History of the Brooks Case
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del.icio.usJune 23, 2006: Paternity was police concern
BY TIM POTTER
The Wichita Eagle
Before 14-year-old Chelsea Brooks was killed, Wichita police were investig ating allegations that she was a victim of underage sex and were waiting for the birth of her child so they could conduct a paternity test, the district attorney said Thursday.
Last week, before that investigation concluded, two men found Chelsea's body in a shallow grave. Chelsea, who was nine months pregnant, had been strangled - the victim of a contract killing involving the alleged father, according to charges.
Prosecutors have charged 20-year-old Elgin "Ray-Ray" Robinson Jr., the man who allegedly was the baby's father, and two other men with capital murder and various other offenses. Robinson also was charged with two counts of rape - he is accused of having sex with Chelsea before she turned 14 - and with breaking a protective order.
"This (previous) investigation was ongoing, waiting for the birth of the baby," District Attorney Nola Foulston told The Eagle. As an ongoing investig ation, it had not yet been presented to her office to determine whether charges would be filed, she said.
Foulston said she couldn't comment further on the case because it is pending in court.
She also wouldn't say what the earlier investigation entailed. Chelsea's mother, Terri Brooks, filed court documents in February accusing Robinson of impregnating her daughter.
In the February paperwork, she also cited two police reports - one dated July 27, 2005, the other, Jan. 30, 2006 - alleging illegal sex between a juvenile and a suspect. The Eagle obtained copies of the reports from the city, but the names of the juvenile and the suspect had been whited out.
In Sedgwick County cases, paternity tests are conducted after a child is born because doing so before the birth would be invasive and could harm the fetus, Foulston said.
And often, she said, "many of these girls are so romantically entwined" with the fathers of their unborn children that they won't cooperate.
Neither police nor Foulston would comment on whether Chelsea had helped investigators with the case. But in the protective order petition against Robinson, Terri Brooks alleged that Robinson was "psychologically manipula ting" her daughter into to keeping quiet about the baby's paternity.
DNA tests can be key
Sometimes, having a paternity test is crucial to a prosecution, said Paul Morrison, a longtime Johnson County attorney who is running for state attorney general. The importance of a paternity test often hinges on how cooperative the victim is, Morrison said.
Although local authorities wait until after a child is born before taking DNA to determine the identity of the father, that's not always the case elsewhere.
Sometimes, paternity tests are conducted before a child is born. DNA Diagnostics Center, an Ohio-based company, conducts about one paternity test a month nationwide in cases involving alleged crimes like rape and incest, said company spokesman Jim Hanigan. He didn't know how many of those cases involve underage victims.
The prenatal paternity tests involve mothers who consent to the testing and are assisted by authorities or victims' advocate groups, he said. Some pregnant mothers opt for a prenatal paternity test because they or the authorities don't want to wait until the baby is born, he said.
According to the American Pregnancy Association, prenatal DNA testing is done by one of two methods:
-- Amniocentesis, where during the 14th to 24th weeks of pregnancy a doctor uses ultrasound to guide a needle into the uterus to draw out amniotic fluid, which captures some of the fetus' cells.
"Risks include a small chance of harming the baby and miscarriage," the group's Web site says.
-- Chorionic villus sampling (CVS), where a doctor inserts a needle or tube through the cervix. DNA testing by that method can be done from the 10th to 13th weeks of pregnancy, the Web site says.
Paternity testing after birth can be done by blood testing, by cheek swab, by umbilical cord collection or by testing other tissue, the Web site says.
How police handle cases
Although Wichita police won't comment on Chelsea's case, Deputy Chief Robert Lee agreed to discuss generally how cases of underage sex are handled.
Obtaining a protective order can be one tool to help keep someone away from a juvenile. But the best way to ensure that police will investigate allegati ons of underage sex, Lee said, is to call 911; Crime Stoppers, 316-267-2111; or the SRS hotline to report abuse, 800-922-5330.
Cases in which the suspect and the victim have daily contact are called "A cases" and are investigated immediately and almost around the clock, he said. Other cases have a lower priority.
Last year the Exploited and Missing Children Unit handled about 2,800 cases, including runaways, sexual abuse and physical abuse.
According to state records, Sedgwick County had 17 pregnancies among girls ages 10 to 14 in 2004, the latest year for which figures were available. Sedgwick County teens ages 15 to 19 had 1,061 pregnancies that year, according to records kept by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
Reach Tim Potter at 316-268-6684 or tpotter@wichitaeagle.com.
CAPTION: Brooks
THE WICHITA EAGLE
Copyright (c) 2006, The Wichita Eagle & Beacon Publishing Co.