More Adopters Who Abuse & Kill
provided courtesy of Pound Pup Legacy - poundpuplegacy.org
PoundPupLegacy,org has collected about 4,000 newspaper articles documenting details and sources for each of the 218 cases of abused and murdered ADOPTEES, below, but also foster kids.
(Page 2, continued from 50 news articles at “Adopters Who Abuse & Kill”)
MORE THAN 200 CASES OF CHILDREN MURDERED BY THEIR ADOPTERS ARE DETAILED ALPHABETICALLY ON THIS PAGE; 50 OF THEM ARE PICTURED, ABOVE (Right to Left):
(first row): Ahmad King; Alex Bouchercrop; Alexis Glove; Andrew Burd; Anthony Bars; (second row): Brittany Legler.; Bruce Jackson; Bruce Jackson (after); Cassandra Killpack; Christal Ramirez; (third row): Christopher Forder; Dennis Merryman; DiMarias kids; Emma Alvey; Eric Ilesov; (fourth row): Faith Robinson; Haleigh Poutre; Hei Min Chung; Isaac Dykstra; Jasmine & Minette Bowman; (fifth row): Jacksons; Jeannie Warren; John Smith; Joshua Causey; Kelsey Hyre; (sixth row): Kevin Johnson; Keyana; Kreuger boys; Krystal Tibbetts; Liam Thompson; (seventh row): Liggins kids; Lillian Leilan Gill; Maria Bennett; Marsha Allen; (eigth row): Merrymans; Nicholas Daniel Peckenpaugh; Ricky Holland; Robley Carr; Sacha Vallee; (ninth row): Samuel Hudson; Sean Paddock; Shawn Lowrance; Hannah & Linnea Sieferman;, Sueppel kids; (tenth row): Sueppels; Tyler Addington; Tyler DeLeon;Victor Matthey; Vinum girl
21 Girls adopted by John and Marian DiMaria
Marian and John DiMarias, conservative evangelical Christians, adopted 21 girls from third-world countries. The adopted girls were all impaired; most were deaf. In February, 2003, the State of Vermont learned that John DiMaria had been sexually abusing the older girls for years. He was convicted and jailed by the State. During 1999 - 2003 DiMaria and her husband, John DiMaria, lived in Jericho, VT and operated the Gypsy Grace Ranch, advertised as "North America's Largest Breeder" of Gypsy horses, an expensive English draft horse. The DiMarias moved to Vermont from Kentucky, where they also operated a horse farm. In 2002 and 2003, after the DiMarias had exhausted Marian DiMaria's trust fund of over $7 million, they deceived the Mellon Bank in Pennsylvania, a trustee of the adopted girls' trusts, into sending them $168,000 for fictitious expenses. Further investigation revealed that DiMaria had received and spent $96,000 from one adopted victim's trust, and had defrauded the Social Security Administration of approximately $13,000, after she learned that her husband had been sexually abusing the children. At least 2 girls were born in China, and Ukraine, at least one girl in India, Russia, Brazil, and Bolivia. (1996 they had 8 from: China, Russia, India, Brazil) - (Olivia, Hannah, Rikki, Tressah, Anya, Elizabeth, + 15 more)
Date: 2003-02-01
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse, Economic exploitation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Fundamentalist faith: yes
Location: Jericho, VT, US
22 children adopted & fostered by Carl and Sherry Scott
10 foster, 12 adopted and 5 natural children removed from Sherry Scott's home after Oregon Children's Services Division alleges sanitation problems and sexual abuse between children. Carl had left the home the previous fall. Most of the children were physically or mentally disabled. Many of the children were in the home under private arrangements between parents. Sherry also provided temporary respite care.
Sherry admitted to neglect.
Date: 1991-01-01
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse, Non-lethal neglect
Abuser: Adoptive mother, Adopted sibling, Foster sibling, Undetermined
Location: Cornelius, OR, US
76+ Children adopted by Diane and Dennis Nason
From 1968 to 1990 the Nasons adopted between 76 and 84 children, most of them having special needs, to form their "Celebration Family" or "Nason Nation". The also had 6 biological children. Eventually they formed their own school "Great Expectations". Allegations involve physical abuse, mental injury, neglect, sexual abuse among siblings, and sexual abuse by Dennis Nason. Three small children died neglected in their beds: Natasha (India or Bangladesh), an infant girl who allegedly died of malnutrition and starvation in March 1988, Jason about 2 and Jodi, about 4, who died of a form of dysentery called shigella in 1985, days apart. Some of the 76 children they adopted have told of being beaten and being shocked with a cattle prod. At least one younger child, was allegedly caged in his beds. A 27-year-old woman adopted when she was 10 said that Dennis Nason, 49, molested her and attempted intercourse, and that she was forced to eat a bar of soap. She also said she had been hit with a belt during meals for eating too slowly and was hit again when the first beating caused her to urinate. Diane and Dennis found new homes for at least 40 of the 54 children who lived in the Nason home between January and March of 1991 (Among the charges against them is that Dennis and Diane forged documents, medical histories, to get these children placed.) The Nasons were acquitted of abuse charges, but convicted of racketeering and forgery. The children were adopted from Vietnam, India, Korea, Mexico, El Salvador, Chile, Peru, Brazil, Colombia, Israel, and the United States
Date: 1991-05-01
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Sexual abuse, Non-lethal neglect, Lethal neglect, Economic exploitation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother, Adopted sibling, Other non-family member
Home schooling: yes
Fundamentalist faith: yes
Location: Sisters, OR, US
Adopted sibling of Kenneth Ray Knightingale
The girl was sexually abused by her older adopted brother since the age of seven.
Date: 2008-02-11
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adopted sibling
Location: Livingston, CA, US
Ahmad King (Rawls)
3 year old boy adopted by Tim and Mary Jane King, slain by his adoptive mother, who first claimed he had been kidnapped, later she confessed to killing him. Ahmad had been hit more than 50 times with the pipe and belt buckle. Mrs. King was also charged with abusing Ahmad's foster sister. She was sentenced to life.
Date: 2006-01-23
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Alma, GA, US
Alex Charles Boucher
3-year-old boy with cerebral palsy and other medical needs, in the custody of the CT Department of Children and Families was killed by his prospective adoptive father, James Curtis, in Florida as punishment for soiling himself. Mr Curtis wrapped Alex tightly in a blanket and left him for 30 minutes. Jennifer Curtis was not charged. The Curtis' were given custody of Alex even though their homestudy and background checks were not complete and would have revealed past violence.
Date: 2000-09-25
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse, Lethal neglect
Abuser: Adoptive father
Homestudy agency: Children's Home Society of Florida
Placement agency: Connecticut DCF
Location: New Port Richey, FL, US
Alexis 'Lexie' Glover
13-year-old girl adopted by Freedia Glover, disappeared on January 7, 2009. Her dead body was found two weeks later in a Woodbridge, Va, creek. Freedia Glover was later arrested for killing Alexis.
Date: 2009-01-07
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Manassas, VA, US
Alexis Keintz
21 days old premature infant shaken to death by adoptive father Bruce Keintz. Alexis was only 5lbs 13 oz and was brought home 2 weeks earlier by Bruce and his wife. Bruce was acquitted of murder and convicted of reckless conduct.
Date: 2001-02-17
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Lombard, IL, US
Alonso Richard Munson
13 to 15 year old boy adopted in Colombia by Howard and Marjorie Munson 1.5 years earlier, was punished by being placed in a cage for 6 weeks to 3 months.
Date: 1983-11-01
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Location: Clayton, MO, US
Amber King
12 year old girl adopted by Sandra Parker was brutalized kept chained and starving in the basement. She was also abused by 2 older, also-adopted, siblings. All 3 were special needs children.
Date: 2002-01-01
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother, Adopted sibling
Location: Grand Rapids, MI, US
Andrea Swenson
Sent by her adoptive mother to the Attachment Center at Evergreen (ACE), Andrea was put through the usual “two-week intensive,” but then diagnosed as so “damaged” that she had to stay on for periodic treatments at ACE, and live with AT-trained therapeutic foster parents (TFPs), at a cost to the family’s insurance company of $3,500 a week. Supposedly, Andrea made slow progress in the arrangement, until the insurance payments ran out. Whereupon, Watkins and the TFPs began pressuring the adoptive family to allow the TFPs to adopt her — and thereby get new insurance coverage.
One day in November 1990, Andrea returned to her foster home from school and reported to the TFPs that she had been sexually molested at school, which they regarded as typical “Attachment Disorder” behavior — false, manipulative, and attention-getting.
The next day, Andrea took an overdose of aspirin. She was in convulsions and delirious the next morning, but the TFPs did not attend her, and instead went bowling that afternoon. While they were gone, a relative visited the house and found Andrea dead in a hallway.
Date: 1990-11-09
Type of abuse: Lethal neglect
Abuser: Other non-family member
Location: Tulsa, OK, US
Andrew Burd
4-year-old boy, about to be adopted by Larry and Hannah Overton, was forced to drink a mixture of water and Cajun spices as punishment. The Overtons waited nearly three hours before taking the boy to a medical clinic, vomited and drifted in and out of consciousness. He was no longer breathing when he finally arrived there. A day later he died. Mrs. Overton was sentences to life; Mr. Overton is on probation.
Date: 2006-10-02
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse, Lethal neglect
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Placement agency: Spaulding for Children
Home schooling: yes
Fundamentalist faith: yes
Location: Corpus Christi, TX, US
Angel Martin
4-year-old girl adopted by Mary Perkins was allegedly beaten to death by her adoptive mother. There were also signs Angel had been sexually abused.
Date: 1997-11-16
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Chicago, IL, US
Anthony Bars
4-year old boy adopted by L.B. and Latricia Bars, died of dehydration. He was also starved and had a head injury and a broken collar bone.
Date: 2002-01-19
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Placement agency: Indiana Family and Social Services (Denise Moore)
Location: Indianapolis, IN, US
Ariel Ariza (aka Ariel James Mitchell), and L.M. in care of Rev. James Mitchell
At least 2 teen-aged boys brought to Vancouver, WA, from Colombia by Reverend James Mitchell. He promised them U.S. citizenship via adoption and then subjected hem to years of sexual abuse. At least 4 boys lived with Mitchell over the years. Ariel and L.M. have alleged sexual abuse. Ariel was told he was adopted by Mitchell, but was only granted a U.S. visa. It is unclear if the boys were ever legally adopted.
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Vancouver, WA, US
Boy adopted by couple from Colorado Springs
11-year-old boy, one of 5 adopted by a couple from Colorado Springs, was forced to spend days and nights in a small room beneath stairs with only a wool blanket and bucket in which to relieve himself. His parents at one point forced him to wear a dog collar with an electric shock that they would activate.
Date: 2001-09-11
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Sexual abuse, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Location: Colorado Springs, CO, US
Boy adopted by Donald Shissler
14-year-old boy was adopted from foster care by Donald Shissler with the intent to sexually abuse him. At least two other boys were also abused by Shissler, who made sexual explicit photos and videos of the boys while engaging in sexual activity. Shissler was a former Episcopalian priest, high school teacher, and foster parent.
Date: 2002-05-31
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse, Sexual exploitation
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Denver, CO, US
Boy adopted by George Alex Allen
16-year-old boy adopted by a former supervisor for the Administration for Children's Services and his wife, was sexually abused by his adoptive father.
Date: 1998-11-26
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Brooklyn, NY, US
Boy adopted by Jane and Timothy Cochran (Kuzma ?)
4-year-old boy from Taganrog, Rostov, Russia, adopted by Jane and Timothy Cochran. The boy had severe bruising, cuts from head to toe. He'd been beaten by hand and with a wooden spoon and had been cut with scissors. Allegedly he was beaten because he couldn't say his prayers properly. Jane confessed her crimes to her Catholic priest prior to being arrested.
Date: 2006-02-03
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Alfred, NY, US
Boy adopted by Peter and Deedra Mitchell
6-year-old boy adopted by Peter and Deedra Mitchell was being starved, handcuffed and locked a basemen.
Date:
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Location: Kansas City, MO, US
Boy adopted by Raymond and Lisa Sangraw
Eight year old boy was scalded in bathwater. His adoptive parents waited six weeks before seeking treatment for him.
Date: 2007-02-17
Type of abuse: Lethal neglect
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Green Bay, WI, US
Boy adopted by Ruben and Jacqueline Lerma
13 year old boy was beaten with a belt by his adoptive mother Jacqueline Anne Lerma. She was sentenced to four years imprisonment.
Date: 2008-07-11
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Victorville, CA, US
Boy adopted by Scott and Catherine Kanani Nelson
7-year-old Samoan boy adopted together with his 3-year-old from sister by Scott and Catherine Kanani Nelson was malnourished, suffered from frostbite and several other injuries. As a form of punishment he was forced to sleep in his underwear in a shed during subzero temperatures. The boy wanted to return to his home in Samoa.
The family had been featured on a Discovery Health Channel's "Adoption Stories" episode from July 4, 2003.
Date: 2004-04-08
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal neglect, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Location: Roy, UT, US
Boy adopted by Scott Legrand
17-year-old former foster child was sexually abused by his adoptive father, who was a Devereux Florida state-contracted foster care facility worker
Date: 2008-02-08
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Orange County, FL, US
Boy and girl adopted by Richard and Christine Dodson
4 year old girl and 5 year old girl adopted by Richard and Christine Dodson were abused by their adopters. The girl's leg and arms were broken and the boy was being starved and beaten. Both children were home-schooled.
Date: 1995-07-01
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Placement agency: Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services
Home schooling: yes
Location: Round Rock, TX, US
Boys adopted and fostered by Thomas Cusick
Tom Cusick adopted or fostered 28 children, 4 girls and 24 boys. Most of boys were 8 or 9 year old when placed with him. Cusick was unmarried, but had a live-in female companion. At least 5 of the boys accused him of sexually abusing them.
Cusick committed suicide 2 days before the trial was to begin. Cusick claimed to be a famous composer, but apparently his income was only from foster and adoption subsidies.
Date: 1999-10-26
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Placement agency: Downey Side
Location: Langhorne, PA, US
Boys adopted by David Allen Lindsey Sr.
At least four out of eleven boys adopted by David Allen Lindsey were sexually molested by him. Lindsey was the first single man in Florida to adopt.
Date: 1987-06-06
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Boynton Beach, FL, US
Boys adopted by Dr. Daniel Carleton Gajdusek
Between 38 and 56 Melanesian and Micronesian boys and girls were brought to the USA by nobel prize winner D. Carleton Gajdusek, at least one boy claimed to have been sexually abused. Prosecutors said more were abused. Gajdusek claimed the boys were adopted, no records were found. Boys may have come to US on student visas.
Date: 1996-01-01
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Frederick, MD, US
Boys adopted by James and Stephanie Dickinson
Five boys and two disabled women were locked in a basement cell, fed meager food and rarely allowed to bathe. The couple were paid $9,000 a month to care for the seven.
Date: 2007-09-19
Type of abuse: Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Location: Lancaster, PA, US
Boys adopted by their aunt and uncle in Blackstock, Ontario
Two boys adopted by their aunt and uncle in Blackstock Ontario were found caged. One boy was found in a makeshift cage that was strapped to a wall and padlocked.
They were often tied to their beds, sometimes handcuffed. At one time, one brother was forced to sleep in a bare dog cage. They were kept in diapers because they couldn't get to the washroom, subjected to rectal examinations and often beaten with a variety of household implements. They lived in such fear, court heard, they ate their own feces to hide evidence of accidents and, deprived of water, felt compelled to drink their own urine. ..
Date: 2004-07-20
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Location: Blackstock, ON, CA
Brittany Legler
15-year-old girl adopted by Lisa M. Iarussi, died of physical abuse at the hands of her adopter. More than 200 injuries covered the mentally disabled 14-year-old girl's body — 82 of them "fresh," and 130 up to two and a half to three weeks old.Older injuries included a healed broken rib, a cauliflower ear from repeated injury, and lips so scarred that the muscles were starting to degenerate.
Date: 2004-05-09
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Placement agency: Erie County Office of Children and Youth
Location: Erie, PA, US
Bruce, Michael, Tyrone and Keith Jackson
Four New Jersey boys who had been systematically starved by their adoptive parents, while state child welfare workers, in a bewildering series of errors, failed to make the most basic checks on the children over a dozen years. Bruce(19) was 45 lbs, Keith (14) was 41 lbs, Tyrone (10) was 28lbs, Michael (9) was 23lbs. The boys were also beaten with brooms, rulers, sticks, shoes and belt buckles. Above is a family photo, a close up of Bruce and Bruce 27 months later.
Date: 2003-10-10
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal neglect, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Placement agency: DYFS' Southern Adoption Resource Center
Home schooling: yes
Fundamentalist faith: yes
Location: Collinswood, NJ, US
Cameron VanHyning
Cameron was adopted from Aktobe, Kazakhstan in April 2001 by Michael & Jodene Van Hyning. Michael was the primary care-giver. One month home, Michael nearly beat 15 month old Cameron to death in several incidents over a two week period. VanHyning is serving a 28-year prison sentence for aggravated domestic battery.
Date: 2001-06-23
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Placement agency: Main Street Adoption Service, Martinez, CA / Lancaster, PA
Location: Clinton, IL, US
Camryn Morgan
Tue, 2009-01-13 16:58 - silent1
Camryn, the to be adopted child of Edd Keith Morgan and Rochelle Morgan, died Dec 19, after her father slammed her head against a hard surface several times on the night of the 17th or morning of the 18th. Edd plead guilty to a second degree felony. Rochelle was not charged.
Date: 2000-12-17
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Fundamentalist faith: yes
Location: Sandy, UT, US
Carlos Beltran
4 year old boy from El salvador, beaten to death
more later
Date: 1984-12-19
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Placement agency: Adoptions International - Philadelphia PA
Location: Franconia Township, PA, US
Casey "C.J." Elgie
5 year old boy, adopted in Vietnam by Jessica Vitale-Elgie and William Elgie. CJ died 10 hours after ingesting a detergent/bleach solution from a bucket soaking his recently soiled underclothes. CJ was developementally delayed and weighed 30lbs. Ms Vitale-Elgie admitted she was disciplining the boy and let him suffer for hours prior to taking him to the hospital. The Elgie's had a 6 yr girl from Korea and twin infant bio sons at the time of CJ's death. Ms Elgie had sought various therapies including attachment therapy for CJ.
Vitale-Elgie pleaded guilty in December 2002 to negligent homicide but later withdrew the plea when faced with a state prison term. In 2004, she was convicted of misdemeanor child endangerment. William Elgie was never charged. Both he and his now ex-wife were ruled neglectful parents during Family Court proceedings.
Date: 2000-08-30
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Lethal neglect
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Amherst, NY, US
Cassandra Killpack
Four-year old Cassandra adopted by Jennette and Richard Killpack died after they forced her to drink a gallon of water, which caused her brain to swell.
The Killpacks maintained it was a form of therapy to help Cassandra with her emotional problems that she had from being abused before they adopted her.
Date: 2002-06-01
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Fundamentalist faith: yes
Location: Springville, UT, US
Charles Thomas McEntire III (Brandon Berry)
18 month old adopted son of Charles Thomas McEntire Jr. and Edrina Gibson McEntire. His adoptive father stabbed him to death with a kitchen knife.
Date: 2004-11-22
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Placement agency: Hand in Hand Foundation (Santa Cruz)
Location: Richmond, CA, US
Chelsea Mensinger
11 year old girl adopted by her grand parents Charles and Rita Mensinger. After having shot her husband Mensinger fled, bringing Chelsea with her. She later shot Chelsea and herself. Charles Mensinger survived his wife's attack on him.
Date: 2000-09-15
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: DuPont, PA, US
Child C
Police are investigating allegations a serious abuse against a five-year-old boy, known as "Child C", while he was in the care of Haringey. Child C was snatched from his home in Africa and adopted as a "miracle baby" by a follower Gilbert Deya, the evangelist who has been at the centre of investigations into a "miracle baby" child-trafficking scandal, with infants allegedly stolen and passed to infertile women who were then convinced they had conceived through prayer.Once in the UK, the follower adopted the five-year-old, but he was seized by police in 2003 and taken into care where he has passed through six different sets of carers. His sixth, and final, foster carer, who looked after him for 15 months, forged a strong bond with the child, but partly because her north African ethnic background was different to that of the boy, Haringey council opposed her application to adopt him. Instead, social workers fast-tracked his adoption by a black couple of Caribbean origin instead. Since being placed with the adoptive parents allegations have surfaced that Child C was admitted to intensive care in a coma in 2006. The authorities were alerted when concerns were raised by a consultant child psychiatrist after the boy was taken to hospital. The Guardian quoted a report which said that while in care of an adoptive couple, Child C had his head banged against a wall so hard that he needed hospital treatment. Anonymous complainants suggested that Child C was unhappy and would not eat properly. The adoptive mother complained that he was wrecking her marriage and left him with a social worker, it was claimed, only taking him back when the local authority agreed to pay �26,000 for looking after Child C.
Date: 2008-12-07
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal neglect
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Placement agency: Haringey Council
Location: , HRY, UK
Children adopted by a St Francis couple
5 developmentally disabled children removed from their adoptive home where they were locked in their barren rooms for 14 hours/day. Two young foster children were also removed.
Date: 2001-03-27
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal neglect, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: St Francis, WI, US
Children adopted by Brian Kloosterman and Stephanie Schreiner
Four children adopted from Guatemala, allegedly abused by their stay at home adoptive father who is the primary caregiver to five children, ages 5 months through 3 1/2 years. Brian was arrested on suspicion of child abuse. The family was also investigated in Aug. 2007 when their newly adopted 9 month baby girl was rushed to the hospital for a head injury just three weeks after being adopted from Guatemala. She had a 106.8-degree temperature and a urinary-tract infection. No charges have been filed in that case.
First two adoptions completed early 2006, 3rd adoption July 2007, 4th adoption completed in April 2008. Bio child born Dec 2007. (Their first bio child died 5 days after birth, prior to any adoptions.)
Date: 2008-05-09
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Placement agency: Celebrate Children International, Oviedo FL
Location: Orlando, FL, US
Children adopted by Charles and Marjorie Moss
Eight children from foster care were abused by Marjorie; she punched children, hit them with a wooden paddle, locked them outside for hours with no food or water, held their heads under hot water, and threatened them with a gun.
Date: 2000-01-01
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Plant City, FL, US
Children adopted by couple in Haute-Loire, France
A 4 year-old boy was brought to the hospital at Haute-Loire (France) by his adoptive parents for an injury resulting from falling; but the doctors realized quickly that the injuries were not consistent with a fall. The younger brother of the victim, 18 months-old, was also hospitalized since few days for an injury to his leg. The boys were adopted since May 1, 2008. After having denied any violence, the father admitted that sometime he strikes the children to correct them but he minimizes the brutality of his behaviour saying that it was his way of educating his adoptive son who only speaks an Ehtiopian dialect. The father is imprisoned for aggravated rape, sexual assault and violence on children. The man is known to be impulsive and violent with his wife. His wife is under investigation for "non-denunciation of ill-treatment".
Date: 2008-06-06
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Placement agency: Tukul (based in Addis)
Location: Yssingeaux, C43, FR
Children adopted by couple in Quebec, Canada
Three children were abused for six years by their adoptive parents, in Becancour Quebec. They have been beaten with fists, feet and with sticks. The children were also subjected to backbreaking works for their age. Parents were sentenced to community service.
Date: 2007-02-19
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Location: Becancour, QC, CA
Children adopted by Dennis and Molly McCurry
Three adopted boys were found severely malnourished, a 5-year-old boy who weighed less than 20 pounds, an 8-year-old who weighed less than 40 pounds and a 7-year-old brother who weighed about 32 pounds when police found. The boys also were treated for bruises, scratches, burns and head lice. The boys told officers they were tied up to be kept from food in the mobile home.
Date: 2006-07-01
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Location: Lyman, SC, US
Children adopted by Dr. Philip J. Broeckel Sr and Julie Broeckel
Dr Broeckel Sr. sexually abused at least 4 of his adopted children including some from Mexico. His now ex-wife Julie Barryman was not charged and was unaware of the abuse
Broeckel and his second wife, Julie, had two children of their own, adopted several others, became guardians for others and, over a period of about five years, took in numerous orphans, runaways and abandoned kids. From 15 to 20 children at a given time lived under his roof; so many that the family eventually began traveling around in a remodeled school bus.
Date: 1989-10-01
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Fundamentalist faith: yes
Location: San Juan, TX, US
Children adopted by Earnest and Windie Perry
Earnest and Windie Perry, adopted six children in total. Five of them were removed from the house after the couple was charged with eight count of aggravated child abuse. Their eldest, Elizabeth Perry, together with her adoptive mother Windie, was also charged with two counts of rape of a child and two counts of aggravated rape.
Date: 2008-07-10
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother, Adopted sibling
Fundamentalist faith: yes
Location: Clarksville, TN, US
Children adopted by Emily Miller
In November of 1999 the half-naked disabled adoptive son of Emily Miller was found tied to a plastic bucket partially filled with urine. During the examinations, it was revealed two children in the care of Emily Miller had died earlier. First in January 1993, 4-month-old Ieisha Dyson died after being born with a significant birth defect and in April 1995 DuJuan Miller, Emily Miller's 2-year-old adopted son died, supposedly of sudden infant death syndrome.
All material kindly provided by Jack Kresnak President & CEO of Michigan's Children
Date: 1999-11-02
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Detroit, MI, US
Children adopted by James and Vonda Ferguson
Three boys and two girls were beaten with sticks, belts, shoes, fists and hammers; burned with a clothes iron, the stove, and a curling iron; bitten; kicked; stabbed with knives, forks and sticks; urinated on; forced to eat their own excrement; forced to drink urine; fed rotting food as well as cat food; forced into the clothes dryer and the dryer turned on; beaten while naked; duct taped to a chair or their beds for days; strangled with a belt; held under water; held over a banister by their feet and dropped; made to drink hot sauce with red hot peppers; made to drink from the toilet; forced to go without food for days; forced to wear urine soaked clothing on their heads; and body slammed, along with other abuses.At least two of the victims also detailed sexual abuses and assaults using a toilet plunger.
James was a former lay minister and church trustee
Date: 2006-08-15
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Location: Springfield, OH, US
Children adopted by Jerry Wayne Love
Three boys adopted by an unordained priest from Huntsville Alabama were sexually abused by him. Circuit Judge Karen Hall sentenced Jerry Wayne Love, 51, to 15 years on each of three first-degree sodomy charges. But she followed the prosecutors' recommendation, ordering Love to spend five years on probation and undergo treatment in a sex offender program.
In the 1990s Love and his wife were named as adoptive parents of the year by the Madison County Department of Human of Resources
Date: 2007-07-09
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Huntsville, AL, US
Children adopted by John and Linda Dollar
Sat, 2008-03-01 20:00 - Niels
Five children adopted by the Dollars who starved them, shocked them with electricity, pulled out their toenails with pliers, bound them with chains and strips of plastic and struck their feet with hammers.
Date: 2005-02-04
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Home schooling: yes
Location: Beverly Hills, FL, US
Children adopted by John William and Connie Lucile Oliver
A 12-year-old girl who weighed 40 pounds and her 10-year-old brother, who weighed 45 pounds, were found unattended near a church playground in Union County, South Carolina. Both children were adopted from Estonia eight years before.
Date: 2006-09-23
Type of abuse: Non-lethal neglect
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Location: Jonesville, SC, US
Children adopted by Juan and Myra Rodriguez
Three children adopted a year before, had allegedly been abused and tortured by their adopters.
Date: 2008-06-08
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Location: LaRue County, KY, US
Children adopted by Kodzo Dobosu
Fri, 2008-07-11 21:19 - Niels
Three out of thirty-five children adopted by "father of the year" Kodzo Dobosu were sexually abused by him.
Date: 1991-10-22
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: New York City, NY, US
Children adopted by Mechelle and Bessie Saffold
Former foster parents of the year Bessie and Mechelle Saffold, neglected and battered five children they adopted.
Date: 2007-02-28
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal neglect
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Location: Indianapolis, IN, US
Children adopted by Mercury Liggins
Liggins' children, ranging in age from 8 to 17, were discovered a month ago at the Nigerian orphanage by an American missionary. The children, some of them suffering from typhoid and malaria, told the missionary they were from Houston and wanted to go home. The church's pastor told two U.S. congressmen and arrangements were made to return them to Texas.
Liggins said her only mistake was trusting her brother-in-law to care for the children in Nigeria. The relative took money she sent for the kids' benefit, causing the children to be kicked out of their boarding school and put in the squalid orphanage, she said.
The children initially were taken to Nigeria in October so she could take a job in Iraq, working for Houston-based Hallilburton subsidiary KBR.
Date: 2004-03-01
Type of abuse: Non-lethal neglect
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Houston, TX, US
Children adopted by Michael and Sharen Gravelle
11 children adopted by Michel and Sharen Gravelle were found to be kept in cages.
Date: 2005-09-01
Type of abuse: Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Home schooling: yes
Location: Clarksfield, OH, US
Children adopted by Nellie Jasper Johnson
20 children adopted by Gainesville, Fl woman were beaten with sticks, pipes, belts, extension cords and paddles during more than 10 years ofabuse.
Date: 2001-09-01
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Placement agency: Shepherd's Care Ministries
Location: Gainesville, FL, US
Children adopted by Patrick and Sherry Kelley
In 2004, the Kelleys were accused of burning, beating, and slapping their five adopted children, 10 to 15 years old. Later investigation cast doubt on whether the evidence would hold up in court, according to prosecutors. In January 2007, Superior Court Judge Mike Wolverton accepted no-contest pleas to greatly reduced charges and released the Kelleys, who had served about 17 months in jail.
George and Shirley Long were accused of standing by while their adopted grandchildren were abused for years.
George Long, the adoptive grandfather, is found guilty of chaining his 10-year-old adopted grandson to a dog run.
Date: 2004-07-01
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother, Other family member
Home schooling: yes
Location: Wasilla, AK, US
Children adopted by RichardHill
Two boys and a girl, all 9 or 10 years old, were sexually abused by their adoptive father, Richard Hill, beginning Jan 2006. He allegedly sexually abused children, including his sisters, since he was a child. His sisters say they objected to the adoptions. Hill was sentenced to 9 years to life. His wife was unaware of the abuse.
Date: 2008-01-15
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Kearns, UT, US
Children adopted by Roberto Acosta and Shirley Carroll Acosta
Mon, 2008-06-23 19:35 - Niels
Four children between 3 and 9 being beaten with boards, locked in a basement without food and doused with cold water as punishment.
Date: 1999-03-14
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Placement agency: Arapahoe County Department of Social Services
Location: Brush, CO, US
Children adopted by Sandy June Linn
A 6 year old girl and an 8 year old boy were deprived food and water, which resulted in severe malnourishment. The adoptive father was living out of state at the time.
Date: 2007-02-26
Type of abuse: Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Gardnerville, NV, US
Children adopted by Scott Francis
Scott Francis, a 41-year-old Northville, MI man, lived with his two adopted children despite a plea agreement that was supposed to stop him from having unsupervised contact with any child, after his previous conviction on two offenses of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct. The registered sex offender was convicted of violating probation, and also was charged with new counts of sexual assault involving an adopted son. A judge's written order had failed to mention the plea agreement that forbade contact with any child, and a probation officer also admitted to failing to enforce the deal.
Date: 2003-08-26
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Northville, MI, US
Children adopted by Shelley Blair
A 12 year-old boy and a 13 year-old girl, the adopted children of Shelley Blair, were found wandering a busy road. The children were bruised and malnourished. Shelley Blair is now under investigation.
In 2003, Blair pleaded guilty to three counts of child abuse.
