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Precious Little Girl Destroyed by Judge, DHS.
By Edward Snook
Investigative Reporter
Cori McGovern, DHS Caseworker
Jackson County, OR – On May 19, 2016, Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Ronald D. Grensky, working hand in hand with Department of Human Services (DHS) caseworker Cori McGovern, allowed Sean Lenzo to walk out of court with physical custody of his 5 year-old daughter (Name Withheld). No hearing (trial), only instructions from Ronald Grensky that Lenzo and the child’s mother, Christi MacLaren, “work things out.” The daughter had accused Lenzo of sexually abusing her to health professionals and numerous others, and Ronald Grensky was absolutely aware of this.
We are informed that the attorneys involved in this case were intimidated by Ronald Grensky, who reportedly made it clear that he didn’t want to hear the case. According to one eye-witness, Ronald Grensky stated, “I don’t want to spend all day listening to all of the mother’s witness’s trash DHS and Lenzo”. Ronald Grensky should have listened to the mother’s 9 witnesses, four of which were experts. He really should have taken time to listen to the facts, as he will soon realize, simply because a precious little girl’s life was and is hanging in the balance.
Now, three months later, the young girl is allowed to spend very limited time with the mother she was ripped away from! She spends the bulk of her time in child care and alone with Lenzo, who admits to “currently using drugs”.
Personal Histories: Sean Lenzo – the Father
Sean Lenzo
Sean Richard Lenzo, a 32 year-old from Jamestown, CA and more recently from Medford, Oregon has obtained custody of his daughter with the assistance of Cori McGovern, a “dysfunctional” and “dangerous” Department of Human Services (DHS) caseworker who was recently relocated to DHS’s Medford Office.
On May 10, 2016 Lenzo took part in a legal Deposition. When questioned under oath Lenzo admitted to his extensive use of drugs. He stated, “I was addicted to meth and cocaine.” When asked if he had used other drugs, Lenzo stated, “I did them all, but those were the only two that I was extremely addicted to.” When asked if he had used Heroin, his response was, “I couldn’t stand the stuff.” Sean Lenzo admits to currently smoking marijuana weekly – “maybe two, three times a week in the evenings.” Lenzo’s criminal activity, dating back to when he turned 18, is quite extensive, showing that he has received numerous drug related charges, including manufacturing and possession. Lenzo has spent time living in Chinook Park and the Grants Pass Homeless Shelter. Much of the time that Lenzo was using drugs and basically a vagrant, Christi MacLaren was caring for and loving their daughter.
One statement that Lenzo made during his Deposition is quite telling – “When I was in Grants Pass in Drug Court things were great. My daughter was doing awesome. There was not an ounce of hate in that little girl’s heart and it was good.” What are we to make of Lenzo going from good, while he was in Drug Court, to now having his five-year-old daughter accuse him of sex abuse?
Christi MacLaren – the Mother
MacLaren met Lenzo in the summer of 2008, at moaning caverns in Calaveras County, CA where they were both outdoor adventure guides. Their summertime relationship was on-again off-again for about a year, according to MacLaren. Just after the 2010 earthquake hit Haiti, MacLaren was getting ready to be deployed as an aid worker. In her pre-physical she found out that she was pregnant. When she told Lenzo about the pregnancy, MacLaren states that Lenzo didn’t want a child in their relationship so she decided to move to Oregon to start her new life, raising the child with her family’s help.
MacLaren had previously worked for the Red Cross as an AmeriCorps grant recipient, and as a volunteer with the American Red Cross, where she received an award from President Bush. Christi worked for many non-profit agencies, helping underprivileged citizens such as low income seniors. She was deployed on many disasters and worked as a Community Education Coordinator with the Ventura County, CA chapter of the Red Cross educating senior citizens on disaster preparation. She was a flight attendant with Alaska Airlines for 5 years and worked extensively in the medical field as she continued her education geared at obtaining her Bachelors of Science Degree, so she could obtain her Registered Nursing license. Christi MacLaren has no criminal record and according to numerous witnesses, she is a responsible, loving mother, who is extremely close to her two daughters.
DHS Caseworker – Cori McGovern
Seemingly, overnight, Lenzo gained the assistance of DHS caseworker Cori McGovern and started making false claims that MacLaren had Psychological problems, that she was not a good mother. McGovern began claiming that Christi coached her daughter into making false sex abuse allegations against Lenzo.
Lenzo agreed to take a polygraph test and DHS (McGovern) was allowed to provide questions being asked, even though McGovern is as far from being a “professional” as a person can get. He passed the polygraph, which is factually nothing more than a “modern day witch hunt” and inadmissible in court. Further, the police checked his phone and computer and didn’t find any naked pictures. This is all that McGovern needed to start attacking Christi with a vengeance.
At this juncture, McGovern starts building her groundless, yet highly deceptive case against Christi in an effort to make sure she could influence the court if needed. She stated in one of her reports, “The child has been seen at Children’s Advocacy Center since June of 2015 and has made significant progress since placement with her father. She can manipulate situations based on her behavior. She continues to disclose she and her mother have secrets and is aligned with her mother. Her behavior was escalating if she believed adults were documenting to report to the judge deciding custody”. McGovern continued, “It is believed the girl’s behaviors are driven by her mother Christi who does not want Sean to have any contact with his daughter. Although child is very articulate, her statements heard while behaving badly clearly are adult driven.” It is clear that McGovern hears things that others don’t.
I have read many manufactured “reports” in my day, however, none more contrived than McGovern’s. It is clear that McGovern has used and professionally manipulated others within DHS, the District Attorney’s Office and the police force in her attempt to destroy Christi MacLaren. The US~Observer has obtained information regarding the prior conduct of Cori McGovern, before she was relocated to Medford by DHS. In one such reported case McGovern was “personally sued for her negligence in failing to protect a four year old girl from repeated rape and sexual assault. The perpetrator admitted to the sexual assault.”
