Social worker raped while investigating a case at an Akron

November 7, 2003
Akron Beacon-Journal

A father involved with the Summit County Children Services Board has been charged with raping a social worker who went to his apartment Thursday to discuss his child's case.

Akron police arrested Shawn Robert Marshall on charges of rape and kidnapping, both first-degree felonies. Officers were waiting for Marshall to be treated at Akron City Hospital before taking him into custody. Marshall, 23, took several pills in a suicide attempt following the rape, police said.

Marshall was just released Monday from the Summit County Jail, where he was serving time for domestic violence, according to jail records.

The social worker was treated at St. Thomas Hospital. Colleagues say she was hired about two weeks before a CSB strike began July 14 and is in a six-month probationary period.

"We are all shaken by this incident, and we are working closely with police,'' said CSB spokesman Jim Armstrong, who declined further comment.

The attack occurred about 10 a.m. Thursday at Marshall's apartment in the 100 block of Fulton Street, near Laird Street.

A document on file in Akron Municipal Court describes the incident this way:

FLASHBACK: Social worker - "Bad law forces honorable citizens to disobey in name of self-defense"

Click on the "Read More..." link below for more of this tragic victimization in Akron.

The 27-year-old social worker was at Marshall's apartment to discuss a case plan with Marshall and his child's mother. Marshall was the only one home when the social worker arrived.

She stayed and explained Marshall's case plan to him.

As she prepared to leave, Marshall grabbed her by the throat and pulled one of her arms behind her. He then took the woman into the dining room and showed her a suicide note he had written.

Marshall forced her into the living room and raped her on a mattress.

She escaped through the front door but left her bra, purse and shoes behind. Detectives later recovered the items inside the apartment.

Marshall went to his mother's Roswell Street residence, barricaded himself in the bathroom and took several pills.

Police officers arrived, and he surrendered, court papers say.

Social worker Richard Snyder was on the picket line at the front gate of the main CSB building on South Arlington Street when he saw the social worker leave to go to Marshall's apartment.

"Twenty, twenty-five minutes later she just barreled (into the parking lot),'' Snyder said. "Her trunk was wide open and bouncing up and down. She went directly over to the security truck.''

Security officers, police and Executive Director Joseph White Jr., who came out of the building, tried to calm her down and coax her out of her car.

"Joe White was bent over the car quite a while trying to talk to her,'' Snyder said.

Eventually the woman's supervisor drove her to St. Thomas Hospital.

Snyder said he had met her at a welcome lunch when she first started at the agency.

"She's a real timid girl, kind of reserved, not real aggressive,'' he said. "She had just been married and was real happy.''

She was hired to work in the protective unit, which provides ongoing case management and support to children in foster care and families with identified needs, Snyder said.

However, in the days leading up to the strike, the woman received some training to work on the front line, investigating abuse and neglect -- a job that is considered more intense.

Because she was a new hire, she could have been fired for striking. Union leaders authorized her to work.

CSB did not comment on what the social worker was doing at Marshall's apartment or whether she was aware that he had a recent domestic violence conviction. It's mandatory for front-line workers to check police reports on every adult in the household.

Before the strike, she shadowed front-line worker Anne Henrick, who emphasized the importance of safety when entering strangers' homes.

Social workers usually enter homes without weapons or police escort. They learn to be careful about where they park so they don't get blocked in. They keep their eye on the front door at all times. They are taught to follow parents downstairs, so they don't get pushed and climb the stairs ahead of parents so they don't get locked in a basement.

"We need the public to know what a dangerous job this is,'' Henrick said. "You try to get close to these people so you can see how they are around their children and be real for you, but you're also expected to call people on the carpet. It's really hard to play both sides of that.''

She said the workers on strike were devastated.

Everybody right now that I've talked to today is just sick to think that this young worker who is brand new... to have this happen to her is just horrendous. And it could happen to any of us.''

She fears that children will suffer because workers will be afraid to go out on calls by themselves.

"Most of those workers in the building now are new or they are supervisors who haven't been out in the field in a long time,'' Henrick said.