Jacques Bobrowsky, pictured here with his 8-year-old daughter Haley Jordan Bobrowsky, created a nonprofit organization to protect the rights of children after she was killed in a tragic traffic accident.

Jacques Bobrowsky’s belief that the court system failed his daughter in life – and death – is the reason he’s trying to change the system for other children, he says.
Somewhere between the residual anger he says he feels about his daughter’s tragic death two years ago, and the love he has for children, Bobrowsky has found a passion for protecting children’s rights.
A year after his daughter, Haley Jordan Bobrowsky, was killed in a traffic accident on her way to school, the Boca Raton man created Haley’s Rights, a nonprofit organization dedicated to investigating criminal cases involving children that result in what he calls “unjustifiable” sentences of the guilty.
“As far as I’m concerned, there’s no worse crime than one committed against a child,” Bobrowsky said. “When you look at a first-grade class today, you’re gazing into the eyes of our future parents, teachers, senators, and even our next president. Why don’t we treat them as such?”
Bobrowsky says his life changed forever the morning of Feb. 22, 2000, when Haley’s mother Stacie Persin was driving the 8-year-old girl to Del Prado Elementary School.
Persin, who divorced Bobrowsky in December 1992, was driving in excess of 49 mph around a curve in a 30-mph speed zone, lost control of her Lexus sport utility vehicle on Palmetto Circle North and crashed, according to court records.
Haley, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was ejected through the front windshield. She was taken to Delray Medical Center and hooked up to numerous tubes and a brain monitor.
“I slept on benches in a waiting room for two weeks,” Bobrowsky said.
Haley died on March 7, and Persin was charged with manslaughter and four counts of culpable negligence.
Persin pleaded no contest to vehicular homicide and accepted a plea deal to serve five years probation, court records show.
Reached at her home in Boca Raton, Persin said she had no comment.
In August 2001, Bobrowsky made headlines when he filed a lawsuit against Persin, claiming she refused to allow the Jewish Star of Davis, as well as his last name, to be placed on Haley’s headstone in Menorah Gardens in Cooper City. The suit is still pending.
“Haley was my only child, my whole world,” Bobrowsky said. “For over a year I prayed everyday not to wake up.”
Originally he wanted to change the laws to protect children, but after researching state statutes, Bobrowsky said he found laws were frequently in place - just not enforced.
Bobrowsky then began looking at cases similar to Haley’s and said he found numerous discrepancies - including a witness who wasn‘t even at the scene of the accident and a crime scene technician who was unaware his name was listed as a witness.
As a result, Haley’s Rights was born.
“We are now investigating cases where there were extremely light sentences given when the crimes were committed against children,” he explained.
For example, he said, say child is killed by a drunk driver and the driver is sentenced only to probation.
If the parents don’t feel the sentence is acceptable, Haley’s Rights will re-investigate the case, Bobrowsky explained. If improprieties are found, the organization will alert the public and the government.
“And if people are having problems with the Department of Children and Families, they can call us and we’ll get on their case,” Bobrowsky said. “We’re watchdogs.”
Bobrowsky, who claims DCF didn’t listen when he reported alleged emotional and physical abuse of Haley, said the harsh reality that more than 580,000 children were abused or neglected in Florida last year has fueled his determination to protect as many as he can.
“Children have a basic right to live and do so free of abuse,” he said. “The system failed Haley in life and in death. I’m not going to let that happen to other kids.”

For more information
To learn more about Haley’s Rights, call 338-0099 or visit the organization’s Web site at www.haleysrights.org.