11 kids found locked in cages in Ohio house

[Powerhouse]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/12/caged.children.ap/index.html

[/quote]
Monday, September 12, 2005; Posted: 9:51 p.m. EDT (01:51 GMT)

CLARKSFIELD TOWNSHIP, Ohio (AP) -- Sheriff's deputies found 11 children locked in cages rigged with alarms Monday in a north Ohio house.

The children, ages 1 to 14, were in cages in the walls of the home in Clarksfield Township, about 50 miles west of Cleveland. They had no blankets or pillows, according to the Huron County Sheriff's Office.

The children were taken to Fisher-Titus Medical Center. No information on their conditions was available late Monday.

Sharon and Mike Gravelle are adoptive or foster parents for all 11 children, officials said.

The Gravelles do not have a listed telephone number.

Few additional details were available late Monday. Prosecutors were reviewing the case, but no charges had yet been filed
[/quote]

:mad: :mad:

[Kiheicat]

:(
I think punishment for people who do unspeakable acts like this should fit the crime... lock the parents in cages in the walls and see how they like it.
Terrible.
:(

[mewsicmama]

I would personally like to see them hung up by their private parts. I hope those poor kids can be saved.

:biere_tre <----How I am feeling at the moment

[Heartland]

Sharon and Mike Gravelle are adoptive or foster parents for all 11 children, officials said. It will most likely come out later that some DFC employee didn't do their job and make home inspections. I'm sure there was no delay, however, in those sickos getting their monthly support checks from the state for the foster kids.

[Powerhouse]

Sorry, the story changes - but not for the better:
http://www.newsnet5.com/news/4961890/detail.html


UPDATED: 9:25 pm EDT September 12, 2005

WAKEMAN, Ohio -- Nine children were found locked in cages in their home in Wakeman in Huron County Monday, NewsChannel5 reported.

The sheriff said the kids, ages 1 to 14, were found in the cages with no blankets or pillows. The wooden cages, estimated to be about 3 foot by 3 foot, were built into the walls. Officials are not releasing the photos of the cages.

The children were taken to Fisher-Titus Medical Center. They are listed in good condition.

Officials said all the children were adopted children. Sharon and Mike Gravelle, the parents, have not been arrested. They had 11 children in all.

Officials said the parents thought they were doing what was best for the children.

"Basically, the parents thought they were providing for the protection of the children from themselves and from each other," said Huron County's Lt. Randy Sommers. "They thought it was circumstances that warranted the cages at night."

Officials added that the parents believed that because the children were autistic they should be kept in the cages for protection from each other.

According to officials, the cages had alarms that would go off if the children tried to escape.


Jesus H Christ. :1wall:

[Heartland]

Officials said the parents thought they were doing what was best for the children. Yeah, like it's a GOOD thing to keep any kid in a 3' x 3' cage, let alone a 14-year-old who must be over 5' tall at least! :mad:

I'm fully expecting the next report to state that they are fundamentalist freaks.

[agentorange]

Officials added that the parents believed that because the children were autistic they should be kept in the cages for protection from each other.

According to officials, the cages had alarms that would go off if the children tried to escape.
OH MY GOD. That sounds like something Mildred and Ron would do.

[Heartland]

Somebody needs to explain to me how a 1-year-old could be a danger to anyone, because I'm just not getting it.

[oddish]

Speaking as a fundamentalist..at least on some subjects...this makes me sick. I can'tprint what I hope happens to them

[Baileejean]

Oh geez, I knew I shouldn't have opened this thread. I just can't read stuff like this, it makes me flaming mad. :1tantrum: WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE????

I think the idea of putting the parents in the cages is a good one. Possibly someone could explain to me why they haven't been arrested????? :confused:

[sadie999]

Officials added that the parents believed that because the children were autistic they should be kept in the cages for protection from each other.

That seems to be why they haven't been arrested. Let's face it, Amerika hates its kids as evidenced by its laws - you can beat a kid, but they'll arrest you for beating a dog. And its autistic kids - well we'll let them live with any ignorant sadistic piece of filth on the planet because they're hard to place and we're too busy spending money on bombs to do anything about a crumbling infrastructure.

I believe a culture is judged on how it treats its most helpless members. In this country, we suck.

This story makes me so angry that I could almost pop a blood vessel,
Sadie

[mivona]

Autistic children need to be treated as individuals, and they need a lot of attention and care.

So the state places a bunch of autistic children in a home with TWO adults? What the hell were they thinking? What kind of care did they expect the two adults to be able to provide to ELEVEN children, let along children in that grouping who were autistic?

My daughter went to a state nursery here that began increasing the number of autistic children in the normal nursery. When there were three of them, head banging and crying, it was enough of a distraction for the three adults (with more to call on) there to deal with.

The placement of such children en masse in such a situation is nothing more than institutional care, privatised. In a home environment, there are not as many regulations to deal with as there are in a business environment. This is nothing more than abrogating their duty of care to the children, to ensure they could get them "cared" for as cheaply as possible.

[krisinluck]

Jesus.

This stuff turns up in the news all the time, and I just don't understand this world anymore.

[agentorange]

Nevermind that this couple locked their kids in crates... I mean clearly they didn't want the kids and/or couldn't handle them. And nevermind the kids were autistic either, what does that matter...

The sick part of this story is, all 11 kids were ADOPTED or FOSTER KIDS. That means the couple ACTIVELY SOUGHT THESE CHILDREN OUT, went through a very difficult process, and took them in! They showed every sign of WANTING these kids, yet they behaved in a manner that suggests they HATED THESE KIDS. Can anyone say, BUILK THE GOVERNMENT FOR MONEY AT THE EXPENSE OF THE KIDS!!!??? That is the only motivation for a such a duplicity. This lady didn't just screw her cousin and accidentally poop some toddler out, she and her husband COLLECTED KIDS, sought them out, and took great steps which involved alot of paperwork to obtain them.

