Miami Herald; Sunday, December 19, 1993
Joseph Williams, Herald Staff Writer

Where most 16-year-olds long for freedom, Becky begged a judge to keep her locked up after her arrest for prostitution solicitation and cocaine possession last month. She said she needs help -- to forcibly break her addiction to crack cocaine and get treatment for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

The judge agreed to keep her locked up. But help still hasn't arrived.

Despite a court mandate, an exhaustive search by a defense lawyer and state Health and Rehabilitative Services case workers, no area hospitals or treatment centers will agree to admit Becky.

Although she has enrolled in two voluntary state treatment centers, Becky hasn't made it past the first week in either. Her desire to get high overpowers her desire to get better, her lawyer says.

So she needs to find a place where she can be treated -- and stay locked up -- at the same time.

That quandary is too complicated for the available state facilities -- and private hospitals won't help unless someone pays for it.

Meanwhile, Becky languishes in a Broward Regional Detention Center cell, trying to be patient -- and optimistic. After 23 days behind bars, she said, waiting is the hardest part.

"I want to be better, but I won't be better here," she said, wiping away tears with the palms of her hands. "All I'm getting here is heartache. I have nowhere to go. All I have is time."

Assistant Public Defender Michael Coviello said Becky's plight is rare.

"What makes this case so remarkable is this child is in a juvenile justice system where so many kids brought in here have no respect for the system," Coviello said. "This is a kid who's turning to the system, begging for help. She wants to get better, and the system is failing her."

Feirmon Johnson, an HRS human services specialist, said his agency hasn't given up the fight.

"We will continue to work with the child, to try to overcome these obstacles," he said. "Hopefully, we can -- I can't say 100 percent. But we will continue to fight. We're not going to drop the ball. I'm optimistic that this child will get the help that she needs."

Because Becky is a juvenile, HRS rules prohibit officials from publicly talking about her case. Her last name is being withheld to help protect her identity. But in separate interviews last week, both Becky and her mother, Jerry, agreed to talk about her past. According to their account:

At an early age, her parents divorced, and Becky and her younger brother were sent to live with relatives in Arkansas while her mother went to Florida to look for work. While her mother was away, however, Becky was sexually abused by a male relative.

Arkansas social service workers put Becky with other relatives and began proceedings to place her in a foster home. Her mother, who had found a job in Palm Beach County, subsequently won custody of the children and moved the family to Florida.

Just before Becky turned 14, her mother's boyfriend sexually abused her. He pleaded guilty to sexual assault and was placed on probation.

Psychological counseling seemed to help Becky recover, her mother said. But the child's progress unraveled last year when she stopped going to school -- and started dating a 23-year-old man who introduced her to drugs.

Over the Fourth of July weekend last year, Becky and the young man decided to run away together to Fort Lauderdale. They lived hand-to-mouth in a series of cheap motels for several months, Becky said, before her boyfriend abandoned her.

She ended up sleeping at Fort Lauderdale's tent-city homeless camp near Holiday Park and turned to prostitution to support herself -- and her growing drug addiction.

Becky's mother said she was frantic when she realized her daughter had disappeared. She spent hours with her sons, combing neighborhood streets, talking with Becky's friends and following tips that led nowhere.

"Her life had been going good, and then she falls in love with a man and runs away with him," Jerry said. "I'm telling you, I know Becky. If she hadn't been doing drugs, she wouldn't have run away."

In the summer, police eventually caught up with Becky and brought her home to Palm Beach County. Her mother agreed to enroll Becky in DATA, a teen drug treatment program. She stayed less than a week before running back to Fort Lauderdale -- and resuming her crack addiction.

Becky had repeated, minor scrapes with the law after that. She was arrested again in August, when she propositioned an undercover Fort Lauderdale police officer. Officers also charged her with possession of cocaine.

Defense lawyer Coviello said Becky's biggest problem was that her youth was stolen by men who have taken advantage of her.

"This was a kid who was seriously molested by some people close to her," Coviello said. "That probably did a lot to her emotionally, as far as her ability to trust and get close to people in her family.

"Her inability to trust those people allowed her to trust other people who did further harm to her," Coviello said. "They not only took away parts of her body, but parts of her soul."

Despite her daughter's troubles, Becky's mother said she wants to see her daughter get better -- but knows it can only happen if she's behind locked doors.

When Becky was picked up in November, she was emaciated and sickly, Jerry said. Since she has been in the detention center, "she's looked more clear-headed than she has in a year and a half. She looks like she's gained a lot of weight.

"Becky's very intelligent, she's very sweet," her mother said, choking back emotion. "If they could keep her locked up for six months and get her some counseling, and let her know that her family is there for her. I was 15 when I ran away. But just by the grace of God, I didn't end up this way."

Despite seemingly overwhelming problems, Becky said she's confident she'll recover -- if she gets the treatment she needs.

"My future is very important," she said. "I want to make it a long, healthy future."

CUTLINES:

JANET JARMAN/Miami Herald Staff

SAD PROFILE: Sexually abused as a child, Becky ran away to Fort Lauderdale, where she turned to prostitution to support her drug habit.

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