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Saturday, May 30, 2015

Ex-Police Chief Who Molested Adopted Children Gets Only 50 Days In Prison

What started as a tragically common report of a missing teenager, turned out to be a far more sinister saga with a conclusion so bereft of justice, it attests to all but irrefutable proof of law enforcement impunity. In case after case, incidents of undeniable police brutality and murder become opportunities for public victim-blaming; and when no punishment is wrought on the perpetrators, that blame turns to self-righteous indignation. Because law enforcement is infallible, right?
A 13-year-old boy was reported missing the evening of November 5, 2012 in Habersham County Georgia, but when located the following morning, authorities quickly realized he wasn’t another disgruntled runaway. Sheriff Joey Terrell discovered marks and bruising on the boy’s neck and back inconsistent with spending one night outdoors, and the teen subsequently explained they were the result of being “hit on” at home. After child welfare advocates interviewed the boy, authorities were dispatched to arrest his mother, father, and 17-year-old sister.
“The statement from the parents was that his sister hit him with a ruler and that’s why he left [home],” explained the Sheriff, and so Jamie Lynn Burton was “charged with aggravated assault, cruelty to children in the second degree and terroristic threats and acts.” Richard Scott Burton, his father, who was 49 at the time, was initially charged with four counts of cruelty to children in the second degree and obstruction, and his mother Cheryle Lynn Burton, 50 at the time of arrest, faced four counts of cruelty to children in the second degree as well as influencing a witness. All other siblings were then placed in state custody with the help of the Dept of Children and Family Services. As more sickening details emerged, it quickly became apparent the initial charges were wholly inadequate.
“As they went through counseling, they opened up,” Terrell said. Indeed they did.

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