WHAT IN GOD'S NAME MOTIVATED THEM TO SACRIFICE SO MUCH TO OBTAIN 11 KIDS, only to ABUSE THEM and TREAT THEM LIKE ANIMALS!!??? Even if we pretend they were so fucking stupid to think locking autistic tots in a doggie crate was the proper thing to do, one can only wonder what the state was doing HANDING THEM THESE KIDS, knowing how desturbed the parents were... surely if the parents were so righteous, they'd have made mention of their ideal "solution" to the "autistic problem" before they somuch as adopted the first kid, let alone the 11th.

[Powerhouse]

I challenge ALL here at TRS that if you find this situation dispicable and deplorable that you use this link http://www.wakeman-ohio.com/wakemanohio/html/government.html to contact an official and make your outrage at the treatment of these children and the failure of the police to arrest and charge the parents known!
Send an email or make a phone call to the mayor - I did! :biere_tre

[Powerhouse]

Here is an updated article on it:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050913/ap_on_re_us/caged_children


7 minutes ago

WAKEMAN, Ohio - Sheriff's deputies removed 11 children from a home where they were locked in cages less than 3 1/2 feet high, authorities said.
ADVERTISEMENT

The children's adoptive and foster parents, Mike and Sharen Gravelle, denied that they'd abused or neglected the children during a custody hearing Monday in Huron County. No charges had been filed as of Monday night.

"The impression that we got was that they felt it was OK," said Lt. Randy Sommers of the Huron County Sheriff's Office.

The Gravelles said a psychiatrist recommended they make the children — ages 1 to 14, with conditions that included autism and fetal alcohol syndrome — sleep in the cages at night. The cages were stacked in bedrooms on the second floor of their house, said prosecutor Russell Leffler, who was reviewing the case.

The children were found by a children's services investigator on Friday when he stopped by the Gravelles' home outside Wakeman, about 50 miles west of Cleveland. Deputies returned to the house that evening.

Some of the cages were rigged with alarms, Sommers said; others had heavy furniture blocking their doors. The children didn't have blankets or pillows.

One of the boys said he'd slept in the cage for three years, Sommers said.

The children were placed with four foster families Monday.

A woman who identified herself as Sharen Gravelle's mother but refused to give her name said the children were happy and loved. "This year they have played and had fun and laughed like no other children have, which they have never been able to do," she said.

The Gravelles do not have a listed telephone number.

Sommers said there were no apparent signs the children had been malnourished or beaten, but they were sent to a hospital for examination. Their conditions were not available Monday.

In March, a couple who had recently moved from Ohio to Florida was charged with neglect when their adopted teenager was discovered malnourished in a crib-like cage. The then-17-year-old weighed 49 pounds, investigators said.

The twin-bed-sized crib had been prescribed when the boy was much younger and lived in Ohio. It had been fitted with a lid, chains and a padlock, investigators said.



Here is the email I sent the mayor - if you need any help with writing one:

Sir,
I strongly protest that the 'parents' of the eight caged children were not immediately arrested and brought up on charges! It seems impossible that such conduct by these 'parents' is in ANY way legal, and your community's failure at the government level to enforce the law is tantamount to culpability!
The appearance to the rest of the world is that since these parents were not arrested and charged that must indicate that your community accepts such treatment of children as acceptable.
It is a completely despicable and deplorable situation and you are responsible for ensuring that the message is made clear to the world that you and your community know that what these parents did was wrong both legally and morally by immediately arresting and charging those parents to the fullest extent of the law!



May not be much but I couldn't just let this one pass.

[FLvamp]

OMG!

It's one thing to keep them confined for their safety. It's quite another to do it in dog crates without blankets or pillows.

WTF could they have been thinking?

That a blanket or pillow might cause them harm?

But nebbermind all that.

I've got a better word for this situation.

One that describes completely why this couple should be arrested and thrown under the jail.

Fire. :mad:

[Powerhouse]

My thinking too, Vamp - along with Flood, and Tornado. :mad:

[socrfan2]

The parents should spend the rest of eternity in one of the outer rings of hell.

Even worse, though, are the "officials" who approved this. Anyone with an ounce of compassion would know it's not possible for two trained and highly motivated professionals to take care of that many autistic kids -- heck, it's questionable whether they could take care of that many completely normal kids!!!

It hardly matters whether they had a chance to get out and do an inspection of the premises -- which of course, they should have done. But a person with a BA in sociology or psych, sitting in an office 50 miles away, would know that a non-professional couple simply cannot handle that many kids. And those Child Services people should be in jail too.

We shut down the public mental hospitals in the wake of "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest" because of the widely held (and mainly true) sense that these large institutions were failing this highly vulnerable segment of society. But when they're thrown on private sector predators -- abetted by venal or incompetent public officials -- that makes it far worse.

[Powerhouse]

Well said and I totally agree, socrfan! The 'system' failed seriously.

[Kiheicat]

The Gravelles said a psychiatrist recommended they make the children — ages 1 to 14, with conditions that included autism and fetal alcohol syndrome — sleep in the cages at night.
Are you fucking KIDDING ME?????
:mad:

[nobs]

Unbelievable.

The authorities didn't arrest them because the foster
parents felt what they were doing was right!!!

Heck, I feel it's right for every bank in that county to give me 1,000,000.00 of their profits tax-free.

All joking aside, thank you, Powerhouse , for helping us right a wrong. Although I don't know the full details of this story - what I read was enough (in my opinion) to arrest and hold the "parents" while it is investigated and charges are filed.

[evilanggellene]

There are some areas of Ohio where the inbreeding has simply gotten out of control and if your momma is your sister and your grandma at the same time you are a shoe in for public office or the police force. Most likely they'll even put you in charge!

I have no doubt they probably have found a psychiastrist somewhere who does believe this is effective therapy for behaviour challenged kids.

Makes me sick.

Maybe they should put the parents in 2' by 2' cages just for being stupid assholes.

[Powerhouse]

All joking aside, thank you, Powerhouse , for helping us right a wrong. Although I don't know the full details of this story - what I read was enough (in my opinion) to arrest and hold the "parents" while it is investigated and charges are filed.