Date: 2008-10-23
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal neglect
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Placement agency: DCS Tennesee
Home schooling: yes
Location: Spring Hill, TN, US
Children adopted by Shirley Allen
Three teen age children adopted from the foster care system were refused food, beaten and made to stand on a milk crate for hours by their adoptive mother. Shirley Allen received on top of her $600 disability income, $1,500 per month in compensation for each of the three children
Date: 2008-05-28
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Loganville, GA, US
Children adopted by Teresa and Jay Moody
Teresa and Jay Moody were accused of abusing their adopted children nearly three years ago. A 11-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl were removed from their home in December 2005 and placed in foster care. The couple avoided any jail time, however under the terms of a plea agreement, they were prohibited from being foster parents or providing services to children under 18.
Date: 2005-01-01
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal neglect
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Location: Greentown, IN, US
Children adopted by Theresa and Reed Hansen
Theresa and Reed Hansen, of Saratoga Springs, Utah had been accused of felony and misdemeanor charges for withholding food, sometimes for days at a time, from two of their three children adopted from Russia, who were of pre-school age at the time. The abused boy and girl were bio siblings adopted 2 years after the first. All three adoptees were removed from the home in 2002 and have reportedly thrived since in new adoptive homes.
Date: 2002-10-02
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Fundamentalist faith: yes
Location: Saratoga Spring, UT, US
Children adopted by Thomas L. Bates
Five children adopted by Thomas L. Bates were sexually abused. Adoptive mother was not charged.
Date: 1991-09-21
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Southborough, MA, US
Children adopted by Tom and Debra Schmitz
11 children adopted by Tom and Debbie Schmitz were abused by their adopters. For years the Schmitzes took in disabled and otherwise troubled children in their home and were part of an under-ground network of people taking in children from disrupted adoptions. As adherents of Attachment Therapy, they beat their children, locked them up in cagelike bunk beds, forcing one child to eat his own vomit; holding another child's head underwater as punishment; sitting on a girl and urinating on her; and hurling a wheelchair-bound girl into a swimming pool; placing a hose in a girl's mouth and turning on the water, and lancing a boil on another child with a box cutter as she screamed in pain; forcing children to dig what they were told were their own graves.
Seven children in the "care" of Tom and Debra Schmitz were illegally placed.
Date: 2004-06-30
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Home schooling: yes
Location: Trenton, TN, US
Children adopted by William and Samia Fam
Four boys and two girls, between the ages of 7 and 16 were being locked up in the basement of their house.
Date: 2006-11-22
Type of abuse: Non-lethal neglect, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Location: Colorado Springs, CO, US
Christine Montalbano
Three year old girl from Tegucigalpa Honduras, adopted by Nancy Jane Montalbano on Oct. 28, 1996. Almost a year later she was beaten to death by Nancy after she knocked over the potty. Christine has 28 blunt force injuries including a lacerated liver and brain hemorrhage. Nancy also had a 4 year old son, Richard, adopted previously from Honduras.
At the time of the girl's death, Nancy was living with a common-law husband, who was not charged in the case.
Date: 1997-10-21
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Perkiomenville, PA, US
Christopher Forder
8-year-old Christopher Forder stricken with pneumonia, heavily bruised and nearing death, only to call 911 after he had dies.Kimberly Forder, Christopher's adoptive mother abused and neglected him to the point of death, never seeking outside medical help as his pneumonia grew worse.
Date: 2002-11-22
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Lethal neglect
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Home schooling: yes
Location: Seabeck, WA, US
Chrystal Ramirez (Camarillo)
8-year-old girl, adopted by Rubin and Bettie Ramirez, was starved, had her arms and legs tied with tape, and was beaten with a cane to the point her brain and skull began bleeding. Her 10 year old sister and 6 year old brother were in the same home. CPS had been contacted numerous times.
Date: 2007-08-24
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Home schooling: yes
Location: San Antonio, TX, US
Clare Robertson
At the time 10-year-old girl was sexually abused by her adoptive father, Peter Robertson. Thirty years later she pressed charges. Peter Robertson admitted the abuse and was given a two-year conditional discharge.
Date: 2008-07-21
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Lancaster, LAN, UK
Cory Bradley McLaughlin
July 4, 1997, paramedics went to the North Carolina home of 45 year-old Eddiesenior Jones McLaughlin and found 4-year-old, adoptee, Cory Bradley McLaughlin, severely beaten. He was pronounced brain-dead at the hospital not long before he was taken off life support. Both of his little hands and one foot were burned. There were bruises on his back, stomach, legs, and a lump on his forehead. Mrs. McLaughlin's husband was deployed by the military at the time.
Date: 1997-07-04
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Fayetteville, NC, US
Danielle and Brittany Tucker (Dornan)
Christopher Allen Tucker and Rebecca Lynn Tucker first adopted Danielle, who at the age of four was pushed down the stairs by her adoptive mother, in their house in Coldwater, Michigan in December 8, 1995. At the time it was ruled an accident. Danielle was born with spina bifida and Down's Syndrome. Despite what had happened, the Tuckers were allowed to adopt two of Danielle's sisters a month after her death. Soon afterwards, the Tuckers moved to Trenton, Utah after complaints had been made about abuse the of Brittany, one of Danielle's sisters. In November 1997 authorities found Brittany, 6-year-old at the time, starving in a locked basement room. The basement room was furnished only with bare metal bedsprings, a wooden spool, and a metal tub containing dirty brown water, which the girl drank from and bathed in. She had been in there for at least 5 months. Rebecca Tucker received a sentence of 5 year imprisonment for the abuse of Brittany and 8 to 15 years for the killing of Danielle. She is currently imprisoned Michigan. Chris Tucker received a sentence of 1 to 15 year imprisonment. All 3 girls suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome. Two biological boys and the 3rd girl where apparently unhurt.
Date: 1997-11-01
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal neglect, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Placement agency: Family Independence Agency
Location: Trenton, UT, US
Danielle Christine Neal and unnamed Neal child
In October, 1993, Victoria Neal admitted being responsible for the death of Danielle Christine Neal, a 13 month old girl adopted 4 months earlier from Korea. Danielle died Sept 2, 1976 of brain injuries. She had partially healed fractures of her legs, arm and collarbone. A second girl adopted from later Korea was removed from her custody after being admitted to a Toldeo hospital with brain injuries in 1979.
Glenn Neal was not charged.
Date: 1976-08-30
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Placement agency: Holt International Adoption
Location: Morton, IL, US
Daughters of Pastor in Ocala, Fl
Two adopted daughters of a pastor in Ocala, Fl were sexually abused by their adopter. The eldest has a child from the pastor.
Date: 2001-01-11
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Ocala, FL, US
David and Samuel Briggs (David and Samuel Filipache)
In October 2000, less than four months after arriving in County Armagh, 14-month-old David died in the care of his adoptive parents Gwen and Geoffrey Briggs.
The Assistant State Pathologist for Northern Ireland, Dr Michael Curtis, failed to examine X-rays which showed multiple fractures on David's body when he carried out an initial post-mortem. Later his body was exhumed and a second post-mortem examination revealed 27 partially-healed fractures.
Two weeks after the death of David Briggs, his 14-month old twin brother Samuel was brought to hospital with a fractured skull. Geoffrey Briggs had punched the child for refusing to take some medicine. Unlike his brother Samuel survived the attack.
Geoffrey Briggs received one year imprisonment for the attack on Samuel and was released after six months when he was being attacked by fellow inmates, after which the couple fled to Scotland. For the death of David no-one was ever charged. The Briggs were former overseas missionaries.
The boys were adopted from Romania, where there parents were unaware of their adoption.
Date: 2000-10-01
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Homestudy agency: Craigavon and Banbridge HSS Trust
Placement agency: Parinti si Copii (Parents and Children run by adoption attorney Oana Harvalia)
Location: Portadown, ARM, UK
Davion Winrow
1-year-old boy in foster care died of a fatal head injury while in the care of Joleet Poole, who was about to adopt him. Davion was killed during an approved un-supervised visit with Joey.
Mr. Poole was a choir director for the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Date: 2007-09-27
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Placement agency: Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services
Location: Omaha, NE, US
Dennis Gene Merryman (Denis Uritsky)
8 year old boy adopted by Samuel and Donna Merryman. Died after suffering cardiac arrest brought on by starvation. He weighed 37 pounds, 2 lbs less than his weight at adoption. Both adoptive parents were arrested and charged with manslaughter and first degree child abuse resulting in death and reckless endangerment. He was adopted along with his older brother and 2 older sisters from Ochyor, Perm region, Russia almost 5 years before.
Date: 2005-01-22
Type of abuse: Lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Placement agency: Adoptions Forever, Rockville, MD
Home schooling: yes
Fundamentalist faith: yes
Location: Whiteford, Harford County, MD, US
Dominick J. (Andrew) Diehl
13 year-old boy adopted by Michael and Karen Diehl was beaten to death by the couple as result of their fundamentalist Christian belief in strict discipline.
Date: 1986-10-29
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Home schooling: yes
Fundamentalist faith: yes
Location: Virginia Beach, VA, US
Dominique Bryant
Sat, 2008-03-08 21:33 - Niels
Murdered by her adoptive mother Patricia Blackmon.
Date: 1999-05-01
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Dothan, AL, US
Dreydon Anthony Archuleta
Wed, 2009-01-14 15:28 - silent1
5 month old boy dies after being held by his ankles and shaken by his adoptive mother. Julie Archuleta pleaded guilty to child-abuse homicide. Father Geno was not charged.
Date: 2004-09-27
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Fundamentalist faith: yes
Location: Salt Lake City, UT, US
Ellana Lin
22-month-old girl from China, adopted by Tawainese natives Perry Yu Lin and Dianne Buu Lin, died of blunt-force trauma and had injuries over her entire body. Dianne Buu Lin was sentences to 15 years. Perry Yu Lin was sentenced to one year of felony probation.
Date: 2003-11-02
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Rowland Heights, CA, US
Emma Mei Alvey (Mei Fu Ping)
20 month girl Adopted from Huangmei, Hubei Province, China by Phillip and Jennifer Alvey, was shaken to death by her adoptive mother 8 months after the adoption. Emma had a skull fracture and died Oct 24, 2005. In September she got 13 stitches from a separate injury. Her mother pleaded guilty. Jennifer was sentenced to 1 year in prison,14 years probation.
Date: 2005-10-19
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Placement agency: Bethany Christian Services
Location: Spring Hill, TN, US
Enna Isabel Barreto
2 year old adopted daughter of Ramon Barreto and Janet Lee Killough Barreto, one of seven children adopted from Guatemala by the couple, died Monday, May 19, 2008, at LeBonheur Children's Medical Center in Memphis. Preliminary autopsy report proved that the child's death was not an accident. Ramone and Janet Barreto were initially charged with two counts of child neglect and with the new information could be charged with a more severe crime. 17-year-old Marainna Torres, daughter of Janet, plead guilty to manslaughter. Pending charges against the parents include culpable negligence in the death of Enna, as well as allegations brought by the Marainna that: Luisa Fernanda Barreto and Juan Fernando Barreto were tied in a baby crib for long periods. Adriana Killough, also known as Adriana Santana Lemar, was caged in a closet for prolonged periods and forced to eat, sleep, urinate and defecate in the cage. (Adriana was the first adopted child and apparently the adoption was later disrupted).
Date: 2008-05-19
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse, Lethal neglect
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother, Adopted sibling
Location: New Albany, MS, US
Esther Scudder
Sat, 2008-10-18 06:00 - Niels
22-month-old girl from Hunan Province, China, adopted by Sandra Scudder, died of died of brain hemorrhaging due to blunt trauma to the head. Sandra Scudder died of ovarian cancer before she could go to trial.
Date: 2002-06-13
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Loves Park, IL, US
Ethan, Seth, Mira, Eleanor Sueppel
Steven Sueppel, indicted for embezzling from the bank that he worked for, killed himself, his wife Sheryl, and their four adopted Korean children, Ethan (10), Seth (7), Mira (5), and Eleanor (3),in Iowa City, Iowa. Seth was on the autism spectrum and Eleanor had Polycystic Kidney Disease. Mrs Sueppel and the children were beaten to death with a baseball bat then Steven died in a deliberate car wreck.
Date: 2008-03-23
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Placement agency: Holt Children's Services Inc.
Location: Iowa City, IA, US
Faith J. Ray
2-year old girl adopted by Joe and Violet Ray was rushed to the hospital where she was found to have bleeding of her brain, multiple bruises on her arms, chest, legs, and thighs, as well as vaginal tearing. Several hours later she died. Her death was declared a homicide. Faith was one of 6 adopted children; two from private adoption agencies, four from DCF, including Faith and her 1-year-old bio brother.
Date: 2008-12-08
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Undetermined
Placement agency: Florida DCF
Location: Bellevue, FL, US
Faith Raeanne Robinson
4-year-old girl adopted by Joseph and Jessilyn Robinson died of head injury consistent with being shaken violently. Faith and her bio half brother Jacob were apparently adopted together (domestic) while the family lived in Rhode Island.
Date: 2008-05-28
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Home schooling: yes
Fundamentalist faith: yes
Location: Winchester, KY, US
Freddi Bergquist, (Erik Ilesov) Adopted Czech boy in Sweden
Seven months after adoption by Swedish citizens, four year old Freddi Bergquist, from Czech Republic died of untreated pneumonia and blood poisoning. His body was covered with bruises and festering wounds.
Date: 2006-01-08
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Lethal neglect
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Placement agency: Barnen Framför Allt (Children Above All - Adoptions)
Location: Jönköping, , SE
Girl adopted by Aaron and Linda Mann
14 year old girl was beaten with PVC pipe by adoptive father. The Mann's had been investigated three times before for physical abuse and neglect.
Date: 2004-08-03
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Oneida, TN, US
Girl adopted by Acharya family
11-year-old girl who had been adopted by the Archarya family two years earlier, was systematically raped by the eldest son, Bishnu, and his relative Bedhari Bhattara.
Date: 2007-03-11
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Non-adopted sibling, Other family member
Location: Kaski district, , NP
Girl adopted by Anna T Rufo
13-year-old girl adopted from China by Anna T Rufo was beaten with a baseball bat by her adoptive mother.
Date: 2005-05-18
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: McMinneville, OR, US
Girl adopted by Ardee Verlon Tyler and Penny Sue Tyler
Girl adopted from Africa along with 4 sisters was tied with a rope during the day and restrained in the basement at night because she lied and urinated on the floor. She was forced to spend the night outside in the cold on at least one occasion for stealing a cookie. She was sexually assaulted by her adoptive brother Ashton Malachi Tyler. Her adoptive sister Nathania Dellare (or Dellrae) Tyler is also accused of restraining her.
She was being adopted by another family when the abuse came to light. It is not clear if the other 4 girls were abused as well. Her birth country is not mentioned, so could be Ethiopia, Liberia, Ghana.
Date: 2007-10-01
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Sexual abuse, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother, Adopted sibling
Location: Fairview, OK, US
Girl adopted by Chan Man-yum
11-month-old girl adopted by Chan Man-yum of Hong Kong, was held upside down and banged with her head to the floor.
Date: 2008-10-17
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Mong Kok, , HK
Girl adopted by Christopher and Eva Pitzer
13-year-old girl adopted by Christopher and Eva Pitzer was encouraged to drink alcohol at a party in honor of her adoption and later raped by her adoptive father.
Date: 2007-04-01
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Location: Haysville, KS, US
Girl adopted by David and Christine Nordstrom
15-year-old girl adopted by David and Christine Nordstrom, adopted at the age of two, was being hand cuffed and beaten by her adoptive mother.
Date: 2008-11-04
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Verbal abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Lake Elsinore, CA, US
Girl adopted by David Karl and Jennifer Danser
Nine-year-old girl was sexually abused by her adoptive father David Karl Danser. He took sexually explicit photographs of her which he shared with a ring of child pornographers in the Bloomington, Indiana area, further consisting of Pirie Scott Cleveland, Charles Poole and Bill Platz. The arrest of these four eventually lead to the arrest of Eric Franklin Rosser, who became one of ten America's most wanted fugitive criminals.
David Karl Danser was convicted and sentenced to 370 months imprisonment and was ordered to pay his adoptive daughter restitution in the amount of $309,549.36. He currently stays at the Federal Correctional Institute in Petersburg, Virginia and is scheduled for release in 2025.
Date: 1999-03-01
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse, Sexual exploitation
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Bloomingtin, IN, US
Girl adopted by Douglas Allen Houtz and Beth Marie Houtz
14-year-old girl adopted by Douglas Allen Houtz and Beth Marie Houtz, was physically abused by her adoptive mother, she was being held under water, beaten her with hangers and kitchen utensils, and was restraint while being punched in the face.
In December 2007, Marie Houtz accepted a plea agreement with prosecutors. She pleaded no contest in exchange for a two-year suspended prison sentence.
Charges were dismissed againsther husband.
Date: 2005-12-31
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Stroud, OK, US
Girl adopted by Earl "Butch" Kimmerling and Saundra Kimmerling
After having fought a gay couple from adopting a girl, Earl Kimmerling was later found to have sexually molested her. Kimmerlings were the girls' foster parents who had 50 or more foster children before. Kimmerlings separated after the charges were filed, and the girl remains with Sandi Kimmerling.
Date: 1998-05-01
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Anderson, IN, US
Girl adopted by Edward Walter Smith
Quickly after she was adopted the sexual abuse started. She was 13 years old at the time. A year later she got pregnant and had a baby in 2000. In 2005 she made a report about the sexual abuse she had endured. Smith was arrested in Transylvania County in 2006 and later indicted. In 2008 he got a 124 year sentence.
Date: 2006-01-01
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Pisgah Forest, NC, US
Girl adopted by Ellery and Krisi James
Over a period of 2 years the girl was sexually abused by the couple. As age 14 she reported the abuse to Children Youth and Families officials.
Date: 2006-05-01
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Location: Los Lunas, NM, US
Girl adopted by Eva Maria Hofer
14-year-old girl from Vietnam, adopted by Eva Maria Hofer, was beaten by her adoptive mother. At the time, Eva Maria Hofer was executive director of German adoption agency ICCO.
Date: 2006-07-01
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Placement agency: ICCO
Location: Hamburg, HH, DE
Girl adopted by Gerald Dale and Hope Snapp
15-year-old girl is taken in by a man who works for a state agency charged with protecting children. He sexually assaults her on several occasions while she is living with him and his family and, after adopting her, impregnates her when she is 17.
Date: 2008-01-10
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Berkley, MI, US
Girl adopted by Hyacinth Morgan
12 year old girl was stripped and tied to a bed with rope for several days. She was beaten with multiple objects, inflicting injuries that covered her entire body. She was locked in a room without food. Eventually she broke out of the house, flagged a motorist who took her to a near by McDonald's restaurant.
Date: 2008-06-20
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Silver Spring, MD, US
Girl adopted by Kenneth Lee Ashcraft
Despite having a string of child abuse complaints on file since the early 1980's, Kenneth Lee Ashcraft had been allowed to adopt a girl, whom he later on abused.
Date: 2008-07-08
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: New Miami, OH, US
Girl adopted by Lynwood Elmer Vinum
5-year-old girl informally adopted by 72 year old man from the USA, living in Thailand. Mother had consented to the arrangement because Vinum was to pay for the girl's education and she was to be allowed contact. The girl had been in his care for 2 months during which he sexually abused her. Mr. Vinum had lived in Thailand for 20 years.
Date: 2008-07-18
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Moo Baan Rungland, , TH
Girl adopted by Maria Quintanilla Cuadra
11-year-old girl was found, her body covered with welts and bruises and she appeared malnourished. Maria Quintanilla Cuadra and her boyfriend, Jose Esteban Guevara were charged. They had subjected the girl to malnourishment and repeated, daily beatings. The girl also was forced to hold heavy objects over her head for extended periods, and Guevara forced her to eat jalapeños without water, police said. Cuadra, the girl's aunt, adopted the child after both of her parents died.
Date: 2008-07-26
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother, Other non-family member
Location: Salinas, CA, US
Girl adopted by Rich and Jane Tylski
6 year old adoptive daughter of former NFL player Rich Tylski and his wife was brought to the hospital with a broken femur. Doctors concluded the girl was abused and the Tylski's admitted to spanking the girl with a belt, slamming her head on a table and other abuse that left the girl with broken bones in her hands and leg.
Date: 2006-04-21
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Placement agency: Bundles of Hope, Jacksonville, Fl
Location: Jacksonville, FL, US
Girl adopted by Stephen and Kathy Rhoten
14-year-old girl, adopted from Panama at age 3, by Stephen and Kathy Rhoten, was kept on unlawful restraints.
Date: 2007-12-07
Type of abuse: Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Location: Edwardsville, IL, US
Girl adopted by Stephen Douglas James
12-year-old girls was sexually abused by her adoptive father. She was adopted with her three brothers by James and his wife, who home-schooled the children.
Date: 2001-12-04
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Home schooling: yes
Location: Bastrop county, TX, US
Girl adopted by Wanda and Bobbie Holmes
Less than 17 year old girl adopted by Wanda and Bobbie Holmes was sexually abused by her 72 year old adoptive father with permission of her adoptive mother.
Date: 2003-08-01
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Location: Roxana, IL, US
Girl in care of Vladimir Karpov
7 year girl from Ukraine was brought to the US to be adopted by Delaware man in 1999 after her foster family in Ukraine agreed to the move. He abused her sexually for six years. In 2005 the girl's former Ukrainian foster family visited and the girl told about the abuse. Karpov, a Ukrainian native, fled and was eventually found in 2007 by Mantega, CA, police. He is charged with 50 counts of first-degree rape and one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child
This was an informal foster or adoption arrangement, and likely there was no homestudy,etc.
Date: 2007-07-07
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Newark, DE, US
Girl to be adopted by Ernest Richard Davison and Cynthia Joan Davison
5-year-old girl to be adopted by Ernest Richard Davison and Cynthia Joan Davison, had been bound at her wrists and ankles for a considerable time and was suffering from malnourishment. She has Down's Syndrome. There were 3 other special needs adopted and foster children in the home.
Date: 2005-01-01
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal neglect, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Home schooling: yes
Fundamentalist faith: yes
Location: Beachwood, NJ, US
Girls adopted and fostered by Joe David Lujan and wife
Joe Lujan, 59, was charged with sexual assault on his 15 year old recently adopted daughter as well as 3 and 7 year old former foster daughters. He was 40 years to life.His wife was not charged.
Date: 2004-11-06
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Placement agency: Maple Star Colorado
Location: Denver, CO, US
Girls adopted by Eugene Richard Putnam and DoyAnne Putnam
Eugene Richard Putnam admitted he sexually molested four adopted daughters. Putnam also beat three of his adopted children with a plastic or rubber device.He also faces four counts of child abuse, one count of child neglect and one count of committing a lewd act with a child. Putnam’s charges were filed in March 2007, following a multijurisdictional investigation of the girls’ allegations of molestation and abuse. Mrs Putnam was charged with abuse and neglect.
Date: 2007-04-07
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Sexual abuse, Non-lethal neglect
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Porter, OK, US
Girls adopted by Gary McCoy
Three girl adopted from foster care by Gary Patrick McCoy were sexually abused by him. McCoy had adopted seven children. McCoy received three sentences between 17 year and 5 and months and 35 years and is currently incarcerated at Earnest C. Brooks Correctional Facility. McCoy had once received the foster parent of the year award.
Date: 2005-04-04
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Garden City, MI, US
Girls adopted by John and Alicia Bryan
The same day he resigned amid a criminal investigation into whether he sexually abused two of his adopted daughters and a nanny, St Petersburg, Fl, City Councilman, John Bryan committed suicide. The Byrans were separated and considering divorce when he killed himself. There had been rumors for 20 years of sexual indiscretions and pedophilia.
Date: 2007-09-05
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: St Petersburg, FL, US
Girls adopted by John Henry Thomas and Carol Ann Thomas
John Henry Thomas was accused of raping one of the older girls and physically abusing the others beginning in 2003. His wife, Carol Ann, was charged with failing to protect the children from her husband. Court documents state that one of the six children reported she was punched in the stomach until she vomited. Others said they were beaten with a tree limb, a cast-iron frying pan and a table leg, documents state. In other instances, one child said she was forced to stand barefoot on a hot radiator, and another child was forced to drink the Thomases' urine, according to police, who said John Thomas also sexually abused a teenage daughter. The children also said they were forced to go without food and sit and watch others eat for days and forced to hit other children in the household, according to police. Some of the children had scars from the incidents, police said.
John Henry Thomas pleaded no contest to sexual assault and unlawful contact with minors - his adopted children. Carol Thomas pleaded no contest to charges she failed to protect the children from her husband.
Date: 2008-10-01
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Sexual abuse, Non-lethal neglect
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Fundamentalist faith: yes
Location: West Manchester Township, PA, US
Girls adopted by Juan Rodenas and his wife.
Two girls under fourteen were sexually abused by their adoptive father who filmed the assault. The Rodenas had seven children, two of whom were adopted. Mr. Rodenas computer also included photos of abuse of a 7-year-old girl believed to be a relative in Guatemala.
Date: 2008-06-17
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse, Sexual exploitation
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Las Vegas, NV, US
Girls adopted by Karen and Richard Thorne
Adoptive parents were found guilty of abusing 2 Russian children they adopted in Voronezh, on the plane ride on the way home from Moscow. The girls were returned to live with Karen and Richard Thorne of Phoenix. The Queens Family Court Judge ordered that the Thornes would be subject to unannounced visits by Arizona Child Welfare authorities and undergo psychological evaluation as a condition of regaining custody.
Date: 1997-07-03
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Placement agency: Hand in Hand, Mesa, Arizona
Location: Phoenix, AZ, US
Girls adopted by Michael A. Paulin and wife
2 Marshall Island girls, 12 and 8, adopted by the Paulins were sexually abused by Mr. Paulin
Date: 1998-01-01
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Greenwood, SC, US
Girls adopted by Patricia Harris
Patricia Harris, 54 year-old woman, pleaded guilty to second-degree sodomy and first-degree sexual abuse of her three children ages 5, 6, and 8 whom she adopted in April 2006 after serving as their foster parent.
Date: 2007-08-17
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Placement agency: Kentucky Children's Services
Location: Danville, KY, US
Grace Bogey
Grace Bogey, who was born with spina bifida and was paralyzed from the waist down, died on Sept. 2, 2000. Autopsy results showed she died from head injuries resulting from abuse. Her adoptive mother Veronica Bogey, and grandfather Terry Bogey are charged.
Date: 2000-09-02
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother, Other family member
Location: Roswell, NM, US
Gustavo Adolpho Hunt
Gus, 7 month old boy adopted from Guatemala by Steven D. Showcatally and Gail Hunt was dropped to the floor by his adoptive father and died three hours later. Gustavo was adopted 4 months earlier in Nov. Father is serving 12.5 years. Parents attempted to complete a pending adoption in India shortly after Gustavo's death.
Date: 2004-03-19
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: St Paul, MN, US
Haleigh Poutre adopted by her aunt Holli Strickland
On September 2005, Haleigh Poutre, was hospitalized with severe brain injuries after she was allegedly beaten into a coma by Jason Strickland and Holli Strickland, her step father and maternal aunt respectively, who had legally adopted her. Defying all odds, the brain-damaged girl who was days away from a state order to remove her from life support in 2006, started communicating about the horrific abuse that nearly killed her.
Date: 2005-09-11
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother, Other family member
Location: Westfield, MA, US
Haley Liberman
7-year-old girl, adopted by Debra Liberman and Dan Liberman was severely abused by her adoptive mother. She had bleach poured her back, was beaten her with a dog chain, had cat food and salt forced down her throat and was locked in a coal cellar, and then a closet.
Date: 2004-02-09
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Carrick, PA, US
Hannah Rose WenRong Sieferman and Linnea Kai Sieferman
Two 11-year-old girls adopted from China were stabbed by their adoptive mother, Sylvia Sieferman. Hannah was adopted in March 1999 (2.5 yrs) in Nanning; Linnea in Sept 2003 (6 yrs). Sylvia Sieferman, was charged with second-degree attempted murder and first-degree attempted murder. She was hospitalized 2 months prior to the event because of her fears she would hurt herself or the girls.
Date: 2008-08-21
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Roseville, MN, US
Hannah, Noah, Molly and Joshua Carroll
Wed, 2008-06-25 23:12 - Niels
Four children adopted by Kathleen and Timothy Carroll die under suspicious circumstances.
Chronology
1991 Anne Marie, 19, placed with the Carrolls in 1985. She attempts to burn family home in Madison Twp. and and subsequently placed in custody of the Ohio Department of Youth Services. She claims most of the care for 10 children in the house hold lies on her shoulders and her biological brother James.
Sept. 21, 1992, the first death: Hannah, 6, a Down syndrome child, dies. Parents say she was "doing fine" after household bleach was spilled on her three days earlier, but evidence showed the child suffered horribly, with chemical burns inside her lungs and over nearly one-third of her body. Until this incident, Greene County Children Services is unaware of the family, which had 10 adopted children, all with physical, mental or emotional problems. Originally from Massachusetts, they moved to Madison Twp. in 1990, and then to Cedarville two months before Hannah died. The agency's attempt to get emergency custody of the remaining children is denied.
October-December 1992, three more deaths: A 1-month-old child, Chloe, who was born with only a brain stem and no brain, dies Oct. 19 in the care of the Columbus adoption agency that had placed her with the Carrolls. On Nov. 15, Noah, 3, a "crack" baby who suffered brain damage and seizures, dies. Officials express extreme concern after Mollie, a 3-year-old with mental retardation and severe allergies, appears to have been dead for 12 hours before she was found Dec. 9. County Juvenile Judge Robert A. Hagler removes the remaining children from the home, but returns them two days before Christmas.
January 1993, a guilty plea: Kathleen and Timothy Carroll, originally charged with involuntary manslaughter, plead guilty to child neglect charges in Hannah's death, admitting they should have sought medical treatment for her burns. They are placed on five years' probation and they agree to adopt no more children without prior court consent.
June 1993, the fifth death: After several months of little activity in the case, Josiah, a 12-year-old with cerebral palsy, dies. Again, officials become alarmed and ask for removal of the remaining children, but the request is denied.
July 1993, the inquest: The county's first inquest in a decade produces inconsistencies between experts' testimony and family members' stories about the deaths, and Judge Hagler removes himself from the case, citing innuendos about his objectivity.
August 1993, the charge and the removal: The family's eldest son, James, then 17, is charged with delinquency by reason of involuntary manslaughter because he was supervising Hannah at the time of the injury that caused her death. The new judge in the case, Richard T. Cole, orders Samuel, then 5, and Isaiah, then 11, removed from the Carroll home and placed in foster care.
October 1993, the exhumations: Despite the Carrolls' protests, the bodies of Mollie and Josiah are exhumed from their Preble County graves to allow further investigation of their deaths.
November 1993, the trial: After a three-day trial, Cole acquits James of all charges. The family then spends several days trying to convince Cole to return Samuel and Isaiah to the home.
December 1993, the custody ruling: In a harshly worded decision, Cole tells the Carrolls that their two handicapped children will stay in foster care at least for a while because the Carrolls have no plan to care for them and have refused outside help.
April 1994, the battle resumes: The Carrolls again argue to get their children back, and they also ask that their probation be lifted. They're denied on both counts.
May 1994, home visits begin: Previously visiting Samuel and Isaiah at the Children Services Board's office, the Carrolls are elated to have their children come to their home for visits.
June 1994, a new accusation: Officials file for permanent custody of Samuel and Isaiah and ask that James be kept separate from them. Prosecutors say Isaiah, who cannot speak, implicated James in Josiah's death. After a lengthy custody hearing, Cole rules that home visits can resume as long as James is not present.
November 1994, in court again: Questions linger about the deaths. Meanwhile, officials try to get permanent custody of Samuel and Isaiah, saying that the Carrolls, even after more than a year of working with Children Services, still fail to acknowledge how much care the youngsters need. The Carrolls say, however, that they're determined to demonstrate that the children would do best living with them.
May 1995, Samuel and Isaiah return to the Carrolls
October 1997 Carrolls regained the right to home school Samuel and Isaiah
Despite being called a homicide, no one was ever charged in the case of Noah.
