KARLY SHEEHAN: True Crime behind Karly's Law

by Karen Spears Zacharias

  On what would have been Karly’s ninth birthday, Sarah made a trip to Corvallis and, while she made no mention of Karly, Sarah did put up this post on her Facebook: “Status update: traffic in Seattle to be expected. Traffic in Corvallis, OR? Effing annoying. I’ve been at the same gd traffic light for twenty minutes.Gah, I LOATHE this town!!!” (Emphasis Sarah’s).

  People who know this story often ask me, what do you make of Sarah? It is a difficult question to answer. I am conflicted. I love and adore the girl that I met in that Helix classroom all those years ago. But the Sarah who repeatedly placed Karly in the hands of her killer, and lied about it as she was doing it, evokes grief and sadness. Not only is Karly lost to us forever, so is the Sarah I once regarded as a daughter.

  The most telling moment of this entire story for me came the day I visited the Oregon Court of Appeals. Because Shawn Field was appealing his conviction—an appeal he lost—the evidentiary files were being stored at the Judicial Department’s building in Salem. I spent a few days going through the documents, word by word, photograph by photograph. When I came across a video investigators had made at Shawn’s place the day Karly died, I asked if I could view that tape.

  Having already been screened by security, I was escorted to a room with a television. It was while watching, and re-watching, the tape that I realized that when Karly was at Shawn’s house she slept on the floor. While there were bunk beds in the tidy bedroom, there was only one mattress: the one for Kate. Sarah testified that Shawn was fanatical about the all-white couch in the living room, yelling at her if she so much as let Karly sit on the couch, worried that she might accidentally tinkle on it.

  So on the last night of her life, Karly slept on a folded-up blanket on the floor in Kate’s room. Seeing that pallet on the floor in a room that sang Kate’s name with its leopard-print décor, Hilary Duff poster, and cat toys, I realized how diminished Karly must have felt, sleeping on the floor like a servant girl, not even allowed to sit on the sofa.

  I sometimes wonder whose betrayal hurt Karly most: Shawn or Sarah’s? Every child expects their parent to be their protector, their defender, their safe shelter. It must have been very confusing for Karly to have her mother choose her own wants over her daughter’s needs.

  The public might find it startling, but the people who work on the front lines of child abuse assessment centers routinely encounter mothers, who for a host of complex reasons, put their children in harm’s way. Or, more commonly, inflict the abuse themselves. Even after all these years of diligent research, I struggle to understand how Sarah could repeatedly leave Karly alone with Shawn. As a mother and a grandmother, my heart breaks for the neglected and abused children among us. We can and we must do better by them.

  David sued the Oregon Department of Human Services for negligence in Karly’s death. The lawsuit maintained the state did not conduct appropriate follow-up on abuse complaints, lost photographic evidence, failed to properly train workers, and failed to have Karly examined by a medical examiner. The state’s attorneys were aggressive in their response, putting the blame where the state had always put the blame: on David. “The damages alleged by (David Sheehan) were the direct and proximate result of his own negligence in failing to report to the state facts he knew about Karly Sheehan’s condition.”

  The case was settled out of court with a non-disclosure clause. David has established an endowment through the Benton County Foundation in Karly’s honor. “I think every kid should have an equal shot at life,” David said. “I think it’s a pretty sad reflection on our society that there are fundamentals that kids just don’t have. I wanted to try and do a little bit to level that playing field.”

  Once the community learned of Karly’s death, David received a deluge of condolences, cards and donations. He used the money gifts along with Karly’s college fund to build a playground at Avery Park in memory of Karly. For locals, Avery Park represents the best of Corvallis. There are kites flying, bicyclists pedaling, joggers running, dogs fetching, families picnicking, people visiting, and children laughing. David spent a lot of time with Karly at Avery Park.

  In September 2007, I stopped by the memorial playground and called David to tell him I was there. A toddler in a red t-shirt and blue jeans was scooching down the slide as his mama held onto his dimpled hand. Nearby, a copper-headed girl squealed in laughter as her mother gave her a push in the swing. David told me there was a plaque inscribed with Karly’s name on the wooden structure attached to the slide.

