Virginia Inspector in Senator's Stabbing Quits Over Report 'Revisions'
G. Douglas Bevelacqua says superiors interfered with his findings.
March 6, 2014— -- A Virginia inspector general has abruptly resigned citing "revisions" of his report on the stabbing of state Sen. Creigh Deeds and the subsequent suicide of Deeds' son, who just hours before the attack was turned away from emergency care because the state had no psychiatric bed available for him.
The original draft of the report by G. Douglas Bevelacqua, the inspector general for Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, concluded “the system failed that day.”
Bevelacqua said the initial draft also determined that the department had failed to take meaningful action to implement changes recommended in 2012 from the Office of the State Inspector General and that those changes could have changed the outcome for the Deeds family.
Both of those statements were removed from Bevelacqua's report, he said. His statement that the system failed was deemed "too emotional," and the second remark was taken out because it was "speculative," Bevelacqua said.
Sen. Deeds was stabbed by his on last November. Hours before the stabbing Gus Deeds, who reportedly had bipolar disorder, was released from an emergency custody order when no psychiatric beds could be found for him.
Creigh Deeds' Son Struggled with Bipolar Disorder Before Killing
Bevelacqua said in his resignation letter to Gov. Terry McAuliffe that officials at the Office of the State Inspector General had toned down and altered his report.
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“If I were responsible for publishing this report, it would have been issued weeks ago and it would have contained conclusions that were removed because they were considered speculative or too emotional,” wrote Bevelacqua.
“It is noteworthy that individuals with no background in behavioral health or developmental services, and no first-hand experience with the specific topics, repeatedly changed the content and form of the work produced by the [Behavioral Health and Developmental Services] Division,” Bevelacqua wrote to the governor.
Bevelacqua told ABC News he had not heard from the governor’s office directly and was not sure if he would pursue that matter further.
A spokesman for the governor said he had received the letter earlier this week. “The governor thanks Mr. Bevelacqua for his service and he will be reviewing the content of his letter,” said McAuliff's spokesman Brian Coy.
Bevelacqua was appointed by Virginia's previous Gov. Bob McDonnell in 2010 and reported to the Office of the State Inspector General.
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A spokesman for the State Office of the Inspector General said the office could not comment on Bevelacqua’s resignation because it was a “personnel issue.”
Deeds, who survived the stabbing and is now sponsoring a bill to extend the time a person can be held in emergency custody, said it would be "disappointing if it turns out the report is sanitized somehow.”
"Mr. Bevelacqua was fair with me, was honest and compassionate," Deeds told reporters, according to the Associated Press.
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