S1: Bonus EP 1 – Let's Go Back to 1974

Summary

Summary of Burden of Guilt – S1: Bonus EP 1 – Let's Go Back to 1974

Introduction

In the first bonus episode of Burden of Guilt, titled "Let's Go Back to 1974," host Nancy Glass delves into the historical and systemic factors surrounding the tragic death of Matthew Golder in 1971. This episode sets the stage for understanding the complexities that have burdened Tracyraquel Berns for over four decades as she seeks the truth behind her baby brother's death. The conversation navigates through the legislative landscape of the time, expert testimonies, and the societal attitudes towards child abuse.

Historical Context of 1974

Nancy Glass opens the episode by painting a vivid picture of 1974, highlighting significant events and societal norms that shaped the environment in which Matthew Golder lived and ultimately died.

"In 1974, People magazine published its first issue with actress Mia Farrow on the cover. It was also the first time UPC codes appeared on packaged goods. And that summer, the Watergate scandal forced President Richard Nixon to resign."
— Nancy Glass [02:28]

The episode underscores the introduction of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) in 1974, a pivotal piece of legislation that established a national definition of child abuse and provided federal funding for its prevention, identification, and treatment.

Legislative Lag and Systemic Failures

Nancy Glass poses a critical question about the delay between the publication of groundbreaking studies on child abuse and the implementation of federal policies.

"So the question is why did it take so long for the federal government to put rules in place?"
— Nancy Glass [02:21]

Dr. Joe Burton explains that the recognition of child abuse as a medical condition began with C. Henry Kemp's 1962 study, which exposed the harsh reality of children being harmed by their own caregivers. Despite this, comprehensive policies were slow to follow.

"By the end of the '60s, every single state had passed a mandatory reporting law, which did not exist generally prior to that."
— Dr. Joe Burton [04:42]

Expert Testimonies

Dr. Mihail Raz and Colleen Ghibli Reid provide expert insights into the medical and social frameworks of the 1970s. Dr. Raz discusses the limited training and resources available to medical professionals in identifying and reporting child abuse at the time.

"Every county in the state of Georgia has an elected coroner... there was no coordinated investigation of death in DeKalb county at that time. It was disjointed."
— Dr. Mihail Raz [09:16]

Colleen Ghibli Reid emphasizes the lack of awareness and structured programs to address suspicions of abuse, making it challenging for concerned individuals to take appropriate action.

"There wasn't the awareness, there wasn't the programs, there wasn't the, you know, campaigns. That just wasn't the case back then."
— Colleen Ghibli Reid [12:10]

Case Study: Matthew Golder’s Death

The episode scrutinizes the circumstances surrounding Matthew Golder’s death. Despite evident signs of abuse, such as third-degree burns and severe bruising, the lack of proper investigation led to his death being ruled accidental.

"If little Matthew Golder had been killed a couple of years later, the entire outcome of this story might have been different."
— Nancy Glass [14:20]

Dr. Joe Burton reflects on the era's lax safety standards and minimal attention to child welfare, contributing to systemic failures in protecting vulnerable children like Matthew.

Impact on Tracyraquel Berns

Tracyraquel Berns has carried the weight of possibly being wrongfully blamed for her brother's death since childhood. The episode explores her relentless pursuit of truth and justice, questioning whether systemic negligence played a role in shielding the true perpetrator, Jan Barry Sandlin.

"Had Matthew been thrown out of his crib in 1974 instead of 1971, I would suspect that the response would have been different."
— Colleen Ghibli Reid [12:54]

Systemic Improvements and Modern Protocols

The discussion transitions to contemporary measures, such as child abuse fatality reviews and the establishment of multidisciplinary teams, which have significantly improved the identification and prosecution of child abuse cases.

"Now we have child abuse fatality reviews in all states as well. So when severe harm and death occurs, there is a multidisciplinary team of professionals in every state community that do a deep dive into what happened."
— Colleen Ghibli Reid [13:47]

Conclusion

The episode concludes by highlighting the profound changes in child welfare systems since the early 1970s, emphasizing the importance of continued vigilance and support for those seeking justice and healing from past traumas.

"If little Matthew Golder had been killed a couple of years later, the entire outcome of this story might have been different. That is a horrible, shocking and mind-numbing thought."
— Nancy Glass [14:20]

Notable Quotes

• Nancy Glass [02:28]: "In 1974, People magazine published its first issue with actress Mia Farrow on the cover... the Watergate scandal forced President Richard Nixon to resign."
• Dr. Joe Burton [04:42]: "By the end of the '60s, every single state had passed a mandatory reporting law..."
• Colleen Ghibli Reid [12:54]: "Had Matthew been thrown out of his crib in 1974 instead of 1971, I would suspect that the response would have been different."

