DAYTON — UPDATED @ 11:55 p.m. (June 24): A Dayton man is accused of sexually abusing a 4-year-old child in a case Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. said might have been prevented had earlier intervention taken place.
A Montgomery County grand jury indicted 50-year-old Teaven Curtiss on Wednesday on charges of felony rape and gross sexual imposition. Prosecutors said Curtiss sexually abused the child between November 2017 and October 2018.
“This child was known to children services,” Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. said in a statement Wednesday afternoon. “If those responsible would have heeded the red flags present, the abuse this child suffered may never have happened.”
Heck’s comments come a week after he called for changes in the investigation of child abuse complaints, sharing concern about a “shroud of secrecy” in those cases.
In response to the Curtiss case, Montgomery County Children Services issued the following statement Wednesday night:
“The Dayton Police Department released a confidential police report to the media. Our agency has requested a copy of this report, but the Prosecutor’s Office denied our request on the basis that the report was confidential. We cannot take action or comment on a report we have not seen.”
A News Center 7 I-Team investigation this year uncovered similar lapses in communication between agencies in the months and years prior to the December 2019 death of 10-year-old Takoda Collins in Dayton.
Police said Collins suffered years of extreme abuse at the hands of his father, Al McLean. Records the I-Team reviewed showed investigators were called to Collins’ home numerous times prior to his death.
Heck said of the case in which Curtiss is charged, “This is another tragic child abuse case, showing that we must be vigilant, and continue to put in extra care and effort.”
News Center 7 approached Curtiss at his home on Moraine Avenue in Dayton on Wednesday evening. He declined comment, denying there is an indictment against him.
Heck said a warrant has been issued for Curtiss’ arrest.