Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Important Presentation - Save the date!

This Thursday, February 26, 2009:

The Children's Collaborative Action Team (CCAT), of the San Mateo County Child Abuse Prevention Council is putting on a FREE presentation discussing the need for citizens to take responsibility in reporting offenders, and experiences with reporting abuse in the william hamilton ayres case will be part of the discussion.

Please go to the CCAT website for the details, contact and R.S.V.P. information.
Follow the link below, and then click on the "click for more info" link in the box on the right hand side of the page.

http://www.smcccat.org/index.html

Date: Thursday, February 26, 2009
Time: 6-8 PM
Location: Human Services Agency, 400 Harbor Blvd. Bldg B, Belmont CA


CCAT FREE Community Presentation
CITIZEN WHISTLEBLOWERS:
TAKING ACTION WHEN NO ONE ELSE WILL

Join CCAT for a FREE evening presentation by Victoria Balfour, Investigative Journalist and citizens advocate whose articles have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Time Magazine and many other publications and Jane Smithson (see NOTE below), Attorney at Law and Mandated Reporter Trainer, San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties.


From her own firsthand advocacy experience in the Dr. Ayres case, Balfour will offer her views on:

*Why it's important for parents to take their children's confidences seriously

*The damage done to children when they keep devastating secrets to themselves

*Options for parents who want justice for their children

*Working with law enforcement agencies when you're trying to make your voice heard


NOTE:
Due to unforeseen circumstances, Jane Smithson will not be moderating. Standing in for her will be Patricia Bresee.

From Patricia's biography:

Patricia Bresee

A recognized expert in Juvenile Law, the Honorable Patricia Bresee (ret.) has devoted most of her professional life to children’s issues. When in private attorney, she represented children in juvenile courts who had been neglected or abused or who had been accused of committing a crime, and children who were caught in the middle of custody battles in family court. Serving as a Superior Court Commissioner in San Mateo County for 15 years, she was assigned to sit as a Juvenile Court Judge, and handled dependency and delinquency matters, as well as adoptions and guardianships. As an original member of the California Judicial Council Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee, she served as Chair of the Juvenile Law Rules and Forms Committee. She continues to participate as faculty for the California Center for Judicial Education and Research, and is a regular presenter at Beyond the Bench and other conferences. In 1994 Commissioner Bresee was named Juvenile Court Judge of the Year by the California Judges Association, and in 1998 the National Court Appointed Special Advocates awarded her the title of Judge of the Year. She served a full term on the San Mateo County First Five Commission. She is a Consultant to the Administrative Office of the Courts, Judicial Council Center for Families and Children in the Courts, and other public and private agencies and currently serves on the Board of Directors of California CASA. She is an American Leadership Forum Silicon Valley fellow. As former Chair of the Peninsula Community Foundation Board, she participated in the negotiations for, and implementation of the merger with Community Foundation Silicon Valley, and in January 2008 completed a term as Chair of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. Board of Directors

13 comments:

  1. All victims are strongly urged to attend.

    For those of you have not yet come forward, this presentation might be a good place to start.

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  2. Pat Bresee, a former San Mateo juvenile judge will replace Jane Smithson as moderator for the evening. Bresee herself referred many boys to Ayres and will talk about this in her introduction.

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  3. I am confused about Bresee as moderator, if she referred boys to Ayres how is she adding that as part of protecting kids now. How does this fit in with blowing the whistle.

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  4. Bresee will be interviewing Balfour on her whistleblowing efforts. She obviously did not know that Ayres was molesting boys when she referred boys to him. Bravo to Bresee for offering to moderate the evening. Shows that she wants to learn from the County's mistakes.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Meeting will be in the Notre Dame room

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  6. Hi Deep Sounding,

    Did you attend the meeting tonight? I was there. I found it very informative and I applaud Victoria Balfour for many years of dedication. I hope that she knows it will always be appreciated. I did not know she was a victim of sexual abuse. Her candor and open forum for the evening made a great arena for people to get together and for those in San Mateo County to appreciate the work this New Yorker did on behalf of Ayres victims. I do have a "shout out" to any doctors in the audience or who watch this blog, please go back to your governing body or the San Mateo County Medical Association and form a proper peer review committee who reviews all complaints from patients regardless of whether or not they have contacted an attorney or the Medical Board of California. All patients will be better off when we can get the doctors in this community to be a TRUE source for accurate reports of the sexual abuse of patients or other patient crimes.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Patient Advocate!

