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Dad Of Severely Abused 4-Year-Old Says He Was "Loving Father"
By
Ben Yakas
Published Jan 12, 2014
Modified Jan 12, 2014
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Jan 12, 2014
Modified Jan 12, 2014
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The dad of the severely abused 4-year-old who died after falling off a bathroom ledge in a Midtown apartment this week says he was a "loving father" in a jailhouse interview. "I was a loving father. That's all that matters," Okee Wade told the Daily News. His son, Myls Dobson, died while in the care of Kryzie King, a transgender performer who had been identified by cops as Wade's girlfriend. But Wade claims he has never heard of that person, and seemed more interested in talking about his sexual preferences than his son: "They put in the paper that I was dating a transsexual," he said. "That's just wrong! I like women. I don't date men and I don't date transsexuals."
Doctors who examined the toddler's body discovered lacerations, bruises and cigarette burns; King allegedly admitted to abusing the young boy, "giving him corporal punishment" in order "to control him." Wade had sole custody of the child since he was taken out of his mother Ashlee Dobson's custody in 2011; Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) accused her of child neglect, something which the boy's grandmother confirmed: "She would punch him and she would slap him. She’s not a person to have children,” Orquidia Wade said.
Wade reportedly left Myls with King on December 18th, before getting arrested in New Jersey on an outstanding warrant for bank fraud. And due to a loophole in the system, ACS was not informed that Wade had been arrested: DNAInfo reports that "there is nothing on the books that requires NYPD officers to notify child welfare workers when they arrest a suspect who is the primary caregiver of a kid."
When officers asked Wade if he had any children, he told them that a friend was caring for Myls. Since Wade had never been flagged for child abuse, officers weren't required to contact ACS. "Unless we have a feeling that he's keeping something from us or we know something more about his background, there's nothing we have to do,” a police source told them.
After Myls was removed from his mother's care, ACS monitored Wade and Myls for a year, but the supervision ended September 2012. "Unfortunately, once ACS' involvement with a family has concluded, the agency no longer has oversight authority," ACS spokesman Michael Fagan said. "As instructed by the mayor, we are launching a thorough review of the case to learn what happened and might have been done differently to serve the child welfare needs of the little boy."
Another source told DNAInfo that no one from the family inquired with ACS about the whereabouts about Myls between Wade's arrest on December 18th and his death on January 8th.
Tagged
ashlee dobson
child abuse
midtown
myles dobson
myls dobson
okee wade
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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