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Terminally Ill Veteran Targeted by Racist Washington Co. Prosecutor – D.A. Kevin Barton
Washington County, Oregon – On August 19, 2020, in an attempt to keep public information from reaching the public, Washington County Circuit Court Judge Janelle Wipper jumped into bed with corrupted prosecutors, DDA Allison Brown and DA Kevin Barton, granting a gag order against Defendant Oscar Pascual-Cruz and his defense team. Judge Wipper used her power to wield an immoral and unconstitutional ruling – denying the Cruz family their ability to exercise their first amendment right to freedom of speech in their efforts to defend Cruz from false criminal charges.
The US~Observer has been asked to stop publishing on the Cruz case.
According to US~Observer Editor in Chief Edward Snook, “In the thirty years I have published the US~Observer I have never once allowed a crooked judge or prosecutor to silence us and I don’t intend to start now. We will beef-up our article on the Cruz case and keep publishing.”
Coincidentally, DA Barton previously tried a case which Judge Wipper presided over. The defendant was found guilty. In 2015, the Oregon court of appeals overturned that conviction due to racism. According to an article from OPB, “The appeals court ruling notes Washington County Circuit Court Judge Janelle Wipper wrongfully overruled an objection from Curry’s attorney. At the time of the trial, the attorney had objected to the prosecutor asking to remove the lone black juror from the jury …”
DA Barton and Judge Wipper prevented a black man from being the lone peer on a black defendant’s trial. DA Barton made the lamest of excuses, saying, “I don’t like unemployed, young college students on my juries,” and that it was not racist of him to exclude the only black juror. But that’s not true. That very jury had two white, unemployed college students on it and he didn’t excuse them.
The article below tells the tragic story of systemic abuse that is still seeking to decimate the Cruz family.
Racist and Corrupted Washington County Oregon D.A. Kevin Barton Rejects Justice
By Joseph Snook
Investigative Reporter
U.S. Army Veteran, Oscar Pascual-Cruz
Hillsboro, OR – When Oscar Pascual-Cruz accidentally fell with his infant daughter – the youngest of his three children – in December of 2017, he immediately took her to the hospital, like any loving parent would. Little did he know, within twenty-four hours he would end up being removed from his wife and kids. Oscar would go on to be charged by Washington County District Attorney Kevin Barton (D.A.) with physically abusing his precious daughter.
Almost three years later, and facing 8 serious crimes with 20-years in prison if convicted, an innocent Oscar Cruz continues his pursuit for justice. Sadly, after receiving overwhelming evidence of Oscar’s innocence, Washington County D.A. Kevin Barton, and Deputy D.A. Allison Brown continue to unjustly destroy Oscar and his family. Even worse, Oscar only has two years left to live. Terminally ill with cancer, Oscar’s doctor has stated, “it will be a miracle if you live to see 2022.” All the while, Oscar and his family are being kept apart just because of one doctor’s opinion and one D.A.’s potentially racially motivated “prosecute at all cost” mentality.
The Accident
Oscar Cruz is a 100-percent disabled Military Veteran.
Within one year of being honorably discharged from the U.S. Army, Oscar found out he was terminally ill with cancer. He was supposed to have part of his right foot and whole toe amputated. His melanoma cancer had already spread to his lymph nodes – making him terminally ill. Attempting to save his right toe, he opted to have a portion of his foot removed.
As Oscar was home recovering from surgery, he also cared for his then four-month-old daughter, Elsie. His wife, Adriana, was gone most days working to help provide for their family. Then it happened. As Oscar went down the stairs to get a bottle with his daughter in his arms, he missed a step. They accidentally fell.
Oscar says she was not crying much but he noticed she was not moving her arm like she normally would. That alone was enough for him to rush her to the hospital.
While at Kaiser Permanente (hospital), x-rays confirmed Elsie had a broken arm. Next, Oscar and Adriana were told they needed to take Elsie to Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) for “additional testing.” Little did they know, going to OHSU really meant having Dr. Tamara Grigsby, a child abuse pediatrician, determine if the child had been abused.