Thank you.
I hope that you, and others, also helped to 'right a wrong' by writing to the mayor or others in the link on behalf of those kids and all of humanity.

[Powerhouse]

Got a reply back from the mayor of Wakeman, OH. It seems the article I went by: http://www.newsnet5.com/news/4961890/detail.html is slightly incorrect in that the actual crime location is in Clarksfield Township which is apparently adjacent to them but outside of their police jurisdiction.
At any rate he agrees that they "should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law" (his words). :)

[Powerhouse]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060215/ap_on_re_us/caged_children


Ohio Pair Accused of Caging Kids Indicted

36 minutes ago

NORWALK, Ohio - An Ohio couple accused of forcing some of their 11 adopted children to sleep in cages were indicted Tuesday for child endangerment, authorities said.

Michael and Sharen Gravelle also are accused of falsifying adoption applications and lying under oath, said Huron County Prosecutor Russ Leffler.

The Gravelles have denied mistreating the children, ages 1 to 15. They have been fighting to regain custody since the children were placed in foster care last fall after a county social worker likened the wood and chicken-wire cages to kennels.

The couple have said the enclosures were necessary to keep the children from harming themselves or one another. The children have problems such as fetal alcohol syndrome and a disorder that involves eating nonfood items.

Elaine Thompson, a private social worker hired by the Gravelles, also faces several charges, including child endangering.

Thompson testified during a custody hearing that she approved of the cages as a way to help handle the children. But she said she never asked the youngsters how they felt about the enclosures during her weekly counseling sessions.


Give them some cages of their own! :1clap5: :1chirol_c

[Toy Ranch]

You know... the police may have been delaying the arrest to make sure they have all their legal i's dotted and t's crossed to make damned sure they don't go free on some technicality. There may be some process in the law they had to follow. I think that throwing a fit over them not being immediately arrested is over the top. You don't know the reasons, and I'm pretty sure it's not because they thought what was going on was fine and dandy...

As far as those people go... death would be a kindness they don't deserve.

[Parklane64]

I hate it when I agree with TR.

C'mon, NO blankets!

Has Ohio become a giant Love Canal or something? Is it the water?

[Dr. Arcane]

I have to admit I haven't heard much about this story since it broke a few months back, but at the time, it looked like the parents MIGHT have been at least partially in the right (Whether the kids actually were a danger to themselves). It could well have taken this long to really get all the facts in order.

The part about keeping them in cages may not have been out of the question for some of the kids- what do you do with a child that will eat anything and wake up in the middle of the night to do it? The fact that they had SO MANY kids was definitely way out of line and should have been investigated as well.

Certain AGENCIES probably needed to be investigated as well. The situation with this family didn't happen overnight, where were the home visitation people from the adoption agency?

It's just a sad and weird story!

[uglimouse]

Thank heavens I read to the end of this thread!
My first thought was " Oh no! Not again!"

I realised, too, that along with myrelief at discovering it was 'old news', came the discovery that I had not persued the outcome further...being only too relieved by the immediate recoil of revulsion.

With the ensuing passage of time, two things present themselves to me:
1. Powerhouse- you have revealed/ achieved much by your follow-up here, ( I may not have been at this board for your initial thread). You immediately acted on your abhorrence of the situation with the best you had...your words to express it; and let us know what became of the situation, regardless. Thank you.

2. The ghastly events reveal gaping holes in a system initially designed to help those who would help.
What help is there for the truly compassionate souls who are inexperienced in dealing with the truly challenged or disturbed? Obviously, cages and other barbaric restraints are not the answer. Before we oooh and aaah over stories of seemingly selfless individuals who open their homes to umpteen needy children, can we not first establish whether the foster parents offer less "child-endangerment" than the natural parents who may have been busted for smoking a joint, for example?

If sentencing and zero-tolerance is mandatory, shouldn't training/ educating/ guidance and surveillance of guardians also be?

uglimouse

[Powerhouse]

Thank you, Uglimouse.

As for them - they still fight to get their children returned even as they face a child endangerment trial.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/02/23/caged.kids.ap/index.html


Grown kids testify against parents who caged adoptees

Thursday, February 23, 2006; Posted: 11:14 a.m. EST (16:14 GMT)

NORWALK, Ohio (AP) -- Two adult children of the couple accused of forcing some of their 11 special-needs children to sleep in cages testified against them in the couple's court fight to regain custody of the adopted youngsters.

Jenna and Jesse Gravelle testified Wednesday as witnesses for prosecutors trying to persuade a juvenile court judge to place their adopted siblings in the county's permanent care.

Earlier, their father and stepmother, Michael and Sharen Gravelle, pleaded not guilty in a separate hearing to child endangerment and other crimes. Their trial was set for September 12.

Jenna Gravelle, 31, said her father and stepmother provided little food for her and her brothers and that the couple charged the teens money to live in their home.

"I was miserable," Gravelle said, describing bare kitchen cupboards, little privacy and "inappropriate touching" by her father that she said began at age 6 or 8.

"I felt like a prisoner," she said, her voice cracking occasionally.

Michael Gravelle, who has denied his daughter's abuse allegations and has not been charged, rubbed his forehead and kept his eyes down as she testified. His lawyer has said Jenna falsely accused him because she was angry as a child that he married Sharen after Jenna's mother died.

Jesse Gravelle testified that his father sat him and his brother down when they were youngsters after Jenna left home and "told us that he had inappropriately touched her."

"He didn't indicate how long or any details, just that he had inappropriately touched her," he said.

Michael and Sharen Gravelle deny abusing their adopted children, ages 1 to 15. They say the beds enclosed with wood and wire and equipped with alarms were necessary to protect the youngsters, who suffered from various psychological and behavioral problems.

A social worker last fall discovered the cages at the Gravelles' home in rural Wakeman, about 60 miles west of Cleveland, and the adopted children have been in foster care ever since.

The Gravelles want the children back. Prosecutors say the youngsters should be placed in the permanent care of Huron County.