  David and the good people of Corvallis built the memorial to Karly in a grassy sanctuary, surrounded by lichen-covered trees. This is the place where children kick their way to the sun and back without ever leaving their swings, where wind speaks in whispers and laughter hollers as loud as it wants.

  When David and Liz have children, if they are so blessed, they will take Karly’s brothers and sisters to that playground and speak to them of the sister who died. One day, when those children are old enough to understand, David will tell them of the whole story of Karly. David and Liz will remind their children that evil is always threatened by goodness and that the only way we can truly honor Karly is to be good and joyful like she was.

  Six months into his third term, and only a couple of weeks after the sentencing of Shawn W. Field, Scott Heiser resigned his position as Benton County District Attorney. He cited Judge Janet Holcomb’s conduct in the trial as the reason for his departure. Justified or not, his feud with Holcomb was legendary. He had filed motions to have her disqualified in nine high-profile cases. Heiser said he would ask the Commission of Judicial Fitness and Disability to assess Holcomb’s conduct in the trial of Karly Sheehan.

  Heiser now works with the Animal Legal Defense Fund on behalf of those who can’t defend themselves.

  Dr. deSoyza left her job, too. I asked her if she left her practice behind because of Karly’s case. She marked up her departure to issues with administration. Specifically, Dr. deSoyza said she wanted to take unpaid leave to go visit family in Sri Lanka, but the administration wasn’t keen on the idea.

  When a job at the Oregon State University campus opened up, she thought it was the perfect position, from a mother’s standpoint. She gets vacations and most of her summer off. There are no rounds or weekend rotations.

  There’s also no chance she’s ever going to deal with the nightmare of child abuse again. “Most of my patients are younger and middle-aged women,” she said. “It’s interesting to work with college students, but I miss my babies. Pediatrics was a pretty large part of my practice.”

  She still thinks about Sarah Sheehan, about the “what ifs” of Karly’s death. “Sometimes I wonder if Sarah had not been my patient, whether I would have been more suspicious. Having had a relationship with her the way I did, she didn’t seem like the kind of person who would put their child at risk.”

  Officer Dave Cox resigned from the Corvallis Police Department in 2007 amidst allegations that he was arresting sober motorists on DUI charges. Cox averaged twenty-plus arrests a month for drunken driving charges. Eight citations was the average for most city police officers.

  The Oregon State Bar disciplined Clark Willes, the defense attorney who opened up his case files to me, in 2008 for fraudulent behavior. Willes had his client sit in the gallery and put another person at the counsel table in an attempt to keep the state’s witness from positively identifying the defendant. Willes disclosed the ruse himself following the testimony of the state’s witness.

  Detective Mike Wells left the Corvallis Police Department after a distinguished career. He now works as a special agent with the Oregon Department of Justice. In 2007, he received DOJ’s Officer of the Year award. He has traveled around the nation, telling Karly’s story and instructing others in the field how to avoid the pitfalls that led to her death. Throughout the investigation of Karly’s murder, Detective Wells was disturbed by Sarah Sheehan’s actions. “I have never lost one hour of sleep over whether Shawn Field killed Karly, but I have lost
sleep over what role Sarah Sheehan played in Karly’s death. Rightly or wrongly, the decision not to charge Sarah with anything was made early on.”

  On the first anniversary of Karly’s death, most of the jurors gathered together to remember the little girl for whom they’d rendered justice. They thought it would be an annual event but it hasn’t been.

  One juror wrote recently to say that he had thought the trauma of the trial was all behind him, until he was called to serve on yet another jury. “It wasn’t at all emotionally charged, simply awarding financial damages, but once I sat in the same courtroom, in the same jury box, looking out of the same windows and seeing the similar fall colors in the leaves, I teared up and had such an anxiety attack that I asked to be removed, which was quickly granted after they learned I was a juror for the Karly trial,” he said. “It kind of surprised me, since I rarely think about the trial or any of the key players.”