Dr. Tamara Grigsby’s “Malpractice & Conflict”
Dr. Tamara Grigsby (OHSU)
While at OHSU, further so-called “exams” of Elsie led Dr. Grigsby to believe Oscar was physically abusing his daughter. Grigsby noted that, “Elsie could not have self-inflicted injury to floor of her mouth…” Adriana recalled Dr. Grigsby using a, “sharp object to inspect Elsie’s mouth while showing her a ‘small laceration’ under Elsie’s tongue. And that was it.”
Dr. Grigsby pokes baby with “sharp stick.”
Looking back, Adriana said, “my daughter constantly had her fingers in her mouth. That, and the fact that Dr. Grigsby was using a sharp tool to examiner her mouth could easily explain why there was an almost microscopic laceration.”
Calling Dr. Grigsby into question, the doctors at the ER who saw Elsie before being referred to OHSU noted no findings of lacerations in her mouth, but Dr. Grigsby miraculously found a laceration – while using a sharp utensil on a four-month-old.
No other physical injuries were annotated in Dr. Grigsby’s report. Dr. Grigsby’s report also recommended that Elsie have, “no contact with Oscar Pascual-Cruz.”
Dr. Grigsby’s False Report – Click to Enlarge.
Dr. Grigsby’s report was enhanced with recommendations by Cares Northwest, a child abuse assessment center in charge of assessing children for child abuse in the entire Portland metro area. Dr. Grigsby also used Oregon’s Department of Human Services (DHS) Caseworkers – state workers who determine if a child should be taken from a dangerous parent/guardian.
In her report, Dr. Grigsby noted that, “the Cares team would addend above-recommended contact to exclude Adriana Cerda if she cannot acknowledge Elsie’s abuse (by Father).”
Dr. Grigsby made it clear that Adriana must call her husband an abuser to retain custody of her child. Fortunately, Adriana would not lie – she would not call Oscar an abuser, because he “did not abuse his daughter.” Desperate to keep her children from entering the foster care system, Adriana was coerced into signing CPS’s “safety plan” which allowed all 3 children to remain in her physical care, that is, as long as their strict 24/7 supervision rule was followed and Oscar had absolutely no contact with the children.
Dr. Grigsby’s Gut-Wrenching Lies
Because of later testing, x-rays revealed that Elsie had an “old broken toe and femur” which furthered Dr. Grigsby’s resolve that Elsie was being abused. Adriana recalled Dr. Grigsby saying that “three broken bones could not have happened from an infant falling downstairs.” How would Dr. Grigsby know that? Had she been to Oscar and Adriana’s home and inspected the stairs? No! Did she even know if those injuries were from the fall or from some other unrelated occurrence? No! But that did not stop the doctor from positing her opinion as fact in her reports.
What happened next is enough to shock anyone with a conscience…
Dr. Grigsby annotated in her report that she believed Oscar suffered from PTSD and needed testing to confirm such, due to his military background. She claimed Oscar had, “depression… (from) 3 deployments in 3 years while serving in the U.S. Army… Father should participate in urgent mental health assessment for suicidality and other risks of harm, full psychological evaluation for PTSD secondary to military history of deployments…”
But Oscar had never been deployed! Never. Causing further concern, Oscar, and Adriana both stated that they never disclosed anything about depression or mental health issues – because there was nothing to disclose. Supporting Oscar are his military records that show he was never deployed.
Oscar Cruz and Daughter during a forced supervised visit.
Thinking there must be some sort of egregious error, Oscar took a mental health evaluation thinking it would help reunite him with his family. Not only was he NOT diagnosed with depression, the report showed that he did NOT have PTSD either.
Why would Dr. Grigsby lie?
Thankfully for Oscar and his family, Dr. Grigsby wrote these horrific untruths in her report.
According to one witness, “Grigsby must have assumed that Oscar had been deployed, which was why he has cancer. She must have also assumed that by putting ‘depression and PTSD’ in her report, Grigsby would ensure the child was taken from the Cruz family.”
