Watkins: CSB crucial in judicial process
Prosecutor Dennis Watkins
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins wants employees of Trumbull County Children Services Board to know that they play an important role in the prosecution of people who commit crimes against children.
Watkins said he felt he needed to reinforce that point when he met with the board last week. An unsuccessful appeal filed in a recent criminal case called their participation into question.
Bonnie Pattinson, 32, was charged with murder after her foster child, 20-month-old Tiffany Sue Banks, died in her Champion Township duplex in 2009. Pattinson eventually pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to nine years in prison.
At Pattinson’s sentencing hearing, former CSB executive director Marcia Tiger gave a statement to Judge John M. Stuard, saying Pattinson “failed everyone around her,” including CSB, which “trusted her to be Tiffany’s protector,” as well as her fellow foster parents, her family, husband and children, “and most tragically, she failed Tiffany.”
Pattinson’s attorney filed an appeal of the sentencing, saying Tiger should not have been allowed to speak at the hearing because she was not a relative of the victim’s.
The 11th District Court of Appeals later said, however, that Tiger’s remarks were proper because Ohio law says a victim, victim’s representative or “any other person” approved by the court may speak.
Watkins said he believes CSB employees should give their input to judges regarding crimes committed against children because of the amount of time they spend with those children.
“They see the suffering they go through,” Watkins said.
Likewise, Watkins said CSB workers play an important role in other aspects of the judicial process, such as speaking at parole hearings.
“The parole board can take information from anyone,” Watkins said.
Watkins is known for the aggressive stance and steps he takes to discourage parole boards from granting parole to offenders he believes should remain locked up.
Watkins said it’s not hard to know which convicts deserve to remain in prison.
First, he has to be sure that they are guilty, which gives him a “comfort level” that he’s doing the right thing.
Then, it’s a matter of knowing the facts of the crime, which isn’t usually a problem for Watkins, because he’s been prosecuting cases in Trumbull County for close to 40 years.
“As one of the longest-serving prosecutors in the state, I’m in a unique position — I remember the guy,” said Watkins, who’s been the county prosecutor 27 years.
CSB has been part of a team of Trumbull County prosecutors, investigators, ministers, child advocates and school officials called the Child Assault Prosecution Unit since 1986.
The CAP Unit handles the most-serious physical- and sexual-abuse situations.
The CAP unit has released statistics on its 2010 cases, showing that 25 adults were sentenced for crimes against children, one fewer than in 2009 but more than all other years since 2005.