He had no advocate

One of the most severe child abuse cases ever documented was brought into the limelight in 1995 by Dave Pelzer's autobiographical bestseller "A Child Called It."

While the graphic account is in one sense a remarkable testament to the resilience, it is more so a lesson on advocacy, and the horror that can occurs when advocates fail to intervene.

Pelzer's story occurred in California during the 60's and early 70's, and in reading his book I convinced myself travesties so unimaginable no longer existed in the U.S. because advocacy programs had learned and evolved from such cases.

Such a heart wrenching illustration of abuse put state funded community centers, social work agencies, and child protective services under a microscope and in doing so assured much of the public that such institutions exist for the sole purpose of protecting the Dave's of the world, for never allowing them to go without advocacy.

I believed such an experience was horrific enough to deter it from occurring twice.

And yet forty years later something equally as criminal occurs.

Today's Dave is Christian Choate, a 13-year-old from Gary, Ind. Only Choate didn't survive a hellish ordeal to write about it, he was beaten to death by his family and buried in a trailer park in 2009.

Writings from the boy indicated that his last year of life, which he lived out in a 3-foot-tall dog cage, was filled with isolation and starvation. But perhaps what is more appalling is what was indicated by a recent report released by juvenile court officials.

The Indiana Department of Child Services had been making semi-regular visits to the Choate family home in response to more than a dozen allegations of child abuse and neglect, since 1999.

The department's response to nearly ten years of inaction?

According to the Chicago Tribune, DCS spokeswoman Anne Houseworth responded by saying "If we don't see evidence of abuse, and no one admits anything is going on, there is nothing for us to do."

Our tax dollars fund child services on grounds of their merit, which turns out doesn't exist. Case workers are trained to detect abuse whether or not the abuser and abused admit to it, not to mosey around for a decade while an innocent kid is tortured and call it "policy."

Looking at the facts, it's quite clear. Christian Choate, he had no advocate.

After ten years of repeated visits and consistent allegations, if Choate's case worker didn't have enough of a damn hunch to remove the boy from the home, they should be fired, if not incarcerated.

So in response to Houseworth's dimwitted excuse, the Indiana Department of Child Services is guilty not only of incompetence but also of contributing to the chronic abuse, neglect, and murder of a 13-year-old boy.

Abuse went on for far too long, but deliberating an appropriate punishment should be swift. Choate's abusive family members, his oblivious caseworker, and Anne Houseworth all ought to spend some time in a dog cage, and then in prison.

Because Christian Choate cannot write us a bestseller to tell his story, the least we can do is make sure the people responsible for his gruesome treatment are behind bars.

For more information on Christian's case, read this report.