Date: 1992-09-21
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse, Lethal neglect
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother, Adopted sibling
Homestudy agency: Montgomery County Children Services
Placement agency: Project Impact of Boston, Cuyahoga County Children Services Board, Adoption by Gentle Care
Home schooling: yes
Fundamentalist faith: yes
Location: Cedarville, OH, US
Heather Allison Riggs
Almost 5 year old girl adopted from Colombia by Jack Francis Riggs and Beth Michelle Riggs, died after being forced to ingest salt as a punishment for sneaking sugar. Riggs also had 4 bio sons aged 7 to 13,
Date: 1988-05-16
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Roanoke, VA, US
Hei Min Chung (aka Chaeli Kyrie)
On 4 September 2007, Hei Min Chung, a 13-month-old girl in process of being adopted by Rebecca Kyrie and her husband, David Kyrie, was killed in a fit of rage by her adoptive mother. Hei Min Chung who arrived in the US in June, was called Chaeli by the Kyrie family.
Date: 2007-09-04
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Placement agency: Bethany Christian Services
Location: Sheridan, IN, US
Helen Gillin
Helen Gillin, the 25 year old, mentally retarded, adopted daughter of James and Roberta Gillin, was stomped to death and her body was burned in a backyard fire pit in 1992.
Roberta Gillin made her adopted daughter drink a mixture of bleach and heart medication after finding out her husband was having sex with Helen.When Helen started to vomit, James stomped her to death. The couple dumped the body into a fire pit in the back yard of their Bear Rocks home, about 50 miles south of Pittsburgh. The body was then doused with gasoline and set on fire.
Date: 1992-01-01
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse, Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Location: Bear Rocks, PA, US
Hildred Thomas Gasaway
9 months old boy adopted by Lillie May Caldwell Gasaway was beaten to death by her, two more adopted children were assaulted. Salient detail: she adopted a fourth child while awaiting trial on the murder charge.
Date: 1979-09-01
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Washington, DC, US
Illegally adopted child of Arab Emirat Couple
53-year-old UAE national A.S. was yesterday sentenced to eight years in jail for molesting his illegally adopted minor daughter repeatedly and for misrepresentation of facts to obtain her birth certificate. His wife, M.K., 30, was awarded a three-year jail term for helping him to obtain the certificate. A.S. said "I am a God-fearing Muslim and a haj" The child's Iranian biological mother, M.A., 30, and an Emirati housewife, M.B., 30, who mediated between the couple and the Iranian, were sentenced to five years in jail followed by deportation for helping A.S. to get the birth certificate.
Date: 2007-07-12
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Dubai, , AE
Isaac Jonathan Dykstra
21 months old boy, adopted by Brian Dale Dykstra and Lisa Dykstra, died of head injuries consistent with shaken baby syndrome, as well as bruising on his torso and legs. On August 7, 2008 Brian Dale Dykstra, 31,was charged with 2nd degree murder.
Isaac was adopted from Krasnoyarsk, Russia and had lived with the Dykstra's for three months.
Date: 2005-08-13
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Iowa City, IA, US
Jackson Wingo
15-month-old boy from Guatemala, adopted by Jonathan and Kelly Wingo, died of fatal head injuries. Jackson was adopted at 6 months. Kelly Wingo is charged with murder.
Date: 2007-08-30
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Dallas, TX, US
Jada Chatmon
As the youngest of two children adopted by Audrey Chatmon, Jada D. was repeatedly submerged in scalding water, causing second- and third-degree burns. She was also hit with a belt, pulled her hair, hit in the face and body, scratched and burned her with fire. Her older sister was Faith D.
Audrey Chatmon was arrested in 2004, convicted of child abuse and sentenced to 15 years in state prison.
Date: 2004-02-06
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Homestudy agency: Department of Children and Family California
Placement agency: Penny Lane Centers
Location: Los Angeles County, CA, US
James W. Bader (Jimmy Jones)
In August of 1974 Sparks Police were called to Saint Mary’s Hospital on a report of a 3 year old dying from injuries sustained during a fall. An investigation at the time concluded that there was no foul play involving the death of the child, James "J.W." Bader.
31-years later Sparks Police Detectives received a phone call from J.W.'s older sister, Julie Dunn, saying he had been abused by his adoptive mother Catherine Bader. Father Larry Bader (dec'd) was not implicated or charged. Dunn, who was a teen at the time, said she witnessed her mother repeatedly kick and punch the developmentally disabled boy in the stomach, including the day he died, that she slammed toilet seats on his genitals, held his hands in boiling water, held his head underwater in the bathtub and rammed his head into a backyard post. The 1974 case was reopened in 2006 and investigated by detectives. Through forensic evidence it was determined that James Bader had been beaten until his intestines burst.
Catherine was remarried and known as Catherine Wyman or Catherine Bader-Wyman
Date: 1974-08-01
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Sparks, NV, US
Jarod "Jerry" Hulsey (Jerry Gribbens)
Wed, 2008-07-02 19:44 - Niels
10 year old boy adopted by Vicky Lynn Hulsey who beat him to death.
Date: 2006-04-03
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Mesa, AZ, US
Jasmine and Minnet Bowman
Three girls, 7, 9(Jasmine) and 11(Minnet) were adopted by Renee Bowman. The seven-year-old girl, was severely abused and neglected, had open sores and lesions on her buttocks and lower thighs, marks on her neck made by a cord, rope or other item and bruises on her hands and lips. She was found by authorities after having managed to break out of the house where she was locked up. Upon investigation of the abuse case, police found the remains of the two other girls in a basement freezer, where they had been for seven months.
Date: 2008-09-27
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal neglect, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Placement agency: District of Columbia Child and Family Services Agency
Location: Lusby, MD, US
Jeannie Warren
As a teenager, Jeannie Warren was under the treatment of Dr Robert Gross for more than a year. During that period, he beat her, threatened her and restrained her with “rage reduction therapy,” an early name for Attachment Therapy. Sessions lasted three to five hours; after a session, she would have swelling, purplish-red welt on her rib cage.
Warren’s early years were allegedly traumatic, including watching her biological mother shoot her father. She was hospitalized after she allegedly sexually abused one adoptive brother, went after another with a hatchet, and carved on her forehead.
She successfully sued and won a judgment against Dr. Gross.
Date: 1989-01-01
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Other non-family member
Attachment Therapists: Robert Gross
Location: Arlington, TX, US
Jennifer Haynes
Jennifer Haynes was born in India in 1981. At age 8 she was moved to America by her adopter Edward Hancox, who sexually abused her. She moved through almost 50 foster home. Since her naturalization never took place, she was deported in July 2008.
Date: 1989-11-01
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Place unknown, MI, US
Jessica Albina Hagmann
2 year old girl from Moscow, Russia adopted by Glenn Robert Hagmann and Patrice Lynn Hagmann. Her adoptive mother claimed that she accidentally killed Jessica while trying to stop her from having a tantrum. Patrice Hagmann was sentenced to probation and to 2 suspended 5 year terms.
Date: 2003-08-11
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Manassas, VA, US
Jessica Li McClure
Jessica, adopted in China 6 months earlier, died of a fractured skull in 1993 at 10 months. She had 14 broken bones (hand, wrist, leg, upper arm, collar bone and three ribs) in the 2 months prior to her death. Her adoptive mother Julie McClure was charged with murder and manslaughter. A piece of wallboard from the home had a dent about the size of a baby's head with embedded human hairs. The defense contended that Jessica had brittle bone disease and the skull fracture was caused by a fall when the 10 month girl was standing on a chair. Her body was cremated before tests could be completed; no bone anomalies were noted during the autopsy. Two separate grand juries indicted Julie before a Juvenile Court judge decided the verdict without a trial saying thestate failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that McClure killed Jessica. It is not clear if Jessica was abused, suffered from osteogenesis imperfecta, or if both items played a role in her death. Adoptive father Jim McClure was not charged.
Date: 1993-08-17
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Lakeville, MN, US
John Smith
John Smith, died with 54 bruises, including three adult bite marks, on his body. The boy, was seen with injuries in four of the six months he spent with his prospective adoptive parents Simon and Michelle McWilliam. His penis was cut, his face burnt and his body bruised from head to toe, injuries seen by social workers who never once sought medical help for him.John died on Christmas Eve 1999 from a severe brain haemorrhage, which experts testified was caused by blows normally seen on battered boxers.
Date: 1999-12-24
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Location: Portslade, WSX, UK
Joseph Beebe
Eight year old boy and one of six children adopted by Brian and Edith Beebe. All children were beaten with a rod, locked in a room without food or water and sometimes dragged by their hair. Joseph died, his body covered with bruises from beating with a bamboo rod. The Beebees were adoptive parenst to 6 special needs children, Joseph was one of a set of triplets adopted.
Date: 2000-03-17
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Location: Tarkington Prairie, TX, US
Joshua Causey
A Detroit foster mother who had adopted a girl and was set to adopt two boys from Pontiac was charged Friday with first-degree felony murder in the beating death of one of the boys about to be adopted. The foster mother, Lynda Carol Baker, was named in a murder warrant issued late Friday by the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office. She is charged in the death on Tuesday of Joshua Causey, 4, who had been placed in Baker's care in August.
Date: 2003-01-01
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Foster mother
Location: Detroit`, MI, US
Kahina adopted by French parents
Kahina, a 4 year-old girl, was tortured by her adoptive parents. The first violence reportedly began almost immediately after her adoption at 3 moths old. Six of her teeth were broken. Grasps of hair were torn and several bones broken. Her mouth and esophagus were ulcerated by ingestion of corrosive product. There is even worse.
Date: 2007-11-15
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Location: Sartrouville, J78, FR
Kaitlyn Brosch
Four months after being adopted from China at 10 months old in June 2005, Kaitlyn nearly died of brain injuries and swelling consistent with being shaken and struck in the head. She is now partially paralyzed, deaf and blind. Mother Tracey Ann Brosch plead to a child abuse charge, father Jeffrey Brosch was not charged..
Date: 2005-10-28
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Placement agency: Great Wall of China
Location: Rochester Hills, MI, US
Kameron Bright
3 year old boy adopted by Darlene W. Bright died of suspicious head injuries. Ms Bright pleaded guilty to third-degree felony child abuse homicide
Date: 1994-04-02
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: West Valley City, UT, US
Karamjeet Kaur Singh
Adopted by her uncle and aunt, Joginder Singh and Darshan Kaur Bains after her mother had died. At age eight sexual abuse started and lasted for over a decade. She was subjected to oral and anal sex, apart from beatings. To prevent pregnancy when she reached puberty, the couple had an IUD inserted. Joginder Singh was a Sikh priest
Karamjeet Kaur Singh is known as Vicky Waters since her marriage.
Date: 1965-01-01
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Location: Fraser Valley, BC, CA
Kehaulani Niu Sullivan
4 year old girl adopted by Brian Christopher and LaRae Marara Sullivan. Claiming to have been ordered by god like a modern day Abraham, Brian Chistopher Sullivan stabbed the girl and his wife with a knife. Both died.
Date: 2003-02-21
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Fundamentalist faith: yes
Location: West Valley City, UT, US
Kelsey Hyre
Twenty six month old Kelsey Hyre was permanently paralyzed September 26, 2002. Kelsey and her brother Nathan were adopted from Russia, probably Blagoveshchensk, 8 months earlier when they were 18 and 22 months old. Her spine severed after her adoptive father Gerald Hyre slammed her on the floor. Adoptive mother, Bonnie Hyre, who was at work at the time, took her to hospital when she came home. Ms. Hyre had previously suspected her husband of abusing both Kelsey and her adoptive brother Nathan, 3, and taken photos of other injuries, discussed suspicions with co-workers, but after husband's arrest she destroyed pictures and did nothing. Gerald Hyre was sentenced to 16 years for felonious assault and child abuse. Bonnie Hyre was sentenced to 2 years for permitting child abuse and evidence tampering and served 10 months. Kelsey has been adopted by another couple and is reportedly responding well. Nathan was placed with Bonnie Hyre's mother, but Bonnie Hyre now has custody.
Date: 2002-09-26
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Homestudy agency: A Child is Waiting, Akron, Ohio
Placement agency: Building Blocks Adoption Services, Medina, Ohio.
Location: Akron, OH, US
Keri Ponce
Between the ages of 6 months and 6 years old she was sexually abused by her adoptive father Luis Ponce, Jr, who filmed the abuse. Almost two decades later, after he was convicted of 16 counts of molestation for abusing two girls under the age of 3, Keri Ponce filed a civil suit against him, which she won. Ponce and his first wife, (Keri's mother), ran a foster-care facility. The mother was not charged.
Date: 2006-02-09
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Berkeley, CA, US
Kevin Johnson
12-year-old boy died while in the care of Barbara and Fred D. Johnson II, daughter and son-in-law of a couple who had adopted Kevin and in 2000 but passed away a few years later. A weighted helmet, long wooden paddle and severe beatings were used to discipline the boy.
Date: 2008-07-18
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Other family member
Placement agency: Illinois DCFS
Location: Crete, IL, US
Keyana Bravo-Hamilton and her sister Jasmine Hamilton
Siblings Keyana and Jasmine were abused by foster mother Dunia Soledad Moreno, who was about to adopt them. When Keyana entered the hospital, large clumps of hair were missing and bruises covered her body. She had five cigar-sized burns. Three months after entering the home, Keyana died of blows to her stomach which ruptured her bowel. Jasmine was placed in a new home. Dunia and foster father Armando Moreno-Garcia parents were convicted of neglect for not seeking medical care over the paninful days it took for Keyana to die. Armando was an uncle of Jasmine and the girls were to be adopted.
Date: 2006-09-04
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse, Lethal neglect
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother, Undetermined
Location: Gresham, OR, US
Krystal Ann Tibbets
Krystal was beaten to death by her adoptive father Donald Lee Tibbets, who was taught to lie across his daughter (who weighed a total of 35 pounds) in what is known in AT circles as “compression therapy,” and punch his fist into her abdomen, which is one technique of “visceral manipulation” (VM), encouraged by attachment therapists. The mother Julia was not charged.
Date: 1995-07-07
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Midvale, UT, US
Liam Thompson (Dmitry Sergeyvich Islankulov)
Liam Thompson: age 36 months, of Columbus, Ohio, died from scalding and neglect. His adoptive father, Gary, placed him in a tub of 140 degree water. He recieved 2nd and 3rd degree burns. His LPN adoptive mother, Amy, neglected treatment for 2 days, then treated him with Tylenol and Vaseline. She took Liam to the hospital only after he went into respitory failure. Amy was sentence to 15 years for child endangering and involuntary manslaughter. Gary received 15-life for murder.
Liam was adopted from Blagoveshensk, Amur, Russia 5 months prior to his death along with his older bio sister. His sister has a new adoptive home and is doing well. Thompson's also had a 3.5 yr old bio son and a 15 yr old bio daughter of Amy.
Date: 2003-10-13
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse, Lethal neglect
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Placement agency: Tree of Life. Portland, Oregon
Location: Columbus, OH, US
Lillian Leilani Gill
4 year old girl adopted by John and Sharon Gill was killed by her adoptive mother. She buried the remains and claimed Lillian, who was autistic was sent to Italy for treatment. 2 years later she was arrested for the killing and yet another 2 years later she told police where to find the body.
Date: 2002-03-01
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Big Bear City, CA, US
Logan Higginbotham
Logan Higginbotham of Shelburne, Vermont died of massive head injuries. Adoptive mother Laura Higginbotham, stated that Logan fell and hit her head on the floor of an upstairs bedroom. It took 3 years for the medical examiner to determine whether the case was accidental or homicide. In 2004, Laura Higginbotham pled no contest to a charge of involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 1 year in prison. Logan was adopted from Smolensk, Russia in May 1998 and had been in the US for 7 months. Logan's younger sister Layne was adopted at the same time.
Date: 1998-11-25
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Placement agency: European Adoption Consultants
Location: Shelburne, VT, US
Lucas Ciambrone (Pedro Garcia)
7-year old boy adopted by Joseph and Heather Ciambrone Lucas was diagnosed by Foster Cline (notable attachment disorder clinic whose practitioners vehemently defended the adoptive parents’s treatment of him) died of a head injury, had been starved, bitten, beaten, and forced to sleep in a bathroom stripped of towels, soap, toilet paper and light bulbs. He weighed 27 pounds at time of his death.
Date: 1995-05-13
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Location: Rubonia, FL, US
Luis Malak (aka Joseph Malak Jr "Joey")
Joey, 18 month old boy, adopted from Guatemala, shaken 6 weeks after arriving in his new home by his mother Jennie D. Malak, an LPN. His father, pediatrician Joseph Malak was not charged. The parents are estranged. Joey is now living at home with his adoptive father, where he is still recovering from various physical and neurological injuries.
Date: 2001-07-17
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Hyde Park, NY, US
Luke Evans
One-and-a-half-year-old Luke Evans, adopted by Steven and Natalie Fabian Evans, died of massive head injuries, shaken baby syndrome, and poor nutrition. Natalie Fabian Evans, stated that she couldn't wake Luke one morning and so placed him in a tub of water to "stimulate him" where she says he may have bumped his head on the tub. The authorities took a year to investigate the case. On June 30, 2006 Fabian Evans was found not guilty. Luke was adopted from Inozemtsevo, Stavropol, Russia and had been in the US for 6 months prior to his death. Luke had a brother Alec 3, who was adopted at the same time as him.
Date: 2001-11-30
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Placement agency: Small World International/Charity, New York City
Location: Lowell, IN, US
Maria Anastasia Bennett
2-year old Maria Bennett, adopted by Susan Jane Bennett, died from shaken baby syndrome. Susan Jane Bennett, said that she had tripped while carrying Maria and had dropped her. Medical evidence proved otherwise. Susan Bennett pleaded no contest to 1 count of reckless homicide and was sentenced to 3 years in prison. Maria was adopted from Primorye Krai, Russia 9 months prior to her death. Maria's older sister, also from Russia is cared for by Bennett family members
Date: 2002-10-23
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Placement agency: Focus on Children, Wellsville, Utah
Location: Lancaster, OH, US
Maria Catherine Ostlund
Janet Ostlund was convicted of the second-degree murder of her 2 year old developmentally delayed adopted daughter, from El Salvador. Her now ex-husband David Ostlund was not charged, and has custody of Michael D. Ostund, a bio son born after Maria's death.
Date: 1986-07-15
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Placement agency: Hope International Family Services, Inc. Stillwater MN
Location: Robbinsdale, MN, US
Masha Allen (Mariya Nikolaevna Yashenkova)
Masha Allen was adopted in 1998 at the age of 5 from Novoshakhtinsk, Rostov, Russia into the US by a single male pedophile, Matthew Mancuso. Masha was sexually abused for five years and also became the subject of child pornography. In 2006 she testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committy. In 2008 the news broke that abuse supposedly had again taken place by Faith Allen/Lynn Ginn, the woman who had adopted her immediately after Masha's "rescue" from Mancuso.
Date: 2003-05-01
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse, Sexual exploitation
Abuser: Adoptive father
Homestudy agency: Family Adoption Center of Adagio Health Inc.
Placement agency: Reaching out thru Interational Adoption
Location: Plum, PA, US
Meghan Hawkins-Rusch
Thirteen month old Chinese girl adopted by Lisa Hawkins-Rusch and her husband, died of severe brain injury, inflicted by her adoptive mother. Meghan was adopted a three months earlier in China.
Date: 1992-09-25
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Geneva, NY, US
Meledy Aranda Velasquez
Three year old adopted girl allegedly fell down stairs. She died after being taken to hospital the next day. 2 father family consists of Norberto Velasquez and Matthew Arandafell and 3 other adopted children: two 5-year-olds boys and a 3-year-old boy.
Date: 2009-01-09
Type of abuse: Death by unknown cause
Abuser: Undetermined
Location: Bexar County, TX, US
Melissa Wilkins
19 month old girl adopted by Melinda Ann Wilkins was physically abused. She never recovered from the injuries and lived in residential treatment centers until she died in June 2003.
Date: 1995-08-16
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Durham, NC, US
Mia Depaillat
21-month-old girl, adopted from China at 9 months by french-born Christophe and Jill Ellen Depaillat, died of fatal injuries. Jill Ellen Depaillat was indicted on charges of malice murder, felony murder and aggravated battery. Jill said she dropped Mia and she fell down the stairs. Mia had injuries consistent with shaken baby, as well as damage to her intestines. A mistrial was declared in her case.
Mia was small (21 lbs) and developmentally delayed at her death. Depaillat had school age children and a 16 month old son who would have been 4 months old when Mia came home.
Date: 2004-04-16
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Cumming, GA, US
Milena Slatten
Milena Slatten adopted from Republic of Georgia suffered abuse by both adoptive parents Chris Slatten and Beth (Slatten) Plumley
Date: 1999-01-01
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal neglect
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Fundamentalist faith: yes
Location: , IN, US
Monica Fabregas
13 year old girl adopted by Enrique Fabregas, a known drug abuser, who sexually abused her for years. Enrique had been a boyfriend of Monica's bio mother at one time, but was not at the time of the adoption. Fabregas was also foster parent of Ruth and Estera Tamas. Despite numerous complaints over a ten year period no measures were taken. When finally Ruth and Estera filed complaints, they were taken out of the house, but it still took a year and a half before Monica was removed from Fabregas' house.
Date: 2006-06-07
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Redmond, WA, US
Nathaniel Jacob Allen
21-month old boy, adopted from Guatemala by Jeremy and Sarah Allen was shaken to death. Nathaniel had been in the USA 10 months, since April the previous year. Sarah Allen was convicted of manslaughter for shaking Nathaniel. Jeremy Allen was convicted of assult for beating Nathaniel with a wooden spoon two days earlier when he didn't pick up his toys. Allens were considering becoming foster parents for a 2nd child when Nathaniel was killed.
Date: 2002-02-15
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Location: Lisbon Falls, ME, US
Nicholas Daniel Peckenpaugh (Anton Nicolae-Danut)
Daniel, a 9 year old boy, adopted from Ramnicu-Sarat, Buzau, Romania, had been sexually abused by his adopter William Delos Peckenpaugh who also video taped the assaults. William "Bill" Peckenpaugh was a nudist and had several articles and websites advocating nudism and children.
Date: 2004-12-01
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse, Sexual exploitation
Abuser: Adoptive father
Placement agency: Alianta Copiilor Romani/Tree of Life
Post placement agency: Lisa Lewis Cavallo
Location: Silverton, OR, US
Nicholas Rhea Hoffert and Gary Hoffert (Twins); and Girl adopted by David and Lynn Giddens
Three-month-old boy about to be adopted with his twin brother by David Michael Giddens and his wife Latresa Lynette "Lynn" Giddens (aka Lynn Williams), died shortly after he was struck by his stay-at-home foster dad, David. Giddens had had Multiple Sclerosis and was the primary care-giver. David was sentenced to two life terms. NIcholas' twin brother Gary was also found to have seven fractured ribs, two fractured lower leg bones and a fractured upper leg bone. The 9 year old adopted daughter of David & Lynn reported sexual abuse while she was in temporary foster care. The daughter has special needs, and was expected to be placed with an aunt until Lynn was cleared of any wrongdoing. atresa/Lynn filed for divorce after Nicholas death.
Date: 2006-02-10
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse, Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Cleburne, TX, US
Phoebe and Joseph Dinkler
Siblings from Ukraine adopted 5 years prior to the abuse allegations by Georgia couple Earl and Deborah Dinkler. The children had been forced to run 15 laps around the property before breakfast "just about every day" for the last four years. If the parents weren’t satisfied with their children’s speed, they would be punished with a belt, a miniature baseball bat or a bamboo rod. The Dinklers also withheld food and water as punishment.
Deborah plead guilty and Earl was convicted of cruelty.
Date: 2007-08-09
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Home schooling: yes
Location: McDonough, GA, US
Rachel Joy Thompson
5 year old girl adopted by Gerald and Angela Thompson. She was murdered by Angela Thompson who forced an older sibling to sit on her hunched back for more than three hours, squeezing the life out of her. She was convicted for the abuse of two other children she had adopted. In total the Thompsons adopted 11 children. Thompson told a co-worker "spare the rod, spoil the child". Siblings of Rachel later pressed charges against the adoption agency, which was placed on probation and its founder Audrey Foster has been permanently barred from serving as executive director at any of the agency's five branches around the state. The agency is now run by her daughter Alison Foster,
Date: 2000-09-07
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Placement agency: Family Connections Christian Adoptions
Fundamentalist faith: yes
Location: Springfield, CA, US
Randi Anderson
5-year-old girl in foster care with Sophillia Murray, was beaten to death by Ms. Murray's son, Robert.
Date: 1990-11-01
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Foster mother, Non-fostered sibling
Location: New York City, NY, US
Rashid, boy adopted by Robert and Tracy Lynn Beatty
A three year old boy from Surgut in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug was allegedly grabbed by the throat to keep him quiet and mistreated by his newly adoptive mother in a Moscow Hotel. The American couple had adopted Rashid a few days before and were still in Russia at the time of the event.
Date: 2005-06-03
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Moscow, , RU
Ricky Aragon
2-year-old boy placed in foster care with his maternal grandmother was beaten to death.
Date: 1993-04-01
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Foster mother
Location: Albuquerque, NM, US
Ricky Holland (Ricky Gann)
For years Ricky had been maltreated and abused by his adopters Tim and Lisa Holland. In July 2005 he was killed by the couple parents and dumped in a swamp, claiming he had disappeared. Eventually Tim Holland led the police to the body on Jan. 27, 2006. Hours later, authorities picked up in connection with Ricky's death. Lisa and Tim Holland are in prison -- she for life and he for 30 to 60 years.
Date: 2005-07-01
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal neglect, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Placement agency: Family Services & Children's Aid in Jackson
Home schooling: yes
Location: Summit Township, MI, US
Riley Owen Bilke
Riley Owne Bilke died April 3, 2004 from symptoms associated with shaken baby syndrome: brain hemorrhaging, retinal hemorrhaging, and brain swelling. His father,Todd Dittberner, who had a past non-violent criminal record, was charged with first-degree reckless homicide. Riley's mother was not charged. Dittberner was acquitted.
Date: 2004-04-03
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Watertown, WI, US
Roberta Evers
6-year-old Roberta "Berta" Evers, sexually abuesd as a preschooler, adopted by Dennis and Sandy Evers, was restrained in her bed, covered with bruises, when found dead from choking on her own vomit. She was adopted after her 2 bio brothers (of a family of 9) were adopted by Evers.
Date: 1998-06-13
Type of abuse: Lethal neglect
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Location: Bayfield, CO, US
Robley Carr Jr.
15-year-old boy in foster care overdosed on methadone his foster parent kept in the house after having been abused for years.
Date: 2006-12-10
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Undetermined
Placement agency: Washington Department of Social and Health Services
Location: Stevens County, WA, US
Rohit Chakravarthy
10 month old boy adopted by Smitha Chakravarthy and her husband. Allegedly the child was beaten to death and bite marks were found all over his body. The family was from India and was visiting in Texas when Rohit died.
Date: 2006-02-16
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Mission, TX, US
Ryuya Yoshimura
5-year-old adopted son of Yuki Yoshimura, a 26-year-old housewife, abused Ryuya, damaging his liver and lungs the boy died from loss of blood.
Date: 2005-12-09
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Aichi, , JP
Sacha Vallée
October 9, 2002, at Verdun, Sacha Vallée, 4 years old, was beaten to death by his adoptive mother’s boyfriend, Éric Grenier. The corpse of the child was covered with 72 ecchimoses. October 21, 2004, Grenier was found guilty of non-premeditated homicide. Sacha was born in Russia in 1998. He had spent the first year of his life in a Siberian prison where his mother was imprisoned and where she died; the orphanage where he was transferred put him up for adoption, then in August 2001, he was given to Ms. Marie-Claude Vallée.
Date: 2002-10-09
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Other non-family member
Location: Verdun, QC, CA
Samuel Hudson (David) and five other adopted children of William and Cynthia Hudson
Samuel Hudson, 13 years old, was killed on December 2008. Cynthia Hudson, his adoptive mother, is charged with capital murder in his death. Officials said Samuel was restrained and beaten to death with a broom handle, rake, computer cord, and baseball bat. William Hudson has been arrested on a tampering with evidence charge in the death of his adopted son. Children reported being beaten with a fishing rod, a water hose, a metal bat, a paddle andtheir mother'sfist. They were confined to a prayer room at times. The Hudsons are also being investigated for allegedly injuring their other five adopted children. Samuel's natural mother, Rebecca Henson and her husband, are seeking custody of the his two bio siblings, also in the Hudson's family
Date: 2008-12-09
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Placement agency: Texas CPS
Home schooling: yes
Location: Queen City, TX, US
Sean Paddock
Beaten to death, age 4, by his adoptive mother Lynn Paddock, who had thought Christian discipline advice in the books of Michael and Debi Pearl.
Date: 2006-02-26
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Placement agency: Children's Home Society of North Carolina
Home schooling: yes
Fundamentalist faith: yes
Location: Johnston County, NC, US
Shamir Hudson, born Shamir Goslee
Eight year old boy, adopted with his siblings Sharnea and Shamale, by Catherine Marie Hudson. Even before their adoption in 1996, when the three children were in Hudson's foster care abuse had been reported. From April 18, 1996, through November 13, 1997, eleven different witnesses filed twenty-six child-abuse reports in writing to the Worcester County Department of Social Services (WCDSS) and to the state's attorney in Worcester County concerning the Hudson children. Reports were filed by schoolteachers, the school nurse, the school therapist, the vice principal, several teacher's aides, and a few summer program workers. All reports were unsubstantiated except two, which "alleged that the previous foster parent and her son were responsible for injuries to the children" (even though the children had already been living with Hudson for two years) In December 1996, WCDSS child protection staff met with the school staff "regarding the numerous reports of suspected abuse already filed with [the WCDSS] from the Buckingham Elementary School.WCDSS officials told the school staff that they "were overreacting and that [the WCDSS] had seen worse." The staff was intimidated by orders from the WCDSS not to send children to the nurse or counselor unless treatment was needed, "not to do extensive questioning or investigating," "not to question caseworkers as to when they are coming to the school," and "not to make follow-up calls to workers." The WCDSS called the Board of Education, complaining that the school staff was harassing them. The school was "told that burns, cuts, bruises, and open wounds were not enough" to substantiate child abuse.
In January 1998, the WCDSS closed the case. On March 24, 1998, Shamir died "in the Hudson household, a sanctuary arranged, approved and supervised by the state, a place that produced no fewer than two dozen reports of suspected abuse in the past two years."
Date: 1998-03-24
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Placement agency: Worcester County Department of Social Services
Location: Berlin, MD, US
Shawn Lowrance (Andy Mohler)
Nine year old boy adopted by John and Melanie Lowrance, drowned with severe head injury, first ruled as an accident. Weeks later, police learned the adoptive parents took out $650,000 in life insurance policies on their new son. No charges were ever made. He was placed in the Lowrance's as a foster child in Jan 1998. His adoption was finalized Oct 1998
Date: 1999-10-09
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Placement agency: Washington DSHS
Location: Brown Creek Campground area, WA, US
Shawn Williams
Twelve year old boy murdered by his adoptive father, Luke Williams III, apparently for insurance money. Shawn's cause of death was strangulation, Linda Williams, his mother was beaten to death at the same time. Shawn was an native of El Salvador who was orphaned by the 1978 civil war. He was adopted 2 years prior to his death. The Williams lived in Georgia, but thetrial was held in South Carolina where apparently the crime was commited. Luke Williams is on death row.
Date: 1991-06-19
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Martinez, GA, US
Six children adopted in Lapeer County Michigan
Six adopted children from Russia were allegedly physically and mentally abuse. The investigation began when two 19-year-old women claimed their adoptive parents from Burnside Twp, Lapeer County abused them and their four adopted siblings. Authorities say the investigation is in its early stages. This family is alleged to belong to the Truth Fellowship group.