An online review of Dr. Grigsby says it quite well, “As a RN, PLNC, advocate, & former CASA, I’m seeing more & more chart notes with this doctor’s name on them. All of them contain significant medical errors which are being used to find parents guilty of abuse & prevent the children from obtaining the medical care they really need. She is diagnosing nonaccidental trauma (NAT or NAI – AKA child abuse) first without ruling out genetic issues or diseases (acute or chronic) that could cause the signs & symptoms seen in these children. This behavior is in direct violation to board practice standards. If she’s uncovered in your case, don’t wait, get an attorney & hire expert’s because she’s incompetent & dishonest.”
Medical Experts for Defense
Dr. Kuivila’s Report – Click to Enlarge
In total, there are eight medical experts for the defense who have examined Elsie. All of them, easily more qualified than Dr. Grigsby, disagree with Grigsby. In fact, Dr. Grigsby is not an Orthopedic Specialist. Every medical expert for the defense, some of the world’s most renowned experts, all believe one thing; Elsie has a bone disorder. Some believe Elsie has Osteogenesis Imperfecta, better known as, “Brittle Bone Disease.” That type of disease leads to easily broken bones. Further, all eights doctors believe Oscar did not physically abuse his daughter. His Daughter being in the, “bottom 3-percentile for her age in size and weight”, along with her bone condition are reportedly the sole cause of her accidental fractures. D.A. Kevin Barton has used Grigsby’s false report as his only tool to continue his racially motivated false criminal charges against Oscar.
Evidence of Oscar’s Character & Innocence
1. Oscar has NEVER been convicted of a crime.
2. Oscar had NO disciplinary actions against him while in the U.S. Army.
3. Oscar was Honorably Discharged from the Army.
4. Oscar took and passed a psychological exam given by a State doctor.
5. Oscar has never been diagnosed with depression or PTSD.
6. Oscar was NEVER deployed while in the military as stated by Dr. Grigsby.
7. Oscar took and passed a polygraph exam, showing he never abused his daughter.
8. The State confirmed that Oscar never abused his two older stepchildren, so why would they believe he physically abused his own biological daughter?
9. Eight medical professionals all believe Oscar Cruz is not abusive.
10. Eight medical experts all believe his daughter has a bone disorder which was the cause of her accidental fractures.
11. Oscar’s daughter sustained another fracture of her femur while playing on a slide at daycare – where was the outrage when that happened?
12. Dr. Grigsby out-right lied in her report about Oscar having depression/PTSD and being deployed. He has never been diagnosed or deployed.
Evidence of Oscar’s Guilt
1. Dr. Grigsby’s made-up belief that he physically abuses his daughter.
Quote from Defense:
It is my professional opinion based upon my review of x-rays, clinical records and having examined Elsie that she does indeed have a bone mineralization defect… Not only do I believe Elsie was NOT a victim of non-accidental trauma; I believe, based on the clinical history that her brother… has a less severe form of the disorder from which Elsie suffers.
Dr. Thomas Kuivila M.D., F.A.O.A.
Pediatric Orthopaedic and Scoliosis Surgeon
Vice-chairman for Education, ORI.D.A.
Washington County District Attorney Kevin Barton
Kevin Barton Racist?
After jumping through every hoop possible to prove his innocence, Oscar and Adriana can only come to one conclusion – D.A. Kevin Barton is against them because of their race. The fact that Barton would continue to pursue false charges against Oscar with the mountain of evidence proving his innocence is shocking to say the least. D.A. Barton has forced Oscar to be away from his family for nearly three of the five years he has left to live. When talking to Adriana, she stated, “We’re just another brown low-income family they thought they could get away with screwing and probably didn’t expect a fight back.”
In fact, D.A. Barton is known as a racist by the Oregon Court of Appeals. According to court records, The Portland Tribune wrote, “In a sharply worded ruling against Washington County District Attorney Kevin Barton, the Oregon Court of Appeals has overturned the conviction of a 2015 black man after it ruled that Barton wrongly removed a juror from serving on his jury because of his race.” D.A. Barton’s racist and prejudiced remarks continued when he was quoted saying in court that, “I don’t like unemployed, young college students on my juries.” Making matters even worse for himself, D.A. Barton said he planned on appealing the overturned conviction due to his racist actions.
