Evening Star Newspaper, November 15, 1931, Page 5

RILEY GIRL REPORT BY RY EXPECTED Hospital Also Will Tell Re- sults of Rescued Child’s Mentality Tests. expected to sub- to Chief Justice Wheat in District Bupreme Court the case of Edith Riley, the 12-year-old . girl who police rescued from a closet in her hcme, 10 days ago. Mrs. Elsie Webster Riley and Harry Sewman Riley, Edith's stepmother and father, charged with cruelty to the child are now free on bond of $2,500 each. true condition the little girl who lice took from a bathroom closet in ‘Will Give Test Results. ‘The hospital report will contain the examinations of joseph L. Gilbert, chief ychologist, a daughter Jus George Sutherland of United States Supreme Court. Edith, whose mental and physical development is only that of a 5-year- !d, has been under close observation to_the hospital nearly 10 ys 8go. Mrs. Elmore already has given the child several psychology tests and plans to put her through addi- tional examinations, each increasingly It, before making a final report on the child’s intelligence. It was em| ized, hcwever, by both Dr. Gilbert and Mrs. Elmore thas it may be months or_years before an exact of Edith's condition and the effects of her alleged imprisonment o ined in detail why Welfare was una- was being drafted yesterday. be submitted to board ‘Wednesday, when it meets to take up case of Edith, who has been com- ted to its care by Juvenile Judge Sellers. ¢ Evidence Insufficient. George S. Wilson, welfare director, mul{elller(od that the board pever was able to obtain sufficient evi- @lence on the previous complaints to convince & !u%:“ot the necessity of removing the children. It was believed the rej ‘Wednesday will bear out this asse! e 3 Caect 1o slean valua: e [ valua- ble information from a number of of Edith which were taken she went to live with her step- These in the with respect to the girl's and nlul condition when she lived 'l'.hml COLORED ASSOCIATION PLANS MASS MEETING Session Will Be Held Today to This mads Fire “Broadside Against Enemies’” of Race. " 7The District branch of the National Efi?i&ifg . il agge B 552 CHAIN CAUSES FIRE « Becomes Wedged in “Third Rail” of Car Track and Burns Wagon. A conductor chain dangling from a gasoline truck caused fire to break out ¢n a tank wagon at Fourth and K streets yesterday when it wedged in the “third rail” of a street car line. ‘The driver of the truck, John E. , 46, of Fort Myer Heights, Va., itly burned as he pulled the the line. Firemen extin- blaze. The Strange Case of Edith Riley BY REX COLLIER. DITH RILEY, pathetic 12-year- old “closet prisoner,” is pictured by officials as the innocent vic- tim of a bitter family feud which raged under the nose of a law-enforcement system powerless to interfere. lmxm fl!llh‘lnlc case Ill:;n its nception several years ago, Cbservers have arrived at the conclusion that Edith was a pawn in a grim game, in which such emotions as hate and pride were impelling factors. While police and welfare agencles "ench‘:gwm their inability to act, o° coursy as. niilobing o5 ‘dack n co Was a darl closet at the home of her father and stepmother, Mr. and Mrs. Harry New- man ‘The marriage of Riley to a woman of whom. relatives disapproved was the force which started the emotional mael- strom revolving around Riley's children by & former marriage—Edith, Lcuise ml: the cg:mcn of Sergt. Rhoda Millt. ken, head of the Woman's Bt - reau, wi investigated the Riley home as long sgo as 1926, pride played & prominent in the case. ‘Won Children in Court. rflde, she believes, and not a children’s institutions, which MLE R over s police . The that it would give her hus- ga to dren up, it is declared. “She felt band’s relations a long-sought due to a mental affiiction, the woman cl e o ntbhdetmummechm of 's brother and sister that . Her that was beaten and given scraps from files of the Woman’s Bu- Board of Public Welfare. The of Public Welfare first heard of trouble at the Riley home in 1925., Then, and on subsequent occa- sions in 1926, representatives of the board visited. the family, noted condi- tions, sought vainly to remove Edith to an institution and finally dropped the INSURANCE for your Lenses against loss or damage of any kind! It’s easy to break lenses—it happens too often! And