Date: 2008-03-31
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Fundamentalist faith: yes
Location: Burnside Township, Lapeer County, MI, US
Stephanie Ramos
8-year-old Stephanie Ramos, a severely disabled child who died in a filthy foster home died when her foster mother didn't seek medical attention. Then the foster mother dumped her body in the trash to avoid discovery
Date: 2003-07-09
Type of abuse: Non-lethal neglect, Death by unknown cause
Abuser: Foster mother, Undetermined
Placement agency: Variety/Cody Gifford House, by the Association to Benefit Children
Location: Queens, NY, US
Steven Bennett
4 year old boy adopted by special education teacher and former state social worker Wanda Bennett, who beat the boy regularly with shoes and tied him up with old socks to keep him from eating. The boy weighed 35 pounds when police removed him from the home. At All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, doctors reported finding six recent fractures and cigarette burns on his back. Wanda had 4 adopted children.
Date: 2001-03-07
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Placement agency: LifeLink Inc.
Location: Bradenton, FL, US
Tammy Herman
21-month-old Tammy Herman was brought into the clinic by her adoptive parents, Donovan and Zaibunisa Herman, after she vomited excessively. There was severe bruising on her body, and closer examination revealed that the child had 12 broken ribs and severe injuries to her brain and liver. Three days later she died.
Date: 2006-01-18
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Placement agency: Johannesburg Child Welfare
Location: Johannesburg, , ZA
Twin girls adopted by Tamika Williams
8-year-old twin girls adopted by Tamika Shuntell Williams, were being beaten, tied to a bedroom door, tied down to a bed, bathed in bleach, burned with cigarettes (AND the lighter), struck with a belt, bitten on the head, and threatened with decapitation if they told anybody about these crimes. they were adopted from foster care Spring 2005.
Date: 2006-11-22
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Warren, MI, US
Tyler Addington
2-month-old boy about to be adopted by Melanie Leathers Addington, was allegedly shaken and slammed, causing permanent brain injury.
Date: 2007-09-11
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Muscatine, IA, US
Tyler DeLeon
7-year-old boy adopted by Carole Ann DeLeon was severely dehydrated and weight only 28 pounds at the time of his death. Official cause of death was dehydration. While living in Wyoming Carol Ann DeLeon had three children had already been removed from her home because of child abuse. Tyler and his foster brother told teachers they were abused by DeLeon and her adult daughter Christina Burns-DeLeon. The school called CPS several times.
Date: 2005-01-13
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Placement agency: Washington Department of Social and Health Services
Location: Deer Park, WA, US
Tyler Sullivan
17-year-old boy adopted by Wilson and Brenda Sullivan, was found caged in a crib and weighing 49 pounds by the Ohio state Department of Children and Families . Wilson Sullivan died in the middle of the trial. Brenda Sullivan got 20 years imprisonment.
Date: 2005-03-08
Type of abuse: Non-lethal neglect, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Placement agency: Stark County Children Services
Home schooling: yes
Location: Jacksonville, OH, US
Tyler Vanpopering
6-month-old boy about to be adopted by Leonard and Carissa Columbus. On 11 April 2004, they brought Tyler to the emergency room of Wyandotte Hospital. Four days later later he died from injuries suffered consistent with Shaken Baby Syndrome. On Saturday, April 17, Southgate police broke into the Columbus' home and found the couple dead in their garage of carbon monoxide poisoning. The boy and his sister MacKenzie had been placed with the Columbus' by their 19 yo natural mother who needed a break. She was considering allowing their adoption.
Date: 2004-04-11
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Foster father, Foster mother, Undetermined
Placement agency: independent
Location: Detroit, MI, US
Victoria Gilmore
David Charles Gilmore sexually abused his 9-year-old adopted daughter. Gilmore and his wife, Karen have four biological children under the age of 10 and three children adopted from Russia. Gilmore was a music teacher and a former Friends (Quaker) youth pastor. Gilmore is serving 30 years.
Date: 2005-01-22
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Fundamentalist faith: yes
Location: St Paul, OR, US
Viktor Alexander Matthey (Viktor Sergievich Tulimov)
Viktor Matthey: age 6, of Hunterdon County, New Jersey died of cardiac arrest due to hypothermia after adoptive parents Robert and Brenda Matthey locked him overnight in a damp unheated pump room. Viktor was also severely beaten by his adoptive father. The Matthey's attended a Pentacostal (AG) church and homeschooled their children. Both parents are sentenced to 10 years for confining Viktor to a pump room, 10 years for excessive corporal punishment and 7 years for failing to provide medical care. The sentences run concurrently. Viktor, along with twin bio brothers, was adopted from Blagoschevensk, Amur, Russia 10 months before his death. The twins are now adopted by Robert's mother who has disavowed her son. Both Mattheys were released from jail in Fall 2008.
Memorial site: http://www.viktorspromise.org/
Star Ledger Special Report series: http://www.nj.com/specialprojects/index.ssf?/specialprojects/viktor/main...
Photos http://www.nj.com/photos/viktor/
Date: 2000-10-31
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse, Lethal neglect, Lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Homestudy agency: Bethany Christian Services, Hawthorne NJ
Placement agency: Adoption Alliance, Denver CO
Post placement agency: Bethany Christian Services, Hawthorne NJ
Home schooling: yes
Fundamentalist faith: yes
Location: Union Township, Hunterdon County, NJ, US
Weyland Brown Mitchell
7 year-old boy adopted by Robert and Carmencita Mitchell died of starvation.
Date: 1992-05-20
Type of abuse: Lethal neglect, Lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Placement agency: McMahon Services for Children
Location: Wantagh, NY, US
William G. Rohrer III "Billy" (Miguelito Alvarada)
Billy or Billie Rohrer was a 2.5 year old boy from El Salvador who died from brain hemorrhage 3 months after his adoption. Maryanne "Mimi" Rohrer and her husband prominent politician William Rohrer flew to San Salvador to arrange visa's for 2 unrelated children prior to having fully completed INS paperwork. Miguelito Alvarada (aka Pepe), 2 1/2, and Ana Cecelia, 2, were renamed William 3rd and Laura Lisa. Billy died under suspicious circumstances in 1975. The investigation was delayed and charges were not brought until 12/82 after the statute of limitations expired for manslaughter charged. Mimi was charged with murder. The Jury was hung on the murder charge, but thought they may have convicted on manslaughter, which was not available. Likely no agency was involved, and it is unclear if a homestudy was fully completed, although Rohrer's had been working for 6 months on domestic adoption. Several background checks were missing from the INS files.
Date: 1975-05-28
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Location: Haddon Township, NJ, US
William, Tim & Charles Krueger
John Krueger, a 53-year-old Bakersfield man is accused of molesting four young boys, all children adopted from an orphanage in Kherson, Ukraine. Three of the boys were his sons, the fourth, an acquaintance.
Date: 2006-04-13
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Placement agency: Ukrainian Angels (facilitation)
Location: Bakersfield, CA, US
Yana and Anatoli Kolenda
Two 11-year-olds, adopted by Richard and Gienia Kolenda, died in 2002--nearly five years after their arrival in America--when their adoptive father stabbed them and his wife to death at their home in Westfield, Mass., then fatally shot himself. The Kolenda's were both Polish immigrants, and had financial troubles.
Date: 2002-10-21
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Location: Westfield, MA, US
Yuri Pintus Fiori (Cyril/Kirill Pushkin)
Almost 7 year old newly adopted Yuri was detained in Moscow after flight attendant reported abuse on flight from Altai to Moscow. Eventually acquitted of the charges, adoptive parents Giovanna Pintus and Giovanni Fiori took custody of Yuri and traveled to Italy.
Date: 2005-07-06
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Placement agency: Association Chiara
Location: Sassari, SS, IT
Zachary Higier (Nikita Khoryakov)
2-year-old boy adpted from Orenburg Russia, died of severe head trauma. Adoptive mother Natalia Higier, stated that he had fallen out of his crib or hit his head on the floor. She later admitted to tossing him into the air and he hit his head on the coffee table. Zachary sustained a bilateral skull fracture, strokes, brain swelling, and detached retinas. Natalia pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in jail with 18 months balance of sentence suspended for 4 years. The agency failed to note that Natalia Higier, a Latvian native, took out a restraining order against her husband in 1995, but dropped it a day later. Her husband, Louis, had also taken out a restraining order against his wife in the past.
Date: 2002-08-15
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Homestudy agency: Adoption Resource Asssociate, Cambridge, Masschusetts
Placement agency: Frank Adoption Center, Raleigh, North Carolina
Location: Braintree, MA, US
http://www.amfor.net/KillerAdopters/more.html
Isabella Brooke Knightly and Austin Gamez-Knightly
In Memory of my Loving Husband, William F. Knightly Jr. Murdered by ILLEGAL Palliative Care at a Nashua, NH Hospital
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Adopters Who Abuse and Kill
Adopters Who Abuse & Kill
Although domestic adoptions involve background checks & other pre-adoption investigation of prospective adopters, many adopted children fall through the cracks due to greed of profiteering baby brokers, understaffed public/private agencies, loose foreign adoption controls, & expedience. There is usually no in-home followup to any adoption past the date of finalization. And there's no way to predict nor guarantee future problems. Many children who are too young or too afraid to report abuse end up with adopters who physically, sexually and/or mentally abuse them -- or even kill them -- and not always because these adopters are normally abusive. Often adopters who have the best of intentions are unprepared to deal with the behaviors & problems these children acquire from separation from their original families, & from prior orphanage or foster parent mistreatment or neglect, & are misled to believe that "with a little love" all will be well.
Interestingly, America's first adoptees would have been Mary Moore, 4, & her sister Ellen Moore, 8. They were scheduled for the long voyage from England aboard the Mayflower, because their wealthy parents, Samuel & Katherine Moore of Shropshire, England, went through a bitter separation & divorce. Realizing his children would be in social disgrace due to the divorce, & wanting to punish his wife for her extramarital affair with Jacob Blakeway -- who Samuel found out was the actual biological father of the girls he believed were his -- Samuel paid to have her daughters sent away on the Mayflower. The abandoned, neglected girls died that winter despite being adopted into "respectable families among the Pilgrims."
Source: members.aol.com/calebj/girls.html
PARENTS ARRESTED IN DEATH OF ADOPTED SON
WSB-TV, Georgia (12-29-09)
Jami and David Jones
LOGANVILLE, GA. -- The Walton County Sheriff's Office has not said what exactly killed the child but they do say charges against Louis David Jones and Jami Lea Jones have been upgraded from aggravated battery and child cruelty to murder. According to deputies, paramedics were called out to the Jones' Loganville home on Christmas Eve about the 6-year-old boy. The boy was rushed to a hospital, where he died Monday. "Apparently they saw something that just didn't look right to them," Chief Deputy Bruce Wright said. After paramedics asked deputies to look into the case, Louis and Jami Jones were arrested. "Based on the evidence that was obtained through a search warrant the night this occurred, interviews with the parents and information the doctors have given us, there is enough evidence to proceed with this charge," Wright said. DFCS workers were called in to care for the couple's other children...
FATHER KILLED KIDS, HIMSELF...
By Phil Manzano, The Oregonian, (6-1-09)
Tyler and Kylie Gumm
....Police identified the children as Tyler Gumm, 7; and his sister, Kylie Gumm, 6, of Hillsboro.
....“It appears that James Gumm shot both kids with a handgun, then shot himself," said Hillsboro Police spokesman Lt. Michael Rouches. "The hard ones are the ones involving children. It is an awful, terrible scene.” Lt. Henry Reimann of Hillsboro Police said James Gumm had emotional problems, adding that ‘some mental health issues were starting to emerge.’ But Rouches said he had no idea why Gumm, who did not have a criminal record, killed his two adoptive children.
Oregon court records show Gumm and his wife filed for divorce twice, in 1992 and again in December 2007. The mother of the boy's biological father said via e-mail that both children had the same birth mother but different fathers....Rouches said Gumm and his ex-wife had a custody agreement, and Gumm shot the children during his time with them. There is no record of intervention by the Department of Human Services for abuse or neglect of the children. The adoptive mother, who lives in Hillsboro, asked through the police for privacy Saturday.
FLINT GIRL'S ADOPTIVE MOTHER CHARGED WITH MURDER
by Ben Schmitt, Detroit Free Press Staff Witer - 4-24-09
Shylae Thomas
Genessee County prosecutors charged the adoptive mother of a quadriplegic 9-year old girl with second degree murder, and five other charges, alleging neglect and malnourishment caused the death of the girl who was found dead this week [in a garbage bag] in a storage unit. Lorrie Thomas, 39, of Flint, is charged in connection with the death of her adopted daughter and niece, Shylae Thomas. Thomas is also charged with two counts of welfare fraud, abuse, tampering with evidence, and a misdemeanor count of removing a dead body without the permission of the medical examiner… an autopsy showed that Shylae suffered from malnutrition and weighed 33 pounds at the time of her death. In August, records indicate the girl had weighed 61 pounds… On April 13, Thomas cashed a $2,884 monthly adoption subsidy... Shylae had been dead for about six weeks. Jonette Thomas said her cousin, Lorrie "did the best she could with eight children."
Tai-Ling
AUTHORITIES: TEEN KEPT IN FLA BATHROOM, BEATEN
by Christine Armario, AP; also reported by CBS News, Spring Hill, FL, 2-18-09
For three years, neighbors in a quaint, middle-class community scarcely saw the lanky 16-year-old boy who lived with his adoptive mother and her boyfriend. Now, they know why: According to authorities, the teen was brutally abused and held captive in his own home. Most recently, he'd been confined to a bathroom, locked from the outside and sealed with a piece of plywood over the window. By the time he escaped last week, the Florida boy had a broken forearm and scars, scabs and oozing wounds that investigators say mark years of abuse. Hernando County Sheriff Richard Nugent called it "barbaric." "This is almost like what John McCain went through in Vietnam when he was a prisoner of war," Nugent said.
Tai-Ling Gigliotti and her boyfriend, Anton Angelo, were arrested and charged with aggravated child abuse and false imprisonment last week. Gigliotti, 50, was released on a $15,000 bond. Her attorney did not reply to messages seeking comment, and no one answered when a reporter visited her home. Angelo, 45, was released on a $50,000 bond… Authorities are still piecing together the boy's history, but they believe Gigliotti is the boy's aunt, and that she brought him from Taiwan to the United States when he was a young child.
The teen, whose name was not released because he is an alleged victim of child abuse, told investigators his stepfather was Anthony Gigliotti, who was the Philadelphia Orchestra's principal clarinetist. The stepfather died at age 79 in 2001, before the abuse apparently began. …"He acted very reserved when he was around her," Lynne Gigliotti said of the boy. "And when you would get him away from her, he acted like a little boy." About the time Anthony Gigliotti died, his wife and Angelo began living together. Neighbors said the family moved into their Spring Hill house, about an hour north of Tampa, approximately four years ago… Her nephew didn't seem to be around as much in recent years… Other children said he'd stopped going to school about a year ago…
According to an arrest affidavit, the abuse began at least three years ago, when the boy was forced to sleep in a hallway as punishment. Then in November 2007 daily confinement in a bathroom began. Nugent said the boy seemed to believe the abuse was his fault for minor problems like a messy room. He was also told he'd be deported if he escaped, Nugent said… "The pain had to be horrific," Nugent said. "I think at that point he just became absolutely fearful for his life." …the boy, who weighs 111 pounds, managed to break the door frame and pull the door open, Nugent said. He put on some of Angelo's clothes and ran to a neighbor for help. Authorities took him to a hospital, where the full extent of his injuries were uncovered.
The state has placed the boy with a foster family.
Nina Hilt
("Viktoria Bazhenova")
RUSSIAN GIRL KILLED IN U.S., ADOPTED LEGALLY
from newsfromrussia.com/usa/2005/07/11/60568.html
Investigators began looking into the adoption of [2 year old] Nina Hilt after the girl died earlier this month in Virginia. Her adoptive mother, Peggy Sue Hilt, 33, of Wake Forest, North Carolina, was arrested last week and charged with the girl's murder, reports the AP. The Interfax news agency reported Monday that Russian prosecutors found the girl was adopted with no violations of federal regulations. Hilt's arrest came just weeks after Russian authorities stripped three U.S.-based adoption agencies of their accreditation, saying they failed to monitor the children's well-being in their adoptive families. About 20,000 children are adopted in the United States each year, with Russian children accounting for some 25 percent of their total number. At least 12 adopted Russian children have died since 1996.
Renee Bowman
CHILDREN'S REMAINS FOUND IN HOME FREEZER
from FOXNews.com; MyFOXDC.com, 1-29-08
LUSBY, Maryland — Child-sized human remains uncovered in a basement freezer were those of two girls and have been there for months, their adoptive mother told investigators. Authorities said Monday they believe she is responsible for their deaths. Sheriff's deputies were investigating an abuse complaint regarding a third, surviving child Saturday when they discovered the remains encased in ice. The mother told investigators that they had been in her southern Maryland home's freezer for at least seven months, and police said they are considering the case a homicide. Deputies made the gruesome find in Lusby, about 50 miles southeast of Washington, D.C. They were at the home with a search warrant to investigate what happened to a runaway 7-year-old girl who was found wandering the neighborhood, injured and hungry in a blood- and feces-soaked nightshirt.
The girl's mother, 43-year-old Renee Bowman, has been arrested... She is charged with first-degree child abuse in the beating of the 7-year-old. Bowman was a foster mother to all three before adopting them in the District of Columbia, officials said at a news conference. The girl had open sores and lesions on her buttocks and lower thighs, marks on her neck made by a cord, rope or other item and bruises on her hands and lips, police said ....Bowman adopted the oldest girl in July 2001, D.C. officials said. Three years later, she adopted the girl who would now be 9 and her 7-year-old sister. She is not biologically related to them.
Alexis Glover
ARREST MADE IN ALEXIS GLOVER MURDER CASE
by Toni Clark Knight, Black Spin News, Black Voices.com - 2-19-09
Although arrested and released from police custody a little over a month ago, Glover's adoptive mother, who initially told authorities that the girl had run away, has been arrested again. After local police searched her property, she was charged with felony child neglect and filing a false police report. Further charges are "likely." [The] 13-year-old developmentally disabled girl disappeared last Wednesday (Jan. 7) from the parking lot of the Manassas, VA, Central Community Library.
CAGES BUILT FOR [ADOPTED] CHILDREN RAISE ALARM
by Josh Getlin, LA Times, p. A-12 (9-15-05) www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-cages 15sep15,1,3128744.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
WAKEMAN, Ohio ? …Nine of the kids were forced to sleep in wooden cages ? and the Gravelles didn't think anything was wrong, officials said. The 11 kids, all adopted, were whisked out of the house on St. John Road and placed temporarily in four foster homes. They are special-needs children, with problems including fetal alcohol syndrome, HIV, autism and Down syndrome.
"We're still trying to figure out where all the kids came from," [said Huron County Prosecutor Russell Leffler]… But he issued a news statement Wednesday evening, saying that the Gravelles, with the approval of a social worker, had constructed "enclosures" around their beds, because the children demonstrated "extreme behavioral problems" and that "traditional methods of behavior control were unsuccessful."… When investigators searched the house, they found few toys lying about. The children's wooden cages had no bedding ? only mats ? and some reeked of urine. A key issue is where the children came from, and how a home with such apparent conditions could have been ignored by child-welfare officials for so many years. None of the children were adopted in Huron County; all came from adoption authorities in other states, officials said. …Although no figures have been released, a 2001 divorce proceeding between Michael and Sharen Gravelle, ultimately dropped, indicated that she was receiving an estimated $4,265 per month in adoption subsidies and Social Security benefits for seven children. The couple adopted four additional kids in subsequent years. Sharen Gravelle alleged in the court documents that her husband had displayed "extreme cruelty and gross neglect of duty"; he denied this and said their relationship had "deteriorated."
GIRL TESTIFIES ABOUT ABUSE BY MOTHER
by David Conti, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (10-19-05)
Haley Liberman buried her head in the side of a prosecutor who led her into a courtroom Tuesday morning. The 9-year-old girl with long brown hair and pudgy cheeks didn't want to look at her adoptive mother, Debra Liberman, who sat at the defendant's table… Officer Connie Diulus found Haley naked, wet and shivering in the closet. Haley's testimony came on the first day of her mother's attempted homicide trial before Common Pleas Judge Donna Jo McDaniel at the Allegheny County Courthouse, Downtown. Liberman, 52, of Carrick, also is charged with aggravated assault, arson, child endangerment and unlawful restraint. Haley's brother, Noah, who was 4 at the time of the February 2004 attack, was not hurt. Both children now live in Virginia with their adoptive father -- Liberman's ex-husband, Daniel Liberman… After more time in the freezing February air, Liberman brought her daughter back inside and to the basement. "She put me in the coal cellar. She took a (furnace) filter and lit it on fire. And she closed the door," Haley said. "It was still burning when I pushed the door open." And Liberman was still there. Haley said her mother poured cat litter over her head, and then three bottles of bleach. "It went down from the top of my back all the way to my knees," Haley said. "It hurt." Liberman then beat the child with a chain dog choker and forced her outside again -- this time naked -- to "wipe the blood off with the snow," Haley said. Then, after running hot and cold water on the girl in the shower, Liberman locked her in the closet. Neighbor Beth McCann testified that she called 911 about 7:30 a.m. after hearing Haley through a shared wall. "She was coughing and crying and saying, 'Please stop,' " McCann said.
When at last mother and daughter made eye contact yesterday, both buried their faces in their hands and cried. David Conti can be reached at dconti@tribweb.com or (412) 391-0927.
N.J. STARVING BOYS CASE PROMPTS FIRINGS
by John P. McAlpin, Associated Press Writer (10-27-03)
TRENTON, N.J. - The body of a 7-year-old boy found in a box in a Newark basement nearly a year ago prompted a shake-up at New Jersey's child welfare agency. The agency reviewed all open cases, hired 366 more employees and received $30 million in emergency aid.
Despite those changes, four adopted boys -- one of them 19 -- were found earlier this month malnourished and weighing less than 50 pounds each. Their adoptive parents [Raymond and Vanessa Jackson] were charged last week with starving them, and on Monday, nine child welfare employees were fired and the state announced another review of recently compiled safety assessments of children in state care.
Social workers had visited the boys' house in Collingswood as many as 38 times in two years, state officials said. Some of those visits had been ordered of all children in state care after the Newark death last January.
Authorities said the boys were locked out of the kitchen and fed a diet of uncooked pancake batter, peanut butter and jelly and cereal. The boys told investigators they also gnawed on wallboard and insulation. They were found after a neighbor discovered Jackson rummaging through trash for food.
[NOTE: In "Cash Incentives for Adoptions Seen as Risk to Some Children" by Leslie Kaufman (10-29-03), it was reported that: "…States across the country, often in response to cash incentives offered by the federal government, have been under intense pressure in recent years to move children through their foster care systems and into permanent homes. Indeed, the number of annual adoptions nationally almost doubled from 1995 to 2001, and New Jersey adoptions more than doubled in an even shorter time, to 1,364 in 2002 from 621 in 1998.
…The payments to parents willing to adopt can amount to hundreds of dollars a month per child. The Jacksons, with six adopted children and one foster child, received more than $30,000 in government payments last year.
…Once children are formally adopted… the state is no longer entitled to closely monitor their well-being… a greater amount is paid to the families who adopt medically fragile or psychologically troubled children -- the risk exists that families take on more than they can handle, sometimes just for the additional money.
"Have we gone too far too fast?" asks Gary Stangler, executive director of Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative, a private foundation in St. Louis focusing on getting children out of foster care. "I worry that with all the applause going to the increasing numbers of adoptions, that we are possibly putting these young people into families not equipped or prepared to handle them."
…Richard Wexler, the director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, says he was concerned that the new law "would create a huge incentive for quick and dirty slipshod placements."]
"MOMMIE DEAREST" by Christina Crawford
ISBN 042504440 Penguin-Putnam 1976, Berkeley 1986;
& 20th Anniversary Edition 0966336989, Seven Springs 1997
When released in 1978, Christina Crawford's "Mommie Dearest" made an indelible impression on America's cultural landscape: it enjoyed 42 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list, spawned a cult film classic (starring Faye Dunaway) based on the book, and placed the issue of [adoptive] family violence in the national spotlight… and the book still stands as a catalyst for change. Christina Crawford is an internationally recognized, best-selling author and advocate for adoption reform, the rights of women and children, and a pioneer in making family violence an issue of national concern. While the original book places a spotlight on the physical and emotional abuse famed actress Joan Crawford inflicted on her adopted children, in the 20th Anniversary edition of "Mommie Dearest," Christina Crawford adds a Preface "to reflect the whirlwind that has happened in my life since 'Mommie Dearest ' was first published, and an Afterword on adoption reform."
Following are true incidents documenting abuse and murders of adoptees by their adopters (excerpted newsclips, other sources cited).
TWO CHARGED WITH ABUSING ADOPTED KIDS
by Lise Fisher, Gainesville Sun (4-11-03)
"Two Gainesville women, including one who has been adopting abused and neglected children for about 20 years, are accused of abusing many of those children - beating them with pipes and forcing them to fight with each other at their home, police said.
Nellie Jasper Johnson, 60, was at the Alachua County jail Thursday where she was being held in lieu of a $1 million bond on 38 charges including aggravated child abuse, child neglect and tampering with a witness, victim or informant.
Also charged is her adopted daughter, Colony Latrisa Johnson, 29, who was at the jail in lieu of a $500,000 bond. She faces prosecution on six counts of child abuse and four counts of aggravated child abuse.
Police forwarded the names of 19 possible victims to prosecutors, Gainesville Police Detective Patti Nixon said. They were ages 7 to 17 when the alleged abuse occurred, she said.
Nixon said this is one of the worst cases of child abuse she has seen.
…All of the victims were adopted through a Broward County agency called Shepherd's Care Ministries, police and an official with the Florida Department of Children & Families said. The group is licensed by DCF to recruit adults to adopt children and to make adoptive placements, local DCF spokesman Tom Barnes said. The group, Barnes said, would have been responsible for conducting a home study prior to the children being adopted by Nellie Johnson.
…The last adoption occurred in about 1996, Barnes said. The adopted children came from South Florida, including Palm Beach and Broward counties. Nixon said there may have been more victims.
'There are more children out there who are grown and we haven't been able to reach,' she said."
"MAN IN MIDST OF DIVORCE KILLS FAMILY"
from Wire Service Reports, in Salina Journal, 1-28-03
Horner, West Virginia: "A man in the middle of a divorce shot two of his children and a foster child child to death in the woods and killed himself… Gayle Sams estranged wife and their 14-year-old daughter escaped unharmed and ran to a neighbor's house to call 911… Two 4-year olds and a 17 year old boy were killed when Sams who was living elsewhere went to the family home… The sheriff said the family was adopting one of the 4 year olds."
Brian Edgar
"SLAIN BOY'S BIOLOGICAL RELATIVES QUESTION ADOPTION PROCESS"
by Grace Hobson, The Kansas City Star (1-10-03):
"Patricia Jones could not have known a fleeting visit with her 2-year-old grandson, Brian Clark, would be her last. She had not seen the toddler since he was placed in foster care at the age of about 7 months old. But his foster parents arrived late to the meeting, so the visit with the boy she had helped raise was brief. "It was like a flash of light," recalled Jones, of Kansas City. "A hug. A kiss. I haven't seen him since then -- until the news. All I heard was the name Brian, and I knew that was my grandchild. "My heart just dropped," Jones said, tears welling.
This week a social services official confirmed that Brian Edgar, the 9-year-old boy who died Dec. 29 of asphyxiation after being gagged, was her biological grandson. …How, they wonder, could Kansas social services officials allow Brian to be adopted by people who later would be charged in his death? Neil and Christy Edgar, and their baby sitter, Chasity Boyd, are charged with first-degree murder of Brian, who died after he was bound and gagged and his mouth was taped shut. Police allege in court records filed this week that Brian and three other children the Edgars had adopted were routinely bound at night and gagged.
Brian was a happy, well-adjusted baby, Patricia Jones said. His only medical problem was sleep apnea, for which he used a sleep monitor, she said. …Shadden said she did not know why Brian was not placed with anyone in his biological family, and said that under Kansas law she could not discuss any particular case.
To reach Grace Hobson, call (816) 234-7744 or send e-mail to ghobson@kcstar.com.
"POLICE ALLEGATIONS DETAILED IN BOY'S MURDER"
--The Kansas City Star, 1/9/03, by Joe Lambe www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascitystar/4904500.htm
A court document filed Wednesday chronicles sweeping police allegations in the slaying of 9-year-old Brian Edgar. Authorities say Brian and two siblings were routinely bound at bedtime and that evidence related to his death was taken to another house and destroyed. …Neil and Christy Edgar, along with the baby sitter, Chasity Boyd, 19, are charged with first-degree murder. The Edgars also are charged with abusing their 16- and 12-year-old sons and 9-year-old daughter. The Edgars adopted all four. The surviving children are now in protective custody…
DEAD GIRL’S KIN SUE ADOPTION AGENCY
by Jennifer M. Fitzenberger, The Fresno Bee, (3-15-02)
"Five siblings of a murdered child on Wednesday sued the agency that placed them in the home of Angela Thompson. The children suffered years of physical and emotional abuse because Family Connections Adoptions didn't properly supervise their placement in the Thompson home or investigate her background, according to a lawsuit filed in Tulare County Superior Court. Alison Foster, executive director of Family Connections, said her agency made a clerical error resulting in improper certification of Thompson, but was never told details of prior cases of abuse.
"A DEATH IN WHITE BEAR LAKE"
-- Ballantine Books, 11/28/00, by Barry Siegel, (ISBN 0345432991)
The true story of how a 3-1/2 year old child was brutally abused and ultimatly murdered by his adopter, Lois Jurgens. You Will learn how her husband, family and friends were very aware of the abuse and did absolutly nothing to help this poor child. You will also read how the justice system and adoption agency failed to save Dennis. And the painful events for the natural mother, Jerry Sherwood and her family to get justice for her dead son. Very well written book that goes into the background of Lois and Harold Jurgens and how this evil women was able to adopt a total of 6 children (all whom ran away and were removed from her home due to abuse). The book also gives a compelling account of the trial and finally the conviction of murder for Lois Jurgens, who for 22 years almost got away with it.
Email to AmFOR about the Jurgens case from Pamela Norton Docken, 1-22-03:
"As an adopted cousin of Dennis, I feel it is important the record shows that my parents DID try to intervene, but were unsuccessful due to circumstances. Social Services was not interested in protecting the children.
The police department was run by Lois's brother, my uncle. Abuse was a common occurance in my mother's family. Often things about my mother's family was covered up. According to the investigators in 1986, it was my uncle who stopped the investigation into Dennis's death.
My parents, Richard and Donna Norton, moved forth and fought to get Robert removed from Lois's house -- and were -- at least temporarily -- successful. They also fought the placement of the four other children into the Jurgen's home. But that too fell on deaf ears. The social service system failed to protect Dennis. Even after Dennis was scalded the system allowed the his adoption to happen. The Catholic Church failed -- Father Riser knew the family well and did nothing to stop her from getting more children -- he actually wrote a letter of support. Neighbors failed. And yes -- most family members failed. While many family members denied knowing about the abuse, other's did not. My mother's family was a very secretive, powerful family who would go to no end to stop a person from talking. I look at both my Mother and my Father as two people who went against the family to fight for all the children that were placed with Lois.
I was just a child when Dennis -- who was not only a cousin but also a playmate of mine had his life taken away. I saw first hand the frustration my parents went through as they tried to find a way to protect Dennis and Robert, and the other children that Lois managed to get. No matter how dangerous it was to our own family.
