. No URL.Feb 3, 2004 6:53 pm US/Eastern(1010 WINS) (CLARK, NJ) A couple has been charged with forcing their13-year-old foster daughter to take meals to a dead man's room eventhough they knew the man had passed away, prosecutors said.Police were called to the house in August and an autopsy determinedthat the 82-year-old man had been dead for several weeks in the roomwhere the girl was sent every day with food.Kenneth and Donna Keaveney were charged Tuesday with child cruelty andelder neglect following a five-month investigation, Union CountyProsecutor Theodore J. Romankow said."They both knew the grandfather had passed away and was rotting to thepoint where the house reeked of death," Romankow said.The decaying remains of Donna Keaveney's father, Nicola Lombardi, werefound Aug. 28.The 13-year-old and two other foster children, ages 11 and 4, who wereliving in the house, were immediately removed by the state Division ofYouth and Family Services, said Andy Williams, a spokesman for theagency.Assistant Prosecutor Robert O'Leary said the girl did not tell anyoneabout the situation.The Keaveneys had been foster parents for almost five years, Williamssaid. It was not known how long the three foster children were livingat the home before the body was found.The Keaveneys were scheduled to make their first court appearance onthe charges next week. O'Leary said the couple did not yet have alawyer.No one answered the door at the Keaveney home, even though alate-model Mercury SUV was parked in the driveway Tuesday evening.Bill Megee, a 60-year-old retired electrician who lives next door tothe Keaveneys in the solidly middle-class neighborhood, said thecouple moved in to the blue, split-level home about 10 years ago withLombardi and his wife. But the wife was killed in an auto accidentfour or five years ago, Megee said, and the family underwent drasticchanges afterward.Megee said he sometimes heard Kenneth Keaveneys ridiculing the olderman. "You could hear his yelling and screaming, 'your father stinks --can't you give him a shower?' " They treated Lombardi badly, theneighbor said.Megee said for a day or two before the body was discovered, he noticeda stench coming from his neighbors' house. "I told my wife, 'there issomething dead out here,"' he said believing it was probably therotting corpse of an animal.The troubling case is the latest involving children under the care ofDYFS. A Collingswood couple was charged in October with starving theirfour adopted children.That case caused outrage after DYFS officials said a caseworker wassupposed to have been visiting the Collingswood home on a regularbasis yet made no report that anything was wrong with the children.Troubles at the agency previously had led officials to order a safetyassessment of every one of the thousands of children under foster carein the state last year. Williams said it was not known if the Keaveneyhome had been visited as part of those assessments.James Davy, the newly appointed human services commissioner, calledthe assessments into question last month and ordered that about halfof them be repeated with DYFS caseworkers under the supervision ofindependent supervisors.Kevin Ryan, the state's new Child Advocate, said the case in Clark"once again raises very profound questions about the safetyassessments and whether children in foster care are safe. We intend toaddress that as part of our report that we plan to release to thepublic later this month."