Omens: How Masha became a supporting actress in the Faith Allen show
It was little over a month ago, I still believed Masha Allen was probably well taken care of, after her ordeal with Matthew Mancuso. Call me stupid, call me naive, but I believed the Allegheny County Department of Human Services would certainly in a case like Masha's, take all precautions possible to make sure her second placement would be done right, if not for Masha's interest (which it should be), then at least for their own sake.
Much to my surprise I found an entry on James Marsh' blog on June 17, containing just a single link pointing to an article called One Child's Unending Abuse - From Disney World Girl to Drifter, which reveals a claim made by James Marsh against several Pennsylvanian organizations and individuals responsible for the Masha's second placement. In Masha Allen betrayed again, I go in more detail about that claim.
Yesterday, July 24, James Marsh created a special section on his blog under the eery title omens:
Starting today I will begin posting noteworthy harbingers with the hope that readers will consider this from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr: "we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." I will refer to these tidbits as omens; something either good or evil that is believed to foretell the future.
What follows is a collection of publicly available material that could be seen as red flags in Masha's adoption by Faith Allen/Lynn Ginn/ Kimberly Murphy or any of the other names Masha's adoptive mother goes by. Faith Allen is been described as mentally unstable and deemed unfit to adopt or foster children, yet with the help of Judge Cheryl Allen, with whom Faith had lived for some time and in whose honour she had her name changed, was able to adopt Masha Allen, without having FBI clearance, without a complete and competent home study and despite three abuse allegations against her.
Most revealing is Omen 22, which goes as follows:
"Of course I remember Maria Mancuso. Like it was yesterday."
"Lynn and Judge Allen have a personal relationship. They were friends. You'd think there was a conflict of interest."
"I had monthly contact with Lynn, although she was always in our office. She was always worried about things, constantly in our office, always wondering if she was doing things right."
"There were allegations of abuse - there were kids removed from Lynn - two girls. When Masha was placed there Lynn was under supervision for the abuse of another child and should not have been on the placement list at all."
"Prior to the adoption, Masha was getting spoiled by Lynn emotionally and physically. I did not agree with the adoption. I did not agree with Lynn being a foster parent. She was supposed to be dropped as a foster parent before Masha and she was not which I disagreed with. I'm trying to figure out how she became a foster parent at all."
"I don't think that when it came to a sexually abused child . . . she claimed she was sexually abused herself and I don't think this was a good situation for a child like Masha who was sexually abused."
"We did not know where Lynn came from or what her background was. Lynn said the home of her foster parents was Georgia. We often questioned where she came from and what was the name of her foster parents. We never got a straight answer. Lynn always changed her name - her name always came up different."
"Lynn said she was sexually abused by her foster parents - but we didn't know who or where."
"Masha was supposed to be with Lynn Ginn on a temporary basis. Suddenly it was all over the news. Lynn enjoyed the media publicity and having this special child. She got in good with CYF and the people in charge and they thought it was a good home. They pushed the adoption, pushed it as a good home and wanted it to happen. They agreed and made it happen fast."
"My supervisor thought Lynn was a lawsuit waiting to happen and wanted her and Masha's case out of our agency ASAP."
"I always questioned that Lynn did not work. Our policy was that you had to have a job in order to raise a child. She was always available during the day and she was supposed to have a job."
"Lynn said a lot of things - we knew she was a liar. We never took anything she said to heart. She brought Judge Allen up frequently. Talked about dinner and going over to her house. Lynn said Judge Allen would speed things up and do what she wanted to make the adoption happen. That she was going to change her name to Allen and everything."Nicole Iole
December 13, 2006
Telephone Interview
Meanwhile Masha still lives with Faith Allen, in Georgia. According to the claim made by James Marsh, she has moved five times since 2003 and attended five different schools. She has received little or no mental health treatment and her basic medical needs have been neglected. Masha is said to have an overcompliance to authority figures and having a a very difficult time with self expression and assertiveness.
When reading up on all the Omens, it can't but excape me that Masha is again playing a role in someone elses show, this time not as graphic and brutal as when living with Matthew Mancuso, but none the less damaging.