MIAMI - With results pending in tests comparing DNA samples from a beheaded girl in Missouri to a missing 5-year-old girl from Miami, anger and frustration over the Florida child's disappearance centered on the state welfare workers who were supposed to keep tabs on her. <br>
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Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman lashed out at the Department of Children & Families in court, calling the state's handling of Rilya Wilson's case ``absolutely despicable.'' <br>
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The judge was particularly critical of Deborah Muskelly, the caseworker charged with reporting Rilya's status to the court. Lederman said Muskelly reported that the girl was fine even as she went missing.<br>
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``I don't even know how to respond to what has been done in this case by this caseworker, but she also has defrauded this court,'' Lederman told agency attorneys Monday. <br>
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Detectives are now treating Rilya's disappearance as a possible homicide. Geralyn Graham, who has identified herself as the girl's grandmother, said she last saw Rilya in January 2001 and thought the girl was in the state's care. <br>
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Lederman also criticized the department for removing Rilya's sister, Rodericka, from the Graham home last week without first obtaining the judge's consent. <br>
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Charles Auslander, the department's administrator in Miami, said Rodericka was removed based on what Miami-Dade Police uncovered as part of their criminal investigation into the disappearance. He declined to elaborate. <br>
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Children & Families Secretary Kathleen Kearney raised the possibility of criminal perjury charges against Muskelly, who resigned in March for her performance in other cases. <br>
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Kearney said she understood Lederman's frustration over Muskelly's ``skimpy and sketchy report'' and apparent misrepresentations. She also said ``this particular case, unbelievably tragic, is an isolated event.'' <br>
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Gov. Jeb Bush named a four-member panel Monday to examine the state's child protection system in Miami-Dade County. <br>
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Nearly two months after Rilya was last seen in January 2001, Muskelly told Lederman that the child was in day care, the judge said. In a report submitted Aug. 31, 2001, Muskelly said Rilya's custodian was addressing her needs, the juvenile court judge said. <br>
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Muskelly has denied wrongdoing in published reports. She has an unlisted phone number and could not be reached for comment Monday. <br>
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Asked about the possibility of charges against Muskelly, Chief Assistant State Attorney Kathleen Hoague said, ``I really can't comment on the investigation itself.'' <br>
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Investigators are now waiting for the DNA test results from police in Kansas City, Mo., to see if the girl found beheaded there in April 2001 and since nicknamed ``Precious Doe'' was Rilya. <br>
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Miami police previously compared a hand print from Rilya and said it didn't match that of Precious. Kansas City police said results should be available in about a week. <br>
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Lawyers also argued in court Monday over who was taking care of Rilya when she disappeared. <br>
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Linda Wells, the DCF's top lawyer, said Geralyn Graham's sister, Pamela Graham, had been given legal custody. <br>
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Maria Shohat, a lawyer for the Grahams, said the sisters jointly cared for Rilya. Geralyn Graham failed to bring her driver's license on the day that she was to sign the custody papers, and a department official suggested that Pamela Graham provide her license instead, Shohat said. <br>
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Geralyn Graham has said a woman claiming to be a state caseworker took Rilya for evaluation in January 2001 and never returned her. DCF officials have no record of the girl being in state custody.