During this period of time, Lois broke into our home early in the morning and attempted to start a fire in our kitchen while we slept. My father caught her as she left. Lois's attempts to harm our family did not deter my parents from trying to do what they could to protect the children. My parent's efforts fell on deaf ears of social services and local authorities. My father retained an attorney to block the adoptions of the four children from Kentucky. Apparently Lois and Harold managed to get around that. There were people who loved Dennis and tried to save him and to save the other children. In loving memory of Dennis, Pamela Norton Docken."
Renee and David Polreis
"POLREIS SENTENCING"
ICAD Digest, 9-22-97, www.ualberta.ca/~jpdasddc/ abuse/ICAD/digests/vol1no20.html
"Renee Polreis is scheduled to be sentenced today in Colorado for the 2nd degree murder of her two-year-old adopted son David. Sentencing guidelines suggest that she should receive a sentence of not less than 16 or more than 48 years for the savage beating that one forensic expert suggested was one of the worse that she has seen in 1000s of cases.
Renee Polreis adopted her son David from Russia and based her controversial defense on the notion that David had 'reactive attachment disorder' a controversial diagnosis. While the defense suggested that the two-year-old child beat himself to death, it seemed more plausible (in view of overwhelming evidence that he was beaten to death by an adult) that they were trying to convince the jury that the mother's actions were somehow justified.
The jury convicted her in about two hours and seemed to have no doubts that Renee Polreis killed her adopted son David, but did express sympathy with her difficult situation. The sentence will be of great interest."
Marybeth Tinning
"FROM CRADLE TO GRAVE"
Jove Publications, 5/90, by Joyce Egginston (ISBN 0515103012)
She had nine children and every single one of them died before they reached school age.
…Many suspected Marybeth Tinning of having killed the babies, but some thought it was just a genetic deformity in the family. That was, until the Tinning's two-year-old adopted son, Michael, died for no apparent reason. That's when the authorities started to move in. Tinning was sentenced to 20 years to life.
"GIRLS RETURNED TO ADOPTIVE PARENTS"
Los Angeles Times, 2/25/98, story about adopters judged abusive by court
Adoptive parents were found guilty of abusing 2 Russian children they adopted, on the plane ride on the way home from Moscow. The girls were returned to live with Karen and Richard Thorne of Phoenix. The Queens Family Court Judge ordered that the Thornes would be subject to unannounced visits by Arizona Child Welfare authorities and undergo psychological evaluation as a condition of regaining custody.
Lisa Steinberg
Joel Steinberg
"SUIT OVER GIRL'S DEATH SETTLED"
AP story on Lisa Steinberg. 09-30-99, 1726 EDT
NEW YORK (AP) - A woman whose daughter was illegally adopted by Joel Steinberg and later beaten to death by him accepted $985,000 Thursday to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit she filed against several city agencies.
The woman, Michele Launders, refused to comment on the settlement. But her lawyer, Joseph Famighetti, said: ``It gives her closure and allows her to get on with her life.''
Ms. Launders, who was unwed when her daughter was born in 1981, charged that Steinberg, a lawyer, defrauded her when he accepted $500 to place the infant with an adoptive family. Instead of putting the baby up for adoption, Steinberg took her home to his companion, Hedda Nussbaum, named the child Lisa, and killed her six years later by hitting her on the head.
Ms. Nussbaum testified that they used cocaine while the girl lay dying on the bathroom floor.
In 1988, Ms. Launders sued Steinberg, Ms. Nussbaum, the Police Department and other city agencies. She charged that the agencies knew Lisa was being abused and did nothing to protect her.
In settling the case, the city admitted no wrongdoing.
Ms. Nussbaum, 57, will donate $500 to a children's charity to settle the case against her.
Steinberg is serving up to 25 years for manslaughter.
"ABUSE OF ADOPTEES IN ADOPTIVE HOME"
Transcript of Workshop by Elizabeth ("Liz") Payne (social worker-mother-adoptee who was abused in her adoptive home;
workshop attended by adoptees, parents, search group leaders)
LIZ: "As you can see, we're in the most popular seminar this morning. And I think thinks it's very relevent as to why we're doing this workshop in the first place. The reasons… are basically that in recent stories about abuse that occurs in adoptive families, people seem to be startled. And as we found ourselves startled at it as well, we were startled that we were startled. Why should we be startled that there's abuse in adoptive families as well as other families? And we began to think about that in large part we all do have an assumption that there's probably not abuse in adoptive families.
I myself am an adoptee and a birthmother and a social worker and I was abused in my adoptive home. I'm still startled at various times. I catch myself and I realize that many times over the years, the general public often says 'Don't they screen those people?' Don't these people have to go through these horrendous checks before they can adopt? …The assumption being that they are therefore are more psychologically better and less prone to any kinds of abuse.
MOM CALLED 'UNCONCERNED' ABOUT SON
by Dennis Tatz, The Patriot Ledger, (8-16-02) www.ledger.com/display/inn_headlines/news1pl.txt
QUINCY - When police arrived to arrest her, Natalia Higier appeared more concerned about her dog and returning to her job in a jewelry store than about her 2-year-old son, who lay dying at Children's Hospital, a prosecutor said.
Higier, 47, pleaded innocent to manslaughter and assault charges yesterday in Quincy District Court, five hours after her adopted son, Zachary, died of massive internal head injuries. ''Doctors have said that the skull fractures were consistent with a fall from a multi-story building,'' prosecutor Robert Nelson told the judge…
Zachary was born in Russia on May 24, 2000. The Higiers, who have no other children, adopted him eight months ago. A babysitter told police she had seen injuries on the baby previously, but the state Department of Social Services said the family had no record. Police were called to the couple's house on May 2 and 3, 1995. Natalia Higier took out a restraining order accusing her husband of slapping her and punching her, leaving bruises, but she dropped it after one day. She also said he had hit her on April 27 and called her ''fat'' and ''poor.'' Louis Higier also took out a restraining order against his wife in Nofolk Probate and Family Court, but no further information was available… Doctors found brain injuries, including swelling, that they believe occurred several hours earlier than Higier told authorities, Nelson said.
''While police were driving her to the station she said she was a good person and sometimes things just happen,'' Nelson said [and] ''His reaction is not what you would expect from a parent whose 2-year-old had been injured,'' said Nelson.
ADOPTIVE MOTHER CHARGED IN DEATH
by Brian Arrington, International Herald Tribune (2-27-02) www.iht.com
Police have charged the adoptive mother of the 5-year-old Victoria Avenue boy who died in her care Dec. 14 with murder after medical examiners ruled the child died from a blow to the head. Heather Lindorff, 37, of Victoria Avenue was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, endangering the welfare of a child, aggravated assault and child abuse. Her husband, 52-year-old James E. Lindorff, was also arrested and charged with fourth-degree child abuse… The arrest comes after medical examiners ruled that 5-year-old Jacob Lindorff died after sustaining ''blunt trauma to the head,'' according to county Prosecutor's Office spokesperson Dianna Reed-Rolando.
FOSTER MOTHER [ADOPTER] CHARGED IN DEATH
Detroit Free Press, by Jack Kresnak, Staff Writer (3-22-03)
"A Detroit foster mother who had adopted a girl and was set to adopt two boys from Pontiac was charged Friday with first-degree felony murder in the beating death of one of the boys. The foster mother, Lynda Carol Baker, was named in a murder warrant issued late Friday by the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office. She is charged in the death on Tuesday of Joshua Causey, 4, who had been placed in Baker's care in August."
ACCIDENT OR MURDER??
Daily World, by Lisa Patterson (1-12-03) - lpatterson@thedailyworld.com
www.thedailyworld.com/daily/ 2003/Jan-12-Sun-2003/news/news1.html
Tap, tap, tap. A little finger poked Nathan Mohler's shoulder. "I think you're my brother," said a blue - eyed little boy with shiny blonde hair.
For most of their lives the Grays Harbor boys had been separated from each other while being shuffled through the foster care system. Andy Mohler, the youngest, was adopted not long after he tapped his big brother's shoulder, and the chance meeting that summer afternoon at a 4 - H camp in Mason County would be their last.
Andy Mohler, later renamed Shawn Lawrence by his adoptive parents, died while on a fishing trip with his new dad and a young friend on Oct. 9, 1999 - about a year after his adoption. At first the 10 - year - old's death was ruled accidental. It was determined that he slipped, hit his head - perhaps on some rocks - and drowned in the remote Brown Creek Campground area north of Shelton. Weeks later, police learned the adoptive parents took out $650,000 in life insurance policies on their new son.
…When Andy was adopted, the ties with his biological mother weren't the only ones severed - his brothers lost their rights to contact Andy, too. Mohler doesn't think that was right. Tears turned to anger when he found out his brother had been dead for at least a week, and that the autopsy and cremation had already come and gone.
"I understand that it was a closed adoption and everything, but his biological mom and siblings should have been contacted," Mohler said.
"…Andy had an abrasion in the back of his head, like he fell and hit his head," Mohler said. "But there wasn't any debris in the cut. It makes me think that he didn't fall first. That someone hit him."
…He's afraid the longer the case goes on, the more chance there is that it will be forgotten - that he'll never know what really happened to his little brother. That's why he decided to talk to the media, including NBC's "Dateline," believing that his speaking out will help keep the investigation alive. The TV segment is expected to be aired nationwide sometime soon.
… On the fishing trip, detectives said, the adoptive father separated the two boys and later asked the friend to help him look for Andy.
The mother attempted to cash out one of the life insurance policies five days after the death.
Debra Gatlin and Tiffany Clair
MOTHER ON TRIAL IN DAUGHTER'S DEATH
Star Telegram, by Melody McDonald, (8-28-03)
FORT WORTH - Tiffany Clair was conceived of rape, adopted at birth, had attempted suicide and was shot up drugs together with her adopter, when she overdosed and died at age 15. This week, her adopter, Debra Gatlin Clair, is on trial… accused of manslaughter in the May 3, 2001 death of her adopted daughter.
CLAIM BOY KILLED HIMSELF "UNREAL" COURT TOLD
Brighton & Hove, Newsquest Media Group, by Phil Mills (10-16-01)
…His adoptive mother, Michelle McWilliam, found John in bed and called an ambulance. She and her husband Simon concocted a story that John self-abused, to cover up the abuse that one or both of them were inflicting.
TETHERED BOY'S MOM IS RELEASED
Detroit Free Press, by Jack Kresnak (11-3-99)
Is tying a half-naked disabled child to a plastic bucket with a dog collar and leash, then locking him in a basement room, considered criminal abuse in Michigan? Perhaps not. The boy and his biological brother--both adopted years ago by the woman, a former licensed foster parent, are in foster homes under supervision of the Wayne County Family Independence Agency.
LORETTA REED, Petitioner v. STATE OF FLORIDA,
Respondent, Amended Supplemental Brief Of Petitioner; and Answer by Respondent Florida Supreme Court, Case No. SC01-1238 (1-22-02)
…It was Petitioner [adopter, Loretta Reed's] defense at trial that Petitioner applied punishments as an attempt to manage this "special needs" child…
GUILTY VERDICTS in ABUSE CASE
North County Times, by John Hall (5-17-03)
RIVERSIDE ---- After several days of what they described as "heated" deliberations, a Riverside County jury Friday found Eileen Marie Merchant guilty on all counts and Michael Cody Gramaje guilty on all but one count in their highly publicized child-abuse trial.
The two-week trial of Merchant and Gramaje centered on the near-fatal injuries inflicted upon Kara Sheppard, who was 7 months old when the abuse was discovered in March 2001.
Kara and her slightly older sister, Sarah, were left by their mother in the care of Gramaje's wife, Terri, who previously pleaded guilty to a potential life sentence for torturing and abusing Kara. Merchant lived in a mobile home on the same Wildomar property as the Gramajes.
Once she was taken to a hospital on March 11, 2001, doctors found Kara had a potentially deadly disease that had taken over her left thigh, broken bones, a broken pelvis, bleeding between her brain and skull in two different areas, bleeding behind her eyes, open sores on her mouth and nose, seeping bed sores and a rectal tear.
In December, Kara was legally adopted by a couple who have asked to not be identified. They were in the courtroom when verdicts were read Friday.
PARENTS CONVICTED IN DEATH, DISMEMBERMENT OF DAUGHTER
Associated Press, 12-25-99
MIAMI -- Ken Wilkinson was sentenced to more than 30 years for the 1997 slaying of [4 year old] Kendia Lockhart, who was visiting from the Bahamas. He pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of aggravated manslaughter in exchange for testifying against his wife. Roselene Wilkinson had been on trial for first-degree murder, but was convicted of lesser charges. She was sentenced Thursday to 30 years… Prosecutors said Mrs. Wilkinson shoved Kendia so hard against a wall that a door knob left an imprint in the child's head and killed her. Mrs. Wilkinson said her husband beat Kendia to death in an alcohol-induced rage. Wilkinson, who has a history of violence toward his family, admitted chopping, burning and burying his first-born in an effort to conceal her death.
NO MURDER UPGRADE in WATER-DRINKING CASE
Salt Lake City Tribune, by Ashley Broughton (7-18-03)
PROVO - …Roy Killpatrick, 35, and Jennette Killpatrick, 27, initially were charged with abuse homicide, a second-degree felony, and child abuse, a third-degree felony, in the June 9, 2002 death of their adopted daughter Cassandra. Doctors claim the girl died from water intoxication, in which enough water is ingested to lower a person's sodium and electrolyte levels to a point that causes seizures and brain swelling. A medical examiner has estimated that Cassandra drank at least 2.5 liters of water.
The Killpatricks have said the water drinking was a form of therapy recommended by the Cascade Center for Family Growth in Orem, but the Center has denied recommending any forced water-drinking.
MAN HELD, SUSPECTED OF ABUSING HIS KIDS
Detroit Free Press, by Jack Kresnak (8-27-03)
A Northville man who pleaded guilty earlier this year to sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl living in his mother's foster home was in custody Tuesday after two foster children he had adopted made sexual abuse allegations against him.
Scott Francis, 41, who is on the state's list of sex offenders, was undergoing psychiatric evaluation after a lengthy standoff with Northville police in his Yerkes Street home Monday night. He is being held without bond awaiting trial…
JUDGE THROWS OUT SEVERAL COUNTS IN CUSTODY CASE INVOLVING MURDER
The Associated Press, By Jim Paul (8-22-03)
DECATUR -- A Macon County judge said Thursday evidence does not support prosecutors' allegations that a woman who adopted her sister-in-law's son took part in the woman's murder in 1996.
Mary Slover adopted the boy in April 1999, but the state took the boy from her three years later, claiming she knew of the murder and had engineered the adoption to keep Kolten away from his [birth] mother's family.
Judge Scott B. Diamond found there might be enough evidence to support allegations that Mary Slover helped conceal the murder of Karyn Hearn Slover, who was shot to death. Her dismembered body was found in Lake Shelbyville.
…If Diamond rules against her, Kolten will become a ward of the state and faces another adoption -- perhaps by his natural mother's parents.
Kolten, now 10, has been in foster care since July 2002 while lawyers have argued over whether Mary Slover abused and neglected the boy and should lose her parental rights. Her brother and parents -- Michael Slover Jr., Michael Slover Sr. and Jeanette Slover -- are serving 60-year prison sentences for the murder.
DEATH PENALTY INFORMATION CENTER
www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=24&did=228
Patricia Blackman, who is Black and was 29 at the time of the crime, murdered her Black 2 year old adopted daughter in Dothan, Alabama in May 1999 and was sentenced 6-7-02.
CPS WATCH
www.cpswatch.com/news/oh.asp
--(3-8-03) MOTHER CHARGED IN ADOPTED GIRL'S DEATH
A Lancaster woman faces criminal charges related to the death of the 2-year old daughter she adopted from Russia. The girl allegedly died of shaken baby syndrome.
--(5-16-03) ADOPTIVE MOTHER CHARGED IN ABUSE
Prosecutors say Bonnie Hyre suspected her husband was abusing their adopted children while she was away.
Noreen Erlandson
RULING TO ALLOW MOTHER WHO KILLED GIRL, 2, TO BE FREE SOON
The Seattle Times (6-18-03)
When Noreen Erlandson was sentenced to 40 years in prison in 1992 for the brutal murder of her adopted daughter, the judge hoped to send a strong message against child abuse… Erlandson was given an exceptional second-degree murder sentence…
…Under 1992 sentencing guidelines, the maximum sentence for manslaughter is 10 years in prison… Kayla Erlandson, who was adopted from South Korea, died at Harborview Medical Center in April 1991. When she was found unconscious in her mother's arms, the toddler had 65 injuries, including bruises, brain swelling, a lacerated liver, a neck bite and a deep scald on her arm.
Donald Boss
OLDER BROTHER TESTIFIES IN BOSS TRIAL
www.theiowachannel.com/ news/1813953/detail.html (12-3-02)
Donald Boss Jr., 38, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of his adopted 10-year old son Timothy. Timothy's older brother Claxton Boss said Timothy was tied to a chair in the basement of the family home… he watched through a hole in the basement wall while his parents repeatedly struck the younger boy… Timothy spent months locked in a windowless basement, deprived of food and forced to wear diapers before his father tied him to a chair and beat him to death in a fit of rage… all of the Boss family's adopted boys who are Black were kept locked in the basement of the family's northwest Iowa home.
MURDER IN KOREA
AP story at wwwfreerepublic.com/forum/a3704e9182559.htm (4-2-99)
SEOUL, South Korea. …Navy Petty Officer 1st Class James W. Fuhrman, 36, of Quincy Illinois, was charged with premeditated murder and obstruction of justice in the Jan. 25 death of his wife, Choon-ja, 42, and their adopted son, Bobby… Police believe Fuhrman's wife and son were killed somewhere else and then dumped at the construction site, doused with flammable liquid and set on fire to conceal the crime.
KANSAS WOMAN PLEADS GUILTY IN ADOPTED SON'S DEATH
www.religionnewsblog.com/4493.html (9-19-03)
Associated Press. Olathe Kansas. [Christy Edgar] pleaded guilty to murder and child abuse… just as her trial was beginning in the death of her adopted son, who suffocated after he was bound with duct tape… he had been wrapped from head to toe with duct tape, leaving only his nose uncovered and causing him to suffocate on vomit… The Edgars were pastors of God's Christian Outreach Ministry in Kansas City… Five other church members face charges of abusing three of the Edgars' children and a friend of the children.
Roberta Gillin
WOMAN CLEARED IN SLAYING OF ADOPTED DAUGHTER
www.postgazette.com/neigh _south/20020608burned5.asp (6-8-02)
[Roberta Gillin, 50] who withdrew from a plea deal on third-degree murder charges last year was acquitted on all charges in the murder and burning of her mentally retarded, adopted daughter… James Gillin was sentenced to life in prison, plus 14 years in 2001 for first degree murder. Judge Conrad Capuzzi refused to accept Roberta Gillin's plea after hearing gruesome testimony during her husband's trial… Helen Gillin, 25, the couple's adopted daughter, was stomped to death and her body was burned in a backyard fire pit in 1992… The Gillins were arrested and charged in 1999 after their biological daughter, Mary Joe Overly, told police that she witnessed the killing when she was 13… "She has to live with herself," Overly said. "My sister deserves to get her justice and she didn't." Prosecutors said Roberta Gillin made her adopted daughter drink a mixture of bleach and heart medication after finding out her husband was having sex with Helen… the couple dumped the body into a fire pit in the back yard. The body was doused with gasoline and set on fire. But Gillin denied forcing her daughter to drink the poison mixture and said she did not report the sexual abuse or the slaying because she was afraid of her husband. When Gillin was asked why she did not go to the police, when she learned her daughter was being abused, she said she was handling the situation through prayer.
Sally Schofield
'FAILURE TO PROTECT: The Taking of Logan Marr'
with Rachel Dretzin, Producer, FRONTLINE, 1-31-03
In January 2001, 5-year-old Logan Marr was found dead in the basement of her foster mother's home in Chelsea, Maine. The foster mother, Sally Schofield, [who was planning to adopt Logan and Bailey Marr] was a highly respected former caseworker for Maine's Department of Human Services. FRONTLINE's "Failure to Protect: The Taking of Logan Marr," Thursday, Jan. 30, at 9 p.m. ET on PBS examineds the girl's short, troubled life and asked a series of tough questions: Why was a little girl who had never been abused taken from her birth mother? Was her mother given a real opportunity to regain custody? And did the state miss significant clues that she was in danger?
The Killpacks
IT WASN'T DISCIPLINE. IT WAS TORTURE.
by Geoffrey Fattah, Deseret Morning News, 8-7-03
deseretnews.com/dn/view/ 0,1249,510045231,00.html
PROVO It wasn't discipline. It was torture. That's what a psychologist said Wednesday about the actions of a Springville couple [Jennette & Richard Killpack] accused of forcing so much water down their adopted daughter's [Cassandra's] throat that she died.
Ian and Angela Gay
Christian Blewitt
Couple killed child with salt, court told
by James Sturcke, Independent Online (11-20-04)
news.independent.co.uk/uk/ crime/story.jsp?story=584796
A couple killed a three-year-old boy they were hoping to adopt by poisoning him with salt, a court was told yesterday. Ian and Angela Gay, from Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, were accused of feeding Christian Blewitt up to four teaspoons of salt after he failed to meet their expectations.
Couple Kill Themselves After Baby's Shaking Death
AP/DeseretNews.com (4-21-04)
Southgate, MI - A couple caring for two young children they hoped to adopt committed suicide after the 6-month-old boy was shaken to death, police said. Carissa Columbus, 25, and Leonard Columbus, 35, disappeared after Tyler Vanpopering died last Wednesday. Police broke into their home Saturday and found them in the garage, dead of carbon monoxide poisoning.
PAIR WHO CAGED SONS GET LONGER JAIL TERMS
The Toronto Star, by Tracey Tyler, Legal Affairs Reporter (11-5-04)
Nine months in jail is a "demonstrably unfit" sentence for a Blackstock couple who beat and caged their adoptive sons, crimes that were "shocking to the conscience of the community" and "cry out for a significant penitentiary sentence," the Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled.
"The facts as found by the trial judge unequivocally establish the horrendous abuse of two young boys by their parents for more than a decade," Justice Eleanore Cronk wrote on behalf of the court, which set aside the widely criticized sentences yesterday.
ADOPTIVE MOTHER SAYS HER BROTHER-IN-LAW TO BLAME FOR KIDS ABANDONED
The Associated Press (8/20/04)
HOUSTON The lawyer for the adoptive mother of seven children found malnourished and sick in a Nigerian orphanage is defending the woman's actions, blaming a brother-in-law for abandoning them while she was in Iraq.
Mercury Liggins faces a custody hearing on Aug. 26. Harris County Child Protective Services officials have referred to police new abuse complaints from the children, who claim that she struck them with switches and a cane and had repeatedly threatened to take them to Africa if they ever told law officers about earlier abuse reports.
Irma and Alex
Pavlis
WOMAN GETS 12 YEARS, REBUKE, IN SON'S DEATH
by Dan Rozek, Chicago Sun-Times
www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-pavlis05.html
Her lawyers argued that Russian doctors and authorities hadn't fully disclosed Alex's medical problems to [Irma and Dino] Pavlis… any behavioral problems the child exhibited didn't explain or justify the punches, slaps and shoves Pavlis said she used to try to discipline the boy who died of severe brain injuries. …She likely will be released from prison in less than 4 years… Before she was sentenced, Pavlis expressed hopes her adopted son's death would not stall or halt foreign adoptions of Russian children…
AmFOR Note: On 5-21-04, when the Chicago Tribune's first report on this case [which is archived at www.chicagotribune.com/ news/nationworld/chi-0405210351may/ ] stated: "Since 1996, adoptive parents have been accused of killing at least 12 Russian children. Experts know of no other country from which so many children have died" [Evidently the Times hadn't checked this web-page, and the many reports found on Internet, that document the many American adopted children who have also died at the hands of their American adopters].
QUESTION REMAINS WHETHER TEENS KEPT IN CAGE CAN RECOVER
USA Today/wkys.com, by Chris Tye (3-9-05)
wkyc.com/news_fullstory.asp?id=31544
He was 17, but slept in a padlocked crib and police say abuse came at the hands of his adoptive parents… Ten years ago, Wilson Sulivan and his wife Brenda adopted a 10-year-old boy… When authorities stepped in, records show the 17-year old regularly wore a diaper and showed signs of starvation-- weighing only 49 lbs at 41/2 feet tall-- and communicates by grunting.
"PATHOLOGICAL PARENTING" - an article by Kerry Semon, Registered Nurse and adoptee: http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/2940
Adam
SEARCH STARTS FOR KANSAS BOY NOW MISSING 10 YEARS
by Roxana Hegeman, Associated Press (AP) - 1-5-09
"EL DORADO, Kan. (AP) &emdash; The Kansas parents who failed to report their 11-year-old adopted son missing nearly a decade ago are "people of interest" as authorities search for him nationwide, a sheriff said Monday. Investigators only recently learned Adam Herrman was missing and are focused on finding him, Butler County Sheriff Craig Murphy said. Adam was 11 when he disappeared in 1999 from a mobile home park in Towanda where he lived. Authorities would not say whether they believed Adam, who would now be 21, is alive. "We are working it as if it is a death &emdash; but we are not leaning one way or the other," Murphy said. Doug and Valerie Herrman adopted Adam at 2 1/2 years old, and he had been in foster care before that. The parents have not been arrested or charged with any crime, and Murphy said no charges would be filed while investigators focused on the search…"
Maria
MARIA BARRAGAN SUCCEEDS IN GETTING ADOPTIVE PARENTS JAILED
Times Online, 4-5-08
…In a landmark decision, a court in Buenos Aires sentenced a former military officer and the adoptive parents of one of the country’s many babies “stolen” during the dictatorship to prison for concealing the child’s identity and falsifying adoption documents.
Maria Eugenia Sampallo Barragan, 30, had brought charges against the three after discovering her true identity seven years ago. Ms Sampallo is one of hundreds of people who were snatched from their parents or born in captivity during the country’s dictatorship of 1976-83, but she was the first to face her adoptive parents in court. Osvaldo Rivas, 65, and Marla Cristina Gómez Pinto, 60, her adoptive parents, were sentenced to eight and seven years in prison respectively. Enrique Berthier, a former army captain who handed Ms Sampallo over to the couple when she was a baby, received ten years.
“These are not my parents,” Ms Sampallo said at a press conference on Monday. “They are my kidnappers . . . there is no emotional bond that binds me to them. These are my parents,” she said, picking up photos of her biological parents. Argentina's military regime arrested Leonardo Sampallo and Mirta Barragan, suspected leftist dissidents, in December 1977. Soon after Ms. Sampallo was born, her parents died in prison and the infant was given to Captain Berthier to pass on to another family, which hid her real identity. Ms Sampallo learnt about her past from the human rights group Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo. They have found 88 people like Ms Sampallo, children of their own sons and daughters who “disappeared”. Argentine military imprisoned tens of thousands of people suspected of being subversives and killed as many as 30,000. The junta also decided to “rehabilitate” its enemies” children by placing them with families that supported the dictatorship. Many of the children were given to the families of men who may have participated in the torture and deaths of their parents.
The Grandmothers say that up to 500 children were abducted by the military or were born in captivity. During the dictatorship the group kept note of women who suddenly appeared with babies without being pregnant, and began investigations that, with recent advances in DNA technology, have begun to get results. Cases involving abducted children have proved crucial to bringing the dictatorship’s architects and executioners to justice. An amnesty for military and police officers imposed by the first postdictatorship government did not include the theft of babies, jurists contended.
“My hope is that each conviction acts as a step toward building the truth,” said Victoria Donda, an MP and activist who was taken from her biological parents at birth and learnt of her real identity in 2003.
Sources: desaparecidos.org; nuncamas.org; National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons… See the movie "Cautiva", it tells the whole story.
DOUG WARD, Grover Beach, Calif. USA, comments: "What is not stated is that Maria's adoptive parents mistreated and abused her throughout her childhood (her adoptive mother made it clear that she was not her natural daughter and would repeatedly insult her threaten her with abandonment, saying she didn't deserve what they had done for her, she was good for nothing and so on.) "
COUPLE KILLED ADOPTED SON WITH SALT AFTER DECIDING HE WAS TOO NAUGHTY
by Dominic Kennedy, UK News, Times Online, 1-14-05
A WEALTHY couple who killed their adopted three-year-old son by poisoning him with salt were jailed for five years yesterday after a judge called them cold-blooded and selfish.
Christian Blewitt died six weeks after being put into the care of Ian and Angela Gay, who lived in an exclusive gated community. The boy died of brain damage with the equivalent of four teaspoons of salt in his bloodstream, the highest level doctors had seen. A week after Christian arrived into their care, Ian Gay, 37, had described the boy as brainless, a vegetable and a zombie… They were cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter. They plan to appeal. After the trial, Detective Chief Inspector Steve Cullen, from West Mercia Police, said: “We are pleased that justice has been done for Christian. “It is difficult to conceive how a little boy would voluntarily eat several teaspoons of salt, and this has been backed up by experts who say a child would reject even a small quantity.” Christian's natural grandfather, Jim Burke, of West Bromwich, said that the Gays should have been jailed for twice as long. Angela Gay had known that she was infertile from the age of 16. The lack of children destroyed their eight-year marriage; her husband wanted a family, she did not. But they agreed to adopt, and remarried in 2002. By now, she was a £200,000-a-year insurance actuary. “I have always dreamed,” she told the jury, “of a child calling me Mummy.” After being given a girl to foster, the Gays were allowed to adopt a family — Christian, his two-year-old brother Nathan, and Chlöe, five months. The children were placed with the Gays at their home in Bromsgrove on November 1, 2002. Their new life was one of a luxury they had never experienced. But Christian, suffering the consequences of neglect in his early life, failed to meet the couple’s expectations. Ian Gay sobbed as he told of his guilt at telephoning social services a week after the children arrived to complain that the boy was a vegetable. After ten days his wife returned to work, flouting an assurance given to the adoption panel that she would take three months off. Mr Gay had given up his job as a service engineer but he had so little experience of children that he had been sent to a nursery to learn basic childcare and was left alone in charge of the children. When his wife returned home at 7pm, Christian would refuse to accept a glass of milk from her. Gay believed his wife wanted to send the children back and their rows led them to sleep in separate beds. On the morning of December 7, Angela Gay was upset when Christian butted, kicked and bit her. Ian Gay held him in front of her and told him to apologise but he refused. The next day Christian smeared gravy over his face, knocked the plate over and stood on his chair, laughing. Gay carried him upstairs where his wife said she found him unconscious. The boy died four days later. The judge said the couple had decided to punish Christian by making him eat salt”. This was not done “by the sort of inadequate and unintelligent people who sadly often are sitting where you are but intelligent people who had made a deliberate choice in cold blood”.
Judith Leekin
ADOPTIVE MOM ACCUSED OF ABUSING, STARVING [ADOPTIVE &] FOSTER KIDS FOR DECADES
Associated Press, 7-30-07
PORT ST. LUCIE, FL. — They were often handcuffed, tethered together with plastic ties and allowed to soil themselves, investigators say. They had scars on their wrists. Some had burns. None appeared to have more than a fourth-grade education, not even the adults in their 20s. All were starving. In all, nine teenagers and young adults were held like prisoners in Judith Leekin's home in what appeared to be a decades-long scheme to line her pockets with the government payments she received for adopting and raising them, police say. From the outside, Leekin's home appeared to be as ordinary as the others in this well-kept working-class neighborhood on the outskirts of this Atlantic coast town, 120 miles north of Miami. But its pink and white stucco exterior hid the horrors inside, authorities say… the identities of the young people and have not established how long Leekin had them. But authorities believe she adopted all of them in New York City under at least five aliases over two decades. They range in age from 15 to 27. One is blind and mumbles. One can barely walk or stand. One can't read. But authorities said they do not know if the handicaps are a result of the alleged abuse. The case came to light on July 4, some 200 miles away across the state in St. Petersburg, when police received a call from a grocery store that a teenager was there wandering aimlessly. The 18-year-old woman, who said she has been with Leekin for 13 years, said Leekin drove her there and abandoned her after telling her they were going to an amusement park.
