Starvation Victim, 15, Complained Repeatedly of Abuse, Records Show

A girl whose parents are charged with murder in her starvation death had 15 child abuse complaints made against them over several years that authorities could not substantiate, court papers show.

Prosecutors allege that young Lindsay Gentry repeatedly told teachers and nurses that her father hit or pushed her, and had suffered bruises, a bloody nose, a black eye and belt marks at various times before her death Feb. 6, 1996, at the age of 15.

Her parents, Michael and Kathleen Gentry, have pleaded not guilty to the charges, and are scheduled to begin trial next week in Van Nuys Superior Court.

The history of the girl’s alleged plight is contained in a document filed by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, showing that from the age of 6 Lindsay was the subject of abuse complaints, often from schoolteachers, in Orange and Los Angeles counties.

In one case, the girl held a social worker’s hand and asked her not to leave because she was scared. In every case, the abuse could not be substantiated and she was left with her parents.

One investigation was closed after a worker noted that the child “would be a very poor witness in a court hearing and there should be evidence or else parents say they will take legal action,” court papers said.

Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services officials handled nine complaints about Lindsay’s treatment since 1988. The Orange County Division of Children and Family Services received six such complaints in 1987 and 1988.

Orange County officials declined to comment. Los Angeles officials said they conducted an internal investigation after Lindsay’s death and found the complaints were handled appropriately.

“We are absolutely satisfied that the social workers exercised their best judgment with the information they had at the time,” department spokesman Neil Rincover said. “Without getting into the facts, the allegations were handled by a number of social workers. They did involve police officers and doctors.”

Attorney David Houchin, who is representing Lindsay’s mother, said the complaints were never sustained because the Gentrys never abused Lindsay.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Kathleen Cady, who filed a motion to exclude the social workers’ findings, declined to comment.

Houchin said he expects the case to center on experts’ testimony on the cause of Lindsay’s death. Lindsay was born with myonic dystrophy, a rare neurological disease similar to muscular dystrophy, and was mildly retarded as well as disabled.

When she died in 1996, a pathologist initially determined she had died of her disease. A contributing factor was extreme malnourishment caused by starvation. That did not alarm doctors because her illness can lead to eating problems.

The Gentrys were eventually charged with premeditated murder last summer after a medical expert reviewing the case told police the child died from neglect. The parents say that she died because of her disease, which can disable face and neck muscles, making it difficult to eat.

In an interview, Michael Gentry called the charges a vendetta by school officials who were upset when he pulled his daughter from her school in favor of home tutoring in 1995.

Between April 1987 and June 1988, Lindsay’s teachers and school nurses in Orange County reported abuse to child welfare workers on four occasions after finding belt marks and a black eye.

The first complaint, on April 20, 1987, was made by a school nurse who reported belt marks.

Three months later, Orange County officials cleared another referral by a school nurse after Lindsay came to school with a black eye.

When the Gentrys moved to Palmdale in 1988, an Orange County social worker sent a 25-page report to Los Angeles County child welfare workers citing such evidence of abuse as bruises and repeated absences.

Three months after the family moved to Los Angeles County, a school nurse in Palmdale told a social worker that Lindsay complained her father pushed her. The following month, an investigator closed her file with the comment: “time limit expired. Unable to substantiate any of the allegations.”

In November 1993, Lindsay had a bloody nose, swollen lip and a bruise on her nose that she told school officials and a social worker was caused by her father.

The social worker concluded, according to court files, that the allegations “are unsubstantiated.” The case was assigned to another worker who closed it for the same reason.