Panel will review DHS actions

HOBART — A Kiowa County grand jury will convene Sept. 10 to investigate a grandmother's allegations that her 8-year-old granddaughter has been sexually abused for more than five years and that the state Department of Human Services and local district attorney have refused to take action.

The paternal grandmother, who asked for the investigation, provided The Oklahoman with copies of reports from doctors, nurses and social workers who examined, interviewed or observed her granddaughter and concluded that she appeared to have been sexually abused.

Revealing information

During interviews, the girl described and imitated various sexual acts, those records reveal.

"She is exhibiting behavior that is consistent with sexual abuse that should be investigated,” a Hobart doctor said in a 2003 letter to DHS and Hobart police.

A licensed professional counselor wrote in 2002 that in her professional opinion, the girl "demonstrated symptoms of digital penetration and oral sodomy.”

The grandmother claims the abusers were relatives of her granddaughter's mother.

The petition for the grand jury states that multiple reports of sexual abuse were made to the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, Kiowa County District Attorney, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, Kiowa County Sheriff's Department; Kiowa County District Judge and Hobart Police Department, but no one acted to stop further abuse of the child.

The grandmother said she asked to speak to the Department of Human Services Commission about her complaints, but was refused.

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