Ashley Fielding reports:
Files containing private information of clients of one of Gainesville’s best-known attorneys showed up in the strangest of places last week — a newspaper recycling bin at The Times.
The files came from the law office of Ashley Bell, a member of the Hall County Board of Commissioners, who said he wasn’t involved in the documents’ disposal. His firm has blamed the incident on a college intern.
The files left at The Times last week included phone and Social Security numbers of former clients and information regarding the physical and sexual abuse of juveniles — the release of which is generally prohibited under state law.
Most of the case files left in the bin stem from Bell’s previous work as an indigent defense attorney in Gwinnett, Dawson and Hall counties.
Many include information on juveniles and reports and evaluations conducted by the Department of Family and Children Services and Court Appointed Special Advocates.
CASA, which works as an advocate for children in court cases involving DFCS, makes the confidentiality of its clients a high priority, said Lisa McCarthy, an advocacy coordinator for the local CASA office.
Read more on Gainesville Times. The wealth of information in the sensitive files is disturbing, to say the least.