  Flashback moments like this juror experienced are referred to in military circles as Post-Traumatic-Stress Disorder, or PTSD. You don’t have to go to war to suffer from it.

  Karly was one of eighteen children who died in Oregon in 2005 because

  of child abuse. Two years after Karly’s death, and due in part to the tireless efforts of Representative Sara Gelser of Corvallis, the Oregon State Legislature unanimously passed a bill in support of child-abuse victims.

  Karly’s Law mandates that if a caseworker or law enforcement officer interviews a child with suspicious injuries, they must take photos of those injuries and the pictures have to be shared with the Child Abuse Response Team. Additionally, a previously designated medical professional with specialized training in child abuse must see that child within forty-eight hours.

  These safeguards were put in place as a direct result of what were deemed the failures in Karly’s case. While Matthew Stark conferred by phone with Dr. Carol Chervenak on Karly’s case, the doctor never examined Karly. Instead, Karly was seen by her family physician, who did not have the tools necessary to make the correct diagnosis.

  Joan Demarest has opened her own practice, focusing on criminal defense, victim advocacy, and family law. Additionally, she devotes time each week to helping OSU students with legal problems. She also worked alongside Representative Gelser in the push to get Karly’s Law passed. “Gelser approached me after Karly’s trial and wanted help drafting meaningful legislation that would make it less likely that this could happen again,” Demarest said.

  “Rep. Gelser had been told by DHS that the real problem was that they weren’t able to access people’s criminal histories,” Demarest explained. “I told Gelser that was nonsense. Shawn Field had no record of note.” Demarest told Gelser that the failure was that Karly was never seen or treated by a trained child abuse specialist like Dr. Chervenak. “As you may recall, we had a patrol officer concluding that Shawn Field’s explanations of Karly’s injuries were valid,” Demarest said. “Representative Gelser did an amazing job working with different factions and getting Karly’s Law passed. David Sheehan and I testified at the hearing.”

  Rep. Gelser says that Demarest came to those hearing with a baby in arms.

  “Most prosecutors move on to the next thing after a case is done, Joan did not.

  Her willingness to come to the Capitol multiple times with a newborn didn’t go without notice. I specifically remember checking before the hearing on where there would be a comfortable place for breast-feeding while Joan was in the building, because her son must have been only about three or four weeks old at the first hearing. She came not only for the hearings, but she sat in the gallery when the bill was voted for on the floor.”

  Putting Shawn Field away was not enough for Joan Demarest. She continues in her efforts in helping improve the lives of children.

  “Over the years since the case, I’ve watched as Joan continues to talk about ABC House,” Gelser said. “Joan encourages people to make contributions or to serve on their board. I’ve seen her urge contributions to child abuse-related causes instead of gifts to her children on their birthdays.”

  A few months following the Karly Sheehan trial, Joan Demarest gave birth to a healthy baby boy. She is now the mother to four children —three boys and a girl. Joan Demarest loves being a mother.

  I asked Representative Gelser why, of all the issues brought before her, she latched onto Karly’s Law and has fought so diligently for it. A mother of four, Gelser followed the news reports on Karly’s death closely. She was mortified that such a tragedy happened right in her own backyard.

  “The right thing to do is often a hard thing to do,” Representative Gelser said. “Child abuse is grossly underreported.” Too often people see children as property and parents as owners of that property, Gelser said. Onlookers are reluctant to interfere. “I can’t imagine how many people have seen something and wondered but failed to take the difficult step of reporting it.” As is too often the case, people do not get involved until child abuse affects them personally, and even then they remain reticent.

  Gelser has been fielding phone calls from officials in other states, wondering how they might also implement Karly’s Law. It should be a federal law that any child with injuries be photographed and seen within forty-eight hours by a medical professional trained in child abuse. But most doctors lack the training to correctly make such an assessment.

