Especially bad things are happening to people dealing with the School Board and DSS as we speak. (CCC too.) I have seen and heard about bad things from other folks. I have even been surprised several times thinking that I had finally seen or heard it all. With what is happening now, I am surprised again, and hoping that they have finally hit the bottom in what they are willing to do to people and apparently take great pleasure in doing it.

Also, since there are several bad things happening right now to different sets of families, details are unfolding and these stories are complex, I want to only tell these stories one at a time. Therefore, please be patient for the details on who did what and when they did it. The purpose of this article is to let you folks know that former Cleveland County DSS employee, Rev. Dante Murphy, who himself won $55,000 from the Cleveland County DSS in a Federal Lawsuit has announced that he has been contacted by lawyers from out of Cleveland County who represent clients involving Cleveland County Agencies. And Rev. Murphy has volunteered to testify in court regarding the shenanigans going on in Cleveland County in an attempt to bring justice to the injustices that are presently being done. I estimate many millions of dollars in court ordered judgements will be required to remedy the injustices in these cases.

I also estimate that the judgements ordered by juries in these cases will exceed the insurance limits for the agencies involved and School Board members, DSS Board members and the County Commissioners will have to pay out of their own pockets (possibly to the point of bankruptcy) for their letting these bad things happen. Perhaps lawsuits such as these are the only way to finally bring justice in such matters to Cleveland County.

I know for a fact as I was attending a Commissioner’s Meeting, (The meeting County Attorney Tim Moore was sworn in as the County Attorney) Rev. Murphy and Rev. Melvin Clark asked the Commissioners to investigate the DSS for wrongdoing and the Commissioners did nothing. Rev. Murphy filed his Federal Lawsuit and won, yet those who were found to have violated the law as well as lying under oath (including highest levels of DSS management) were never reprimanded or disciplined for their illegal acts.

The School Board also refuses to punish their high level administration insider criminals. When I first got wind of the latest atrocities on the CCS Board I made a Freedom of Information Act request to the CCS Board for:

“1, All documents, records, etc. that show whether or not Cleveland County Schools has any type of insurance that protects individual board members from being sued for damages related to any actions at any school that generates a lawsuit. In particular regarding the incident at Kings Mountain High School a few years ago where the CCS Board is presently sued in Federal Court.”

This was the response”

” The Cleveland County Board of Education is a member of the North Carolina School Boards Trust. The North Carolina School Boards Trust (NCSBT) risk management program that partners with North Carolina’s public school boards in providing uniquely designed risk management protection.” Anybody know what that means? I sure don’t. And not one document was produced. Also my original information request was provided to all the School Board members and the response was only sent to me. Just to make sure the school board couldn’t say they didn’t know anything about this, I forwarded the response to the school board members myself with a warning:

“To all school board members,

I just wanted to make sure that each of you received a copy of the CCS response to this Public records request. Whether you read it or not is on you. Especially item number 1.”

I know this crowd. They will claim not to know about stuff at CCS by saying, “our job is to hire the Superintendent and the Superintendent’s job is to run CCS.” I bet they were surprised when their Federal Lawsuit came in and they were the ones being sued. My suspicion is they will do anything and have CCS do anything to get out of a lawsuit that might put them into the poorhouse. Although that is exactly what they deserve.

So now let’s cut to the chase. Bad things are happening to people at the hands of Cleveland County Agencies, CCS DSS, CCC and maybe others. Lawsuits have been filed and I expect other lawsuits will follow. In this respect and in the interest of justice Rev. Dante Murphy sent me the following email messages. They speak for themselves.

EXPERT TESTIMONY IN FUTURE DSS CASES

Dante Murphy To: Williams, Robert: Robert,

I was recently contacted by an attorney regarding an adult DSS case and asked if I would be willing to provide expert testimony regarding information I obtained during my lawsuit. The attorney contacted me based on one of your previous articles that presented details of the Murphy vs. Cleveland County lawsuit, specifically, that DSS presented false information to the EEOC. I am also privy to damaging information that was presented during depositions and will gladly share that information. I wanted to thank you for, in your own way, of keeping the public informed of issues that impact the lives of people. It is evident that people from across the state are reading your articles. This particular attorney that recently contacted me may be from Raleigh. It is my intent to make myself available for the pending trial involving this particular situation as I believe this may have been one of those instances that DSS overstepped it bounds. In that I am not bound by restrictions of talking about the details of the lawsuit, I will begin offering “discrediting” testimony for any case involving DSS that does not jeopardize the safety of adults or children. Please let any defense attorneys who feel strongly about their cases to contact me personally.

RESPONSE TO INQUIRY

Dante Murphy To: Williams, Robert: Robert,

This is a follow-up to confirm that I have consented to give testimony for a pending jury trial involving a current DSS adult matter. The attorney representing the adult was given permission for me to be contacted. It appears that one of the articles you wrote a while back puts into question the credibility of DSS officials, in that, proceedings during Murphy vs. Cleveland County DSS produced evidence and corroborating testimony during depositions that shows a tendency for DSS to concoct and present false information. No information was ever disseminated to the public that those involved were ever reprimanded or admitted any fault. I am at liberty to give testimony as I am under no restrictions as to the information and documents I possess. The attorney who contacted me was very convincing that DSS made an error in this particular case and was equally convincing that this continues to be an unfortunate ordeal for the family. I will in this instance and any others offer whatever assistance I can to ensure that justice and fairness is preserved for all people. Since leaving Cleveland County this is the third time I have either been subpoenaed or volunteered to give testimony in DSS related cases. These instances have been both as state’s witness and defendants. Regarding a separate matter involving a lawsuit against Cleveland County Schools and the Kings Mountain Police Department, I have been contacted by several individuals regarding that matter. As current Branch President of the Pender County NAACP I do not anticipate having direct involvement with that situation. It is my hope that the matter will be referred to state and national level civil rights oversight organizations due to the magnitude of the issues at hand. If the information I received is correct, any entity in Cleveland County who takes custody of a disabled adult with a pending lawsuit against other county entities are at a conflict of interest. Please accept this as my official public statement regarding the subject matter. If you have any other questions you may contact me directly.

Stay tuned for the rest of the story. And more!!!