Gov. Cuomo is seeking review of colleges handling of sex assaults, yet his Justice Center is making most reported sexual assaults of the disabled disappear.

DELMAR, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, May 18, 2017 /EINPresswire.com/ -- It was shocking to see this story surface yesterday, knowing that far more sexual assaults and rapes are occurring within New York’s mental health care system than what is happening on college campuses throughout New York State – “Cuomo orders review of college, university sex assault handling” - http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Cuomo-orders-review-of-college-university-sex-11154654.php

All efforts, to date, to have Governor Cuomo take vital emergency actions to dramatically reduce sexual assaults and rapes of people with disabilities and those struggling with mental illness in State and private residential facilities and group homes continue to be ignored. The most basic measures and tools to reduce such horrific and heinous criminal acts against our most vulnerable are not bothered to be put in place to date, such as surveillance cameras, much better hiring, vetting and oversight practices, as well as immediate reporting to 911, hopefully that will change swiftly. Sex crimes must immediately be reported to 911, not reported and investigated internally, this is a recipe for cover-ups, and that is exactly what is happening most of the time.

Sex crimes cannot continue to be kept from local police, emergency medical personnel and timely criminal investigations with the appropriate evidence collection and retention. These horrific crimes and the evidence of these crimes cannot continue to be kept from County elected District Attorney’s and local courts; this is a gross injustice and almost always protects the offenders and not the victims. Most reported sexual assault crimes have been purposefully withheld from local authorities by Governor Cuomo’s Justice Center. All requests of the Governor and Deputy Secretary of Health Paul Francis to have them immediately cease and desist from this blatant obstruction of justice goes ignored. These illegal practices also clearly deny this specific group of people, people with disabilities, their constitutional equal right to “equal protection of laws. As the Governor looks outwardly, it is time that he finally deals with the massive sexual assaults and cover-ups of most of them within his own mental health agencies that are under his authority and control. I gave you a glimpse into only one of the multiple State agencies that report massive numbers of sexual assaults and rapes internally to Cuomo’s abuse hotline.

Federal authorities have been requested to investigate why most reported sexual assaults of New Yorkers with disabilities living in residential care facilities are rarely reported to local police and County elected District Attorney’s by Governor Cuomo’s Justice Center, which is an obstruction of justice. The question is not if the cover-ups are happening, it’s how many thousands? State documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) show a distinct and massive problem of rampant sexual abuse of the developmentally disabled. Records reveal that approximately 325 reports of sexual abuse of the developmentally disabled is reported within the New York State Office of People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) system alone every three months or thirteen hundred a year. These are the reported numbers and everyone knows that most of these sex assaults and rapes are never witnessed or reported. According to a well respected document that the State of Massachusetts placed up on their official website titled “Prevalence of Violence” http://www.mass.gov/dppc/abuse-recognize/prevalence-of-violence.html. Almost all these sex crimes against the developmentally disabled will never be reported. A direct quote from this document states that - “Only three percent (3%) of sexual abuse cases involving people with developmental disabilities will ever be reported.” Using the three percent statistic and the 1,300 sexual abuse cases reported annually the possible real numbers are over 40,000 cases annually in a system of 126,000 people with developmental disabilities. These atrocities, which most are absolutely preventable, continue because of the same exact problem Governor Cuomo is trying to bring to light on college campuses, the entire structure of internal reporting and investigating. These sexual assaults and rapes in State and private mental health facilities and group homes, as well as on college campuses, are crimes an obviously must be reported immediately to local police to be immediately criminally investigated.

Tragically, following the award winning New York Times investigative reporting series titled “Abused & Used” http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/nyregion/abused-and-used-series-page.html?_r=0 which was a runner up for a Pulitzer Prize, Governor Cuomo set up an entity to keep almost everything internal and away from local police and County prosecutors. This entity, wrongfully titled the Justice Center, is under great scrutiny right now because of two very damning situations within the last two months alone that have surfaced, the Comptroller DiNapoli Audit and Judge Breslin’s decision. The Comptroller Audit which found that thousands of cases were closed out with no determination. The audit also documents that the Justice Center obstructed the comptroller audit and withheld most documents and records of what they were and were not doing, including information of what was or was not reported to local law enforcement regarding criminal cases. There is only one real reason to hide such information. http://osc.state.ny.us/audits/allaudits/093017/15s61.pdf#search=%20Justice%20Center%20AuditAs reported by News 10, Judge Breslin ruled that Governor Cuomo’s “special prosecutor” is operating unconstitutionally and has no jurisdiction to be handling criminal cases apart from elected prosecutors control http://news10.com/2017/03/30/sex-abuse-charges-dismissed-against-local-teacher/ . This supposed independent “special prosecutor” has been for years and continues to not notify County District Attorney’s of most reported crimes, including sexual assault crimes, reported to them. Governor Cuomo appointed an individual named Patricia Gunning, who is not an elected prosecutor and a State employee, who has a direct conflict of interest, to basically circumvent or bypass County elected District Attorney’s, to primarily hide what is going on in his agencies. Tens of thousands of reported criminal cases, including staggering numbers of criminally negligent deaths and multiple thousands of reported sexual assaults have been kept from local authorities and courts since Governor Cuomo renamed and relocated this State agency following the Time’s “Abused & Used” investigative reporting series. Please read this one piece from this incredible series in which a State employee was caught in the act and still was protected and shielded from prosecution http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/nyregion/13homes.html .

Michael Carey
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The incredible life and tragic preventable death of Jonathan Carey, who was disabled, had autism, was non-verbal & only 13 when he was killed by his caregivers