  “On average a medical provider gets less than 15 hours of training concerning child abuse issues in medical school. That is not enough,” said Karen Scheler, director of ABC House. If Karly’s case had been handled correctly, as Dr. Chervenak testified, she would have identified Karly’s injuries as classic signs of abuse. A doctor with specialized training in child abuse is twice as likely to correctly diagnose abuse as one who hasn’t received the appropriate training.

  “Karly’s Law is making a difference,” Representative Gelser said. “It’s been quite effective at getting these kids identified a lot earlier.”

  Abuse centers throughout the state are seeing a jump in the number of children they assess. The first year Karly’s Law went into effect, ABC House saw a jump of 150 additional child abuse referrals. Dr. Chervenak was called in on each of those. On average, the ABC House serves 350 children in-house and an additional 150 through consultation.

  Rarely does a law receive the support of the full legislature the way Karly’s Law did. Representative Gelser was elated that the bill passed unanimously—understandably so, since she had put her formidable shoulder to pushing it through.

  But passing a law is easy enough for any legislative body. The real struggle is funding such mandates. The budget for the ABC House is cobbled together from a variety of sources, including grants, medical billing, specialty funding from the state, and private donors. Rep. Gelser worked hard to find funding to support the impact of Karly’s Law on centers like the ABC House. At her urging, Oregon legislators dedicated a million dollars toward funding Karly’s Law. But then the recession hit and that money went to help backfill harsh cuts made to the Child Abuse Multidisciplinary Intervention (CAMI) funds.

  Karly’s Law brought an additional workload to ABC House and other child abuse centers throughout the state. “We in Oregon are dedicated to doing better and Karly has been the inspiration for that,” said Karen Scheler. “But it is a struggle every day. This year our agency had 160 consults for physical abuse alone.”

  Finding the resources to meet the needs is difficult. Taxpayers will pay to lock people like Shawn Field away for life, but when it comes to funding the people who are working “boots on the ground,” our state’s Child Abuse Response teams or Child Abuse Intervention Centers, those positions are considered expendable. Just another strike-through on a line-item budget.

  Rep. Gelser agrees that the funding issue remains a problem for cash-strapped states. But Oregon’s legislators took the bold move of dedicating funds to Karly’s Law, even when they could least afford to do so. “It was a good-faith effort on their behalf,” said Rep. Gelser.

/>   Funding issues aren’t the only problems that arise during a recession. Domestic abuse and child abuse rates rise during times of economic hardships. Twenty-two children died in Oregon in 2010 as a result of child abuse—that was nearly twice the number of children who died in 2009. Most of those children had never been reported as potential victims or evaluated at a Child Abuse Intervention Center, like the ABC House.

  Nobody was issuing a cry for help on their behalf. There was only the silence of people who suspected but never spoke up.

  Dr. Chervenak serves Linn and Benton counties—one doctor to assess all those cases, all those children. And when she is on vacation or sick, she reviews cases via the Internet.

  The medical assessment component of Karly’s Law has been a huge challenge. “When the law was envisioned, we thought a lot more doctors would advocate for this. But they don’t like to be involved in these cases. It can take up a lot of time—all the training, plus the possibility of having to appear in court,” Representative Gelser said.

  Child abuse is a nationwide crisis.

  Every five hours, a child in the U.S. dies from abuse or neglect, according to a 2011 investigation by the BBC journalist Natalia Antelava. The U.S. has the highest child abuse record in the industrialized world. America’s child abuse death rate is triple Canada’s and eleven times that of Italy. High rates of teen pregnancy, high school dropout rates, violent crime, imprisonment, and poverty are some of the contributing factors, said Michael Petit, President of Every Child Matters.

  Here in America, a report of child abuse is made every ten seconds. Here in the land of the free, an estimated 906,000 children are victims of abuse and neglect every single year. That’s nearly a million children. Here in the home of the brave, 1,500 abused children die annually, usually from injuries sustained in their own homes.

  In Oregon alone, there were 11,090 confirmed victims of child abuse during the most recent reporting year. That’s more than thirty a day—and those are just the confirmed cases.