The couple were charged last week with child endangerment, falsifying adoption applications and lying under oath when being qualified for adoption funding. If convicted, they would face one to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000 for each of the 16 counts of felony child endangering.

A private social worker hired by the Gravelles to work with the adopted children was charged with offenses including failing to report abuse and complicity to child endangering. She has denied wrongdoing.

[uglimouse]

If convicted, they would face one to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000 for each of the 16 counts of felony child endangering (bolding mine)

It better be "five", and the "maximum"" fine!!

[Powerhouse]

I agree, but if they were truely stupid enough to receive and act on the purported crappy advice of an authority figure on the cage decision then I think that authority figure should do a little time in a cage as well.

Need to see some complicity charges here if that is true.

[lol1uk]

I put off reading this thread because I could tell by the title, it would make me feel sick, and I was right.

How can these people be allowed to get away with this? I wouldn't even keep my dogs in a cage, let alone children........a one year old baby? God, that defies belief!!!

Mike, I emailed the mayor and I did take some of it from the email you posted here, but I added my own feelings of disgust that America, the greatest country in the world, would allow it's children to be treated like this. I told him that here in the UK, those *parents* would have found themselves in jail that same day!!

I also told him that I think adoption procedures should be made more stringent.

Thanks for the link for the mayor's email addy.

[lol1uk]

I do not believe, not for one minute, that a psychiatrist would reccomend keeping those kids in cages.

[Powerhouse]

Thanks for the link for the mayor's email addy.

OOHH! I hope you got the right link, laura! My initial contact link was faulty because the original news article sited the incorrect town, it wasn't until later that the correct town was put in the news articles.
Anyway, thanks for lending your voice to this tragedy. I can believe they may have gotten such advice. There are some REAL quacks out there!


:1clap5:

[lol1uk]

This was the email address I got

CAPTWOLFE28@YAHOO.COM

I'm sure he will pass it on to the right person, LOL

[stalkerskillu]

This has got to be one of the most horrendous stories I have read in years.

"I do not believe, not for one minute, that a psychiatrist would reccomend keeping those kids in cages."

While I think you are most likely right, what if you are wrong? What if a state licensed Medical Doctor with a certification in Psychiatry did? Most likely if foster children were involved and I think that is still debatable, a psychiatrist is being paid by the state to render assistance to the children and foster family. If all were adopted, in many states part of the adoption agreement is that the state will pay for or heavily subsidize many aspects of raising a "special needs" child. IF it is true, how many other children has this person "prescribed" alternative treatments for and what are they?

Some state paid employee had to place those foster/adoptive children in that home. Was NO state regulation violated by continuing to place "special needs" children one right after another in ONE two parent home? Some bureaucracy certainly fell on it's face here.

We know this has been going on for a year that a grandparent has attested to. NO home visits were done by children's services during that year that involved an inspection of their sleeping area?

No Social Worker interviewed those children individually and able to pick up that something was amiss?

This story goes much deeper than just this surface telling of it.

More than TWO people need to go to jail in my opinion.

[Powerhouse]

More than TWO people need to go to jail in my opinion.

That is still an option...

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/03/01/caged.kids.ap/index.html


Mother of caged kids denies cruelty

'I owe my children the fight,' woman says at custody hearing

Wednesday, March 1, 2006; Posted: 4:45 p.m. EST (21:45 GMT)

NORWALK, Ohio (AP) -- The woman accused of locking some of her 11 adopted, special-needs children in cages cried on the witness stand Wednesday as she denied that she and her husband were cruel to his biological children.

Sharen Gravelle also denied that her husband, Michael, touched a daughter inappropriately years ago.

The Gravelles have pleaded not guilty to several charges, including child endangerment, in a separate criminal case.

Prosecutors accuse the couple of locking the adopted children, ages 1 to 15, in cages to discipline them.

The youngsters have been in foster care since the enclosed beds were discovered last fall, and prosecutors want Huron County to take permanent custody of them.

The Gravelles are fighting to regain custody.

Elaine Thompson, a private social worker hired by the Gravelles, also faces criminal charges, including aiding and abetting child endangerment.

Thompson testified during an earlier custody hearing that she approved of the cages as a way to help handle the children.

But she said she never asked the youngsters how they felt about the enclosures during her weekly counseling sessions.

The Gravelles say the beds, enclosed with wood and wire and equipped with alarms, were necessary to protect the youngsters, who suffered from psychological and behavioral problems.

Attorney Ken Myers asked Sharen Gravelle Wednesday if she understood that testifying in the custody hearing was risky because anything she said could be used against her in her criminal trial, set for September 12.

Gravelle, 57, said she did. Asked why she took the stand anyway, she lowered her head and cried for several moments before composing herself.

"Because I've been accused of some things," she said. "I've been accused that I put myself before my children and I owe my children the fight, at whatever risk to me."

Two of Michael Gravelle's biological children, Jenna and Jesse Gravelle, have testified that their father inappropriately touched Jenna when she was a minor.

Michael Gravelle denies that accusation.

"I believe that he had an inappropriate thought that he never acted upon," Sharen Gravelle testified.

She said their merged families -- her husband's three biological children and her two -- got along fine except for typical teenage fights over the one working bathroom.

Sharen Gravelle denied accusations by her husband's children that the couple provided little food for their biological children.

"Supper was almost always cooked and if they weren't home, supper was left," she said.

The Gravelles began adopting shortly after they moved to Wakeman, Ohio, in 1992 after their children had grown up and moved out.

They were recently were indicted on charges that included child endangerment, falsifying adoption applications and lying under oath when being qualified for adoption funding.

If convicted, they would face one to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000 for each of the 16 counts of felony child endangering.

[sadie999]

Powerhouse,

TY for keeping this alive.

Peace.

[Powerhouse]

Thank you, Sadie. And I'd like to thank ALL of you for your support on this issue. It nice to know that other people care too. :1hug1: :8heartbea

Anyway, it gets weirder in todays latest testimony.
It's a bit repetitive so I'l just post the salient points.


