WILMINGTON – Earlier today, Delaware Lt. Governor Matt Denn and Deputy Attorney General Patricia Dailey Lewis, Director – Family Division, presented “Unfinished Business: Implementation By Delaware Public Schools Of The State’s 2012 Anti-Bullying Laws.”

This report is the first issued since the General Assembly passed two new laws related to bullying in the state’s public schools in 2012 – Senate Bill 193 (cyberbullying) and House Bill 268 (reporting).

The anti-bullying effort, spearheaded jointly by Lt. Governor Matt Denn and Attorney General Beau Biden, aimed to improve on existing laws created to protect every student.

A few basic conclusions from the report:

•  Public school districts, with few exceptions, have complied with the provisions of the state’s new cyberbullying laws and regulations.  The majority of charter schools are not yet in compliance.
• There remains significant variation in the diligence with which schools make reports to the parents of victims and perpetrators in bullying incidents. 
• The most prevalent reported causes of bullying in Delaware public schools are students’ physical appearance, student disability, and student gender identity. 

Held at Springer Middle, a school known for their impressive anti-bullying culture, the Lt. Governor and DAG Dailey Lewis were joined by Brandywine School District Superintendent Dr. Mark Holodick and Assistant Superintendent Dorrell Green, DSEA President Frederika Jenner, Department of Education School Climate and Discipline Associate John Sadowski, Roberta Gealt from the University of Delaware Center for Drug & Alcohol Studies, and representatives from Delaware PTA, Delaware Bullying Prevention Association, Prevent Child Abuse Delaware, Developmental Disabilities Council.

“”We hope that this report serves as a reminder to our schools of the importance of following the state’s new bullying laws,” said Lt. Governor Matt Denn.  “Bullying remains a real problem in our schools, and we need all of our schools to treat it seriously.”

“Children need safe, secure environments in schools where they can focus on learning,” said Patricia Dailey Lewis, who is the director of Attorney General Biden’s Family Division. “Bullying prevents kids from learning and can leave lifelong emotional scars. The legislation that Attorney General Biden and Lt. Gov. Denn developed in 2012 was designed to increase the reporting of bullying incidents so parents and educators can intervene. Schools are making significant progress, but there is still a lot more work ahead of us.”

DOVER – Delawareans will be able to validate charities soliciting in the state before they donate under legislation that is moving through the General Assembly.

House Bill 187, which was drafted by Attorney General Beau Biden’s Consumer Protection Unit and sponsored by Rep. Ed Osienski, Rep. Helene Keeley and Sen. Bryan Townsend, will be considered Wednesday in the House of Representatives’ Economic Development, Banking, Insurance and Commerce Committee.

The measure was drafted with the support of the Delaware Alliance for Non-Profit Advancement and many of the state’s largest charitable organizations.

The bill requires most non-profit and charitable organizations soliciting donations in Delaware to register with the Consumer Protection Unit and annually submit their IRS 990 tax forms as well undergo periodic financial audits, depending on the size of the organization. Additionally, the bill serves to provide oversight of professional fundraisers and solicitors and their associations with charitable organizations.

Biden’s office will maintain a publicly available and searchable database so Delawareans can check to see if a charity is legitimate before donating. The database will also provide additional information about the organization’s charitable purpose and how the organization spends its donated funds.

“There are many wonderful charities in Delaware doing amazing work,” Biden said. “Unfortunately, there are fraud schemes run by criminals who try to prey on Delawareans’ generosity. Our Consumer Protection Unit regularly receives complaints about fraudulent organizations. This bill will give our prosecutors an important new tool to fight fraud.”

Registration fees paid by organizations will fund the database and the necessary Department of Justice staff to maintain the database, monitor the financial audits and pursue violators. The fees range from $10 to $100 depending on the size and type of the organization. Professional fundraisers and solicitors will also have filing fees and certain bonding requirements to provide additional safeguards.

Between 1,000 and 2,500 charitable organizations are expected to be required to register with the state under the bill.

Last year, the IRS reported that one of the most-prevalent fraud schemes of 2013 was charitable fraud.

“There are dozens of charitable organizations that help Delawareans of all walks of life that rely on the generosity of others to continue their good works,” said Rep. Ed Osienski, D-Newark, whose district includes the Food Bank of Delaware. “When someone is considering donating their hard-earned dollars, they should be able to quickly find out whether an organization or cause is legit. This bill is an important tool to fight and root out fraud and allow Delawareans to donate with confidence to charitable groups.”

Supporters believe the new law will give Delawareans increased confidence that the charities they donate to are lawful and making good use of the donations. That increased confidence could lead to increased giving.

Delaware ranks 39th in the country, according to the IRS, in annual charitable donations by its citizens. Organizations exempted from the bill include political organizations, civic associations, religious entities, educational organizations and other groups that are exempt under the IRS Code.

“DANA has worked closely with the Attorney General’s office on the ‘Charitable Solicitation Registration Bill’ since its inception several years ago. They have been very responsive and supportive in finding solutions to the concerns we raised on behalf of the nonprofit sector. We are greatly appreciative of their efforts, and look forward to continuing to work with them on the implementation process once the bill is passed,” said Chris Grundner, President and CEO of Delaware Alliance for Nonprofit Advancement (DANA).

###

Wilmington – Attorney General Beau Biden today announced that Robert Hohn and Shannon Watterson, a Newark couple, have received multi-year prison sentences for abusing and neglecting one of their children, a 12 year-old son, over a three-month period last fall.

“The lengthy sentences we sought and that were imposed upon these defendants today reflect the significant harm caused by child abuse and neglect and they send a clear message to child abusers that you will face significant consequences for your crimes,” Biden said today.

