County to Open Files on Slain Child Actress

A judge on Friday ordered Los Angeles County to open its child abuse files on Judith Barsi, the child actress who was killed by her father last month.

Judge Kathryn Doi Todd of Juvenile Dependency Court said she found “good cause” for allowing a watchdog agency to review the way the county Department of Children’s Services handled the Barsi case, which ended in the shooting deaths of the mother and daughter a day or two before July 27.

In the aftermath of the killings in West Hills, it was revealed that the county agency had closed its investigation into allegations of abuse by the father, Jozsef Barsi, in June.

The court order “satisfies the needs of our commission,” said Nancy Daly, who chairs the Commission for Children’s Services, an advisory body to the County Board of Supervisors on children’s issues. The commission went to Todd only after the department refused a request to review the file, citing reasons of privacy.

The commission reportedly wants to know why the case was closed, why the girl’s therapist was never informed that it had been closed and whether the system as a whole needs to be improved.

Will Comply

An official said Friday that the department would comply with the judge’s order. “We do indeed plan to follow her order,” said Jim La Maida, department chief of communications.

Barsi, 10, had performed in 72 commercials, many situation comedy episodes and one film, last year’s “Jaws: The Revenge,” since she began her career at age 5. Police say her father had been making death threats against his wife, Maria, for at least as many years. A friend said Jozsef Barsi had threatened “500 times” to kill his wife and occasionally said he also would be forced to kill his daughter.

According to a relative, the couple’s marriage was falling apart, and Maria Barsi rented an apartment in Panorama City to escape her husband. But she hesitated to move in, fearing that she would lose the house her daughter’s earnings had helped purchase, a neighbor said. A key event occurred when the girl became hysterical in an audition several months ago and was sent for counseling.

After one session, the psychologist reported a possible case of child abuse to the Department of Children’s Services. The department followed up in May, although several sources close to the investigation said no worker ever visited the home to confront Jozsef Barsi about his behavior. The case was closed a month later, but the girl’s therapist was never told.

Members of the watchdog agency said they are concerned about the way the case was handled. The request to review the file is the first time in the agency’s four-year history that such an extraordinary appeal has been made.

When blame has been apportioned, several sources predicted, at least some of the blame will be placed on the system that piles scores of cases on each worker.