you have to pay your money out to get new ones. Castelberg’s now offers to save you this trouble! Take advantage of this offer. Our regis- tered optometrist will examine you—we will grind your lenses accurately—and insure them against anything that can. J | occasion Mrs. . | search for the child. to_act. der | . Miss Helen Gainey, policewoman, gof Upper left, Edith Riley, now under treatment at Gallinger Hospital. SOME 6" THE FACTORS IN CLOSET PRISONER CHARGES. Upper right, Francis Riley, Ner 15-year-old brother, whose testimony resulted in his father and step-mother being held to the action of the grand jury on charges of mistreating Edith. Mrs, Elsie Riley, her step-mother. Harry Newman Riley, Edith’s father, and —Star Staff Photos. mn":'.er because of insufficient cause for action. plalng regarding. EGR's. alicged compl regal ’s mistreatment at the hands of her step- mother on December 28, 1926. On that Lulu maternal aunt of Edith, declared she had received an anonymous telephone call stating that Edith had been beaten and burned ;nd was “probably locked up in. the In her complaint to the bureau Mrs. | tub, Reed attacked the of Mrs. e character . y”w — fear that harm had come 3 erm to post a “lookout” “and institute a Board of Public Welfare "had refused touch with the welfare board that | Edith. “No Foot the police of her Mrs. Nainette Adams, a policewomtan, to the Riley home and she submitted the following report to her superiors: “Called at Riley home. 'Edith is and not in school. Mrs. Riley explained she is ill-behaved and cannot send her to school; that her doctor, Dr. Rodgers, assistant District of Columbia coroner, had advised that Edith be placed in an institution, the one in Virginia recommended. “I saw Edith undressed in the bath . There were small bruises' on her body which looked as though she mig] have been pinched, and the left side face above the eye was bruised. She said to. me while looking into the face of Mrs. Riley that the bruises Were caused in 4 fall. To me it looked 85 though a closed fist had hit her. The child is decidedly feeble-minded. “The 15-year-old girl was bathing They were noiseless and not a thing in the rooms on the first or sec- mdflwrmoutn(yhu."l‘hcbuy. 12, was called out o . _He, 100, is_undernourished looking. Even when I put my arm around him and tried to talk with him he remained sflent. He was dismissed and departed silently. “Entering the house, one is unaware Too Hard of the presence of children there, which is an unnatural atmosphere. “The Board of ‘Public Welfare will see if the two elder children are in school, and recommended _ that Edith be taken to Dr. Moore at Provi- dence Hospital.” Principal Complains. On June 4, 1928, the bureau received from Mrs, Cornell, assistant cipal of the Columbia Junior High School, a not receiving proper parental care, and the bureau referred the complaint to the welfare board. F Miss Milliken contends the Woman’s Bureau went as, far with the case as its authority permitted. “My one regret,” she said, “is that we failed to make contact with the Rileys in 1926. Mrs. Riley treated us as interlopers and she could not -be made to tnderstand that we were try- ing to help her solve an intricate problem.” Miss Milliken said the bureau, prior to the recent expose, had received no complaint_about Edith being locked in a closet. There had been a charge that she was kept in a wine cellar, but when a bureau representative visited the home she' had no opportunity to inspect the cellar or to indulge in any investigative work beyond that permitted by Mrs. Riley. To conduct such a search would have required a warrant, and there was no evidence available to justify securing one, Miss Milliken said. ‘The bureau’s investigator, Mrs. Adams, reported that her suspicions were aroused by the “unnatural atmosphere,” the bruises on Edith’s body and the way in which Edith looked at her step- mother while answering questions about her hurts, but suspicions alone provided no ground for police action. The bureau felt this was a “family case” properly belonging to the Board of Public Welfare. . The board's investigations, like those of the Woman’s Bureau, failed to find a cause for official action. Director George S. 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