    I did NOT get to go, some unfortunate last minute schedule changes prevented me from going.

    I hear that there were video recordings made, so hopefully I'll be able to catch it that way.

    I'm glad you got a chance to go, AND that you posted your comment here suggesting that doctors form a peer review committee to review complaints.

    I often feel that what needs to happen is that outside drastic punitive action (retribution?) needs to happen in cases where these professionals drop the ball so carelessly. But the reality most of the time, IS that if you get a group of honest professionals together in an oversight group, they behave in a more intelligent, honest fashion. And in these cases, if the professionals HAD dealt with the problems themselves, up front, there wouldn't be nearly as many people who were damaged, and THAT, after all, is the desired outcome.

    I think the doctors of San Mateo County would be wise to take your advice... so much benefit for so little cost...

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  8. One of the issues that kept coming up last night was the very unfair statute of limitation laws for victims of sex abuse in California.

    In the state of Connecticut, victims up to age 50 are within the statute of limitations. In California, it's age 29.

    People who really want this law changed should write to Jackie Speier.
    http://speier.house.gov/contact.shtml

    or State Senator Leland Yee.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Deep Sounding,

    I have a post I would like to share with you and everyone else.

    Dedicated and written with all on this website in mind:

    http://millspeninsula.blogspot.com

    Please feel free to share this.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Marta Diaz gives an interview to the legal paper, the San Francisco Daily Journal recently. When asked about allegations that she continued to send boys to Ayres after knowing he was being investigated and that she protected Ayres, she accuses Michael Stogner and journalist Victoria Balfour as having a "jihad" against her. Then she uses the word "bullshit" to a reporter. The judge is not just unprofessional;she's increasingly out of control.

    Here is an excerpt:

    Not everyone is a fan. Diaz is among a number of county officials who have come under fire recently for referring juveniles to a child psychiatrist who was later charged with molesting three young male patients. Dr. William Ayres is set to stand trial later this year.
    Local government watchdog Michael G. Stogner, of Belmont, has insisted that county officials, including Diaz, continued sending patients to Ayre, despite knowing about the accusations. New York-based journalist and victims’ advocate, Victoria Balfour, has accused Diaz of protecting Ayres.
    Diaz shrugged off the attacks.
    "Stogner and Balfour have this little jihad against me," she said. "I don’t care. I know it’s all bullshit. All will come out."

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  11. ear Judge Marta Diaz:

    The source for the allegations about you protecting Ayres is not Stogner or Balfour.

    The source is Chief Deputy DA Steve Wagstaffe. Apparently when Ayres was being investigated in 2002 you went around the courthouse telling anyone who would listen that the police better be "real careful" investigating Ayres, because you and he were friends. More than one person heard you say it.

    I would say that judging by your uncouth language and unprofessional manner with the reporter, that there's a lot more to this story that we know. You certainly are acting very defensive.

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  12. Dear Judge Marta Diaz:

    The source for the allegations about you protecting Ayres is not Stogner or Balfour.

    The source is Chief Deputy DA Steve Wagstaffe. Apparently when Ayres was being investigated in 2002 you went around the courthouse telling anyone who would listen that the police better be "real careful" investigating Ayres, because you and he were friends. More than one person heard you say it.

    I would say that judging by your uncouth language and unprofessional manner with the reporter, that there's a lot more to this story that we know. You certainly are acting very defensive.

    March 18, 2009 5:46 AM

    ReplyDelete
  13. Comment left by Solveig Ayres last August on a blog:

    5. I don’t believe this is exactly a forum to use to accusations which have been leveled against my husband and which are not true. What you’re witnessing is a modern day witch hunt. . .
    > Comment by Solveig Ayres — August 11, 2008 @ 8:16 pm

    And here's Marta Diaz to reporter John Roener:

    Local government watchdog Michael G. Stogner, of Belmont, has insisted that county officials, including Diaz, continued sending patients to Ayre, despite knowing about the accusations. New York-based journalist and victims’ advocate, Victoria Balfour, has accused Diaz of protecting Ayres.
    Diaz shrugged off the attacks.
    "Stogner and Balfour have this little jihad against me," she said. "I don’t care. I know it’s all bullshit. All will come out."


    Hmmm. witch hunt. Jihad. Are Solveig and Marta comparing notes?

    ReplyDelete