Mom: Kids asked for the cages

Family called the wood and wire structures 'clubhouses'

Thursday, March 2, 2006; Posted: 12:07 p.m. EST (17:07 GMT)

NORWALK, Ohio -- Some of the special-needs children who slept in cage-like beds fitted with alarms had asked for the structures to be built, their adoptive mother testified at a custody hearing.

Sharen Gravelle testified Wednesday that she and her husband Michael built bunk beds and attached a wooden playhouse the family called a clubhouse for some of the children's toys.

The other children then requested and got them.

The couple eventually added wire enclosures and alarms to help corral what the mother described as uncontrollable wandering at night.

The couple felt the cage-like, brightly painted enclosures helped keep the children from getting dangerous kitchen utensils and into other trouble, the mother testified Wednesday in a custody hearing...

... Sharen Gravelle was the last witness in the custody hearing, and the judge has set a March 13 deadline for closing arguments. Once those are received the judge was likely to rule within a week,..

...The mother said she sought help from county social workers and received none. Research on the Internet led her to Elaine Thompson, an independent licensed social worker who is also charged in the case.

Gravelle said Thompson approved the beds and that at least one inspection for another adoption was done at the home in rural Wakeman about 60 miles west of Cleveland after the enclosures were built.

Prosecutor Jennifer DeLand said the Gravelles have refused a court order to undergo psychological testing.

She presented documents from the Gravelles' first adoption home study that she said proved the couple had lied about previous abuse allegations and investigations by a child protective agency in Lorain County, where they used to live.

Sharen Gravelle denied lying and said she had not seen the documents, although she acknowledged her and her husband's signatures were on the papers below a sworn statement that the information was true.

Sharen Gravelle said she met her husband in 1986 at a dinner for a child sex abuse support group.

She said she was attending because a relative had been molested. Michael Gravelle was there because he was accused of inappropriate touching, a charge he denies. The couple married two months later...

[nobs]

I just read (on my comcast home page which I don't
know how to link to) that ALL of the children were permanently taken away (Yay!) by a judge after a court case. 10 went back to the state and into foster homes and the 11th (a two year old) went back to the adoption agency that was placing her. The couple were found guilty of a myriad of charges, including lying under oath to obtain the children and child abuse. The story was an AP (Associated Press) release so I am sure it can be Googled.

[uglimouse]

Thanks for the update, Nobs.
This concerns me more than a little:
the 11th (a two year old) went back to the adoption agency that was placing her. They placed her so well the first time. NOT!

Hopefully, all the other kids will receive extensive counselling, for as long as it takes, and not just be scattered around and forgotten in a rush for placement!

I can't help feeling that some of them would benefit from being kept together, to provide some semblance of continuity in their sad lives.

I'm sure that the "couple" will be banned from any further fostering or adopting.
"Mandatory Sterilization" is sometimes a tempting fantasy; make sure they aren't tempted to "start over" with new kids of their own! :rolleyes:

[nobs]

Hi mouse ,
I can't help but believe that this family had more than the love of children and their welfare when they adopted them. There was a lot of money involved and they continued to get large goverment checks right up until the children were removed.
I think we need a better system of protecting our children in this country. A lot of money goes into Child Protection Agencies and these types of horrors should be (and can be) prevented.
And I agree about the two year old and the agency that placed her - they are probably scrambling to cover their asses!

[Powerhouse]

http://www.courttv.com/news/2006/1102/gravelles_ap.html


Judge tosses perjury charges against Ohio couple accused of keeping adopted kids in cages

CLEVELAND (AP) — A judge dismissed several charges against a couple accused of forcing some of their 11 adopted children to sleep in cages, but the two still face multiple counts of felony child endangerment.

Huron County Common Pleas Judge Earl R. McGimpsey threw out a felony perjury charge and four misdemeanor falsification charges Wednesday, saying the crimes were alleged to have taken place too long ago and the statute of limitations had expired.

Michael and Sharen Gravelle were indicted in February on 16 counts of child endangerment, plus charges of perjury and falsifying documents.

The adopted children had been taken from their home and placed in foster care last fall after a county social worker likened the wood and chicken-wire cages they slept in to kennels.

The Gravelles denied mistreating the youngsters and said the enclosures were necessary to keep the children from harming themselves or one another. The children have problems such as fetal alcohol syndrome and a disorder that involves eating nonfood items.

If convicted, the Gravelle's could face one to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000 for each of the 16 counts of felony child endangerment.

The perjury and falsification counts stemmed from prosecutors' claims that between 1997 and 2005 the couple lied to government officials and on a sworn statement ahead of their first adoption. The sworn statement was used to help secure approval of five more adoptions.


Kids will be retired before these two ever go to trial.

:sm1123:

[Passion]

http://www.courttv.com/news/2006/1102/gravelles_ap.html



Kids will be retired before these two ever go to trial.

:sm1123:

This just makes me too angry and sick to even talk about it. :1cryhard:

[uglimouse]

What a rotten outcome!
But...The perjury and falsification counts stemmed from prosecutors' claims that between 1997 and 2005 the couple lied to government officials and on a sworn statement ahead of their first adoption. The sworn statement was used to help secure approval of five more adoptions
........if the last adoption was 2005, or even 2004, it would seem to me that the original "sworn statement" would stilll be active.
I mean, if there hadn't have been one "in place" already, they'd have to make one, surely?

When you think of a few of the Child 'protective' laws that go overboard......this seems to be ridiculous; when the law should definitely be able to insure that these "parents" stay a long time away from raising kids. Certainly more than 1-5years! :2gamecock

[agentorange]

I'd like to know when I can get the 11 kids back? We've renovated their cages.

[sadie999]

Kids can't vote or contribute to campaigns. Expect little justice for them in our culture - it'll keep you from getting an ulcer.

America hates its kids. You can, in most locales, beat a child. It's illegal to beat the dog.

*my apologies to whoever it is that has the thing about calling children kids.