Police and child welfare workers went to Leekin's home, but found nothing awry. Just one child was with her in the house, and Leekin told investigators the 18-year-old ran away a year ago. But police soon returned, and this time they found all the children, who had apparently been hiding on Leekin's orders. Leekin, 62, was arrested and jailed on 11 charges, including aggravated elder and child abuse. She declined to be interviewed. Her attorney had no comment. According to authorities, she was unemployed and lived off the monthly stipends provided by child welfare authorities in New York. She owned at least two homes and several cars. The adopted children said they had never seen a doctor or a dentist and had not been allowed to attend school or even leave the house.
…The 18-year-old told police Leekin threatened to cut her head off if she told anyone what was happening, authorities said. "Was there any kind of emotional attachment? Yes, it was fear," Bartal said… If Leekin did adopt them in New York City, she could have been making as much as $180,000 a year for a time. Parents who adopt special needs children can get as much as $55 a day.
Emelyantsev
WOMAN WHO KILLED ADOPTED DAUGHTER TO BE EVALUATED
Desert News, Salt Lake Cirty, 8-13-08
TOOELE, UT — A woman convicted of killing her 14-month-old adopted daughter will undergo a mental evaluation before being sentenced. Court records said a judge delayed sentencing for Kimberly Emelyantsev, 34, during a hearing in 3rd District Court on Aug. 8, while she underwent the evaluation at the Utah State Prison. Emelyantsev pleaded guilty in June to a charge of child abuse homicide, a second-degree felony, in the death of her adopted child back in March. Emelyantsev will be sentenced on Oct. 10. A child abuse charge against Emelyantsev's husband, Fyodor, was dismissed in June
Calista Springer
CALISTA SPRINGER'S ADOPTIVE MOTHER ENTERS PLEA IN FIRE DEATH
by Kathy Jessup, Kalamazoo Gazette - 8-26-08
CENTREVILLE, MI -- The adoptive mother of a 16-year-old girl who died in a house fire while chained to her bed has pleaded no contest to child abuse/neglect charges. Marsha Springer's plea in St. Joseph County Family Court is separate from potential criminal charges that could stem from the Feb. 27 fire that killed Calista Springer. The plea, entered Friday before Family Court Judge Thomas Shumaker, resulted in the two younger children of Marsha and Anthony Springer becoming temporary wards of the court. It erased the need for a trial, which had been scheduled to start Monday, to determine whether the court should have jurisdiction over Calista's sisters. On Friday, Shumaker ruled there was sufficient evidence to conclude that the Springers' home "is an unfit place for the children to live in" after reviewing a transcript of testimony from a Michigan State Police trooper present at the Feb. 27 fire in downtown Centreville and a photograph of Calista before she was removed from her bed. "At the time of the fire, Calista (Springer) was in the care of the mother, who is legally blind," says the amended court petition regarding the removal of the couple's other minor children. "Calista was chained to her bed and unable to escape the fire or to be rescued by fire and police personnel." Anthony Springer characterized Calista as a "special needs" child prone to wandering off during the night. He said the bed restraint had been used for a short period of time because an alarm that had been used to monitor the girl was broken. Under Michigan child-welfare law, a court finding of abuse/neglect of one child in a home is sufficient to conclude that other children are at risk, according to Douglas Fisher, St. Joseph County prosecutor. Children can be removed from the family home even if only one parent is found responsible for "neglect and cruelty."
Shumaker set a Sept. 9 dispositional hearing during which St. Joseph County Department of Human Services officials are expected to recommend services or other measures the court could take that eventually could reunify the family. The cause of the fire officially remains "undetermined," but reports suggest it may have been connected to an overheated vacuum that Marsha Springer was using just before the fire erupted.
Jazzmin Davis
AUTOPSY: ANTIOCH GIRL WAS WHIPPED, BURNED
by Hilary Costa, Contra Costa Times - 09/04/2008; and updated: 11/30/2008
ANTIOCH, CA — Jazzmin Davis was continually whipped with belts and electrical cords, burned with irons and severely beaten in the Antioch home where she died Tuesday, an autopsy by the Contra Costa County Coroner's Office has revealed. The 15-year-old, emaciated and malnourished, suffered severe lacerations and blunt force trauma to her head, and sustained severe injuries on the day of her death, Antioch police Lt. Leonard Orman said at a Thursday news conference… The children's aunt and foster mother, Shemeeka Davis, 37, remains in County Jail in Martinez, where she is being held on suspicion of murder and corporal punishment. The district attorney is expected to file charges today. Orman said Davis has been cooperative and admitted to beating and whipping the twins. No clear motive has been identified for the abuse. "She talks about the fact that she does lose control," Orman said. Davis has been the twins' foster mother since their infancy. Their case was being handled through the San Francisco County Department of Human Services, Orman said. Trent Rhorer, executive director of the San Francisco Human Services Agency, said the agency had conducted the required regular checks on the children's welfare and had detected no evidence of abuse or neglect. The most recent visit to the home was in March 2008, Rhorer said - six months more recent than earlier reported by Antioch police. …Police said Davis had been receiving a $13,104 annual stipend from San Francisco County for the twins' care; $9,800 annually from Contra Costa County for caring for her elderly mother, who lives in Bay Point; and $1,700 a month from the Contra Costa Housing Authority through the federal Section 8 housing assistance program. Orman said the twins had been confined to the house and restricted largely to the stark second-story bedroom they shared, but it is still unclear how long they had been kept inside. The bedroom contained a bunk bed, one sheet, an empty closet and a few posters on the walls, Orman said. The boy reportedly spent much of his time reading in the bedroom, and is extremely bright, Orman said. His demeanor has been stoic, but he is upset about his sister's death, Orman said. Police said Davis' 7-year-old daughter, also removed from the house, had not been physically abused as was originally reported. The 7-year-old's father had also been living in the house until days before Jazzmin's death, and is cooperating with police. Shemeeka Davis' older sons, 17 and 18, also lived in the house. Orman said police are still investigating whether they are culpable in the abuse and murder… The neighbor said she had not seen Jazzmin for more than a year, and that when she questioned Shemeeka Davis about her whereabouts she was told Jazzmin had been sent to live with other family members. "We all failed her," she said. "Every one of us failed her."
Miles Harrison
Chase Harrison
RUSSIANS AND AMERICANS AGREE SEVERE PUNISHMENT DUE FATHER WHO KILLED ADOPTED RUSSIAN BABY
by Richard Cochrane, 12-26-08
[AmFOR Note: The following is one of several such incidents of American adopters killing children they adopted from Russia and which resulted in Russia halting adoptions.]
Russians and Americans don’t agree on much but they are both angry over the acquittal of a Virginia man was acquitted to killing his 21-month old son by leaving him for 9-hours in a boiling hot car. Russia will toughen adoption requirements for U.S. nationals following the acquittal of Miles Harrison 49 who adopted Russian-born son and then left the baby unattended in front of his workplace for 9-hours. “We are outraged by the court ruling and believe it to be totally unjust and unacceptable,” Alina Levitskaya was quoted by the Education and Science Ministry as saying. “It questions the reliability of the U.S. system of protection of adopted children’s rights, and will lead to tougher requirements for U.S. nationals in Russia.” …Over the last 10 years in the United States there have been approximately 230 fatal cases of parents locking their children in cars on a hot day.
Three adoption agencies, including that which organized Dmitry Yakolev’s adoption but failed to inform Russian authorities of the baby’s death, were banned from operating in Russia in July. Several calls for tighter controls on adoptions have been made in Russia in recent years over a series of scandals, notably the killing of a two-year-old girl from Siberia by her adoptive mother in the U.S. Around 120,000 Russian children were adopted both in Russia and abroad in 2007, a 6.4 percent increase on 2006, according to the Science and Education Ministry.
For adopted children who were murdered during "rebirthing" or other deadly assaults on children advanced by professionals as a "cure" for "Attachment Disorder" commonly diagnosed when adopters simply don't like their adopted children, or when adopted children don't like their adopters, go to "The Daily Bastardette" page on "The Therapeutic Murders of Candace Newmaker, David Polreis, Viktor Matthey, and Jessica Albina Bennett" at
http://bastardette.blogspot.com/2008/08/therapeutic-murders-of-candace-newmaker.html
http://www.amfor.net/KillerAdopters/
Although domestic adoptions involve background checks & other pre-adoption investigation of prospective adopters, many adopted children fall through the cracks due to greed of profiteering baby brokers, understaffed public/private agencies, loose foreign adoption controls, & expedience. There is usually no in-home followup to any adoption past the date of finalization. And there's no way to predict nor guarantee future problems. Many children who are too young or too afraid to report abuse end up with adopters who physically, sexually and/or mentally abuse them -- or even kill them -- and not always because these adopters are normally abusive. Often adopters who have the best of intentions are unprepared to deal with the behaviors & problems these children acquire from separation from their original families, & from prior orphanage or foster parent mistreatment or neglect, & are misled to believe that "with a little love" all will be well.
Interestingly, America's first adoptees would have been Mary Moore, 4, & her sister Ellen Moore, 8. They were scheduled for the long voyage from England aboard the Mayflower, because their wealthy parents, Samuel & Katherine Moore of Shropshire, England, went through a bitter separation & divorce. Realizing his children would be in social disgrace due to the divorce, & wanting to punish his wife for her extramarital affair with Jacob Blakeway -- who Samuel found out was the actual biological father of the girls he believed were his -- Samuel paid to have her daughters sent away on the Mayflower. The abandoned, neglected girls died that winter despite being adopted into "respectable families among the Pilgrims."
Source: members.aol.com/calebj/girls.html
PARENTS ARRESTED IN DEATH OF ADOPTED SON
WSB-TV, Georgia (12-29-09)
Jami and David Jones
LOGANVILLE, GA. -- The Walton County Sheriff's Office has not said what exactly killed the child but they do say charges against Louis David Jones and Jami Lea Jones have been upgraded from aggravated battery and child cruelty to murder. According to deputies, paramedics were called out to the Jones' Loganville home on Christmas Eve about the 6-year-old boy. The boy was rushed to a hospital, where he died Monday. "Apparently they saw something that just didn't look right to them," Chief Deputy Bruce Wright said. After paramedics asked deputies to look into the case, Louis and Jami Jones were arrested. "Based on the evidence that was obtained through a search warrant the night this occurred, interviews with the parents and information the doctors have given us, there is enough evidence to proceed with this charge," Wright said. DFCS workers were called in to care for the couple's other children...
FATHER KILLED KIDS, HIMSELF...
By Phil Manzano, The Oregonian, (6-1-09)
Tyler and Kylie Gumm
....Police identified the children as Tyler Gumm, 7; and his sister, Kylie Gumm, 6, of Hillsboro.
....“It appears that James Gumm shot both kids with a handgun, then shot himself," said Hillsboro Police spokesman Lt. Michael Rouches. "The hard ones are the ones involving children. It is an awful, terrible scene.” Lt. Henry Reimann of Hillsboro Police said James Gumm had emotional problems, adding that ‘some mental health issues were starting to emerge.’ But Rouches said he had no idea why Gumm, who did not have a criminal record, killed his two adoptive children.
Oregon court records show Gumm and his wife filed for divorce twice, in 1992 and again in December 2007. The mother of the boy's biological father said via e-mail that both children had the same birth mother but different fathers....Rouches said Gumm and his ex-wife had a custody agreement, and Gumm shot the children during his time with them. There is no record of intervention by the Department of Human Services for abuse or neglect of the children. The adoptive mother, who lives in Hillsboro, asked through the police for privacy Saturday.
FLINT GIRL'S ADOPTIVE MOTHER CHARGED WITH MURDER
by Ben Schmitt, Detroit Free Press Staff Witer - 4-24-09
Shylae Thomas
Genessee County prosecutors charged the adoptive mother of a quadriplegic 9-year old girl with second degree murder, and five other charges, alleging neglect and malnourishment caused the death of the girl who was found dead this week [in a garbage bag] in a storage unit. Lorrie Thomas, 39, of Flint, is charged in connection with the death of her adopted daughter and niece, Shylae Thomas. Thomas is also charged with two counts of welfare fraud, abuse, tampering with evidence, and a misdemeanor count of removing a dead body without the permission of the medical examiner… an autopsy showed that Shylae suffered from malnutrition and weighed 33 pounds at the time of her death. In August, records indicate the girl had weighed 61 pounds… On April 13, Thomas cashed a $2,884 monthly adoption subsidy... Shylae had been dead for about six weeks. Jonette Thomas said her cousin, Lorrie "did the best she could with eight children."
Tai-Ling
AUTHORITIES: TEEN KEPT IN FLA BATHROOM, BEATEN
by Christine Armario, AP; also reported by CBS News, Spring Hill, FL, 2-18-09
For three years, neighbors in a quaint, middle-class community scarcely saw the lanky 16-year-old boy who lived with his adoptive mother and her boyfriend. Now, they know why: According to authorities, the teen was brutally abused and held captive in his own home. Most recently, he'd been confined to a bathroom, locked from the outside and sealed with a piece of plywood over the window. By the time he escaped last week, the Florida boy had a broken forearm and scars, scabs and oozing wounds that investigators say mark years of abuse. Hernando County Sheriff Richard Nugent called it "barbaric." "This is almost like what John McCain went through in Vietnam when he was a prisoner of war," Nugent said.
Tai-Ling Gigliotti and her boyfriend, Anton Angelo, were arrested and charged with aggravated child abuse and false imprisonment last week. Gigliotti, 50, was released on a $15,000 bond. Her attorney did not reply to messages seeking comment, and no one answered when a reporter visited her home. Angelo, 45, was released on a $50,000 bond… Authorities are still piecing together the boy's history, but they believe Gigliotti is the boy's aunt, and that she brought him from Taiwan to the United States when he was a young child.
The teen, whose name was not released because he is an alleged victim of child abuse, told investigators his stepfather was Anthony Gigliotti, who was the Philadelphia Orchestra's principal clarinetist. The stepfather died at age 79 in 2001, before the abuse apparently began. …"He acted very reserved when he was around her," Lynne Gigliotti said of the boy. "And when you would get him away from her, he acted like a little boy." About the time Anthony Gigliotti died, his wife and Angelo began living together. Neighbors said the family moved into their Spring Hill house, about an hour north of Tampa, approximately four years ago… Her nephew didn't seem to be around as much in recent years… Other children said he'd stopped going to school about a year ago…
According to an arrest affidavit, the abuse began at least three years ago, when the boy was forced to sleep in a hallway as punishment. Then in November 2007 daily confinement in a bathroom began. Nugent said the boy seemed to believe the abuse was his fault for minor problems like a messy room. He was also told he'd be deported if he escaped, Nugent said… "The pain had to be horrific," Nugent said. "I think at that point he just became absolutely fearful for his life." …the boy, who weighs 111 pounds, managed to break the door frame and pull the door open, Nugent said. He put on some of Angelo's clothes and ran to a neighbor for help. Authorities took him to a hospital, where the full extent of his injuries were uncovered.
The state has placed the boy with a foster family.
Nina Hilt
("Viktoria Bazhenova")
RUSSIAN GIRL KILLED IN U.S., ADOPTED LEGALLY
from newsfromrussia.com/usa/2005/07/11/60568.html
Investigators began looking into the adoption of [2 year old] Nina Hilt after the girl died earlier this month in Virginia. Her adoptive mother, Peggy Sue Hilt, 33, of Wake Forest, North Carolina, was arrested last week and charged with the girl's murder, reports the AP. The Interfax news agency reported Monday that Russian prosecutors found the girl was adopted with no violations of federal regulations. Hilt's arrest came just weeks after Russian authorities stripped three U.S.-based adoption agencies of their accreditation, saying they failed to monitor the children's well-being in their adoptive families. About 20,000 children are adopted in the United States each year, with Russian children accounting for some 25 percent of their total number. At least 12 adopted Russian children have died since 1996.
Renee Bowman
CHILDREN'S REMAINS FOUND IN HOME FREEZER
from FOXNews.com; MyFOXDC.com, 1-29-08
LUSBY, Maryland — Child-sized human remains uncovered in a basement freezer were those of two girls and have been there for months, their adoptive mother told investigators. Authorities said Monday they believe she is responsible for their deaths. Sheriff's deputies were investigating an abuse complaint regarding a third, surviving child Saturday when they discovered the remains encased in ice. The mother told investigators that they had been in her southern Maryland home's freezer for at least seven months, and police said they are considering the case a homicide. Deputies made the gruesome find in Lusby, about 50 miles southeast of Washington, D.C. They were at the home with a search warrant to investigate what happened to a runaway 7-year-old girl who was found wandering the neighborhood, injured and hungry in a blood- and feces-soaked nightshirt.
The girl's mother, 43-year-old Renee Bowman, has been arrested... She is charged with first-degree child abuse in the beating of the 7-year-old. Bowman was a foster mother to all three before adopting them in the District of Columbia, officials said at a news conference. The girl had open sores and lesions on her buttocks and lower thighs, marks on her neck made by a cord, rope or other item and bruises on her hands and lips, police said ....Bowman adopted the oldest girl in July 2001, D.C. officials said. Three years later, she adopted the girl who would now be 9 and her 7-year-old sister. She is not biologically related to them.
Alexis Glover
ARREST MADE IN ALEXIS GLOVER MURDER CASE
by Toni Clark Knight, Black Spin News, Black Voices.com - 2-19-09
Although arrested and released from police custody a little over a month ago, Glover's adoptive mother, who initially told authorities that the girl had run away, has been arrested again. After local police searched her property, she was charged with felony child neglect and filing a false police report. Further charges are "likely." [The] 13-year-old developmentally disabled girl disappeared last Wednesday (Jan. 7) from the parking lot of the Manassas, VA, Central Community Library.
CAGES BUILT FOR [ADOPTED] CHILDREN RAISE ALARM
by Josh Getlin, LA Times, p. A-12 (9-15-05) www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-cages 15sep15,1,3128744.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
WAKEMAN, Ohio ? …Nine of the kids were forced to sleep in wooden cages ? and the Gravelles didn't think anything was wrong, officials said. The 11 kids, all adopted, were whisked out of the house on St. John Road and placed temporarily in four foster homes. They are special-needs children, with problems including fetal alcohol syndrome, HIV, autism and Down syndrome.
"We're still trying to figure out where all the kids came from," [said Huron County Prosecutor Russell Leffler]… But he issued a news statement Wednesday evening, saying that the Gravelles, with the approval of a social worker, had constructed "enclosures" around their beds, because the children demonstrated "extreme behavioral problems" and that "traditional methods of behavior control were unsuccessful."… When investigators searched the house, they found few toys lying about. The children's wooden cages had no bedding ? only mats ? and some reeked of urine. A key issue is where the children came from, and how a home with such apparent conditions could have been ignored by child-welfare officials for so many years. None of the children were adopted in Huron County; all came from adoption authorities in other states, officials said. …Although no figures have been released, a 2001 divorce proceeding between Michael and Sharen Gravelle, ultimately dropped, indicated that she was receiving an estimated $4,265 per month in adoption subsidies and Social Security benefits for seven children. The couple adopted four additional kids in subsequent years. Sharen Gravelle alleged in the court documents that her husband had displayed "extreme cruelty and gross neglect of duty"; he denied this and said their relationship had "deteriorated."
GIRL TESTIFIES ABOUT ABUSE BY MOTHER
by David Conti, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (10-19-05)
Haley Liberman buried her head in the side of a prosecutor who led her into a courtroom Tuesday morning. The 9-year-old girl with long brown hair and pudgy cheeks didn't want to look at her adoptive mother, Debra Liberman, who sat at the defendant's table… Officer Connie Diulus found Haley naked, wet and shivering in the closet. Haley's testimony came on the first day of her mother's attempted homicide trial before Common Pleas Judge Donna Jo McDaniel at the Allegheny County Courthouse, Downtown. Liberman, 52, of Carrick, also is charged with aggravated assault, arson, child endangerment and unlawful restraint. Haley's brother, Noah, who was 4 at the time of the February 2004 attack, was not hurt. Both children now live in Virginia with their adoptive father -- Liberman's ex-husband, Daniel Liberman… After more time in the freezing February air, Liberman brought her daughter back inside and to the basement. "She put me in the coal cellar. She took a (furnace) filter and lit it on fire. And she closed the door," Haley said. "It was still burning when I pushed the door open." And Liberman was still there. Haley said her mother poured cat litter over her head, and then three bottles of bleach. "It went down from the top of my back all the way to my knees," Haley said. "It hurt." Liberman then beat the child with a chain dog choker and forced her outside again -- this time naked -- to "wipe the blood off with the snow," Haley said. Then, after running hot and cold water on the girl in the shower, Liberman locked her in the closet. Neighbor Beth McCann testified that she called 911 about 7:30 a.m. after hearing Haley through a shared wall. "She was coughing and crying and saying, 'Please stop,' " McCann said.
When at last mother and daughter made eye contact yesterday, both buried their faces in their hands and cried. David Conti can be reached at dconti@tribweb.com or (412) 391-0927.
N.J. STARVING BOYS CASE PROMPTS FIRINGS
by John P. McAlpin, Associated Press Writer (10-27-03)
TRENTON, N.J. - The body of a 7-year-old boy found in a box in a Newark basement nearly a year ago prompted a shake-up at New Jersey's child welfare agency. The agency reviewed all open cases, hired 366 more employees and received $30 million in emergency aid.
Despite those changes, four adopted boys -- one of them 19 -- were found earlier this month malnourished and weighing less than 50 pounds each. Their adoptive parents [Raymond and Vanessa Jackson] were charged last week with starving them, and on Monday, nine child welfare employees were fired and the state announced another review of recently compiled safety assessments of children in state care.
Social workers had visited the boys' house in Collingswood as many as 38 times in two years, state officials said. Some of those visits had been ordered of all children in state care after the Newark death last January.
Authorities said the boys were locked out of the kitchen and fed a diet of uncooked pancake batter, peanut butter and jelly and cereal. The boys told investigators they also gnawed on wallboard and insulation. They were found after a neighbor discovered Jackson rummaging through trash for food.
[NOTE: In "Cash Incentives for Adoptions Seen as Risk to Some Children" by Leslie Kaufman (10-29-03), it was reported that: "…States across the country, often in response to cash incentives offered by the federal government, have been under intense pressure in recent years to move children through their foster care systems and into permanent homes. Indeed, the number of annual adoptions nationally almost doubled from 1995 to 2001, and New Jersey adoptions more than doubled in an even shorter time, to 1,364 in 2002 from 621 in 1998.
…The payments to parents willing to adopt can amount to hundreds of dollars a month per child. The Jacksons, with six adopted children and one foster child, received more than $30,000 in government payments last year.
…Once children are formally adopted… the state is no longer entitled to closely monitor their well-being… a greater amount is paid to the families who adopt medically fragile or psychologically troubled children -- the risk exists that families take on more than they can handle, sometimes just for the additional money.
"Have we gone too far too fast?" asks Gary Stangler, executive director of Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative, a private foundation in St. Louis focusing on getting children out of foster care. "I worry that with all the applause going to the increasing numbers of adoptions, that we are possibly putting these young people into families not equipped or prepared to handle them."
…Richard Wexler, the director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, says he was concerned that the new law "would create a huge incentive for quick and dirty slipshod placements."]
"MOMMIE DEAREST" by Christina Crawford
ISBN 042504440 Penguin-Putnam 1976, Berkeley 1986;
& 20th Anniversary Edition 0966336989, Seven Springs 1997
When released in 1978, Christina Crawford's "Mommie Dearest" made an indelible impression on America's cultural landscape: it enjoyed 42 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list, spawned a cult film classic (starring Faye Dunaway) based on the book, and placed the issue of [adoptive] family violence in the national spotlight… and the book still stands as a catalyst for change. Christina Crawford is an internationally recognized, best-selling author and advocate for adoption reform, the rights of women and children, and a pioneer in making family violence an issue of national concern. While the original book places a spotlight on the physical and emotional abuse famed actress Joan Crawford inflicted on her adopted children, in the 20th Anniversary edition of "Mommie Dearest," Christina Crawford adds a Preface "to reflect the whirlwind that has happened in my life since 'Mommie Dearest ' was first published, and an Afterword on adoption reform."
Following are true incidents documenting abuse and murders of adoptees by their adopters (excerpted newsclips, other sources cited).
TWO CHARGED WITH ABUSING ADOPTED KIDS
by Lise Fisher, Gainesville Sun (4-11-03)
"Two Gainesville women, including one who has been adopting abused and neglected children for about 20 years, are accused of abusing many of those children - beating them with pipes and forcing them to fight with each other at their home, police said.
Nellie Jasper Johnson, 60, was at the Alachua County jail Thursday where she was being held in lieu of a $1 million bond on 38 charges including aggravated child abuse, child neglect and tampering with a witness, victim or informant.
Also charged is her adopted daughter, Colony Latrisa Johnson, 29, who was at the jail in lieu of a $500,000 bond. She faces prosecution on six counts of child abuse and four counts of aggravated child abuse.
Police forwarded the names of 19 possible victims to prosecutors, Gainesville Police Detective Patti Nixon said. They were ages 7 to 17 when the alleged abuse occurred, she said.
Nixon said this is one of the worst cases of child abuse she has seen.
…All of the victims were adopted through a Broward County agency called Shepherd's Care Ministries, police and an official with the Florida Department of Children & Families said. The group is licensed by DCF to recruit adults to adopt children and to make adoptive placements, local DCF spokesman Tom Barnes said. The group, Barnes said, would have been responsible for conducting a home study prior to the children being adopted by Nellie Johnson.
…The last adoption occurred in about 1996, Barnes said. The adopted children came from South Florida, including Palm Beach and Broward counties. Nixon said there may have been more victims.
'There are more children out there who are grown and we haven't been able to reach,' she said."
"MAN IN MIDST OF DIVORCE KILLS FAMILY"
from Wire Service Reports, in Salina Journal, 1-28-03
Horner, West Virginia: "A man in the middle of a divorce shot two of his children and a foster child child to death in the woods and killed himself… Gayle Sams estranged wife and their 14-year-old daughter escaped unharmed and ran to a neighbor's house to call 911… Two 4-year olds and a 17 year old boy were killed when Sams who was living elsewhere went to the family home… The sheriff said the family was adopting one of the 4 year olds."
Brian Edgar
"SLAIN BOY'S BIOLOGICAL RELATIVES QUESTION ADOPTION PROCESS"
by Grace Hobson, The Kansas City Star (1-10-03):
"Patricia Jones could not have known a fleeting visit with her 2-year-old grandson, Brian Clark, would be her last. She had not seen the toddler since he was placed in foster care at the age of about 7 months old. But his foster parents arrived late to the meeting, so the visit with the boy she had helped raise was brief. "It was like a flash of light," recalled Jones, of Kansas City. "A hug. A kiss. I haven't seen him since then -- until the news. All I heard was the name Brian, and I knew that was my grandchild. "My heart just dropped," Jones said, tears welling.
This week a social services official confirmed that Brian Edgar, the 9-year-old boy who died Dec. 29 of asphyxiation after being gagged, was her biological grandson. …How, they wonder, could Kansas social services officials allow Brian to be adopted by people who later would be charged in his death? Neil and Christy Edgar, and their baby sitter, Chasity Boyd, are charged with first-degree murder of Brian, who died after he was bound and gagged and his mouth was taped shut. Police allege in court records filed this week that Brian and three other children the Edgars had adopted were routinely bound at night and gagged.
Brian was a happy, well-adjusted baby, Patricia Jones said. His only medical problem was sleep apnea, for which he used a sleep monitor, she said. …Shadden said she did not know why Brian was not placed with anyone in his biological family, and said that under Kansas law she could not discuss any particular case.
To reach Grace Hobson, call (816) 234-7744 or send e-mail to ghobson@kcstar.com.
"POLICE ALLEGATIONS DETAILED IN BOY'S MURDER"
--The Kansas City Star, 1/9/03, by Joe Lambe www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascitystar/4904500.htm
A court document filed Wednesday chronicles sweeping police allegations in the slaying of 9-year-old Brian Edgar. Authorities say Brian and two siblings were routinely bound at bedtime and that evidence related to his death was taken to another house and destroyed. …Neil and Christy Edgar, along with the baby sitter, Chasity Boyd, 19, are charged with first-degree murder. The Edgars also are charged with abusing their 16- and 12-year-old sons and 9-year-old daughter. The Edgars adopted all four. The surviving children are now in protective custody…
DEAD GIRL’S KIN SUE ADOPTION AGENCY
by Jennifer M. Fitzenberger, The Fresno Bee, (3-15-02)
"Five siblings of a murdered child on Wednesday sued the agency that placed them in the home of Angela Thompson. The children suffered years of physical and emotional abuse because Family Connections Adoptions didn't properly supervise their placement in the Thompson home or investigate her background, according to a lawsuit filed in Tulare County Superior Court. Alison Foster, executive director of Family Connections, said her agency made a clerical error resulting in improper certification of Thompson, but was never told details of prior cases of abuse.
"A DEATH IN WHITE BEAR LAKE"
-- Ballantine Books, 11/28/00, by Barry Siegel, (ISBN 0345432991)
The true story of how a 3-1/2 year old child was brutally abused and ultimatly murdered by his adopter, Lois Jurgens. You Will learn how her husband, family and friends were very aware of the abuse and did absolutly nothing to help this poor child. You will also read how the justice system and adoption agency failed to save Dennis. And the painful events for the natural mother, Jerry Sherwood and her family to get justice for her dead son. Very well written book that goes into the background of Lois and Harold Jurgens and how this evil women was able to adopt a total of 6 children (all whom ran away and were removed from her home due to abuse). The book also gives a compelling account of the trial and finally the conviction of murder for Lois Jurgens, who for 22 years almost got away with it.
Email to AmFOR about the Jurgens case from Pamela Norton Docken, 1-22-03:
"As an adopted cousin of Dennis, I feel it is important the record shows that my parents DID try to intervene, but were unsuccessful due to circumstances. Social Services was not interested in protecting the children.
The police department was run by Lois's brother, my uncle. Abuse was a common occurance in my mother's family. Often things about my mother's family was covered up. According to the investigators in 1986, it was my uncle who stopped the investigation into Dennis's death.
My parents, Richard and Donna Norton, moved forth and fought to get Robert removed from Lois's house -- and were -- at least temporarily -- successful. They also fought the placement of the four other children into the Jurgen's home. But that too fell on deaf ears. The social service system failed to protect Dennis. Even after Dennis was scalded the system allowed the his adoption to happen. The Catholic Church failed -- Father Riser knew the family well and did nothing to stop her from getting more children -- he actually wrote a letter of support. Neighbors failed. And yes -- most family members failed. While many family members denied knowing about the abuse, other's did not. My mother's family was a very secretive, powerful family who would go to no end to stop a person from talking. I look at both my Mother and my Father as two people who went against the family to fight for all the children that were placed with Lois.
I was just a child when Dennis -- who was not only a cousin but also a playmate of mine had his life taken away. I saw first hand the frustration my parents went through as they tried to find a way to protect Dennis and Robert, and the other children that Lois managed to get. No matter how dangerous it was to our own family.
During this period of time, Lois broke into our home early in the morning and attempted to start a fire in our kitchen while we slept. My father caught her as she left. Lois's attempts to harm our family did not deter my parents from trying to do what they could to protect the children. My parent's efforts fell on deaf ears of social services and local authorities. My father retained an attorney to block the adoptions of the four children from Kentucky. Apparently Lois and Harold managed to get around that. There were people who loved Dennis and tried to save him and to save the other children. In loving memory of Dennis, Pamela Norton Docken."
Renee and David Polreis
"POLREIS SENTENCING"
ICAD Digest, 9-22-97, www.ualberta.ca/~jpdasddc/ abuse/ICAD/digests/vol1no20.html
"Renee Polreis is scheduled to be sentenced today in Colorado for the 2nd degree murder of her two-year-old adopted son David. Sentencing guidelines suggest that she should receive a sentence of not less than 16 or more than 48 years for the savage beating that one forensic expert suggested was one of the worse that she has seen in 1000s of cases.