Hohn, then age 42, and Watterson, then age 40, of the 100 block of Brookside Boulevard in Newark, were arrested on November 28, 2012 by New Castle County Police and charged with child abuse after a police investigation revealed that their son had been physically abused and become malnourished after they locked him in his bedroom for a three-month period, causing serious physical injury by failing to feed him regularly, neglecting to provide medical care, and failing to enroll the child in an adequate educational curriculum.  In addition, both were charged with Endangering the Welfare of a Child for committing child abuse and/or assault against the child in the presence of three other children who were living in the home.  The police investigation was initiated after the victim escaped from his home and responded to the residence of a neighbor, who contacted police.

This morning, New Castle County Superior Court Judge M. Jane Brady sentenced Shannon Watterson to five years and one month in prison and sentenced Robert Hohn, IV to six years and one month in prison.  In addition, Judge Brady ordered both defendants, while incarcerated, to spend 10 days in solitary confinement each year beginning on November 28, the date of their arrest.  She also ordered the pair to have no contact with the son who was the victim of their abuse and ordered them to have no contact with the three other children who lived in the household at the time of their arrest unless approved by Family Court.

Hohn and Watterson were indicted on multiple charges in March, 2013 and both pled guilty to one count of Assault 2^nd Degree and one count of Endangering the Welfare of a Child in September, 2013.  Both defendants have been incarcerated in lieu of $282,500 cash bail since their arrest.

Biden reported that his office has closely monitored the welfare of the abused son who, now at 13 years-old, is happy and well cared for.  “The vast majority of abused children are victimized by parents or others who have responsibility for their care,” Biden added.  “It’s not a child’s responsibility to protect him- or herself, it’s ours and I urge all adults who suspect that a child is being abused or neglected to fulfill their legal and moral duty by contacting the Delaware Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-292-9582.”

# # #

As a result of the ongoing Child Predator Task Force investigation, on November 25 the Attorney General’s office secured the 144-count indictment from the New Castle County Grand Jury.  It charges Figura with 71 counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Child for producing child pornography between 1998 and 2007, and 71 counts of Dealing in Child Pornography for compiling and/or distributing those files.  In addition, the indictment charges Figura with 1 count each of Rape 2^nd Degree and Unlawful Sexual Contact for physically assaulting two of these young victims in 2007.

Figura has remained incarcerated on $1.5 million cash bail since his December 19, 2012 arrest.  A booking image from his 2012 arrest is attached.  Read the December, 2012 press release announcing Figura’s arrest on child pornography charges at https://news.delaware.gov/2012/12/20/newark-man-charged-with-distributing-child-pornography/.

The Delaware Department of Justice reminds the public that an indictment is merely an allegation and is not evidence of guilt. Defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a jury trial at which the State bears the burden of proving each charge beyond a reasonable doubt.

Biden also announced that this morning, James Davis, who pled guilty to four counts of Dealing in Child Pornography on September 25, 2013, was sentenced by Kent County Superior Court Judge Robert B. Young to 8 years in prison.  Davis, age 50, of Magnolia, was arrested by the Delaware State Police on October 18, 2012 on multiple counts of Dealing in Child Pornography.  The ongoing investigation ultimately revealed that Davis maintained a collection of more than 1,000 images of child pornography on his computers and other digital storage devices.

# # #

Delaware AG signs onto multistate brief filed with U.S. Supreme Court

Wilmington – Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden has joined 33 of his colleagues in arguing to the U.S. Supreme Court that federal law allows victims of child pornography to recover full financial restitution from predators who produce, posses, or trade sexually explicit images of children.

“Child abuse, especially abuse related to child pornography, can have significant and long-lasting effects,” said Biden, who as Attorney General created the state’s Child Predator Task Force to track down and arrest those seeking to prey on kids, and successfully pushed for increased penalties for the possession of child pornography. “Victims deserve full restitution to help them recover.  It is the right thing to do and we believe it is the law.”

The Attorneys General made their argument in a “friend of the Court” brief filed Wednesday in the U.S. Supreme Court case Paroline v. Amy Unknown, urging the nation’s highest court to uphold a 2012 federal appellate court ruling that ordered a convicted child pornographer to pay restitution to a victim depicted in images he possessed.  In the case before the Court, the victim was raped as a young girl by her uncle who took photos of the abuse and traded the pornographic images online with others, including Doyle Randall Paroline.  Paroline pled guilty in 2009 in federal court to one count of possession of material involving the sexual exploitation of children and was sentenced to two years in prison. Among the images of child pornography found on Paroline’s computers were those depicting Amy’s sexual abuse, and Amy’s counsel sought financial restitution from the defendant.  That request was denied by federal District Court but, on appeal, the U.S Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that Amy was entitled to full financial restitution from Paroline under the federal Mandatory Restitution for Sexual Exploitation of Children Act of 1994.  The Supreme Court is currently considering Paroline’s appeal of this ruling.

Images depicting child sexual abuse are often traded through online networks for months or years after they are produced, contributing to significant and ongoing harm to victims and extended treatment.  Restitution can help recover an array of these costs, including medical care, psychological care, other therapy and rehabilitation, housing, lost income, transportation and child care.  The courts have rarely awarded victims of child pornography full restitution, often finding that the victims cannot prove exactly what losses resulted from an individual pornographer’s actions.  Biden and his fellow Attorneys General believe that the federal law has clear language mandating full restitution by predators who victimize and re-victimize children.

The states signing the brief, in addition to Delaware, are: Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, , Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington State, West Virginia, and Wyoming, and the Territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands.

# # #