[VocalVixen]

This makes me sick. When our special needs child was at an age where he needed supervision, I quit my job and my DH and I took shifts making sure he was taken care of. Yeah, we lost alot of sleep, but with patience and hard work, he is a well-adjusted child with no need for constant supervision these days. Those people ought to be shot.

:1raygun1:

[thentavius]

Sharon and Mike Gravelle are adoptive or foster parents for all 11 children, officials said.

We seriously need a re-vamp of the entire adoptive / foster system.

May those children find some kind of happiness and health in their lives.

[Powerhouse]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061114/ap_on_re_us/caged_children


Tue Nov 14, 12:36 PM ET

NORWALK, Ohio - Jury selection began Tuesday in the trial of a couple accused of making some of their 11 adopted special needs children sleep in cages.

Michael and Sharen Gravelle are charged with 16 counts of felony child endangering and if convicted could face one to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000 for each count.

The process of seating a jury in Huron County Common Pleas Court could take days, with 100 people yet to be questioned.

Earlier, about 350 potential jurors were sent questionnaires, and 250 were weeded out because of bias or other issues, said Ken Myers, who represents Sharen Gravelle.

Myers still has a motion pending to move the trial to out of Huron County, arguing there is too much publicity for the Gravelles to get a fair trial in the mostly rural northern Ohio county.

He said he is seeking "a jury that is willing to set aside some of the things that they've heard."

"There is no case. We're going to win this thing," said lawyer Richard Drucker, who represents Michael Gravelle. "I think we have a good shot at having a fair and impartial jury."

Huron County Prosecutor Russell Leffler said he's "looking for an intelligent jury."

The Gravelles have denied mistreating the children, who were ages 1 to 15 at the time of the alleged endangering. The youngsters were placed in foster care last fall after a county social worker likened the wood and chicken-wire enclosures in the Gravelle home to cages to kennels.

The Gravelles have repeatedly said the enclosures were necessary to keep the children from harming themselves or one another. The children have problems such as fetal alcohol syndrome and a disorder that involves eating nonfood items.

The Gravelles lost permanent custody in March and have not be granted visitation since then, Myers said.

[Powerhouse]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061128/ap_on_re_us/caged_children

Trial begins in 'caged kids' case

by JOE MILICIA, Associated Press Writer 1 minute ago

NORWALK, Ohio - A couple on trial for putting some of their 11 adopted children in cages are guilty only of loving them, a defense attorney said Tuesday in his opening statement.

"Eleven is a strain, a huge strain, but they did it for the right reason," said defense attorney Ken Myers.

The children have a host of health and behavioral problems such as fetal alcohol syndrome and a disorder that involves eating dirt. Sharen and Michael Gravelle have repeatedly said the enclosures were necessary to keep the children from harming themselves or one another.

The Gravelles are charged with 16 counts of felony child endangering and eight misdemeanor child endangering charges.

The children ranged in age from 1 to 14 when authorities removed them in September 2005 from the Gravelles' home in rural Wakeman, about 60 miles from Cleveland. The Gravelles later lost custody, and the youngsters were placed in foster care.

Prosecutor Russell Leffler told jurors that for punishment the children were confined to the cages, forced to eat peanut butter for weeks and dunked headfirst in the toilet.

"It's about chicken wire and wooden boards, being literally cooped up, hotter than blazes in summer, an amazingly shrill alarm and little fingers trying to tear wire," Leffler said.

Myers defended the use of the enclosed beds, which he said were no smaller than an average bunk bed. He said the cages were necessary to protect the children from getting into trouble at night.

"Some of the kids thought they were cool because it felt like being in a fortress," Myers said.

The prosecutor told the jurors the children were rescued from the home after a visit from a social worker who described the cages as "slave quarters."

That social worker, Jo Johnson, testified Tuesday that she visited the Gravelles' home Sept. 9, 2005, after receiving a tip about the cages. She said she saw no physical signs of abuse on the children but determined that the cages, which she likened to slave quarters, constituted abuse.

Myers, during his opening statement, suggested that Johnson came up with the comparison because she and the children are black and the Gravelles are white.

If convicted, Michael Gravelle, 57, and Sharen, 58, could get up to five years in prison on each felony count.

[Morticia]

Thanks for keeping us posted .

[Powerhouse]

Thanks for keeping us posted .

Not a problem, Morticia. I'm interested in seeing if "justice" will prevail or not.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/12/06/caged.kids.ap/index.html

Cage was hot, cramped, boy testifies

POSTED: 4:09 p.m. EST, December 6, 2006

NORWALK, Ohio (AP) -- A boy who had been adopted by a couple on trial for caging some of their children testified Wednesday that he did not like the enclosure that he slept in because it was small and hot, and said some children were struck as punishment.

The boy, the first of several of the adopted children expected to testify in the trial of Michael and Sharen Gravelle, also told the jury that he was sent to a cage for weeks at a time for punishment.

"Mine was really small. In the summertime it was really hot in there. We said we liked them because it made us safe. But we really didn't like them. We said it to make them (Gravelles) happy," the boy said.

The Gravelles deny abusing some of the 11 adopted, special-needs children in their care and have said they had to keep the youngsters in enclosed beds to protect them. The children suffered from problems including fetal alcohol syndrome and eating disorders.

The Gravelles are charged with 16 counts of felony child endangering and eight misdemeanor child endangering charges. If convicted, they face one to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000 for each felony count.

The Gravelles are charged with 16 counts of felony child endangering and eight misdemeanor child endangering charges. If convicted, they face one to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000 for each felony count.

The boy on the stand Wednesday morning also described other forms of punishment that the Gravelles are accused of using on him and other children, including dunking their heads in a toilet, striking them with 2-by-4 lumber and smacking across the face.

He testified that the children had mattresses and pillows for a while, but by the time they were removed from the home they had not had bedding for some time.

Once, he said, the couple forced him to spend six weeks in his cage copying the Bible's Book of Deuteronomy, a collection of sermons written by Moses. Other witnesses have testified that Michael Gravelle often referred to himself as Moses.

"It's the longest chapter in the Bible so they gave that one to me," the boy testified, adding that he was allowed to leave the cage only to eat.

