Official: Slain boy's case rushed

The 3-year-old was given to a Florida couple too soon, a social services agency official says.

By MATTHEW WAITE

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 2, 2000

NEW PORT RICHEY -- Alex Boucher shouldn't have been in Florida with his would-be adoptive parents when he died last week, a social services agency official said Sunday.

Under the law, months of parent training classes, inspections and reports remained before Connecticut officials should have sent the 3-year-old boy to Florida, said Steven Insalaco, program supervisor in the Clearwater office of the Children's Home Society.

"They knew better," Insalaco said Sunday. "They knew they needed to wait."

Alex died at All Children's Hospital on Tuesday, six days after he was brought to New Port Richey by Jim and Jenny Curtis, who wanted to adopt him. His death was attributed to homicidal asphyxiation.

Jim Curtis, 25, of 5529 LaSalle Court has been charged with his murder. Curtis is accused of wrapping the child tightly in a blanket because the boy had soiled his pants. Alex suffocated in his bed.

Early in the adoption process, chances were looking good that Jim and Jenny Curtis would someday be allowed to adopt Alex, who has cerebral palsy. They had taken a few of the parenting classes from the Children's Home Society, and were getting their paperwork in to state authorities.

Connecticut Department of Children and Families spokesman Gary Kleeblatt had said Saturday the department relied on a recommendation from the Children's Home Society that the Curtiseswould be good parents to send Alex to in New Port Richey.

But Kleeblatt on Sunday refused to answer questions about how Alex came to be sent to Florida or whether the transfer might have violated the law.

"We're not blaming anyone," Kleeblatt said. "We only hold responsible the person who did this to Alex. We are looking at the entire case and record, and that will take some time before we start giving out answers."

Insalaco said regardless of his agency's recommendation, the Children's Home Society has no legal means of placing a child from out of state into a home in Florida.

Under a state law passed in all 50 states called the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children, only states can grant interstate child transfers. The Children's Home Society is a private agency. Florida Department of Children and Families could not be reached for comment Sunday.

The Children's Home Society recommendation, made in an Aug. 28 letter, was requested by Connecticut DCF and spoke well of Jim and Jenny Curtis. But it also told Connecticut DCF that the Children's Home Society can't handle interstate adoption cases and told them they were transferring the case to state authorities.

The Children's Home Society again warned Connecticut authorities two days later that it could not place a child in an interstate transfer through a certified letter to Florida DCF officials that was copied to Connecticut DCF.

Plus, the recommendation that the Children's Home Society gave was not based on any formal or official review of what kind of parents the couple would be, Insalaco said. The agency was only giving the couple the state-mandated parental training they needed and wasn't handling their adoption case, he said.

"What we gave them was a very informal first impression after maybe knowing the family for two weeks," Insalaco said. "The point is, we were very early on."

Connecticut DCF had been looking for a home for Alexsince he was 1 year old. His parents' rights were terminated before his first birthday, and he went to live with relatives in Maine. His health troubles made it difficult for them, and the state began again looking for a home for him.

The Curtises had babysat for Alex when they lived in Maine, and wanted to adopt a child. The DCF authorized the Curtises to go to Maine for a two-week visit this month, Kleeblatt said. That included almost daily supervised visits.

After that, the Curtises were allowed to bring Alex with them, Kleeblatt said. The boyremained under Connecticut guardianship, but the Curtises were given temporary custody and began adoption proceedings.

However, not all was well.

Jim Curtis and his wife were evicted July 12 from their Chasco Woods, Port Richey, apartment because he repeatedly started fights with neighbors, said Sherry Bauer, the complex's business manager.

Curtis was listed as unemployed and disabled on his New Port Richey arrest report. Neighbors said they have not known him to hold a job in the last year. He complained of a knee injury, one said.

After his arraignment Saturday, Curtis was being held at the county jail in Land O'Lakes without bail.

Insalaco said perhaps no one could have known what would happen to Alex.

"I'm not saying it could have been prevented," he said. "The point is now we'll never know.

"Connecticut just didn't give the process a chance."

- Elizabeth Hamilton of the Hartford Courant contributed to this report. Matthew Waite can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6247 or (800) 333-7505, ext. 6247. His e-mail address is waite@sptimes.com.

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