In another case involving a four year old little girl, McGovern was reportedly “able to keep the child away from her mother for 4 years.” According to a Roseburg Beacon article published on May 15, 2013, Cori McGovern stated in court, while trying to take the 4-year-old girl from her mother, Ajay Pichette, that she “observed Ajay pinch Kota’s leg when trying to snap her into her car seat” The Beacon article also reported, “McGovern stated in court that she didn’t want Kota returned to her mother.” It was only after the Oregon Court of Appeals stepped into that case that the child was returned to the mother. Sounds exactly like the time McGovern heard Christi’s daughter say things that others didn’t hear?
Sean Lenzo
Backing up in time a bit, it is important to note that when Christi’s daughter began acting out, often in severe ways, when she was being forced to go to visitations with Lenzo, Christi had no idea what was causing these “outbursts.” She took her daughter to many professionals over a long period of time, seeking answers. It has been reported that the girl ultimately disclosed that her father had molested her on one of these visits. This scenario alone completely dispels McGovern’s dreamt-up story about the child being coached by her mother. The professional’s reports don’t claim the child was ever coached and why would Christi take her child to numerous professionals prior to the sex abuse disclosure. She wouldn’t.
The Professional’s
Grensky appointed Expert Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) Victoria Bones to evaluate the child and the parents to “get insight into the girl’s behavior.” After spending time with the parents and the young girl and extensively looking into most all aspects of this issue, Ms. Bones found that, “it is highly unlikely that child could be coached to react the way she does so consistently and repeatedly.” Bones recommended, “Based on the data I have read the girl’s extreme negative reactions to seeing her father, Sean, I recommend that all contact, stop immediately, including supervised visits…”
“…I recommend that all contact (with father), stop immediately…”
— Victoria Bones, LCSW
Another report we have obtained states, “Mother (Christi) is a disaster relief worker with a record of distinguished service. Father is an admitted drug addict (he admits that with regards to drugs he ‘did them all’ but was only extremely addicted to meth (methamphetamine) and cocaine but claims he is recovered. Father has a criminal history spanning two states and over a decade. Father admits he continues to consume alcohol and regularly uses marijuana, now with a medical card. During the first 3 years of the child’s life, Father drifted between jail, homeless encampments, various trailers, shelters and missions and so many jobs he was unable to recount them during deposition. Father provided no child support.”
“Father provided no child support.”
— Victoria Bones, LCSW
DHS must sure be proud of Caseworker Cori McGovern – It’s certainly no wonder that they have such a horrific reputation today!
During the May 19th hearing McGovern made it known that she wanted MacLaren to take another Psychological Exam at the tune of $1,200.00-plus and Judge Grensky followed suit, even though Christi had already taken one. You see, the following results just didn’t fit into the foregone conclusion that McGovern had decided for this case. Let’s look at the Exam that Christi underwent just six months prior to the May hearing.
On December 7, 2015 Dr. Jerry Larson MD, Psychiatrist, gave Christi a Psychological Exam. Larson concluded, “Christi MacLaren is a 40-year-old, bright, well educated, married, mother of two children who displays no evidence of a mental defect. She, working for the Red Cross, was exposed to some difficult situations which bothered her for a period of time. She was evaluated by her primary physician and admittedly had some depression, disturbed thoughts and feelings about what she’s experienced, was treated with Prozac then Wellbutrin and perhaps other medication. She improved and all such medications have been discontinued. Based upon my evaluation and psychometric testing, I can find nothing to suggest that she suffers from any form of mental disease or defect. She expresses legitimate concern about her child and given the history of the two parents, I find the DHS action puzzling at best. I will look forward to the PAI inventory and I will also review the hopefully, professional DHS evaluations done regarding this situation.”
“Christi MacLaren is a 40-year-old, bright, well educated,
married, mother of two children who displays no evidence of a mental defect.”
— Dr. Jerry Larson MD
It’s no wonder that DHS’s Cori McGovern didn’t want to accept Dr. Larsen’s evaluation as he completely exposes McGovern’s underhanded motives in his report.
One of the most shocking things about this case is the fact that Judge Grensky hasn’t held a trial. Even though Christi came to court in May with 9 witnesses, Grensky and McGovern made sure the professionals and others were never allowed to testify. Again, you really should step in and protect this little girl Mr. Grensky – this matter isn’t going to just disappear…
Clyde Saiki, Director of DHS
This reporter has attempted to contact McGovern and those who have assisted her within DHS and they have ALL refused to return the calls. Director of DHS Clyde Saiki and other DHS officials in Salem, OR are well aware of this tragedy and to our knowledge they have refused to act. Director Saiki would be wise to stop McGovern’s abuse, as we are ultimately going to hold this Bureaucrat responsible and DHS already knows from past experiences with the US~Observer that we aren’t going away…
Christi has spent approximately $30,000.00 in the past two years attempting to protect her daughter. Some of this money is on credit cards that MacLaren is struggling to repay. Christi has no money to provide another Psychological evaluation as she is doing everything possible to feed, clothe and house her abused daughter’s little sister. Anyone who wishes to assist this mother in obtaining justice can do so by contributing to her GoFundMe account, under the name Christi MacLaren.
Editor’s Note: We are currently digging into Cori McGovern and her past record of abuse and dishonesty. Judge Ronald Grensky is also being investigated. We are also seeking information on Sean Lenzo; his Grandmother Rose Marie Lenzo, who lives in Jamestown, CA; DHS Caseworker Matthew Brody, as well as others involved in this story. Anyone with information is urged to contact the US~Observer at 541-474-7885 or by emailing editor@usobserver.com.
