Adam Montgomery was found guilty on all charges of murdering his daughter, Harmony Montgomery. Some have praised this as justice. There are others who must face trial as well for their own abhorrent failures. Making mistakes is one thing, hiding them is another.
Is Locking Up Adam Montgomery the Only Justice for Harmony Montgomery? We’ll See.
The state receives millions in grants for child welfare, to protect against child abuse, and for training programs. It has failed over and over and over again – for decades.
The State’s key witness against Adam Montgomery was Kayla Montgomery, who had lied to a Grand Jury and was offered a plea if she testified against him. Whether or not she was a credible witness is beside the point. Harmony’s life was put in danger thanks to a Judge in Massachusetts who ordered her to be sent to live with her father. Her life was further put in danger because New Hampshire’s DCYF didn’t vet her father or Kayla Montgomery. In 2020 the US DHHS OIG issued the following damning report on New Hampshire’s failures with child caregivers.
“By not ensuring that all current employees or household members who supervised or had routine unsupervised contact with children passed all criminal background checks, New Hampshire potentially jeopardized the safety of the children in the care of the 30 selected childcare providers.”
When the police finally announced that Harmony was missing and put out a reward to find her, the Manchester Police Chief maintained that his department had told the truth but that others were lying. I find that hard to believe, given a more recent account by Robert Tanguay, who recorded phone calls between him and Manchester Police, who refused to take a report from him regarding child abuse. Whether or not you believe Robert Tanguay, the point is that the police refused to write down child abuse claims. New Hampshire has a mandatory reporting statute for child abuse, so why would Manchester police refuse to take a report on child abuse? Is it because the mother of Robert Tanguay’s children left him for a member of the police department?
We want to thank Claire Best for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Steve@GraniteGrok.com.
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Here is the statute regarding the reporting of child abuse. What part of it do NHPD, NHCADSV, and DCYF not understand, and why don’t they
“To suspect child abuse or neglect does not require that the reporter have proof or evidence that the abuse or neglect occurred. It simply means that the reporter has reason to believe that something could have happened. It is the role of DCYF and law enforcement to investigate the report and make a determination.”
Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig’s office failed as well. Contact was made in her office by a member of Harmony’s family seeking help as they were concerned for her welfare. AG John Formella’s office was supposed to look into what happened. Governor Sununu ordered an investigation into the state’s child agencies after the Harmony Montgomery incident. Of course, nobody was charged, and no fault was found. Recommendations were made, and like all the previous recommendations when it comes to NH DCYF, they were ignored. If they weren’t, Manchester Police might have taken Robert Tanguay’s report of child abuse seriously instead of brushing him off.
Anna Carrigan brought a Whistleblower suit against New Hampshire for failures of the DCYF and associated agencies when it came to children. She was brushed off, too. Why?
David Meehan et al. brought a suit against New Hampshire & DCYF for extreme child sexual abuse at the YDC. They were brushed off for “victim negligence.” Why?
There will be no justice for Harmony Montgomery or any other child who has been abused or killed under New Hampshire State supervision until the police, judges, and agencies are held accountable. They receive millions in grants. What happened to Harmony Montgomery is as much on them as it is on Adam and Kayla Montgomery, who were dependents of the State due to the welfare checks they received and the homeless shelters they inhabited.