Conclusion

Burden of Guilt S1: Bonus EP 1 – "Let's Go Back to 1974" provides a comprehensive examination of the historical, legislative, and systemic factors that influenced the tragic outcome of Matthew Golder’s death. Through expert testimonies and meticulous research, the episode underscores the critical need for robust child protection systems and the enduring quest for justice by individuals like Tracyraquel Berns.

For those interested in exploring this profound and emotionally charged story further, the full docuseries adaptation is now available exclusively on Paramount+.

Transcript

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[Colleen Ghibli Reid]

I listened intently to the podcast and I thought about Matthew and Tracy Raquel and I thought, had Matthew been thrown out of his crib in 197475 instead of 1971? I would suspect that the response would have been different.

[Dr. Mihail Raz]

Foreign.

[Nancy Glass]

I'm Nancy Glass and this is Burden of Guilt BONUS Episode number one. Let's go back to 1974. In 1974, People magazine published its first issue with actress Mia Farrow on the COVID It was also the first time UPC codes appeared on packaged goods. And that summer, the Watergate scandal forced President Richard Nixon to resign. But a few months before that, he signed a groundbreaking piece of legislation, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment act, known as capta. CAPTA established a national definition of child abuse and provided federal funding to each state to prevent, identify and treat abuse and neglect. So the question is why did it take so long for the federal government to put rules in place? I posed that question to Dr. Mihail Raz, a physician and professor in public policy and health at the University of Rochester.

[Dr. Joe Burton]

I think a lot of people pinpoint the interest in the history of child abuse to the 1962 article by C. Henry Kemp, who described a syndrome that he called the battered child syndrome. And this described a few cases of children who were intentionally hurt by the very people who were supposed to care for them. And this helped guide policy.

[Nancy Glass]

Dr. Kemp's revolutionary study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. It shed light on something that had never really been in the public discussion before. Child abuse. His research showed how parents would switch doctors, falsify medical histories, and express concern for injuries that they themselves had caused. X rays confirmed what no one wanted to believe. Parents and foster parents were beating and sometimes killing their own children, often under the age of three.

[Dr. Joe Burton]

And these stories were heartbreaking and kind of shocking. The idea that people were supposed to care for kids might hurt.

[Nancy Glass]

After Dr. Kemp's 1962 study recognized child abuse as a medical condition, that's when change started to happen.

[Dr. Joe Burton]

By the end of the 60s, every single state had passed a mandatory reporting law, which did not exist generally prior to that. Georgia, for instance, passed its first law in 1965. And states kind of trying to bring together who should be reporting what situation should be reported.

[Nancy Glass]

The state of Georgia, where Matthew Golder and his family lived, required doctors, nurses, and public welfare workers to report suspected abuse of children under the age of 12 to the police or any child welfare agency. But in Matthew's case, no one really questioned the story that he was found.

[Dr. Joe Burton]

Comatose back in 1971. The idea that somebody might think that a two year old could throw our baby with enough force to cause significant harm is certainly a misunderstanding of most things that are known in pediatrics and trauma. But also important to remember that in the 1970s, we didn't have specialists in child abuse. We were limited in the testing that was done, and perhaps some embrace of this lack of knowledge. Because sometimes not knowing feels better than really looking at what is terribly disturbing and seeing that as it is.

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[Nancy Glass]

Jan Barry Sandlin ultimately was responsible for beating little Matthew and causing his death. I'm going to play some testimony that you didn't hear in the podcast earlier. It comes from Dr. Joe Burton, who became the medical examiner in the county a few years after Matthew died. During Jan's second trial in 1998, Dr. Burton was asked about his training and experience identifying child abuse back in 1971.

[Dr. Mihail Raz]

First, let me add that I had no exposure that I even recall in medical school about specifically child abuse. But I did when I was doing my fellowship in forensic pathology because we were asked as pathologists to decide how people were injured children, adults, old people, but it was very minimal back at that time. So in the last two decades, a tremendous amount of information has been brought forward about all types of child abuse, about radiographic changes that are present in child abuse cases, about interpreting patterns of injury, and mainly about making healthcare providers more aware of cases where child abuse may exist.

[Nancy Glass]

Let's talk about Something else that absolutely floored me. The DeKalb County Coroner listed Matthew's death as accidental. But here's the thing. That coroner in 1971 had absolutely no medical training. Zero. Here's more testimony from Dr. Burton.

[Dr. Mihail Raz]

Every county in the state of Georgia has an elected coroner. And in 1971, the coroner had to be 18 years of age and could never have been convicted of a felony. You could be the coroner if you ran and were elected. And the coroner had the power at least to determine what type of investigation might be done in a death. The coroner could write on the death certificate and still can, a cause of death, a manner of death. In this case, DeKalb county in the early 1970s utilized the folding county medical examiner's doctors just to do autopsies. So there was no real investigation of death.

