Man continues to battle abuse charge

July 29, 2005

KATE KELLY\Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - Mark Ruby's daughter accused him of sexually abusing her.

Ten years later, the Wasilla man is still fighting to clear his name and change procedures within the state Office of Children's Services, so no one else will have to go through what he has.

Ruby, a former emergency medical technician now living on disability, filed a Civil Rights Act lawsuit in federal court last week against the commissioner of the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services, the head of the Office of Children's Services, and a Children's Services social worker.

In the lawsuit, Ruby claimed that although there was never any evidence of sexual abuse against him and he was never given the opportunity to challenge the claim, he was labeled a child molester and denied employment because of it - without his knowledge - for several years.

"The case is about due process of law, which is a constitutional guarantee, before they label you and ruin your life," Ruby's attorney Kenneth Kirk said Thursday.

In a press release faxed to the Frontiersman Wednesday, Kirk argued that even though Ruby cooperated fully with police and OCS investigators when the accusations surfaced in 1995 and even passed a lie detector test, the OCS based its case on the subjective review of one social worker and did not even notify him of the agency's decision to designate him as a sex offender.

"The Office of Children's Services only considered whether the social worker followed the correct procedures (something which was never an issue), and refused to consider whether Mr. Ruby actually did anything wrong," Kirk stated in the press release. "In short, the review procedure was a sham."

Mark Morones, a state Department of Law spokesman, said Thursday that neither he nor OCS officials will comment on the lawsuit until they've had a chance to review it. Listed as defendants in the case are Alaska Department of Health and Social Services Commissioner Joel Gilbertson, Deputy Commissioner Tammy Sandoval, and OCS social worker Ada Gleason.

What happened in 1995?

Ruby's daughter was 13 in 1995 when in March of that year she claimed he raped her while she was visiting him during Christmas 1994. She also claimed to remember being sexually abused by him when she was only one or two years old, according to Ruby's complaint.

Ruby said last year that back in 1995, he had not seen his daughter since she was 3 years old and had hoped to get to know her as a teenager.

He said his life had been "perfect" up until the accusations began. He was working for Job Corps in Palmer and looking forward to getting his basic life support certification as an EMT and firefighter.

Ruby's attorney said Thursday that at the time of the accusations, Ruby's daughter was having a dispute with her mother and the OCS and may have been motivated to make the claims against her father to prevent having to live with him.

"Anybody who has dealt with teenagers knows that they like to get their way and that sometimes they make up things," Kirk said. "We have pretty strong evidence to support the fact that my client did not do anything and when the time is right, the federal court will bring that out."

Ruby told the Frontiersman in December that when Wasilla police brought him in for questioning on the case, he volunteered to take a polygraph test to reinforce his claim of innocence and, after five hours of questioning, passed the polygraph. His daughter, however, refused to take a polygraph.

An investigating officer then told Ruby that he could be tested for hepatitis to help prove he did not have sexual contact with his daughter.

"So I went straight to the hospital and got that test and brought the results back to (the officer)," Ruby said in December. "The results showed no hepatitis and no hepatitis antibodies, and I thought that was the end of it."

After the polygraph and blood test, Ruby appeared to be clear. He was never arrested, never charged with a crime, and never called in for further questioning.

Unbeknownst to Ruby, however, OCS named him as the perpetrator of sexual abuse against his daughter, which would show up on his record if anyone did a background check on him.

That is exactly what happened in August 2001 when he was working in Anchorage as a lead EMT and was offered a job with the Homeward Bound program at RurAL CAP Inc. He was informed that an extensive background check was part of the hiring process, but was not concerned because he didn't realize what was contained on his record.

The next month, while still in his probationary period at the new job, Ruby learned from a friend at work that the background check uncovered records at OCS that named him as a sexual abuser.

That was the end of his new position.

No chance to defend himself

Ruby's life was further disrupted when, in 2001, he was dating the woman to whom he is now married.

She was in the midst of a bitter custody battle with her ex-husband. In the course of custody proceedings, an OCS investigator sent a letter to Ruby's future wife stating that because Mark Ruby had a history of "substantiated" sexual abuse in 1995, the OCS recommended that the girlfriend's children not be allowed to visit her while Ruby was present.

According to the girlfriend, Rebecca, the letter was used by her ex-husband as ammunition in the custody battle.

"There has been irreparable damage to my relationship with my children because of this," Rebecca said. "I was surprised at OCS' attitude toward me because I was with Mark, and (OCS') careless regard for the information they throw around."

Last November, Ruby received a letter of apology from OCS staff manager Christy Lawton, saying that although the agency felt it needed to send the letter to Rebecca as a "cautionary advisement" where her children were concerned, the disclosure about Ruby's case did not need to include such specific investigative information. "We apologize for any difficulties this may have caused you," Lawton's letter stated.

The Rubys believe it was because of the OCS letter to Rebecca and OCS recommendations that Rebecca failed to win custody of her three children.

"During my custody battle, I became aware that any child, for any reason, can make an accusation and even if the police don't believe it, OCS can make a finding against you," Rebecca said in December. "I found out OCS is their own entity that operates outside the law, and they can deny your constitutional right to due process. That was very sobering."

What has OCS done since?

Ruby said he also believes the OCS designation against him has prevented him from finding a job in his field.

Ruby's attorney claims in the federal lawsuit against the state that despite numerous requests, OCS has refused to change the determination that the accusation of sexual abuse against his client is "substantiated."

"Such a substantiated finding can cause OCS to oppose a person being allowed to adopt a child, or can cause them to refuse a foster care license," the lawsuit states. "OCS will also at times advise an individual not to leave children alone with someone who has been the subject of a substantiated finding of sexual abuse, on pain of removal by OCS of the warned individual's children."

The lawsuit also states that "substantial hearsay evidence" is allowed in OCS investigations and that in Ruby's case, the agency limited its inquiry to whether the social worker, Ada Gleason, followed the correct procedures.

"Thus, there is effectively no substantive appeal from the social worker's determination that the alleged sexual abuse occurred," Kirk argued in the court document.

The lawsuit states that Gleason's decision to make a substantiated finding of child sexual abuse was based on "entirely inadequate facts" and that her determination in 2003 to recommend that the finding not be overturned violated Ruby's right to due process of law.

Kirk said that although the lawsuit seeks compensatory damages exceeding $50,000, the case is not about money.

"The whole point is to change the agency's procedures and to clear my client's name," Kirk said. "This is not a get-rich-quick scheme."

Contact Kate Kelly at 352-2284.