A state psychiatrist has found Satrina Roberts competent to stand trial for
the 2002 torture death of 15-year-old Ciara Jobes, but nevertheless called it
“shocking” that state officials gave Roberts custody of the child while she
suffered from a severe mental illness.
In a report obtained last night by The Sun, a doctor at the state-run
Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center concluded that social service workers knew
Roberts was abusing Ciara, but did nothing to stop it.
“Case managers and family members were aware of the difficulties the
defendant was having, including her use of physical punishment, yet no
intervention was begun,” wrote Dr. Stephen Goldberg in the 19-page report.
Ciara’s emaciated body was discovered in December 2002 on Roberts’ kitchen
floor with as many as 700 wounds and bruises. She had been violently sexually
abused and forced to use a hole in the wall as a bathroom, according to the
evaluation and other court records.
Roberts, Ciara’s guardian and godmother, is charged with first-degree
murder in the case. Her trial is scheduled for June 14.
The state psychiatrist found that Roberts is a bipolar schizophrenic who
consumed three to six alcoholic drinks a day. But he also concluded in the
report that she had the ability to control her actions during the five months
she kept Ciara locked in a room, beating her and depriving her of food.
“Her beatings were meant as `discipline’ including on the night of the
offense, and were not the result of a symptom of her illness,” Goldberg wrote.
“[She] did not evidence a lack of substantial capacity to conform her ability
to the requirements of the law.”
Additionally, the report found that Roberts, “at the time of the offense,
was able to intellectually connect her beating of Ciara with Ciara’s
unresponsive condition.”
Norris P. West, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Human Resources,
which oversees state social service workers, declined to comment yesterday on
the accusations against his department, saying he did not have a chance to
review the evaluation.
West also said he did not want to discuss a current criminal case. “I’d
rather have justice run its course,” West said.
Roberts’ lawyer, Warren A. Brown, said he believes his client is not
criminally responsible for Ciara’s death and plans to hire another doctor to
evaluate her mental status.
“Almost any doctor reviewing this psychological evaluation would quickly
conclude that placing a child in Satrina Roberts’ custody was like placing an
atomic bomb in the hands of Osama bin Laden,” Brown said. “And yet the only
person that is being held responsible is Satrina. I will not stand by and
allow her to be the fall guy for the system’s failure – a failure that seems
to continue even today.”
The state’s mental evaluation was completed after hours of interviews with
Roberts, her family and friends. The psychiatrist and his staff also reviewed
police reports, medical documents, and Social Security Administration records.
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Offering exhaustive insight into Roberts’ life, the evaluation details her
mental illness, history of sexual abuse and inability to hold a job. Roberts
told the doctor her most recent romantic relationship was with a woman named
Kimberly, who was physically abusive.
In interviews with state doctors, Roberts said she often “feared” Ciara,
even when Ciara was locked in a room and wasting away from starvation,
according to the report.
“She described being afraid that Ciara would `poison her food,’ was afraid
to allow Ciara behind her out of fear Ciara might try to `stab her’ and slept
during the day, fearing Ciara would sneak into her room at night to harm her
in some way,” the report said.
Roberts also told doctors she felt like Ciara was “pulling [her] spirit
out,” according to the report.
The report indicated that Roberts’ “global level of intellectual
capabilities falls within the range of mental retardation,” although she
functioned in her life on a higher level than the tests indicated.
During Ciara’s short and tortured life – which was filled with warning
signs that the girl was in danger – at least five public agencies had contact
with the girl, but all failed to take decisive action to save her, an
investigation by The Sun found last year.
Ciara first went to live with Roberts in 1998 at the request of the girl’s
mother, Jackie Cruse, who later died of AIDS.
The next year, Roberts – who had been receiving federal disability aid
since 1995 after being found to suffer from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder
– was rejected by the Department of Social Services’ foster care program.
A caseworker noted in her file that she had been cooperating with the
foster program and her application looked promising, but Roberts abruptly
stopped contact with the agency, resulting in termination of her application.
Two months later, in January 2000, the agency stood by silently when
Roberts exploited a loophole in the system and persuaded a Circuit Court judge
to make her Ciara’s guardian. After that time, Ciara stopped going to school,
was accused of sexually assaulting a younger child and was interviewed by
police.
After that, the intense abuse began, culminating in a 15-minute beating in
the dark with a leather belt the night before Ciara died, Roberts told The Sun
in an interview last year.
Roberts’ mental health was not checked by the court or social services
before she was given custody, because it was not their policy to do so.
But last month, under pressure from child advocates and state legislators,
social services officials said they would reform the agency’s largely
unregulated process for appointing guardians of abused and neglected children.
The new regulations would include a determination of the physical and
mental fitness of the guardian and certification that the home has passed a
fire and safety inspection.
Norris West, the spokesman, said last night the regulations were rewritten
so “tragedies like Ciara Jobes are far less likely to occur.”
About the case
Satrina Roberts is charged with first-degree murder in connection with the
December 2002 death of 15-year-old Ciara Jobes. Ciara’s emaciated, beaten body
was found on Roberts’ kitchen floor in Southeast Baltimore. Roberts is
scheduled to stand trial this summer.