[lostnfound117]

[ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 1/3/04 ]

Juvenile court judge probed
Fulton jurist's daughter, 4, was found in street

By TY TAGAMI
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

• Atlanta/South Metro community page





Atlanta police and the state agency responsible for protecting children are investigating an incident involving the chief judge of the Fulton County Juvenile Court after her 4-year-old daughter was found wandering the street shoeless and alone late one night in November.

According to police reports, Judge Nina Hickson's child was picked up Nov. 29 on an East Point street while her mother ran an errand at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The child, Wesley Victoria Hickson, was rescued by a passer-by who spotted her and called authorities. East Point police contacted Atlanta police, who returned the girl to her mother.

As a juvenile court judge since 1999, Hickson has presided over cases of neglect and decided custody matters involving other parents.

She said by telephone Friday that she could not comment on the incident because the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services was investigating.

"Because it's still pending, it's not appropriate for me to comment at this point," Hickson said.

An East Point Police Department report of the incident said Hickson told an officer that she thought her daughter was asleep when she left the house to go to the airport to pick up luggage.

The child left their southwest Atlanta house and wandered a half-mile down the street and into East Point before she was seen by a passing limousine driver, who called the East Point police. The driver waited with the girl until officers arrived.

"The juvenile stated that she was scared and walked out the front door," said the East Point police report, which also noted the child said no one was at home.

"She [the judge] assumed the child was down for the rest of the night, and she took a chance," Sgt. Tony Mabry, an investigator with the East Point police, said in an interview this week.

Mabry said East Point officers let the Atlanta officers take the lead when they arrived on the scene because the case originated in Atlanta.

No charges were filed against Hickson, 43. Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said Friday that the supervising prosecutor who talked with the Atlanta police just after the incident suggested the police should investigate further.

"The supervisor said to the police, 'You probably need to look into it some more, but it is going to be your decision,' " Howard said. "This is the type of case where it looks like you need to follow up."

Investigation delayed

But the Atlanta police did not investigate immediately.

"Unfortunately, the Crimes Against Children unit was not notified when the incident occurred, and an investigator had not been assigned the case," said a statement released Friday by the Atlanta criminal investigation division commander. "However, it will be investigated in the same thorough manner all cases are, particularly those involving children," the statement from Deputy Chief P.N. Andresen said.

When asked exactly when the investigation was begun, Atlanta police spokesman Sgt. John Quigley responded: "Very recently." He said there was no evidence from police reports and recordings of conversations that the officers knew they were dealing with a judge. "But they may have. I just couldn't establish it today," he said Friday.

Quigley said such cases can result in a misdemeanor charge. "I think in most cases, if you leave a 4-year-old alone, you're going to get charged with reckless conduct," the police spokesman said. "It will be investigated," he said. "It's just unfortunate that it's taken some time."

DFCS spokesperson Renee Huie said she could not comment on specific cases but said children can be taken away from parents who neglect them. Huie added that much depends upon the circumstances, such as the age of the child, the reason the child was left alone and whether there is a family history of neglect.

"It's kind of a fine line as to what constitutes neglect," said Huie. "We just say never leave a child alone. A child under 10 should never be left alone."

Huie said police ordinarily would give a lost child to a DFCS worker who would put the child in foster care. A judge would have to be contacted within 24 hours to determine custody. Huie said the situation is more complicated if a parent arrives on the scene with police, which is what happened in the Hickson case. Then it is up to police discretion, the DFCS spokeswoman said.

Hickson's daughter was found by Arthur Conley, a 62-year-old limo driver who was on his way home from work when he saw her running along Hogan Road, a quiet residential street.

"That caught my eye. What was she doing out there?" said Conley, an East Point resident who works for Affordable Limousine Service of Lawrenceville. He said the girl looked at him because he was driving a white stretch limo. Conley drove down the street, turned around and pulled up beside her.

"Hey sweetie, are you lost?" he said he asked.

"I want to catch a ride to the airport," he said the 4-year-old responded. "Can you take me to the airport?"

Conley had dialed 911 on his cellphone as he was driving, and he had a dispatcher on the line. He said the girl was wearing a long-sleeved shirt, jeans and socks, with no shoes and no jacket. He said it took about 15 minutes for East Point Police to arrive.

Atlanta police also arrived, and so did Hickson, who had returned home from the airport to find her daughter missing. She called Atlanta police at 12:16 a.m. on Nov. 30, two minutes after the East Point police asked Atlanta to send a unit regarding a missing person, Quigley said.

The girl was uninjured, and the officers handed her over to her mother, according to the East Point police report.

"That was an unbelievable night for me. I got grandchildren," Conley said. "We stay on top of kids, we don't allow that kind of [stuff] to go on."

Expert critical

A national expert on child abuse said he would have expected DFCS to investigate conditions at Hickson's home before allowing the child to return.

Dr. Randall Alexander, the director of the Center on Child Abuse at the Morehouse School of Medicine, said authorities must be careful not to allow sympathy for the parent to overwhelm concern for the child's well-being.

"I know people feel bad about the neglect afterward, but from a medical perspective, when the kid is lying on the operating table critically injured, or in a morgue, . . . [parents'] feeling bad doesn't matter," Alexander said.

-- Staff writers Steve Visser and Jeffry Scott and news researcher Nisa Asokan contributed to this article