Child advocate probing girls' deaths

State official requested records relating to South Boston sisters

The state's child advocate, appointed by Governor Deval Patrick last spring to review any incident of child abuse or neglect in Massachusetts, has launched an investigation into the deaths of two South Boston girls who died in an alleged arson in April.

The investigation is Gail Garinger's first since Patrick appointed her to the newly created position of child advocate. She'll have subpoena powers, if necessary, according to the governor's office, and has requested records pertaining to the case of 14-year-old basketball standout Acia Johnson and her 3-year-old sister, Sophia.

But in a written statement, Garinger, a former juvenile court judge who took office about three weeks after the April 6 fire, declined to comment on why she decided to investigate the girls' case, citing concerns over the family's privacy. Instead, she broadly stated the goals of her office.

"Governor Patrick created the Office of the Child Advocate - codified by legislation in July - as an independent office that reports to the Governor," Garinger said yesterday. "As one of its legislative mandates, the office reviews critical incident investigations of child-serving agencies, and when appropriate conducts independent investigation."

If there was ever a case considered "critical," this is it, said state Senator Jack Hart, a South Boston Democrat who represents the district where the two girls lived and died.

The sisters, inseparable in life and death, died in their South Boston home when an early-morning blaze swept through their three-story row house. Fire investigators declared it an arson and later arrested their mother's lover, Nicole Chuminski, who allegedly set fire to the home. Chuminski, an unemployed South Boston woman, was charged in July with two counts of homicide in the girls' deaths.

The girls - along with their brother, Acia's twin, Ray Jr. - had lived in a troubled home for years before the fire. The children's parents, Anna Reisopoulos and Raymond Johnson Sr., were chronic drug users and petty thieves who attracted the attention of the state Department of Social Service early and often. State involvement with the family dates back to 1995, before Acia Johnson was 2 years old. Ultimately, in 2003, DSS obtained a court order to take the children away from their parents.

At that time, they were placed with their paternal grandmother, Irene Gregory. But soon thereafter, Acia Johnson returned to live with her parents in South Boston and Reisopoulos gave birth to a third child, Sophia, in the bathroom of her home in an attempt to shield her existence from the state.

But Sophia, born in late 2004, did not remain a secret for long. DSS investigated in 2006 when Sophia swallowed some of her mother's antianxiety medication, but found that it was not unsafe for her to be there. State social workers also failed to detect that Reisopoulos's other children were living there, despite the fact that the children were always around and that Reisopoulos had reported that her children lived with her when she applied for housing subsidies, food stamps, and cash assistance.

In the wake of a Globe story in June, chronicling the lapses that led in part to the girls' deaths, DSS announced that it was adopting new policies to make sure endangered children were living with their court-appointed guardians. These steps include threatening guardians with charges of perjury if they lie to state officials and cross-checking records with those of other agencies. But Hart said an investigation was also merited given the "horrific" nature of this particular incident.

"We had two tragic deaths here and we should do all that we can to see that this doesn't happen again," Hart said yesterday. "I'm not laying blame anywhere. But I think two tragic deaths are sufficient for an independent investigation."

State Human Services Secretary JudyAnn Bigby initially referred the case to Garinger shortly after she assumed the job, although it was up to the child advocate whether she would pursue it. Whatever Garinger finds, she will report to Patrick, probably with recommendations. The governor will then consider those recommendations and take action, if necessary.

Alison Goodwin, a DSS spokesman, said the agency was cooperating, and at least one watchdog group welcomed the investigation as well. Susan Molina, executive director of the Whitman-based nonprofit The Yellow Ribbon Kids Club, said she was thrilled to have Garinger on the case.

"My personal view is that if the social workers had been doing their jobs, the kids would be alive today," Molina said. "Acia never should have been living there - and they knew she was living there. And Sophia, just by the department's own records, should have been taken out of that woman's care at birth - and she wasn't."

Molina said she talked about the case with Garinger over lunch last spring, shortly after Patrick's appointment. Garinger did not reveal at the time that she was considering investigating, Molina recalled. But talking about everything the two girls might have been, Molina said, it was clear that Garinger cared.

"She felt it in her heart," Molina said. "She felt it in her gut. That's why I think Gail's OK. I like Gail Garinger."

Keith O'Brien can be reached at kobrien@globe.com.