metro

Get
Better
Faster

Over 90%
Success Rate.

MLS LASER THERAPY

• Reduce Pain

• Non Invasive

• Relieve
Inflammation

• Painless

• FDA Cleared

• Restore Mobility

Ron Lederman, MD Mark Kwartowitz, DO Brad Mescher, PA

.01 LEDERMAN

KWARTOWITZ

Center for Orthopedics & Sports Medicine

LKOrthopedics.com
248.669.2000

2300 Haggerty Road, Suite 1110
West Bloomfield, Michigan 48323

22

September 5 • 2013

Ruling Overturned

Falsely accused parents
will have their day in court.

Ronelle Grier
Contributing Writer

T

hal and Julian Wendrow,
whose family was torn apart
five years ago by totally false
allegations of rape and incest, will
finally get their day in court as the
result of a recent U.S. Court of Appeals
ruling that denies governmental immu-
nity to two former Oakland County
prosecutors.
The parents of then-14-year-old
Aislinn Wendrow, who has autism,
were arrested in
2007 after special
education person-
nel from Walled
Lake Consolidated
Schools reported
that Aislinn claimed
she had been
sexually abused
by her father. The
accusations, which
turned out to have
Thal and Julian
no factual basis,
were purportedly made via facilitated
communication (FC), a controversial
method where a disabled person types
on a keyboard while a facilitator holds
her hand or wrist for guidance.
FC has been discredited by courts
and special educators across the coun-
try because the messages are frequent-
ly authored by the facilitator rather
than the person with the disability.
Messages typed in conjunction
with Walled Lake Central High School
facilitator Cindi Scarsella were used
as the basis to arrest and incarcerate
both parents. Aislinn and her brother,
Ian, then 13, were removed from
their home and put into foster care.
Thal was released on a tether after six
days, and Julian spent 80 days in the
Oakland County Jail before the charges
were dropped.
Aislinn first was placed in the West
Bloomfield home of Bassie and Rabbi
Levi Shemtov, Friendship Circle of
Michigan directors, but more false
accusations (involving a claim that
Thal visited Aislinn there late at night)
arose from the school's continued use
of FC and caused authorities to place
Aislinn in an institutional foster care
situation in Detroit.
"Tali and Julian were always the
most dedicated and caring parents:'
said Rabbi Shemtov, who has known
the Wendrows for more than 15
years. "It's terrible that they had to go

through something like this for no
reason"
The couple filed a multifaceted law-
suit against former Oakland County
Prosecutors Andrea Dean and Deborah
Carley, Walled Lake Consolidated
Schools personnel and the state
Department of Human Services. They
also sued the West Bloomfield Police
Department, which reached a settle-
ment with the family in 2010.
A U.S. District Court ruling in 2011
allowed governmental immunity for
Carley and Dean, a decision that was
overturned in the
recent ruling by the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the
Sixth Circuit.
"Their constitutional
rights were violated
over and over again;
said the Wendrows'
attorney, Deborah
Gordon. "What became
important [to the pros-
ecution] was the win,
Wendrow
not the truth:'
The Wendrows have tried to move
on with their lives. They moved to
Wolverine Lake from West Bloomfield.
Ian is 19, a sophomore at Michigan State
University. Aislinn, 20, attends a special
education program in Walled Lake.
While the family looks forward to
their day in court, they acknowledge
legal victories will never eradicate the
emotional scars left by their ordeal.
"We all have PTSD (post-traumatic
stress disorder):' said Thal. "Ian has
moved on in a sense, but he still has
nightmares. Sometimes we'll hear him
vocalizing. It doesn't go away:'
According to her parents, Aislinn
developed intense separation anxiety,
especially regarding her father, a con-
dition that persists almost five years
later.
"She would panic if she didn't see
Julian:' said her mother. "Even to this
day, it's still an issue'
The case will be tried by U.S.
Eastern District Court. A trial date has
not been set.
"The bottom line is there was
no remorse said Thal. "From an
emotional standpoint, it felt like we
were standing on a mountaintop and
screaming, but no one heard us.
"To finally have three judges with no
connection to Oakland County objec-
tively say this is ridiculous and these
people should have their day in court,
is a wonderful feeling."

❑