Courts - Oklahoma Report indicates dead 7-year-old girl was abused

By Randy Ellis The Oklahoman OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- In the three years leading up to Lester Hobbs' abduction and murder of stepdaughter Aja Johnson, he threw lit firecrackers in her bedroom to awaken her, slashed her mattress and sheets with a knife and repeatedly beat her with a flexible ruler, a new report reveals. Records show the state Department of Human Services received seven reports of abuse and neglect in the two years leading up to Aja's abduction, but the agency pushed for months to keep Aja and her stepsister in Hobbs' home, according to a death review report issued by the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth. Beth Scott, a DHS spokeswoman, said the state agency tries to assist parents in keeping families together when workers believe children can be kept safe, but determining whether children will be safe is often not an easy task. The bodies of Hobbs, 46, and Aja, 7, were found near Norman on March 29, more than two months after both disappeared and Aja's mother was found dead in Hobbs' motor home in Geronimo. The state medical examiner ruled Hobbs committed suicide by consuming antifreeze after apparently killing his wife and stepdaughter. A family friend was granted custody of Aja's stepsister and filed guardianship papers in February. The new report shows Aja was repeatedly abused and required psychiatric care in the years leading up to her death. Aja told authorities in November that when her biological father sent her clothes, Hobbs cut them up and made her carry the ripped clothes around. Hobbs also would grab her by her hair and make her clean the floor with a toothbrush, she reported. Aja's stepsister said Hobbs also "whipped them with a paddle and rammed Aja's head into a wall." Aja and her stepsister were placed in a foster home in July 2006, but DHS returned the girls to Hobbs' home in May 2007 for a trial reunification, the report states. Problems surfaced almost immediately. In July 2007, a Comprehensive Home-Based Services (CHBS) worker documented that Aja's mother reported Hobbs had been throwing lit firecrackers into the girls' bedroom to wake them in the morning. The worker told Hobbs to stop doing that because it was a fire hazard. The worker also reported Hobbs admitted spanking the children with a flexible ruler and quoted a defiant Hobbs as saying, "if DHS doesn't like the way that he disciplines his children, they can take them back and raise the children themselves." A Lincoln County DHS worker told Hobbs the next day that "as a parent he had the right to spank Aja," but if he started leaving bruises on the children "it would be a different situation." Aja and her stepsister were removed briefly from the home on July 20, 2007, because of a crisis in the home that required law enforcement intervention, but they were returned four days later. A week later, DHS recommended that the children continue living in the Hobbs home in DHS custody. A Lincoln County judge approved continuation of the reunification plan. In September 2007, Aja reported to a CHBS worker that Hobbs had used a knife to cut up all the new clothes her biological father had given her. The worker also documented that Hobbs had slashed Aja's mattress and sheets with a knife because he was angry with her and had gotten into a fight with a neighbor and threatened to stab the person. The worker quizzed Hobbs about bruises found on Aja in late June 2007, and quoted Hobbs as saying he had been angry with Aja and "probably hit her too hard." The first official allegation of abuse was filed in September 2007, when a complaint was filed with DHS over a 3-inch by 4-inch bruise on then 4-year-old Aja's back. The reporting individual said Aja initially said Hobbs had caused the bruise by whipping her but later said the bruise was caused by a dog jumping on her. It also was reported that Aja had drawn a picture of a naked man and stated she had taken a lot of baths with her stepfather. A DHS worker documented the bruises the next day and said Aja stated Hobbs had told her not to let anyone see them. The worker said Aja denied bathing with her stepfather. DHS ended the trial reunification and returned the girls to foster care on Sept. 26, 2007. A month later, however, a Lincoln County judge approved another reunification plan to be implemented after the parents completed parenting and marital counseling sessions. The children were placed back in the Hobbs home in March 2008 for another trial reunification. Lincoln County DHS workers stated in May 2008 they thought the "children were conditionally safe" based on their evaluation of risk factors but said Aja needed to be evaluated because she continued to "make statements that she wanted to burn the house down or cut someone with a knife." The children were briefly removed from the home in May 2008 when Aja was placed in an inpatient psychiatric facility and her stepsister was returned to foster care, but nine days later a Lincoln County judge approved a plan for them to be reunited with Hobbs and their mother. Aja was admitted to a children's behavioral health hospital because of "violent tendencies toward herself and her family" on June 10, 2008, but was released July 18, 2008, and placed back in the Hobbs home for another trial reunification. In a bizarre turn of events, a CHBS worker reported on Sept. 30, 2008, that Aja's mother had called attorneys to report she had relapsed on drugs. Three days later, DHS recommended that a judge release Aja and her sister from DHS supervision and allow both children to continue living in the home of Hobbs and their mother. The judge followed the recommendation and dismissed the case. Abuse reports continued -- with a few even arriving after she disappeared. Published: Fri, May 28, 2010

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