The boy also said he spent 81 days staying in a bathroom because of a bed-wetting problem.

"I had to sleep in the bath tub," he said. "Whenever somebody used the tub I had to drain it and dry it out so I could sleep."

[Powerhouse]

:1clap5:

NORWALK, Ohio (AP) -- A couple accused of forcing some of their 11 adopted special-needs children to sleep in chicken wire cages were convicted Friday of endangering and abuse.

A jury found Michael Gravelle, 57, and his wife, Sharen, 58, each guilty of four felony counts of child endangering, two misdemeanor counts of child endangering and five misdemeanor counts of child abuse. Each was acquitted of 13 other charges.

The parents argued during their three-week trial that they needed to keep some of the youngsters in enclosed beds rigged with alarms to protect them from themselves and each other and stop them from wandering at night.

The couple face one to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000 for each felony count. The misdemeanor penalties carry no jail time.

During the trial, their defense included testimony from a social worker and others who said they never witnessed abuse and said the children's behavior improved because of the cages, which were painted bright blues and reds.

Prosecutors said the couple was cruel. Witnesses included the sheriff and some of the children, who said the cages were urine-stained and lacked bedding, including pillows and mattresses.

One Gravelle child testified he was forced to live in a bathroom for 81 days, sleeping in a bathtub because of a bed-wetting problem. The Gravelles' attorneys denied those charges, saying the boy exaggerated the length of his bathroom stay, and an expert for the defense testified that the technique helped the boy.

Other children testified during the trial that the Gravelles hit them with a wooden paddle, made them write out Bible verses as punishment and dunked the head of a girl who had Down Syndrome in a toilet.

Some of the youngsters testified that they were not forced to sleep in cages and missed their adoptive parents, drawing tears from some jurors.

[sadie999]

guilty of four felony counts of child endangering, two misdemeanor counts of child endangering and five misdemeanor counts of child abuse. Each was acquitted of 13 other charges.

:::snip:::

The couple face one to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000 for each felony count. The misdemeanor penalties carry no jail time.

Isn't there some three strikes law on felonies? When I first read four felonies, I thought yippee, they got life, but the other paragraph states different.

I'm confused. (No surprise there.)

Peace.

[agentorange]

A three strikes provision would apply if they were convicted of 3 felonies in 3 different instances. Since these all revolve around the same crime(s) that occured at the same time, it doesn't count. If, upon release (after serving their sentence) they were to do this again, and then a third time, that third time would be a third strike.

[sadie999]

Thanks. :) I didn't know about that distinction.

Peace.

[agogoboots]

Unrelated child abuse story but here's another one I hope gets thown under the bus, because this person absolutely should have known better.
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200661223007

[agogoboots]

“Everyone is OK,” he said.
It doesn't sound like ANYONE in this story is OK to me.

[Powerhouse]

Isn't there some three strikes law on felonies? When I first read four felonies, I thought yippee, they got life, but the other paragraph states different.

I'm confused. (No surprise there.)

Peace.

I'm not sure - does that apply in all cases in all states? Or just certain states? Or is it a federal thing too?

I'm glad they FINALLY got convicted. I was concerned that this would be just swept under the rug and then become 'precedent' for future child treatment.

I wonder if the judge will give them any time behind bars of the systems making?

:1kool1-ai

[Powerhouse]

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-caged-children,0,2306921.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

January 29, 2007, 2:35 PM EST

CLEVELAND -- A judge on Monday declined to grant a new trial or acquittal for the couple convicted of child endangerment for keeping some of their 11 adopted special-needs children in cages.

Michael and Sharen Gravelle failed to show that the jury's verdicts were inconsistent, Huron County Common Pleas Judge Earl McGimpsey ruled.

The Gravelles, who were convicted last month on 11 of 24 counts against them, said they needed to keep some of the children in enclosed beds with alarms to protect them from their own dangerous behavior and stop them from wandering at night.

Attorney Ken Myers, who represents Sharen Gravelle, said the defense would appeal.

Myers said a key issue on appeal would be the defense contention that investigators misrepresented descriptions of the size of the enclosures when they sought a search warrant for the Gravelle home.

The couple face one to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000 for each felony count. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 14.

The Gravelle's children, who suffered from problems such as fetal alcohol syndrome and a disorder that involves eating nonfood items, ranged in age from 1 to 14 when authorities removed them in September 2005 from the Gravelles' home in Wakeman, about 60 miles west of Cleveland.

:1clap5:

[Powerhouse]

Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 14.


Should be this week then. :1clap5:

[Passion]

he couple face one to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000 for each felony count. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 14.

Not nearly enough. I vote for a lynching.:rolleyes:

[Powerhouse]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070215/ap_on_re_us/caged_children

31 minutes ago

NORWALK, Ohio - A couple who forced some of their 11 adopted, special-needs children to sleep in wire-and-wood cages were sentenced to two years in prison Thursday, after the parents insisted they were only trying to keep the kids safe.

Two of the children, however, said in statements read in court that they were treated harshly while they lived with Sharen and Michael Gravelle. One wrote that they should be imprisoned "for as long as my siblings had to be in cages."

Sharen Gravelle told the court the children were never confined as punishment but rather to protect them, including a child who wanted to jump out a second-floor window.

"Would you prefer that we let them jump? Either way, we'd be here. The difference is they're still alive," she said in a tearful, 26-minute statement.

Gravelle blamed social services officials for not helping her and her husband, Michael, control the destructive behavior of some of the youngsters.

The children, who suffered from problems such as fetal alcohol syndrome and a disorder that involves eating nonfood items, ranged in age from 1 to 14 when authorities removed them in September 2005 from the Gravelles' home in Wakeman, about 60 miles west of Cleveland. They were placed in foster care in fall 2005 and the couple lost custody last March.

Sharen Gravelle kept her head down taking notes while the judge read the sentences. Michael Gravelle sat back in his chair, holding his face in his left hand.

Each could have received up to five years in prison for each of the four felonies they were convicted of in December. They also were convicted of seven misdemeanors.