[Nancy Glass]

Dr. Burton was then asked if he was surprised Matthew's death was listed as accidental.

[Dr. Mihail Raz]

It's unfortunate, but not surprising. There was no coordinated investigation of death in DeKalb county at that time. It was disjointed.

[Nancy Glass]

Unfortunate, but not surprising. That's tough to hear, but that's where things were at in 1971. No one really questioned what happened because no one was trained to ask, and there was no coordinated effort to ask.

[Dr. Mihail Raz]

There was no correlation of data between the pathologist, police, the coroner, physicians in the hospitals. It was a very disorganized way to try to arrive at sometimes complex answers about what happened to someone.

[Nancy Glass]

It's hard to blame the system for failing Matthew, because there really wasn't a system in place in 1971 to report child abuse.

[Dr. Joe Burton]

1970S was a different time. You know, children would play unsupervised. They wouldn't have a car seat. You had paint on the walls that had lead in it. You know, the doctors would be smoking on rounds. Some of them might be smoking in the operating room. There was a lot less attention to safety and the impact on children for some of the choices that adults would make.

[Nancy Glass]

As Dr. Raz said, it was a different time back then, especially when it came to reporting and identifying child abuse.

[Dr. Joe Burton]

Back in 1971, there was only one state that had a hotline for reporting child abuse, and that was Florida.

[Nancy Glass]

Florida was also the first state to air public service announcements on the radio.

[Dr. Joe Burton]

It's kind of similar to today. You know, if you see something, say something. And I'm really encouraging people that just by making this phone call, they could help families immensely.

[Nancy Glass]

So that left families to handle allegations of abuse. And in this case, the family was far from functional.

[Colleen Ghibli Reid]

I think back in that time, I'm sure that people were suspicious. But again, what do you do about it?

[Nancy Glass]

Colleen Ghibli Reid is an assistant professor at the Kemp center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect.

[Colleen Ghibli Reid]

I imagine there was suspicion that something was going on by professionals involved with this family, from the family members that was kind of insinuated, that family members kind of thought that something's just not right here. I think that back then people may have had suspicions, but they're like, well, what do I do? Who do I call? What do I do? How do I get involved? Because there wasn't the awareness, there wasn't the programs, there wasn't the, you know, campaigns. That just wasn't the case back then.

[Nancy Glass]

And that leads us back to what her colleague Lisa Merkel Hogean said at the beginning of this episode.

[Colleen Ghibli Reid]

I listened intently to the podcast and I thought about Matthew and Tracy Raquel and I thought, had Matthew been thrown out of his crib in 1974, 475 instead of 1971, I would suspect that the response would have been different because there at least would have been an agency with a multidisciplinary team that would pull in the coroner and the medical doctors and social workers and others to really take a deep dive into the injury and then ultimately his death.

[Nancy Glass]

If you remember, doctors found a third degree burn on Matthew's little foot. He had bruising on his body and even what appeared to be an old fracture to his clavicle.

[Colleen Ghibli Reid]

Now we have child abuse fatality reviews in all states as well. So when severe harm and death occurs, there is a multidisciplinary team of professionals in every state community that do a deep dive into what happened. And I suspect they would have found the burns and they would have used radiology to see the severe harm and the shattered bones that that young four month old cherub had.

[Nancy Glass]

If little Matthew Golder had been killed a couple of years later, the entire outcome of this story would might have been different. That is a horrible, shocking and mind numbing thought. Jan Barry Sandlin might have been investigated and Prosecuted well before 1998. And Tracy Raquel wouldn't have lived with the burden of guilt that she might have been responsible for her brother's death. Stay tuned for Burden of Guilt, the documentary coming in 2024 and airing only on Paramount. If you would like to reach out to the Burden of Guilt team, email [e-mail] that's burdenofguiltpodmail.com if you or someone you know is worried about maltreatment or suspect that a child is being abused or neglected, call the Child Help National Child Abuse Hotline. You can call or text 1-800-4-ACHILD. That's 1-800-422-4453. One way to show support is by subscribing to our show on Apple Podcasts. And don't forget to rate and review Burden of Guilt. Five star reviews go a long way. A big thank you for listening and also be sure to check us out and follow us on Instagram. Lasspodcasts Burden of Guilt is a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group in partnership with iHeart Podcasts. The show is hosted and executive produced by me, Nancy Glass. This episode was written and produced by Todd Ganz. Our I Heart team is Ally Perry and Jessica Kreincheck. Special thanks to Tracy, Raquel Burns and her husband Bart. Audio editing and mixing by Matt Del Vecchio and Nico Aruka. Burden of Guilt's theme composed by Oliver Baines Music Library provided by MIB Music and for more podcasts from from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

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