Dr.'s Letter May Point To Dad's Child Abuse
Dr.'s Letter May Point To Dad's Child Abuse
POSTED: 5:35 pm EDT May 8, 2008
UPDATED: 6:55 pm EDT May 8, 2008
The investigation into a dad accused of abusing his adoptive children has taken a new turn.
The local medical examiner known as Dr. G. who appears on the Discovery Health Channel is at the center of a new controversy involving the same family.
The supervisor of the Orange County Medical examiner's officer and medical examiner Dr. Jan Garavaglia met with reporters off-camera.
They defended Garavaglia's writing of a letter that offered her opinion in a possible child abuse case involving Brian Kloosterman last year.
Kloosterman was arrested this week after police said his nanny turned in a videotape she claims shows him abusing a little boy he and his wife recently adopted from Guatemala.
Kloosterman's wife, Dr. Stephanie Schreiner, is a pathologist who works at Orlando Regional Medical Center.
Last summer, one of the couple's children was brought to the hospital for a head injury just three weeks after being adopted from Guatemala. Doctors said they suspected abuse.
According to Garavaglia, Schreiner was distraught and asked her, as a professional courtesy, to look over the child's medical file and write a letter of opinion.
Garavaglia said she reviewed the file on her own time and provided Schreiner with a letter addressed to "whom it may concern" stating that the child did appear to have a non-accidental injury.
However, her letter went on to say there was not enough evidence to determine when the injury occurred and more investigation was needed.
That child abuse case was sent to the state attorney in January and remains an open investigation with no charges filed.
Garavaglia and her boss now deny allegations that this letter may have stalled the case.
They said it was completely acceptable for Garavaglia to write such a letter and pointed out that Garavaglia also assisted the prosecution providing tips on how to determine exactly when the child's head injury occurred.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Children and Families said investigators hope to place the children in the care of a family friend.
Kloosterman bonded out of jail Wednesday night on the condition he have no contact with any children under 18 and his wife, Schreiner, was ordered to undergo psychological evaluation.
To comment on this story, send an e-mail to Amanda Ober.