Report: Lexington father ‘overwhelmed’ months before children’s deaths

The Lexington father whom authorities say confessed to slaying his five children was “overwhelmed” as a single father and was reported twice this year on allegations of abusing them, state child welfare records show.

Timothy Ray Jones Jr. is accused of killing the children, ages 1 to 8. Their bodies were found Tuesday in garbage bags, dumped in rural southwest Alabama.

In a May 5 case, the children told a state Social Services caseworker that their father would spank them sometimes with a belt, play rough, and make them do push-ups and other exercises for punishment.

A daughter said another sibling received “12 spankings.” One child also had a circular mark on the side of his neck.

Jones told a caseworker and Lexington County Sheriff’s Department deputies that he grabbed his son by the shirt collar and spanked him as punishment for destroying a toy track. All the children reported seeing their father grab one child by the chin, the report says.

The children were not removed from Jones’ custody. The Social Services caseworker wrote there was “not enough to arrest (the) father.”

Social Services officials said Thursday the embattled agency, which reports directly to Gov. Nikki Haley, has begun a review of its involvement.

That agency has been under fire — and under investigation by a state Senate panel — because of the deaths of dozens of children who have come in contact with the agency.

‘Substantial risk’

Those details of life in the Jones family are part of three investigations that Social Services released just before midnight Wednesday.

The first was a 2011 case alleging neglect when the children’s mother still lived with them. The two cases this year alleged that Jones, divorced from his wife in 2013, physically abused his children.

Social Services found “substantial risk of physical abuse” after the May incident, according to the report. Still, the case was closed and no services were recommended.

Social Services did not make available caseworkers or supervisors from its Lexington County Social Services office to elaborate on the May report.

But, without commenting on the Jones case, Social Services spokeswoman Marilyn Matheus said, sometimes, when a caseworker is able to remedy a family’s problems, the case will go on record as having a finding of abuse with no additional services needed.

A veteran of the child-welfare agency said caseworkers often face tough calls in cases of alleged physical abuse as they decide whether homes can be made safe or children should be removed.

A caseworker seeking a child’s removal from the home must show a judge – or law enforcement must determine – that the child is in imminent danger, said Wilbert Lewis, who retired after 35 years with Social Services and returned to help the agency’s Richland County office lower its high caseloads.

After the May allegations, Jones’ caseworker gave him a brochure and a “safety plan ... regarding no physical disciplin(e),” according to a Social Services report. In that report, the caseworker noted Jones understood the safety plan. The children also appeared comfortable around their father, the report says. In three follow-up visits, the children showed no signs of abuse.

But Jones expressed frustration to caseworkers, saying the children’s mother had not seen them for four months and she left him for a younger man.

The case was closed July 24. Two weeks later, the agency received another report of alleged abuse.

‘Overwhelmed’ but ‘appropriate’

On Aug. 7, law enforcement and the same caseworker followed up on a tip that Jones was “leaving extensive bruising” after beating one of his sons and not feeding the children adequately.

Authorities found no marks on the children. But one child had a bandage over his eye – an injury that reportedly was the fault of a sibling who opened a door that hit the child. A babysitter confirmed that account and said Jones had taken the child to the doctor for treatment.

In an Aug. 13 follow-up visit, the caseworker reported none of the children showed signs of abuse. They appeared well dressed and clean, and could name the meals they ate the night before.

Jones was an “appropriate” caretaker but “overwhelmed” because he did not have help caring for his children. That could lead to more reports on the family, the caseworker noted.

On Sept. 3, before a follow-up visit could be scheduled, law enforcement called the caseworker to say the family was missing.

This story was originally published September 11, 2014 at 11:39 PM with the headline "Report: Lexington father ‘overwhelmed’ months before children’s deaths."