Renee Polreis adopted her son David from Russia and based her controversial defense on the notion that David had 'reactive attachment disorder' a controversial diagnosis. While the defense suggested that the two-year-old child beat himself to death, it seemed more plausible (in view of overwhelming evidence that he was beaten to death by an adult) that they were trying to convince the jury that the mother's actions were somehow justified.
The jury convicted her in about two hours and seemed to have no doubts that Renee Polreis killed her adopted son David, but did express sympathy with her difficult situation. The sentence will be of great interest."
Marybeth Tinning
"FROM CRADLE TO GRAVE"
Jove Publications, 5/90, by Joyce Egginston (ISBN 0515103012)
She had nine children and every single one of them died before they reached school age.
…Many suspected Marybeth Tinning of having killed the babies, but some thought it was just a genetic deformity in the family. That was, until the Tinning's two-year-old adopted son, Michael, died for no apparent reason. That's when the authorities started to move in. Tinning was sentenced to 20 years to life.
"GIRLS RETURNED TO ADOPTIVE PARENTS"
Los Angeles Times, 2/25/98, story about adopters judged abusive by court
Adoptive parents were found guilty of abusing 2 Russian children they adopted, on the plane ride on the way home from Moscow. The girls were returned to live with Karen and Richard Thorne of Phoenix. The Queens Family Court Judge ordered that the Thornes would be subject to unannounced visits by Arizona Child Welfare authorities and undergo psychological evaluation as a condition of regaining custody.
Lisa Steinberg
Joel Steinberg
"SUIT OVER GIRL'S DEATH SETTLED"
AP story on Lisa Steinberg. 09-30-99, 1726 EDT
NEW YORK (AP) - A woman whose daughter was illegally adopted by Joel Steinberg and later beaten to death by him accepted $985,000 Thursday to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit she filed against several city agencies.
The woman, Michele Launders, refused to comment on the settlement. But her lawyer, Joseph Famighetti, said: ``It gives her closure and allows her to get on with her life.''
Ms. Launders, who was unwed when her daughter was born in 1981, charged that Steinberg, a lawyer, defrauded her when he accepted $500 to place the infant with an adoptive family. Instead of putting the baby up for adoption, Steinberg took her home to his companion, Hedda Nussbaum, named the child Lisa, and killed her six years later by hitting her on the head.
Ms. Nussbaum testified that they used cocaine while the girl lay dying on the bathroom floor.
In 1988, Ms. Launders sued Steinberg, Ms. Nussbaum, the Police Department and other city agencies. She charged that the agencies knew Lisa was being abused and did nothing to protect her.
In settling the case, the city admitted no wrongdoing.
Ms. Nussbaum, 57, will donate $500 to a children's charity to settle the case against her.
Steinberg is serving up to 25 years for manslaughter.
"ABUSE OF ADOPTEES IN ADOPTIVE HOME"
Transcript of Workshop by Elizabeth ("Liz") Payne (social worker-mother-adoptee who was abused in her adoptive home;
workshop attended by adoptees, parents, search group leaders)
LIZ: "As you can see, we're in the most popular seminar this morning. And I think thinks it's very relevent as to why we're doing this workshop in the first place. The reasons… are basically that in recent stories about abuse that occurs in adoptive families, people seem to be startled. And as we found ourselves startled at it as well, we were startled that we were startled. Why should we be startled that there's abuse in adoptive families as well as other families? And we began to think about that in large part we all do have an assumption that there's probably not abuse in adoptive families.
I myself am an adoptee and a birthmother and a social worker and I was abused in my adoptive home. I'm still startled at various times. I catch myself and I realize that many times over the years, the general public often says 'Don't they screen those people?' Don't these people have to go through these horrendous checks before they can adopt? …The assumption being that they are therefore are more psychologically better and less prone to any kinds of abuse.
MOM CALLED 'UNCONCERNED' ABOUT SON
by Dennis Tatz, The Patriot Ledger, (8-16-02) www.ledger.com/display/inn_headlines/news1pl.txt
QUINCY - When police arrived to arrest her, Natalia Higier appeared more concerned about her dog and returning to her job in a jewelry store than about her 2-year-old son, who lay dying at Children's Hospital, a prosecutor said.
Higier, 47, pleaded innocent to manslaughter and assault charges yesterday in Quincy District Court, five hours after her adopted son, Zachary, died of massive internal head injuries. ''Doctors have said that the skull fractures were consistent with a fall from a multi-story building,'' prosecutor Robert Nelson told the judge…
Zachary was born in Russia on May 24, 2000. The Higiers, who have no other children, adopted him eight months ago. A babysitter told police she had seen injuries on the baby previously, but the state Department of Social Services said the family had no record. Police were called to the couple's house on May 2 and 3, 1995. Natalia Higier took out a restraining order accusing her husband of slapping her and punching her, leaving bruises, but she dropped it after one day. She also said he had hit her on April 27 and called her ''fat'' and ''poor.'' Louis Higier also took out a restraining order against his wife in Nofolk Probate and Family Court, but no further information was available… Doctors found brain injuries, including swelling, that they believe occurred several hours earlier than Higier told authorities, Nelson said.
''While police were driving her to the station she said she was a good person and sometimes things just happen,'' Nelson said [and] ''His reaction is not what you would expect from a parent whose 2-year-old had been injured,'' said Nelson.
ADOPTIVE MOTHER CHARGED IN DEATH
by Brian Arrington, International Herald Tribune (2-27-02) www.iht.com
Police have charged the adoptive mother of the 5-year-old Victoria Avenue boy who died in her care Dec. 14 with murder after medical examiners ruled the child died from a blow to the head. Heather Lindorff, 37, of Victoria Avenue was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, endangering the welfare of a child, aggravated assault and child abuse. Her husband, 52-year-old James E. Lindorff, was also arrested and charged with fourth-degree child abuse… The arrest comes after medical examiners ruled that 5-year-old Jacob Lindorff died after sustaining ''blunt trauma to the head,'' according to county Prosecutor's Office spokesperson Dianna Reed-Rolando.
FOSTER MOTHER [ADOPTER] CHARGED IN DEATH
Detroit Free Press, by Jack Kresnak, Staff Writer (3-22-03)
"A Detroit foster mother who had adopted a girl and was set to adopt two boys from Pontiac was charged Friday with first-degree felony murder in the beating death of one of the boys. The foster mother, Lynda Carol Baker, was named in a murder warrant issued late Friday by the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office. She is charged in the death on Tuesday of Joshua Causey, 4, who had been placed in Baker's care in August."
ACCIDENT OR MURDER??
Daily World, by Lisa Patterson (1-12-03) - lpatterson@thedailyworld.com
www.thedailyworld.com/daily/ 2003/Jan-12-Sun-2003/news/news1.html
Tap, tap, tap. A little finger poked Nathan Mohler's shoulder. "I think you're my brother," said a blue - eyed little boy with shiny blonde hair.
For most of their lives the Grays Harbor boys had been separated from each other while being shuffled through the foster care system. Andy Mohler, the youngest, was adopted not long after he tapped his big brother's shoulder, and the chance meeting that summer afternoon at a 4 - H camp in Mason County would be their last.
Andy Mohler, later renamed Shawn Lawrence by his adoptive parents, died while on a fishing trip with his new dad and a young friend on Oct. 9, 1999 - about a year after his adoption. At first the 10 - year - old's death was ruled accidental. It was determined that he slipped, hit his head - perhaps on some rocks - and drowned in the remote Brown Creek Campground area north of Shelton. Weeks later, police learned the adoptive parents took out $650,000 in life insurance policies on their new son.
…When Andy was adopted, the ties with his biological mother weren't the only ones severed - his brothers lost their rights to contact Andy, too. Mohler doesn't think that was right. Tears turned to anger when he found out his brother had been dead for at least a week, and that the autopsy and cremation had already come and gone.
"I understand that it was a closed adoption and everything, but his biological mom and siblings should have been contacted," Mohler said.
"…Andy had an abrasion in the back of his head, like he fell and hit his head," Mohler said. "But there wasn't any debris in the cut. It makes me think that he didn't fall first. That someone hit him."
…He's afraid the longer the case goes on, the more chance there is that it will be forgotten - that he'll never know what really happened to his little brother. That's why he decided to talk to the media, including NBC's "Dateline," believing that his speaking out will help keep the investigation alive. The TV segment is expected to be aired nationwide sometime soon.
… On the fishing trip, detectives said, the adoptive father separated the two boys and later asked the friend to help him look for Andy.
The mother attempted to cash out one of the life insurance policies five days after the death.
Debra Gatlin and Tiffany Clair
MOTHER ON TRIAL IN DAUGHTER'S DEATH
Star Telegram, by Melody McDonald, (8-28-03)
FORT WORTH - Tiffany Clair was conceived of rape, adopted at birth, had attempted suicide and was shot up drugs together with her adopter, when she overdosed and died at age 15. This week, her adopter, Debra Gatlin Clair, is on trial… accused of manslaughter in the May 3, 2001 death of her adopted daughter.
CLAIM BOY KILLED HIMSELF "UNREAL" COURT TOLD
Brighton & Hove, Newsquest Media Group, by Phil Mills (10-16-01)
…His adoptive mother, Michelle McWilliam, found John in bed and called an ambulance. She and her husband Simon concocted a story that John self-abused, to cover up the abuse that one or both of them were inflicting.
TETHERED BOY'S MOM IS RELEASED
Detroit Free Press, by Jack Kresnak (11-3-99)
Is tying a half-naked disabled child to a plastic bucket with a dog collar and leash, then locking him in a basement room, considered criminal abuse in Michigan? Perhaps not. The boy and his biological brother--both adopted years ago by the woman, a former licensed foster parent, are in foster homes under supervision of the Wayne County Family Independence Agency.
LORETTA REED, Petitioner v. STATE OF FLORIDA,
Respondent, Amended Supplemental Brief Of Petitioner; and Answer by Respondent Florida Supreme Court, Case No. SC01-1238 (1-22-02)
…It was Petitioner [adopter, Loretta Reed's] defense at trial that Petitioner applied punishments as an attempt to manage this "special needs" child…
GUILTY VERDICTS in ABUSE CASE
North County Times, by John Hall (5-17-03)
RIVERSIDE ---- After several days of what they described as "heated" deliberations, a Riverside County jury Friday found Eileen Marie Merchant guilty on all counts and Michael Cody Gramaje guilty on all but one count in their highly publicized child-abuse trial.
The two-week trial of Merchant and Gramaje centered on the near-fatal injuries inflicted upon Kara Sheppard, who was 7 months old when the abuse was discovered in March 2001.
Kara and her slightly older sister, Sarah, were left by their mother in the care of Gramaje's wife, Terri, who previously pleaded guilty to a potential life sentence for torturing and abusing Kara. Merchant lived in a mobile home on the same Wildomar property as the Gramajes.
Once she was taken to a hospital on March 11, 2001, doctors found Kara had a potentially deadly disease that had taken over her left thigh, broken bones, a broken pelvis, bleeding between her brain and skull in two different areas, bleeding behind her eyes, open sores on her mouth and nose, seeping bed sores and a rectal tear.
In December, Kara was legally adopted by a couple who have asked to not be identified. They were in the courtroom when verdicts were read Friday.
PARENTS CONVICTED IN DEATH, DISMEMBERMENT OF DAUGHTER
Associated Press, 12-25-99
MIAMI -- Ken Wilkinson was sentenced to more than 30 years for the 1997 slaying of [4 year old] Kendia Lockhart, who was visiting from the Bahamas. He pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of aggravated manslaughter in exchange for testifying against his wife. Roselene Wilkinson had been on trial for first-degree murder, but was convicted of lesser charges. She was sentenced Thursday to 30 years… Prosecutors said Mrs. Wilkinson shoved Kendia so hard against a wall that a door knob left an imprint in the child's head and killed her. Mrs. Wilkinson said her husband beat Kendia to death in an alcohol-induced rage. Wilkinson, who has a history of violence toward his family, admitted chopping, burning and burying his first-born in an effort to conceal her death.
NO MURDER UPGRADE in WATER-DRINKING CASE
Salt Lake City Tribune, by Ashley Broughton (7-18-03)
PROVO - …Roy Killpatrick, 35, and Jennette Killpatrick, 27, initially were charged with abuse homicide, a second-degree felony, and child abuse, a third-degree felony, in the June 9, 2002 death of their adopted daughter Cassandra. Doctors claim the girl died from water intoxication, in which enough water is ingested to lower a person's sodium and electrolyte levels to a point that causes seizures and brain swelling. A medical examiner has estimated that Cassandra drank at least 2.5 liters of water.
The Killpatricks have said the water drinking was a form of therapy recommended by the Cascade Center for Family Growth in Orem, but the Center has denied recommending any forced water-drinking.
MAN HELD, SUSPECTED OF ABUSING HIS KIDS
Detroit Free Press, by Jack Kresnak (8-27-03)
A Northville man who pleaded guilty earlier this year to sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl living in his mother's foster home was in custody Tuesday after two foster children he had adopted made sexual abuse allegations against him.
Scott Francis, 41, who is on the state's list of sex offenders, was undergoing psychiatric evaluation after a lengthy standoff with Northville police in his Yerkes Street home Monday night. He is being held without bond awaiting trial…
JUDGE THROWS OUT SEVERAL COUNTS IN CUSTODY CASE INVOLVING MURDER
The Associated Press, By Jim Paul (8-22-03)
DECATUR -- A Macon County judge said Thursday evidence does not support prosecutors' allegations that a woman who adopted her sister-in-law's son took part in the woman's murder in 1996.
Mary Slover adopted the boy in April 1999, but the state took the boy from her three years later, claiming she knew of the murder and had engineered the adoption to keep Kolten away from his [birth] mother's family.
Judge Scott B. Diamond found there might be enough evidence to support allegations that Mary Slover helped conceal the murder of Karyn Hearn Slover, who was shot to death. Her dismembered body was found in Lake Shelbyville.
…If Diamond rules against her, Kolten will become a ward of the state and faces another adoption -- perhaps by his natural mother's parents.
Kolten, now 10, has been in foster care since July 2002 while lawyers have argued over whether Mary Slover abused and neglected the boy and should lose her parental rights. Her brother and parents -- Michael Slover Jr., Michael Slover Sr. and Jeanette Slover -- are serving 60-year prison sentences for the murder.
DEATH PENALTY INFORMATION CENTER
www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=24&did=228
Patricia Blackman, who is Black and was 29 at the time of the crime, murdered her Black 2 year old adopted daughter in Dothan, Alabama in May 1999 and was sentenced 6-7-02.
CPS WATCH
www.cpswatch.com/news/oh.asp
--(3-8-03) MOTHER CHARGED IN ADOPTED GIRL'S DEATH
A Lancaster woman faces criminal charges related to the death of the 2-year old daughter she adopted from Russia. The girl allegedly died of shaken baby syndrome.
--(5-16-03) ADOPTIVE MOTHER CHARGED IN ABUSE
Prosecutors say Bonnie Hyre suspected her husband was abusing their adopted children while she was away.
Noreen Erlandson
RULING TO ALLOW MOTHER WHO KILLED GIRL, 2, TO BE FREE SOON
The Seattle Times (6-18-03)
When Noreen Erlandson was sentenced to 40 years in prison in 1992 for the brutal murder of her adopted daughter, the judge hoped to send a strong message against child abuse… Erlandson was given an exceptional second-degree murder sentence…
…Under 1992 sentencing guidelines, the maximum sentence for manslaughter is 10 years in prison… Kayla Erlandson, who was adopted from South Korea, died at Harborview Medical Center in April 1991. When she was found unconscious in her mother's arms, the toddler had 65 injuries, including bruises, brain swelling, a lacerated liver, a neck bite and a deep scald on her arm.
Donald Boss
OLDER BROTHER TESTIFIES IN BOSS TRIAL
www.theiowachannel.com/ news/1813953/detail.html (12-3-02)
Donald Boss Jr., 38, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of his adopted 10-year old son Timothy. Timothy's older brother Claxton Boss said Timothy was tied to a chair in the basement of the family home… he watched through a hole in the basement wall while his parents repeatedly struck the younger boy… Timothy spent months locked in a windowless basement, deprived of food and forced to wear diapers before his father tied him to a chair and beat him to death in a fit of rage… all of the Boss family's adopted boys who are Black were kept locked in the basement of the family's northwest Iowa home.
MURDER IN KOREA
AP story at wwwfreerepublic.com/forum/a3704e9182559.htm (4-2-99)
SEOUL, South Korea. …Navy Petty Officer 1st Class James W. Fuhrman, 36, of Quincy Illinois, was charged with premeditated murder and obstruction of justice in the Jan. 25 death of his wife, Choon-ja, 42, and their adopted son, Bobby… Police believe Fuhrman's wife and son were killed somewhere else and then dumped at the construction site, doused with flammable liquid and set on fire to conceal the crime.
KANSAS WOMAN PLEADS GUILTY IN ADOPTED SON'S DEATH
www.religionnewsblog.com/4493.html (9-19-03)
Associated Press. Olathe Kansas. [Christy Edgar] pleaded guilty to murder and child abuse… just as her trial was beginning in the death of her adopted son, who suffocated after he was bound with duct tape… he had been wrapped from head to toe with duct tape, leaving only his nose uncovered and causing him to suffocate on vomit… The Edgars were pastors of God's Christian Outreach Ministry in Kansas City… Five other church members face charges of abusing three of the Edgars' children and a friend of the children.
Roberta Gillin
WOMAN CLEARED IN SLAYING OF ADOPTED DAUGHTER
www.postgazette.com/neigh _south/20020608burned5.asp (6-8-02)
[Roberta Gillin, 50] who withdrew from a plea deal on third-degree murder charges last year was acquitted on all charges in the murder and burning of her mentally retarded, adopted daughter… James Gillin was sentenced to life in prison, plus 14 years in 2001 for first degree murder. Judge Conrad Capuzzi refused to accept Roberta Gillin's plea after hearing gruesome testimony during her husband's trial… Helen Gillin, 25, the couple's adopted daughter, was stomped to death and her body was burned in a backyard fire pit in 1992… The Gillins were arrested and charged in 1999 after their biological daughter, Mary Joe Overly, told police that she witnessed the killing when she was 13… "She has to live with herself," Overly said. "My sister deserves to get her justice and she didn't." Prosecutors said Roberta Gillin made her adopted daughter drink a mixture of bleach and heart medication after finding out her husband was having sex with Helen… the couple dumped the body into a fire pit in the back yard. The body was doused with gasoline and set on fire. But Gillin denied forcing her daughter to drink the poison mixture and said she did not report the sexual abuse or the slaying because she was afraid of her husband. When Gillin was asked why she did not go to the police, when she learned her daughter was being abused, she said she was handling the situation through prayer.
Sally Schofield
'FAILURE TO PROTECT: The Taking of Logan Marr'
with Rachel Dretzin, Producer, FRONTLINE, 1-31-03
In January 2001, 5-year-old Logan Marr was found dead in the basement of her foster mother's home in Chelsea, Maine. The foster mother, Sally Schofield, [who was planning to adopt Logan and Bailey Marr] was a highly respected former caseworker for Maine's Department of Human Services. FRONTLINE's "Failure to Protect: The Taking of Logan Marr," Thursday, Jan. 30, at 9 p.m. ET on PBS examineds the girl's short, troubled life and asked a series of tough questions: Why was a little girl who had never been abused taken from her birth mother? Was her mother given a real opportunity to regain custody? And did the state miss significant clues that she was in danger?
The Killpacks
IT WASN'T DISCIPLINE. IT WAS TORTURE.
by Geoffrey Fattah, Deseret Morning News, 8-7-03
deseretnews.com/dn/view/ 0,1249,510045231,00.html
PROVO It wasn't discipline. It was torture. That's what a psychologist said Wednesday about the actions of a Springville couple [Jennette & Richard Killpack] accused of forcing so much water down their adopted daughter's [Cassandra's] throat that she died.
Ian and Angela Gay
Christian Blewitt
Couple killed child with salt, court told
by James Sturcke, Independent Online (11-20-04)
news.independent.co.uk/uk/ crime/story.jsp?story=584796
A couple killed a three-year-old boy they were hoping to adopt by poisoning him with salt, a court was told yesterday. Ian and Angela Gay, from Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, were accused of feeding Christian Blewitt up to four teaspoons of salt after he failed to meet their expectations.
Couple Kill Themselves After Baby's Shaking Death
AP/DeseretNews.com (4-21-04)
Southgate, MI - A couple caring for two young children they hoped to adopt committed suicide after the 6-month-old boy was shaken to death, police said. Carissa Columbus, 25, and Leonard Columbus, 35, disappeared after Tyler Vanpopering died last Wednesday. Police broke into their home Saturday and found them in the garage, dead of carbon monoxide poisoning.
PAIR WHO CAGED SONS GET LONGER JAIL TERMS
The Toronto Star, by Tracey Tyler, Legal Affairs Reporter (11-5-04)
Nine months in jail is a "demonstrably unfit" sentence for a Blackstock couple who beat and caged their adoptive sons, crimes that were "shocking to the conscience of the community" and "cry out for a significant penitentiary sentence," the Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled.
"The facts as found by the trial judge unequivocally establish the horrendous abuse of two young boys by their parents for more than a decade," Justice Eleanore Cronk wrote on behalf of the court, which set aside the widely criticized sentences yesterday.
ADOPTIVE MOTHER SAYS HER BROTHER-IN-LAW TO BLAME FOR KIDS ABANDONED
The Associated Press (8/20/04)
HOUSTON The lawyer for the adoptive mother of seven children found malnourished and sick in a Nigerian orphanage is defending the woman's actions, blaming a brother-in-law for abandoning them while she was in Iraq.
Mercury Liggins faces a custody hearing on Aug. 26. Harris County Child Protective Services officials have referred to police new abuse complaints from the children, who claim that she struck them with switches and a cane and had repeatedly threatened to take them to Africa if they ever told law officers about earlier abuse reports.
Irma and Alex
Pavlis
WOMAN GETS 12 YEARS, REBUKE, IN SON'S DEATH
by Dan Rozek, Chicago Sun-Times
www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-pavlis05.html
Her lawyers argued that Russian doctors and authorities hadn't fully disclosed Alex's medical problems to [Irma and Dino] Pavlis… any behavioral problems the child exhibited didn't explain or justify the punches, slaps and shoves Pavlis said she used to try to discipline the boy who died of severe brain injuries. …She likely will be released from prison in less than 4 years… Before she was sentenced, Pavlis expressed hopes her adopted son's death would not stall or halt foreign adoptions of Russian children…
AmFOR Note: On 5-21-04, when the Chicago Tribune's first report on this case [which is archived at www.chicagotribune.com/ news/nationworld/chi-0405210351may/ ] stated: "Since 1996, adoptive parents have been accused of killing at least 12 Russian children. Experts know of no other country from which so many children have died" [Evidently the Times hadn't checked this web-page, and the many reports found on Internet, that document the many American adopted children who have also died at the hands of their American adopters].
QUESTION REMAINS WHETHER TEENS KEPT IN CAGE CAN RECOVER
USA Today/wkys.com, by Chris Tye (3-9-05)
wkyc.com/news_fullstory.asp?id=31544
He was 17, but slept in a padlocked crib and police say abuse came at the hands of his adoptive parents… Ten years ago, Wilson Sulivan and his wife Brenda adopted a 10-year-old boy… When authorities stepped in, records show the 17-year old regularly wore a diaper and showed signs of starvation-- weighing only 49 lbs at 41/2 feet tall-- and communicates by grunting.
"PATHOLOGICAL PARENTING" - an article by Kerry Semon, Registered Nurse and adoptee: http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/2940
Adam
SEARCH STARTS FOR KANSAS BOY NOW MISSING 10 YEARS
by Roxana Hegeman, Associated Press (AP) - 1-5-09
"EL DORADO, Kan. (AP) &emdash; The Kansas parents who failed to report their 11-year-old adopted son missing nearly a decade ago are "people of interest" as authorities search for him nationwide, a sheriff said Monday. Investigators only recently learned Adam Herrman was missing and are focused on finding him, Butler County Sheriff Craig Murphy said. Adam was 11 when he disappeared in 1999 from a mobile home park in Towanda where he lived. Authorities would not say whether they believed Adam, who would now be 21, is alive. "We are working it as if it is a death &emdash; but we are not leaning one way or the other," Murphy said. Doug and Valerie Herrman adopted Adam at 2 1/2 years old, and he had been in foster care before that. The parents have not been arrested or charged with any crime, and Murphy said no charges would be filed while investigators focused on the search…"
Maria
MARIA BARRAGAN SUCCEEDS IN GETTING ADOPTIVE PARENTS JAILED
Times Online, 4-5-08
…In a landmark decision, a court in Buenos Aires sentenced a former military officer and the adoptive parents of one of the country’s many babies “stolen” during the dictatorship to prison for concealing the child’s identity and falsifying adoption documents.
Maria Eugenia Sampallo Barragan, 30, had brought charges against the three after discovering her true identity seven years ago. Ms Sampallo is one of hundreds of people who were snatched from their parents or born in captivity during the country’s dictatorship of 1976-83, but she was the first to face her adoptive parents in court. Osvaldo Rivas, 65, and Marla Cristina Gómez Pinto, 60, her adoptive parents, were sentenced to eight and seven years in prison respectively. Enrique Berthier, a former army captain who handed Ms Sampallo over to the couple when she was a baby, received ten years.
“These are not my parents,” Ms Sampallo said at a press conference on Monday. “They are my kidnappers . . . there is no emotional bond that binds me to them. These are my parents,” she said, picking up photos of her biological parents. Argentina's military regime arrested Leonardo Sampallo and Mirta Barragan, suspected leftist dissidents, in December 1977. Soon after Ms. Sampallo was born, her parents died in prison and the infant was given to Captain Berthier to pass on to another family, which hid her real identity. Ms Sampallo learnt about her past from the human rights group Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo. They have found 88 people like Ms Sampallo, children of their own sons and daughters who “disappeared”. Argentine military imprisoned tens of thousands of people suspected of being subversives and killed as many as 30,000. The junta also decided to “rehabilitate” its enemies” children by placing them with families that supported the dictatorship. Many of the children were given to the families of men who may have participated in the torture and deaths of their parents.
The Grandmothers say that up to 500 children were abducted by the military or were born in captivity. During the dictatorship the group kept note of women who suddenly appeared with babies without being pregnant, and began investigations that, with recent advances in DNA technology, have begun to get results. Cases involving abducted children have proved crucial to bringing the dictatorship’s architects and executioners to justice. An amnesty for military and police officers imposed by the first postdictatorship government did not include the theft of babies, jurists contended.
“My hope is that each conviction acts as a step toward building the truth,” said Victoria Donda, an MP and activist who was taken from her biological parents at birth and learnt of her real identity in 2003.
Sources: desaparecidos.org; nuncamas.org; National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons… See the movie "Cautiva", it tells the whole story.
DOUG WARD, Grover Beach, Calif. USA, comments: "What is not stated is that Maria's adoptive parents mistreated and abused her throughout her childhood (her adoptive mother made it clear that she was not her natural daughter and would repeatedly insult her threaten her with abandonment, saying she didn't deserve what they had done for her, she was good for nothing and so on.) "
COUPLE KILLED ADOPTED SON WITH SALT AFTER DECIDING HE WAS TOO NAUGHTY
by Dominic Kennedy, UK News, Times Online, 1-14-05
A WEALTHY couple who killed their adopted three-year-old son by poisoning him with salt were jailed for five years yesterday after a judge called them cold-blooded and selfish.
Christian Blewitt died six weeks after being put into the care of Ian and Angela Gay, who lived in an exclusive gated community. The boy died of brain damage with the equivalent of four teaspoons of salt in his bloodstream, the highest level doctors had seen. A week after Christian arrived into their care, Ian Gay, 37, had described the boy as brainless, a vegetable and a zombie… They were cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter. They plan to appeal. After the trial, Detective Chief Inspector Steve Cullen, from West Mercia Police, said: “We are pleased that justice has been done for Christian. “It is difficult to conceive how a little boy would voluntarily eat several teaspoons of salt, and this has been backed up by experts who say a child would reject even a small quantity.” Christian's natural grandfather, Jim Burke, of West Bromwich, said that the Gays should have been jailed for twice as long. Angela Gay had known that she was infertile from the age of 16. The lack of children destroyed their eight-year marriage; her husband wanted a family, she did not. But they agreed to adopt, and remarried in 2002. By now, she was a £200,000-a-year insurance actuary. “I have always dreamed,” she told the jury, “of a child calling me Mummy.” After being given a girl to foster, the Gays were allowed to adopt a family — Christian, his two-year-old brother Nathan, and Chlöe, five months. The children were placed with the Gays at their home in Bromsgrove on November 1, 2002. Their new life was one of a luxury they had never experienced. But Christian, suffering the consequences of neglect in his early life, failed to meet the couple’s expectations. Ian Gay sobbed as he told of his guilt at telephoning social services a week after the children arrived to complain that the boy was a vegetable. After ten days his wife returned to work, flouting an assurance given to the adoption panel that she would take three months off. Mr Gay had given up his job as a service engineer but he had so little experience of children that he had been sent to a nursery to learn basic childcare and was left alone in charge of the children. When his wife returned home at 7pm, Christian would refuse to accept a glass of milk from her. Gay believed his wife wanted to send the children back and their rows led them to sleep in separate beds. On the morning of December 7, Angela Gay was upset when Christian butted, kicked and bit her. Ian Gay held him in front of her and told him to apologise but he refused. The next day Christian smeared gravy over his face, knocked the plate over and stood on his chair, laughing. Gay carried him upstairs where his wife said she found him unconscious. The boy died four days later. The judge said the couple had decided to punish Christian by making him eat salt”. This was not done “by the sort of inadequate and unintelligent people who sadly often are sitting where you are but intelligent people who had made a deliberate choice in cold blood”.
Judith Leekin
ADOPTIVE MOM ACCUSED OF ABUSING, STARVING [ADOPTIVE &] FOSTER KIDS FOR DECADES
Associated Press, 7-30-07
PORT ST. LUCIE, FL. — They were often handcuffed, tethered together with plastic ties and allowed to soil themselves, investigators say. They had scars on their wrists. Some had burns. None appeared to have more than a fourth-grade education, not even the adults in their 20s. All were starving. In all, nine teenagers and young adults were held like prisoners in Judith Leekin's home in what appeared to be a decades-long scheme to line her pockets with the government payments she received for adopting and raising them, police say. From the outside, Leekin's home appeared to be as ordinary as the others in this well-kept working-class neighborhood on the outskirts of this Atlantic coast town, 120 miles north of Miami. But its pink and white stucco exterior hid the horrors inside, authorities say… the identities of the young people and have not established how long Leekin had them. But authorities believe she adopted all of them in New York City under at least five aliases over two decades. They range in age from 15 to 27. One is blind and mumbles. One can barely walk or stand. One can't read. But authorities said they do not know if the handicaps are a result of the alleged abuse. The case came to light on July 4, some 200 miles away across the state in St. Petersburg, when police received a call from a grocery store that a teenager was there wandering aimlessly. The 18-year-old woman, who said she has been with Leekin for 13 years, said Leekin drove her there and abandoned her after telling her they were going to an amusement park.
Police and child welfare workers went to Leekin's home, but found nothing awry. Just one child was with her in the house, and Leekin told investigators the 18-year-old ran away a year ago. But police soon returned, and this time they found all the children, who had apparently been hiding on Leekin's orders. Leekin, 62, was arrested and jailed on 11 charges, including aggravated elder and child abuse. She declined to be interviewed. Her attorney had no comment. According to authorities, she was unemployed and lived off the monthly stipends provided by child welfare authorities in New York. She owned at least two homes and several cars. The adopted children said they had never seen a doctor or a dentist and had not been allowed to attend school or even leave the house.
