DAYTON — A state oversight investigation into the death of 7-year-old Hershall Creachbaum in Dayton has gotten the attention of state lawmakers.
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State investigators say they found several times two of our local children services agencies did not follow state administrative rules in the child welfare case of Creachbaum.
Police found his remains in July, but detectives think he died weeks earlier. Now, his mom, Ashley Johnson, and her boyfriend, Michael Kendrick, face various charges in connection with his death, but not specifically for his death.
The I-Team’s lead investigator, John Bedell, has been speaking with State Representative Phil Plummer (R-Dayton) about this case since July. As part of this ongoing I-Team investigation, they spoke about the investigation he’s been conducting into what happened.
Today, Bedell and Plummer talked about reviewing the report from the Ohio Department of Children and Youth (DCY) and how he may consider changing state laws to address its findings.
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Parts of the 19-page report obtained by the I-Team were redacted and blacked out.
“I actually have the unredacted report, so I’ll have a little more detail than you will, and that’s just so I can figure out what needs to be changed,” Plummer said.
The findings in the report are tied to the child welfare of Creachbaum and what Ohio Governor Mike DeWine first described to the I-Team this summer as his “in-custody” death.
DCY investigators said they found five instances where children services agencies did not follow state administrative rules. Four were in Clark County, and one was in Montgomery County.
It was just days after Dayton Police found Creachbaum’s remains that Plummer first told the I-Team he was starting the work of seeing whether he needed to introduce new legislation in the wake of the tragedy.
Plummer told the I-Team on Thursday that he’s now drafted a new bill that involves additional oversight and training, plus procedural changes within Ohio’s child welfare system.
As reported on News Center 7 at 6:00, Plummer said he’s now reviewing his copy of the DCY report to see whether he needs to edit the bill before introducing it in the Ohio House on Friday.
“I have to review that report tonight to see if there’s any more gaps, but I don’t think there are because DCY actually has been very helpful with this,” Plummer said. “And they told me the governor also supports these changes.”
Plummer told the I-Team the new bill is in direct response to Creachbaum’s welfare case and his death.
“I mean, poor Hershall, he was, you know, nonverbal, autistic kid and couldn’t defend himself at all. And it just breaks all of our hearts that this happened, and we need to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said.
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