Tacoma advocate for domestic violence victims faces ethics case

Story here. Excerpt:

'Did the City of Tacoma’s top advocate for domestic violence victims act responsibly to protect a woman who reached out to escape the escalating abuse of an estranged husband?

Or, did Gloria China Fortson, acting on unfounded abuse allegations, butt into a custody battle, overstep her authority and misuse city funds to help the woman break the law?

A city investigation last year found the latter, concluding that the longtime victims’ advocate broke city ethics rules in 2007 by helping a client leave the state with her children.

In the midst of a custody dispute, a judge had granted Keisha Jackson’s request to take her children to visit her ailing father in Florida with one condition: That she return within three weeks. Instead, Jackson – driving a van rented with city funds by Fortson – absconded with her children and was gone for more than seven months.
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Although city officials have noted that criminal abuse charges are not required to receive domestic violence services – so as not to discourage victims from seeking help – the investigator concluded: “Evidence fails to substantiate that domestic violence issues regarding Mr. Jackson ever existed and further indicates Keisha Jackson’s representations of such as self-serving in the context of a custody dispute.”