…The 18-year-old told police Leekin threatened to cut her head off if she told anyone what was happening, authorities said. "Was there any kind of emotional attachment? Yes, it was fear," Bartal said… If Leekin did adopt them in New York City, she could have been making as much as $180,000 a year for a time. Parents who adopt special needs children can get as much as $55 a day.
Emelyantsev
WOMAN WHO KILLED ADOPTED DAUGHTER TO BE EVALUATED
Desert News, Salt Lake Cirty, 8-13-08
TOOELE, UT — A woman convicted of killing her 14-month-old adopted daughter will undergo a mental evaluation before being sentenced. Court records said a judge delayed sentencing for Kimberly Emelyantsev, 34, during a hearing in 3rd District Court on Aug. 8, while she underwent the evaluation at the Utah State Prison. Emelyantsev pleaded guilty in June to a charge of child abuse homicide, a second-degree felony, in the death of her adopted child back in March. Emelyantsev will be sentenced on Oct. 10. A child abuse charge against Emelyantsev's husband, Fyodor, was dismissed in June
Calista Springer
CALISTA SPRINGER'S ADOPTIVE MOTHER ENTERS PLEA IN FIRE DEATH
by Kathy Jessup, Kalamazoo Gazette - 8-26-08
CENTREVILLE, MI -- The adoptive mother of a 16-year-old girl who died in a house fire while chained to her bed has pleaded no contest to child abuse/neglect charges. Marsha Springer's plea in St. Joseph County Family Court is separate from potential criminal charges that could stem from the Feb. 27 fire that killed Calista Springer. The plea, entered Friday before Family Court Judge Thomas Shumaker, resulted in the two younger children of Marsha and Anthony Springer becoming temporary wards of the court. It erased the need for a trial, which had been scheduled to start Monday, to determine whether the court should have jurisdiction over Calista's sisters. On Friday, Shumaker ruled there was sufficient evidence to conclude that the Springers' home "is an unfit place for the children to live in" after reviewing a transcript of testimony from a Michigan State Police trooper present at the Feb. 27 fire in downtown Centreville and a photograph of Calista before she was removed from her bed. "At the time of the fire, Calista (Springer) was in the care of the mother, who is legally blind," says the amended court petition regarding the removal of the couple's other minor children. "Calista was chained to her bed and unable to escape the fire or to be rescued by fire and police personnel." Anthony Springer characterized Calista as a "special needs" child prone to wandering off during the night. He said the bed restraint had been used for a short period of time because an alarm that had been used to monitor the girl was broken. Under Michigan child-welfare law, a court finding of abuse/neglect of one child in a home is sufficient to conclude that other children are at risk, according to Douglas Fisher, St. Joseph County prosecutor. Children can be removed from the family home even if only one parent is found responsible for "neglect and cruelty."
Shumaker set a Sept. 9 dispositional hearing during which St. Joseph County Department of Human Services officials are expected to recommend services or other measures the court could take that eventually could reunify the family. The cause of the fire officially remains "undetermined," but reports suggest it may have been connected to an overheated vacuum that Marsha Springer was using just before the fire erupted.
Jazzmin Davis
AUTOPSY: ANTIOCH GIRL WAS WHIPPED, BURNED
by Hilary Costa, Contra Costa Times - 09/04/2008; and updated: 11/30/2008
ANTIOCH, CA — Jazzmin Davis was continually whipped with belts and electrical cords, burned with irons and severely beaten in the Antioch home where she died Tuesday, an autopsy by the Contra Costa County Coroner's Office has revealed. The 15-year-old, emaciated and malnourished, suffered severe lacerations and blunt force trauma to her head, and sustained severe injuries on the day of her death, Antioch police Lt. Leonard Orman said at a Thursday news conference… The children's aunt and foster mother, Shemeeka Davis, 37, remains in County Jail in Martinez, where she is being held on suspicion of murder and corporal punishment. The district attorney is expected to file charges today. Orman said Davis has been cooperative and admitted to beating and whipping the twins. No clear motive has been identified for the abuse. "She talks about the fact that she does lose control," Orman said. Davis has been the twins' foster mother since their infancy. Their case was being handled through the San Francisco County Department of Human Services, Orman said. Trent Rhorer, executive director of the San Francisco Human Services Agency, said the agency had conducted the required regular checks on the children's welfare and had detected no evidence of abuse or neglect. The most recent visit to the home was in March 2008, Rhorer said - six months more recent than earlier reported by Antioch police. …Police said Davis had been receiving a $13,104 annual stipend from San Francisco County for the twins' care; $9,800 annually from Contra Costa County for caring for her elderly mother, who lives in Bay Point; and $1,700 a month from the Contra Costa Housing Authority through the federal Section 8 housing assistance program. Orman said the twins had been confined to the house and restricted largely to the stark second-story bedroom they shared, but it is still unclear how long they had been kept inside. The bedroom contained a bunk bed, one sheet, an empty closet and a few posters on the walls, Orman said. The boy reportedly spent much of his time reading in the bedroom, and is extremely bright, Orman said. His demeanor has been stoic, but he is upset about his sister's death, Orman said. Police said Davis' 7-year-old daughter, also removed from the house, had not been physically abused as was originally reported. The 7-year-old's father had also been living in the house until days before Jazzmin's death, and is cooperating with police. Shemeeka Davis' older sons, 17 and 18, also lived in the house. Orman said police are still investigating whether they are culpable in the abuse and murder… The neighbor said she had not seen Jazzmin for more than a year, and that when she questioned Shemeeka Davis about her whereabouts she was told Jazzmin had been sent to live with other family members. "We all failed her," she said. "Every one of us failed her."
Miles Harrison
Chase Harrison
RUSSIANS AND AMERICANS AGREE SEVERE PUNISHMENT DUE FATHER WHO KILLED ADOPTED RUSSIAN BABY
by Richard Cochrane, 12-26-08
[AmFOR Note: The following is one of several such incidents of American adopters killing children they adopted from Russia and which resulted in Russia halting adoptions.]
Russians and Americans don’t agree on much but they are both angry over the acquittal of a Virginia man was acquitted to killing his 21-month old son by leaving him for 9-hours in a boiling hot car. Russia will toughen adoption requirements for U.S. nationals following the acquittal of Miles Harrison 49 who adopted Russian-born son and then left the baby unattended in front of his workplace for 9-hours. “We are outraged by the court ruling and believe it to be totally unjust and unacceptable,” Alina Levitskaya was quoted by the Education and Science Ministry as saying. “It questions the reliability of the U.S. system of protection of adopted children’s rights, and will lead to tougher requirements for U.S. nationals in Russia.” …Over the last 10 years in the United States there have been approximately 230 fatal cases of parents locking their children in cars on a hot day.
Three adoption agencies, including that which organized Dmitry Yakolev’s adoption but failed to inform Russian authorities of the baby’s death, were banned from operating in Russia in July. Several calls for tighter controls on adoptions have been made in Russia in recent years over a series of scandals, notably the killing of a two-year-old girl from Siberia by her adoptive mother in the U.S. Around 120,000 Russian children were adopted both in Russia and abroad in 2007, a 6.4 percent increase on 2006, according to the Science and Education Ministry.
For adopted children who were murdered during "rebirthing" or other deadly assaults on children advanced by professionals as a "cure" for "Attachment Disorder" commonly diagnosed when adopters simply don't like their adopted children, or when adopted children don't like their adopters, go to "The Daily Bastardette" page on "The Therapeutic Murders of Candace Newmaker, David Polreis, Viktor Matthey, and Jessica Albina Bennett" at
http://bastardette.blogspot.com/2008/08/therapeutic-murders-of-candace-newmaker.html
http://www.amfor.net/KillerAdopters/
The Evil Foster Carers Who Kill The Children They Are Paid To Protect
The Evil Foster Carers Who Kill The Children They Are Paid To Protect
Here are just a handful of the children killed by the so called Child Protection System. What you are about to see is not shocking to the people of America, it is a regular occurrence. And the reason behind them? Over zealous Social Workers taking so many children into care, that they are not properly checking out Foster Carers, who go on to "Protect" their foster kids to death. And as you will see, it is rare for a Foster Carer to be charged for murder as they are protected by the state. And now we see the UK going down the same road. The problem in taking children away for fear of future emotional abuse, is that sometimes the Foster Carers who take these children turn out to be child abusers. What's better? The possibility of "future emtional harm" or the child being "protected" to death by the state?
Foster Child Death by Crackers
Death of a Foster Child Part One
Lawsuit Says Foster Child Boy Was Starved To Death
Foster Care Death Still An Open Investigation
http://www.stateintervention.com/2010/05/evil-foster-carers-who-kill-children.html
Here are just a handful of the children killed by the so called Child Protection System. What you are about to see is not shocking to the people of America, it is a regular occurrence. And the reason behind them? Over zealous Social Workers taking so many children into care, that they are not properly checking out Foster Carers, who go on to "Protect" their foster kids to death. And as you will see, it is rare for a Foster Carer to be charged for murder as they are protected by the state. And now we see the UK going down the same road. The problem in taking children away for fear of future emotional abuse, is that sometimes the Foster Carers who take these children turn out to be child abusers. What's better? The possibility of "future emtional harm" or the child being "protected" to death by the state?
Foster Child Death by Crackers
Death of a Foster Child Part One
Lawsuit Says Foster Child Boy Was Starved To Death
Foster Care Death Still An Open Investigation
http://www.stateintervention.com/2010/05/evil-foster-carers-who-kill-children.html
Youth struggle to succeed after foster care, studies show
Youth struggle to succeed after foster care, studies show
Foster care » Extended support, social network may be critical
By Brooke Adams
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 05/03/2010 06:01:16 PM MDT
Bianca Flores, 18, goes over the details of her... (Leah Hogsten / The Salt Lake Tribune)
Until she entered foster care, Bianca Flores was too busy tending her three younger siblings to attend school.
Her mother was either sick or MIA, gone for nearly a week at a time. There was no dad -- never had been. So Flores filled in as best she could, putting her own life on hold.
But since January 2009, Flores has powered through three years of high school credits, and this spring she will do what seemed unimaginable a year ago: Flores, 18, will graduate from high school, the second person in her family to do so.
Next up is an even bigger challenge -- at the end of August, Flores will exit the state's foster care system and become a student at Snow College, where she plans to pursue a degree in graphic design.
If Flores succeeds, she will be defying the odds.
Numerous studies, both here and in other parts of the country, have highlighted the struggles of youth who age out of foster care, finding they are more likely to be homeless, unemployed, under-educated and in jail. One report released this month found nearly 60 percent of young men had been convicted of a crime, compared with 10 percent of young men who had never been in foster care. For women, three-quarters were on public assistance by age 24.
The new study, by researchers at the University of Chicago and University of Washington, is the largest, most comprehensive study of young adults leaving foster care in two decades. It comes as a new federal
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initiative that begins this year is requiring states to track outcomes of youth once they leave foster care.
That federal database will require states to do a census of at least a sample of 17-year-olds in foster care and then check at ages 19 and 21 to see how they are doing in six areas: income, education, homelessness, positive adult connections, high-risk behavior and access to health insurance.
Utah plans to track all children, not just a sample of youth. The state also plans to check in with youth yearly from the time they turn 17 and evaluate their use of broader array of services.
"We felt that was a service we were providing to youth and thought how could we provide it to some but not others," said Navina Forsythe, evaluation director for the Utah Division of Child and Family Services.
A 2006 DCFS study looking at life after foster care, currently being updated, mirrored the national results. The study reviewed cases of 926 youth who aged out of foster care between 1999 and 2004. Few were able to finish vocational or college educations. Many wound up in low-paying jobs.
More than a third had been arrested for a felony or misdemeanor crime within three years of leaving foster care. For females, a third had given birth within that same time period.
The study also found that 57 percent of the youth who left foster care since 2002 were diagnosed with a major mental illness.
The national study, released in April, showed that federal incentives that allow states to extend foster care services to age 21 may not be enough to prevent poor outcomes -- that in reality, these youth need support for a longer period.
"What is clear is that substantive policy changes need to be made to do justice to the complex needs of former foster youth," said Mark Courtney, research and development director of Partners for Our Children at the University of Washington, in a statement.
DCFS caseworker Mindy Leonard said Flores is one of the "few and far between" youth she has worked with who has the puzzle pieces in place for success.
Flores hopes to land an Olene Walker Scholarship, available to youth who are college bound after leaving foster care, that will provide $5,000 a year for four years. Flores also is eligible for Pell Grants. And dorm life will provide some structure.
Flores also has a good support system -- her mentors include former Miss Utah Heather Anderson, her religious youth group leader Kristy Hodgson and foster parents Michelle and Daren Williams -- which is key to post-foster care success.
Flores admits the prospect of college is "overwhelming" -- but so was going into foster care.
"Honestly, I'm a pretty shy person," Flores said. "When they told me I was going to have to go into a foster home, I made myself not a shy person."
Leonard expects that Flores' drive and tenacity will help her succeed academically and socially at college.
"She has a lot of initiative," Leonard said. "Anything you offer her, she jumps at. The motivation in this girl is amazing."
More often, youth who age out of foster care just want out, period, she said.
"Every kid has available what Bianca has," Leonard said. But, "When you take a kid who has had trouble their whole life and try to fix things, it often doesn't work well."
Flores wasn't happy about being separated from her siblings -- including one born after she entered care -- who went to different foster homes, though she sees them and her mother regularly.
But if that had happened, she said, "I wouldn't have had as much focus and effort on my high school career."
"For some kids it would be hard to not be with your family, and it has been," she said. "It's been hard to not have to care for my siblings any more."
But at the same time, she said, it was hard not having a shot at shaping her own future.
brooke@sltrib.com
Leaving foster care
Nearly 30,000 young people nationwide -- and 300 to 400 in Utah -- age out of foster care each year. In most states youths must leave the foster care system when they turn 18, though some states allow them to continue accessing services until they turn 21.
Utah's foster care system currently has custody of 186 children who are 18. Most will be emancipated once they graduate from high school. There are just 57 children in state care who are 19 and five who are age 20, according to the Division of Child and Family Services.
"We do have some children who can stay in [custody] longer but it is really up to a court order," said Navina Forsythe, DCFS' evaluation director. Many of those teenagers who remain in foster care have medical or mental health issues, she said.
-- Brooke Adams
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_15009507
Foster care » Extended support, social network may be critical
By Brooke Adams
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 05/03/2010 06:01:16 PM MDT
Bianca Flores, 18, goes over the details of her... (Leah Hogsten / The Salt Lake Tribune)
Until she entered foster care, Bianca Flores was too busy tending her three younger siblings to attend school.
Her mother was either sick or MIA, gone for nearly a week at a time. There was no dad -- never had been. So Flores filled in as best she could, putting her own life on hold.
But since January 2009, Flores has powered through three years of high school credits, and this spring she will do what seemed unimaginable a year ago: Flores, 18, will graduate from high school, the second person in her family to do so.
Next up is an even bigger challenge -- at the end of August, Flores will exit the state's foster care system and become a student at Snow College, where she plans to pursue a degree in graphic design.
If Flores succeeds, she will be defying the odds.
Numerous studies, both here and in other parts of the country, have highlighted the struggles of youth who age out of foster care, finding they are more likely to be homeless, unemployed, under-educated and in jail. One report released this month found nearly 60 percent of young men had been convicted of a crime, compared with 10 percent of young men who had never been in foster care. For women, three-quarters were on public assistance by age 24.
The new study, by researchers at the University of Chicago and University of Washington, is the largest, most comprehensive study of young adults leaving foster care in two decades. It comes as a new federal
Advertisement
initiative that begins this year is requiring states to track outcomes of youth once they leave foster care.
That federal database will require states to do a census of at least a sample of 17-year-olds in foster care and then check at ages 19 and 21 to see how they are doing in six areas: income, education, homelessness, positive adult connections, high-risk behavior and access to health insurance.
Utah plans to track all children, not just a sample of youth. The state also plans to check in with youth yearly from the time they turn 17 and evaluate their use of broader array of services.
"We felt that was a service we were providing to youth and thought how could we provide it to some but not others," said Navina Forsythe, evaluation director for the Utah Division of Child and Family Services.
A 2006 DCFS study looking at life after foster care, currently being updated, mirrored the national results. The study reviewed cases of 926 youth who aged out of foster care between 1999 and 2004. Few were able to finish vocational or college educations. Many wound up in low-paying jobs.
More than a third had been arrested for a felony or misdemeanor crime within three years of leaving foster care. For females, a third had given birth within that same time period.
The study also found that 57 percent of the youth who left foster care since 2002 were diagnosed with a major mental illness.
The national study, released in April, showed that federal incentives that allow states to extend foster care services to age 21 may not be enough to prevent poor outcomes -- that in reality, these youth need support for a longer period.
"What is clear is that substantive policy changes need to be made to do justice to the complex needs of former foster youth," said Mark Courtney, research and development director of Partners for Our Children at the University of Washington, in a statement.
DCFS caseworker Mindy Leonard said Flores is one of the "few and far between" youth she has worked with who has the puzzle pieces in place for success.
Flores hopes to land an Olene Walker Scholarship, available to youth who are college bound after leaving foster care, that will provide $5,000 a year for four years. Flores also is eligible for Pell Grants. And dorm life will provide some structure.
Flores also has a good support system -- her mentors include former Miss Utah Heather Anderson, her religious youth group leader Kristy Hodgson and foster parents Michelle and Daren Williams -- which is key to post-foster care success.
Flores admits the prospect of college is "overwhelming" -- but so was going into foster care.
"Honestly, I'm a pretty shy person," Flores said. "When they told me I was going to have to go into a foster home, I made myself not a shy person."
Leonard expects that Flores' drive and tenacity will help her succeed academically and socially at college.
"She has a lot of initiative," Leonard said. "Anything you offer her, she jumps at. The motivation in this girl is amazing."
More often, youth who age out of foster care just want out, period, she said.
"Every kid has available what Bianca has," Leonard said. But, "When you take a kid who has had trouble their whole life and try to fix things, it often doesn't work well."
Flores wasn't happy about being separated from her siblings -- including one born after she entered care -- who went to different foster homes, though she sees them and her mother regularly.
But if that had happened, she said, "I wouldn't have had as much focus and effort on my high school career."
"For some kids it would be hard to not be with your family, and it has been," she said. "It's been hard to not have to care for my siblings any more."
But at the same time, she said, it was hard not having a shot at shaping her own future.
brooke@sltrib.com
Leaving foster care
Nearly 30,000 young people nationwide -- and 300 to 400 in Utah -- age out of foster care each year. In most states youths must leave the foster care system when they turn 18, though some states allow them to continue accessing services until they turn 21.
Utah's foster care system currently has custody of 186 children who are 18. Most will be emancipated once they graduate from high school. There are just 57 children in state care who are 19 and five who are age 20, according to the Division of Child and Family Services.
"We do have some children who can stay in [custody] longer but it is really up to a court order," said Navina Forsythe, DCFS' evaluation director. Many of those teenagers who remain in foster care have medical or mental health issues, she said.
-- Brooke Adams
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_15009507
False reports, attempted rape & forced abortion - your Child Protective Services at work
False reports, attempted rape & forced abortion - your Child Protective Services at work
May 4, 8:19 AMAlbany CPS and Family Court ExaminerDaniel Weaver
Child Protective Services caseworkers around the nation were busy over the past few days, protecting your children and mine.
Here are a few stories I found that show how busy they were.
"SAN ANTONIO -- A Child Protective Services worker was fired after he allegedly tried to buy drugs with a young runaway in his custody and have sex with her."
Read the entire story at www.woai.com.
"Philadelphia--A DEPARTMENT OF Human Services caseworker pressured a pregnant Mayfair teenager to undergo a late-term abortion by threatening to take away either her toddler or her unborn baby if she had the child, according to the teen's foster mother."
Read the entire story at www.philly.com.
"Racine, Wisconsin--A Racine County Wisconsin Human Services child protective service investigator has been fired and is under criminal investigation for allegedly filing false reports on child abuse cases he never actually took the time to investigate."
Read the entire story at the journaltimes.com.
More About: Child Protective Services
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-14537-Albany-CPS-and-Family-Court-Examiner~y2010m5d4-False-reports-attempted-rape--forced-abortion--your-Child-Protective-Services-at-work
May 4, 8:19 AMAlbany CPS and Family Court ExaminerDaniel Weaver
Child Protective Services caseworkers around the nation were busy over the past few days, protecting your children and mine.
Here are a few stories I found that show how busy they were.
"SAN ANTONIO -- A Child Protective Services worker was fired after he allegedly tried to buy drugs with a young runaway in his custody and have sex with her."
Read the entire story at www.woai.com.
"Philadelphia--A DEPARTMENT OF Human Services caseworker pressured a pregnant Mayfair teenager to undergo a late-term abortion by threatening to take away either her toddler or her unborn baby if she had the child, according to the teen's foster mother."
Read the entire story at www.philly.com.
"Racine, Wisconsin--A Racine County Wisconsin Human Services child protective service investigator has been fired and is under criminal investigation for allegedly filing false reports on child abuse cases he never actually took the time to investigate."
Read the entire story at the journaltimes.com.
More About: Child Protective Services
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-14537-Albany-CPS-and-Family-Court-Examiner~y2010m5d4-False-reports-attempted-rape--forced-abortion--your-Child-Protective-Services-at-work
Philadelphia Department of Human Services threatened to take away the teen’s other child if she didn’t get late-term abortion
Philadelphia Department of Human Services threatened to take away the teen’s other child if she didn’t get late-term abortion
A Philadelphia Department of Human Services caseworker pressured a pregnant Mayfair, PA teenager to undergo a late-term abortion by threatening to take away either her toddler or her unborn baby if she had the child, according to the teen’s foster mother. According to the Philadelphia Daily News, the “alleged” strong-arm tactic happened one day after DHS learned of the pregnancy, when the girl was about 22 weeks pregnant, according to her foster mother and the girl’s social worker, Marisol Rivera. The foster mother did not want to be identified in order to protect the girl’s identity. The Daily News also learned that:
* DHS got a Family Court judge’s order allowing it to take the girl for an abortion, after the girl’s birth mother refused to approve the procedure.
* By the time DHS arranged for the abortion – in March – the girl was 24 weeks pregnant. She had to undergo the procedure in New Jersey because abortions in Pennsylvania are illegal at 24 weeks.
* Although it is DHS policy that a DHS worker accompany any minor who has a court-ordered medical procedure, this did not happen on the girl’s first attempt to have the abortion. That attempt failed when the clinic wouldn’t accept her Medicaid card and wanted cash, according to the foster mother. A DHS worker did accompany the girl on a later, successful, attempt.
* Rivera, the girl’s social worker, said that she was fired by Concilio, which subcontracted with DHS to provide care, after she initially refused to accompany the teen for the abortion.
“They hired me to work in child protection, not to kill children,” Rivera told the Daily News.
DHS officials said that they could not discuss the case because of medical-privacy laws. Attempts to talk to the teenager were unsuccessful.
http://www.fireandreamitchell.com/2010/05/03/philadelphia-department-of-human-services-threatened-to-take-away-the-teen%E2%80%99s-other-child-if-she-didnt-get-late-term-abortion/
A Philadelphia Department of Human Services caseworker pressured a pregnant Mayfair, PA teenager to undergo a late-term abortion by threatening to take away either her toddler or her unborn baby if she had the child, according to the teen’s foster mother. According to the Philadelphia Daily News, the “alleged” strong-arm tactic happened one day after DHS learned of the pregnancy, when the girl was about 22 weeks pregnant, according to her foster mother and the girl’s social worker, Marisol Rivera. The foster mother did not want to be identified in order to protect the girl’s identity. The Daily News also learned that:
* DHS got a Family Court judge’s order allowing it to take the girl for an abortion, after the girl’s birth mother refused to approve the procedure.
* By the time DHS arranged for the abortion – in March – the girl was 24 weeks pregnant. She had to undergo the procedure in New Jersey because abortions in Pennsylvania are illegal at 24 weeks.
* Although it is DHS policy that a DHS worker accompany any minor who has a court-ordered medical procedure, this did not happen on the girl’s first attempt to have the abortion. That attempt failed when the clinic wouldn’t accept her Medicaid card and wanted cash, according to the foster mother. A DHS worker did accompany the girl on a later, successful, attempt.
* Rivera, the girl’s social worker, said that she was fired by Concilio, which subcontracted with DHS to provide care, after she initially refused to accompany the teen for the abortion.
“They hired me to work in child protection, not to kill children,” Rivera told the Daily News.
DHS officials said that they could not discuss the case because of medical-privacy laws. Attempts to talk to the teenager were unsuccessful.
http://www.fireandreamitchell.com/2010/05/03/philadelphia-department-of-human-services-threatened-to-take-away-the-teen%E2%80%99s-other-child-if-she-didnt-get-late-term-abortion/
DHS takes children from foster mom who spoke up
DHS takes children from foster mom who spoke up
By REGINA MEDINA
Philadelphia Daily News
medinar@phillynews.com 215-854-5985
The Department of Human Services, through its provider agency Concilio, yesterday removed four foster children from the home of a woman who alleged that DHS had coerced one of the children into having a late-term abortion.
About 3:30 p.m., two Concilio employees came to the house, armed with notice of the children's removal.
"As of 5/3/10 your home has been closed as a foster facility due to the incompliance of Concilio's Foster Parent Agency Agreement," read the letter signed by foster-care coordinator Jheovannie Williams, one of the employees who came to the house.
This reporter was on the scene when DHS began removing the foster children. The Mayfair teen who had the abortion; her 1-year-old daughter; another minor, 17; and her son, 1, were packed inside a black van and driven away.
Williams warned the foster mother, whose identity the Daily News is withholding, that trouble was in her future, she said.
"He told me, 'Find yourself lots of money because you're not going to come out from this one very well,' " the foster mother said.
Williams also said that "they were going to sue me," she said. "He said I had to find a lawyer."
The foster mother previously told the Daily News that she had overheard DHS worker Cynthia Brown tell her 16-year-old foster charge, whose name is being withheld because she is a minor, that she would separate the toddler and the unborn child if she went to term.
DHS later obtained a judge's order to allow the teen to get an abortion. Brown drove the teen, who was 24 weeks pregnant, to have an abortion in New Jersey for the first day of the two-day procedure. Abortions in Pennsylvania are illegal once a pregnancy reaches 24 weeks.
DHS paid for the procedure and then requested that two Concilio employees, social worker Marisol Rivera, who has since been fired, and Williams accompany the teen on the second day, Rivera and the foster mother said. Williams drove the Concilio van to the Cherry Hill Women's Center, Rivera and the foster mother said.
Williams refused to comment yesterday when asked about the removal, deferring all calls to Concilio's executive director, Joanna Otero-Cruz.
Calls were not answered at Concilio yesterday afternoon.
Donald F. Schwarz, the city's deputy mayor for health and opportunity, explained in a statement why the four minors had been removed from the house.
"It's now become clear that the foster mother has violated Pennsylvania state law regarding confidentiality [by discussing the teen's case with the newspaper], therefore potentially compromising the safety and well-being of the children in her care," Schwarz's statement read.
DHS Commissioner Anne Marie Ambrose issued a statement late yesterday:
"It is unfortunate that the Daily News decided to print an inflammatory story riddled with inaccuracies. The DHS caseworker involved in this case did nothing wrong, in fact she followed departmental policy and procedure. DHS workers remain neutral in medical situations of this nature and would not coerce or force a child to do something that she does not want to do."
Robin Banister, the teen's child advocate, also issued a statement late yesterday:
"My client was not coerced by DHS or anyone else. . . . She is upset with the false representations reported about her case and she is upset that professionals have violated her right to privacy."
But the foster mother is sticking to her words.
"Me? I'm going to say the truth," she said. "I told [Williams] I'm going to tell the truth."
She and the teen's birth mother, who identified herself as Deborah M., maintained that the girl was excited about having her second child. She discussed a name and told her daughter that she was going to have a little brother, but her tone changed after she talked with Brown, the foster mother said.
The 17-year-old foster child, who had no connection to the case that was reported yesterday, was weeping when she learned she was to be removed from the home, the foster mother said.
The teen at the center of the case came home from school upset at her foster mother because the teen knew that she had talked with the Daily News.
"She already knew she was being removed."
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20100504_4_children_taken_from_foster_mom_who_spoke_up.html?submit=Vote&oid=2&mr=1&92760904=Y&cid=8500281&pid=92760904
By REGINA MEDINA
Philadelphia Daily News
medinar@phillynews.com 215-854-5985
The Department of Human Services, through its provider agency Concilio, yesterday removed four foster children from the home of a woman who alleged that DHS had coerced one of the children into having a late-term abortion.
About 3:30 p.m., two Concilio employees came to the house, armed with notice of the children's removal.
"As of 5/3/10 your home has been closed as a foster facility due to the incompliance of Concilio's Foster Parent Agency Agreement," read the letter signed by foster-care coordinator Jheovannie Williams, one of the employees who came to the house.
This reporter was on the scene when DHS began removing the foster children. The Mayfair teen who had the abortion; her 1-year-old daughter; another minor, 17; and her son, 1, were packed inside a black van and driven away.
Williams warned the foster mother, whose identity the Daily News is withholding, that trouble was in her future, she said.
"He told me, 'Find yourself lots of money because you're not going to come out from this one very well,' " the foster mother said.
Williams also said that "they were going to sue me," she said. "He said I had to find a lawyer."
The foster mother previously told the Daily News that she had overheard DHS worker Cynthia Brown tell her 16-year-old foster charge, whose name is being withheld because she is a minor, that she would separate the toddler and the unborn child if she went to term.
DHS later obtained a judge's order to allow the teen to get an abortion. Brown drove the teen, who was 24 weeks pregnant, to have an abortion in New Jersey for the first day of the two-day procedure. Abortions in Pennsylvania are illegal once a pregnancy reaches 24 weeks.
DHS paid for the procedure and then requested that two Concilio employees, social worker Marisol Rivera, who has since been fired, and Williams accompany the teen on the second day, Rivera and the foster mother said. Williams drove the Concilio van to the Cherry Hill Women's Center, Rivera and the foster mother said.
Williams refused to comment yesterday when asked about the removal, deferring all calls to Concilio's executive director, Joanna Otero-Cruz.
Calls were not answered at Concilio yesterday afternoon.
Donald F. Schwarz, the city's deputy mayor for health and opportunity, explained in a statement why the four minors had been removed from the house.
"It's now become clear that the foster mother has violated Pennsylvania state law regarding confidentiality [by discussing the teen's case with the newspaper], therefore potentially compromising the safety and well-being of the children in her care," Schwarz's statement read.
DHS Commissioner Anne Marie Ambrose issued a statement late yesterday:
"It is unfortunate that the Daily News decided to print an inflammatory story riddled with inaccuracies. The DHS caseworker involved in this case did nothing wrong, in fact she followed departmental policy and procedure. DHS workers remain neutral in medical situations of this nature and would not coerce or force a child to do something that she does not want to do."
Robin Banister, the teen's child advocate, also issued a statement late yesterday:
"My client was not coerced by DHS or anyone else. . . . She is upset with the false representations reported about her case and she is upset that professionals have violated her right to privacy."
But the foster mother is sticking to her words.
"Me? I'm going to say the truth," she said. "I told [Williams] I'm going to tell the truth."
She and the teen's birth mother, who identified herself as Deborah M., maintained that the girl was excited about having her second child. She discussed a name and told her daughter that she was going to have a little brother, but her tone changed after she talked with Brown, the foster mother said.
The 17-year-old foster child, who had no connection to the case that was reported yesterday, was weeping when she learned she was to be removed from the home, the foster mother said.
The teen at the center of the case came home from school upset at her foster mother because the teen knew that she had talked with the Daily News.
"She already knew she was being removed."
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20100504_4_children_taken_from_foster_mom_who_spoke_up.html?submit=Vote&oid=2&mr=1&92760904=Y&cid=8500281&pid=92760904
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