D.A. Kevin Barton Conflict of Interest?
It would also appear to this writer that D.A. Kevin Barton is more concerned with convictions and, “stealing children” than he is with serving justice.
US~Observer letter to D.A. Kevin Barton – Click to Enlarge
The US~Observer sent a letter to D.A. Barton on May 6, 2020, pointing out the evidence he already has. This arrogant and corrupted D.A. chose not to respond to our letter.
Then, on July 14, 2020, we went directly to his office and hand-delivered another copy of our letter to both D.A. Barton and his Deputy D.A. Allison Brown – the prosecutor working on Oscar’s case. To this day we have not received a response. Instead, D.A. Kevin Barton has continued to pursue a wrongful conviction of Oscar Cruz while Oscar remains a prisoner from his own family, dying of terminal cancer.
D.A. Barton has had years to do the right thing. Instead, he chooses to conduct seminars on “child abuse” and portray himself as a savior for victims on social and mainstream media.
D.A. Kevin Barton – Governing Board Member of Cares Northwest
D.A. Barton is also on the board of Cares NW. “Their team consists of child abuse pediatricians who are also employees of OHSU, granting them the special protection of only being able to be sued for malpractice or any damages within 180 days of their wrongdoing. Their team also consists of social workers and counselors who all work collaboratively with local law enforcement and CPS. Their child abuse pediatricians are granted special privileges at almost every hospital in the Portland metro area. Their statistics show that 45% of children assessed at CARES are diagnosed with abuse.”
And guess who “collaborates” with Cares NW – none other than OHSU (who employs Dr. Grigsby). Is that not a conflict of interest to have the District Attorney on the board of the very place (privately owned) that assesses kids when they are removed from a defendant’s home? And, what about the doctor who lies about parents then “collaborates” with the place where they are sent? The conflict is not even hidden, either. It is published for the world to see – yet Barton continues to get away with it.
Cares NW, according to their own website, receive over half of their funding from either State and County or Federal grants. These individuals have helped deprive Elsie from three of the last five years she could have had with her dying Veteran Father, Oscar Cruz.
Help reunite Oscar Cruz with his family. Call D.A. Kevin Barton at (503) 846-8671 and let him know you will not stand for his racist prosecution of a U.S. Army Veteran. Let Oscar go home to his family before he is gone forever.
It is crazy that D.A. Barton is paid lavish wages and perks (over $167,959 annually) for prosecuting innocent men like Oscar Cruz, and that Dr. Grigsby can publish such biased and factually false reports without paying for her mistakes. The craziest of all is that most American people will just sit back and do absolutely nothing about this travesty of justice. If we really had a system of justice in the United States, D.A. Barton, Dr. Grigsby and every worker who has taken part in the ruination of the Cruz family would be thrown in jail immediately, and Oscar Cruz would enjoy what little time he has left with the family that he loves – who desperately need him.
Sadly, suing those who have ruined Oscar’s family is very difficult because of the immunity government and their ilk have given themselves. “It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong.” With your help – we can change that. Let them know you won’t stand for racism in OUR Justice System.
Editor’s Note: I have personally witnessed Department of Human Services (DHS) Case Workers team up with crooked prosecutors like Kevin Barton to destroy innocent families for over 30 years – this is a fact! It is also a fact that until the good DHS Case Workers, Prosecutors who seek justice, and Child Abuse Pediatricians who are honest call out the bad ones in their professions, they will all look bad.
Help an innocent and terminally ill Army Veteran – call D.A. Kevin Barton at (503) 846-8671 and instruct this public servant to stop his abuse of the Cruz family – tell him that We will not stand for his racism! If you don’t want to be put on hold – email each prosecutor responsible: allison_brown@co.washington.or.us and
kevin_barton@co.washington.or.us. It will take the help from each of you to ensure Oscar is reunited with his family.
Anyone with information on those named in this article are urged to contact the US~Observer at 541-474-7885 or by email: editor@usobserver.com.
