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Teen wants someone punished

By CHANDRA BROADWATER
Published January 22, 2007

BROOKSVILLE - It was Dec. 15 when a Hernando County 17-year-old sat in the passenger seat of his former caseworker's car and told him the story of sexual abuse.

In the quiet car, the teen told Cecilio Deleon about how Kejerald C. "K.J." Jackson, a 30-year-old Brooksville foster parent pinched the teen's nipples, wrestled him to the ground and put his hands down the teen's pants just before the boy got away.

The teen's story led Deleon to file an abuse report with the state on Dec. 18. A state Department of Children and Families official in Tallahassee then notified the Hernando Sheriff's Office.

Over the next few weeks, police interviewed the teen and three others. One 13-year-old and two 17-year-olds also said Jackson also had touched them inappropriately. He performed sexual acts on them as well.

Ongoing investigation

Since Jackson's arrest Jan. 12 - he was charged with attempted sexual battery, multiple counts of lewd and lascivious molestation and exhibition, and criminal use of personal identity - the Sheriff's Office has continued to investigate the case and track down children. More charges against Jackson could be filed.

In the three years Jackson was a certified foster parent in the county, 104 teens lived in his south Brooksville mobile home for varying lengths of time. It remains unclear how many of the children were abused.

The charges also have raised questions about why so many children were sent to live with a single man who allowed only teen boys to stay with him.

"Someone was not doing their job right," the 17-year-old said one afternoon last week in an interview with the St. Petersburg Times. "The signs were there. He only allowed teenage boys to come live with him. There were other allegations of abuse. They could have stopped this."

Deleon, the former caseworker, said Kids Central knew of problems with Jackson before the teen went to live with him but that the group said the complaints were unfounded.

On Dec. 26, Deleon was fired by his employer, Harbor Behavioral Healthcare, which partners with Kids Central to oversee child welfare in Hernando and Citrus counties. He said he was told he had not reported the abuse soon enough.

Deleon said he didn't think it was necessary to file the abuse report on the day he became aware of the allegations because no children lived with Jackson at the time. The teen had since left and moved in with his manager from the pizza parlor.

"They were expecting this to blow up and got rid of me right away," Deleon said.

Search for justice

The teen, whose identity is being withheld to protect him as a victim of an alleged sexual crime, said he wanted to talk because he wants to make sure someone is punished.

"There was only one incident with me," he said. "It took me a while to think about reporting it. At the time, there was just a lot of other stuff going on."

According to Kids Central Inc. records, Jackson was licensed as a foster parent March 31, 2003. At the time, Camelot Community Care of Marion County was the private agency subcontracted by Kids Central to license foster parents.

As of Jan. 1, Kids Central, which has a contract with the state to administer foster care in Hernando County, now handles its own licensing. Before, the agency handled only foster placement.

Kids Central spokeswoman Lynn Routh said that Jackson was considered a respite or temporary home provider. Of the 104 boys who resided with him, more than 50 stayed for only one night. Others, like the 17-year-old, stayed for several months.

"His home was like an emergency shelter," Routh said. "He took in teens no one else likes to take. It was a home that kids spent various lengths of time in. There weren't kids there for two years or longer periods of time."

Routh could not answer questions about whether there had been previous allegations of abuse at the home, which are considered confidential information. She also declined to comment on the current allegations because they are under investigation.

Teen's hard-knock life

The teen said living with Jackson was his only option if he wanted to stay in Hernando County. The lack of certified foster parents, especially those who accept teenage boys, meant that he would be sent to Ocala if he wanted to move out.

The teen said his goal was to bide time in foster care until his 18th birthday. Then he might be eligible to take part in the DCF's independent living program, which helps emancipated foster children start out on their own.

In the meantime, he kept up his hours at the pizza place, where he's been employed for two years.

"I've been working all this time because I know I need to hit the ground running when I turn 18," he said. "I don't need anything screwing it up for me."

He has plans to move into his own apartment soon. He's looking around Spring Hill with a friend. He wants to get his GED. He's thinking about going to vocational school.

A little more than a month after he first spoke about the alleged abuse, the teen has not heard from anyone at DCF or Kids Central about what happened to him. He has been in contact with a new caseworker about becoming emancipated before his upcoming birthday.

Fast Facts:

Have information?

The Hernando County Sheriff's Office encourages anyone who may think they have been a sexual abuse victim of Kejerald C. Jackson, or anyone with more information about this case to contact the Sheriff's department at (352) 754-6830. Detective Steve Bishop is handling the case.

[Last modified January 21, 2007, 22:20:14]