Gregg responds to article on Payne

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - John Gregg issued a statement Sunday in response to an article that described Judge Payne’s inappropriate actions as Director of the Department of Child Services in a case involving his family.

The statement is listed below.

“I have been speaking out for months about our Department of Child Services, which we all know is broken. The first thing I will do as Governor is start to fix it. In February of this year, I wrote a letter to the editor saying that the department needed to be fixed, and that started with removing Judge Payne as Director. In July of this year, I released my plan for fixing DCS by creating the Office of the Child Advocate, re-instituting preventative mental health care and promoting adoption throughout the state. Again, I called for Judge Payne’s removal.”

“Let me be clear. Judge Payne needs to be removed from his position today. The well being of our children cannot wait until a new administration takes over in January. I am calling on Governor Daniels to ask for Judge Payne’s immediate resignation.”