BANGOR (NEWS CENTER Maine) -- The death of 10-year-old Marissa Kennedy has many people asking "who dropped the ball," but a Bangor attorney says removing a child from a potentially abusive home isn't always an easy process.
Marissa was found beaten to death in her Stockton Springs home Sunday afternoon, her mother and step father have been arrested and charged with her murder.
Joe Baldacci explained that when a complaint comes to the Department of Health and Human Services about alleged abuse, the department is supposed evaluate its credibility. He says this is to determine whether it constitutes abuse, whether it constitutes low medium or high level of severity of a abuse or whether it's anything that they should be concerned about.
"They will look into a case if they consider it some form of abuse and then they will investigate," Baldacci said. "Once they do an investigation they have to submit an affidavit to the courts."
Baldacci says this is to establish probable cause to believe that the child is an immediate, imminent harm. If the judge determines they're in imminent harm to themselves then they can be removed.
"So you can't just go into a house and if your gut tells you something is wrong, remove them," NEWS CENTER Maine's Samantha York asked. "No," Joe Baldacci replied. "It's a whole process."
Baldacci says he feels this specific situation involving Marissa should never have happened.
"I think one of the things that really needs to happen is that the Department of Health and Human Services should come clean in terms of what happened in this case," Baldacci said. "This should never happen to any child ever."
Ultimately, the hurdles are put in place to protect a parent's rights
Though the process to remove a child from an abusive home is a long one, Baldacci says it can be done. He questions whether the department is lacking resources to be able to complete investigations or follow up with cases.