Michael Gravelle, his face red and his voice rising, told the judge he and his wife "felt we were being led by the Lord" when they decided to bring the first child into their home.

He said problems began when they took in a group of siblings with an array of behavior and emotional problems.

"What do you do with these kids?" Michael Gravelle asked. "I prayed constantly for the answer."

He said the enclosures resulted from the suggestions of a social workers, who recommended strict rules to improve the children's behavior.

"I'm begging you," Michael Gravelle told the judge. "I do not deserve jail."

The two children whose statements were read in court, a girl and a boy, were in the courtroom Thursday. The boy wrote that he was "thankful that part of my life is behind me."

He said of his new foster parents, "Because of them I don't have to steal food. I can use the bathroom whenever I want. Never again will I have to sleep in a box."

The girl's statement said Sharen Gravelle treated the children more harshly than her husband did.

"Mom, you walked around like you were God, then whenever you did go places you were Mother Teresa taking in the poor black kids that no one wanted," she said.

The girl said the Gravelles "are grown adults who know the difference between right and wrong. So I ask that they get as much time in jail for as long as my siblings had to be in cages."

The Gravelles have said they will appeal their convictions. The judge allowed them to remain free on bond pending the appeal.

The couple has said they needed to keep some of the children in enclosed beds with alarms to protect them from their own dangerous behavior and stop them from wandering at night.

Prosecutors said the Gravelles were cruel. Witnesses, including the sheriff and some of the children, said the cages were urine-stained and lacked pillows or mattresses, but a social worker and others who testified for the defense said they never witnessed abuse and that the children's behavior improved because of the bright blue and red cages.

One Gravelle child testified he was forced to live in a bathroom for 81 days, sleeping in a bathtub because of a bed-wetting problem. The Gravelles' attorneys said the boy exaggerated the length of his bathroom stay, and an expert for the defense testified that the technique helped the boy.


:1chirol_c :1chirol_c :1chirol_c :1chirol_c :1chirol_c :1chirol_c :1chirol_c :1chirol_c :1chirol_c :1chirol_c :1chirol_c

[biggbill]

" Witnesses, including the sheriff and some of the children, said the cages were urine-stained and lacked pillows or mattresses, but a social worker and others who testified for the defense said they never witnessed abuse and that the children's behavior improved because of the bright blue and red cages."

so...the caseworkers walk away freely? They had to know of those conditions. If they approved of any of them they should also face charges.
IMO

[biggbill]

"Elaine Thompson, a private social worker hired by the Gravelles, also faces several charges, including child endangering.

Thompson testified during a custody hearing that she approved of the cages as a way to help handle the children. But she said she never asked the youngsters how they felt about the enclosures during her weekly counseling sessions. "

So...what about this Bitch?

[agentorange]

Can someone tell me how a cage is different than a room or a timeout corner?

[Helenjw]

Can someone tell me how a cage is different than a room or a timeout corner?


...or a play pen?

[agentorange]

...or a play pen?
Correct. I'm not defending child abuse, but since no details of actual abuse have been discussed except for "keeping them in cages" (no mention for how long) I'm just curious how a cage is different than any other place we keep, store, cage, confine children.

[mewsicmama]

I think I understand how people having to deal with "persons" who have dangerous behavior tendencies might want to lock them up for their own safety at night. I think they should have had clean, comfortable quarters to sleep in, and that the 'parents' had way too many kids to handle.

I am currently caring for my mother (who had dementia and is like an extremely spoiled child) as well as having many physical infirmities. She abused the hell out of me as a child. For some reason I seem to be drawing from a deep well of patience, but I have to tell you I am exhausted.

My Dad (80 years old - fell off a ladder in an orange tree, broke his hip, had to have pins and plates put in) came home Saturday morning. I am also caring for him.

My Mom is jealous of the attention my Dad is getting. He has always been HER caregiver, and she is royally pissed and resentful that all of a sudden the world does not revolve around her. I didn't sleep at all last night because I didn't know what she was going to do, and how well my Dad would do his first night home.

I have resorted to giving her one of her prescription sleeping pills to make sure she sleeps. Not sure what we will do in the long run, but I can really understand needing to make sure someone who does things that could hurt them CAN'T do things without watching them 24/7.

Haven't been in here in a while. Guess I should say Hi too. Night all.

Shari

[mewsicmama]

who had dementia

should read 'who HAS dementia'.........

sorry - tired and I probably made other mistakes too - I apologize in advance for them.........

Shari

[agentorange]

If you think about it, houses are like large cages for people. Bedrooms with doorlocks are like smaller cages within the larger cage (the house). A playpen (complete with wooden bars to keep the kids inside) are miniature cages within smaller cages within the larger cage. And yet, nobody has ever gasped that a child was kept in a playpen, or locked in a bedroom, or prevented from leaving a locked house. Why? Because it's considered good parenting to keep them confined and keep them safe. It's considered good discipline to send them off to their rooms for extended periods of time, or in "time out" corners when they've been bad. But mention the word "cage", and everyone is aghast. It's time to get the rope and the posse together and lynch the parents! But we don't know what the condition of those cages were like, how big they were, or how long the children were confined within them. And what if we replaced the regular wooden bedroom doors with chicken wire? Would that make the bedroom a cage, and thus every child who sleeps in such a bedroom an abused child?

[Helenjw]

Calling the secure areas designed by the parents "cages" only serves to ratchet up emotional reaction and news appeal with a focus on prosecuting the parents when the real culprit was the social agency who placed them there.

The care of eleven autistic children should require an institution with 24hour staff. Without staff or training or proper facilities these two individuals were obviously unqualified for the job. The agency who left eleven autistic children in their hands are the child abusers in this case.

[toollady]

Social Worker Pleads Guilty (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070220/ap_on_re_us/caged_children;_ylt=Am34qjviCO1a.9JQsdwmxQdbIwgF)

NORWALK, Ohio - A social worker who knew a husband and wife were forcing some of their 11 adopted, special-needs children to sleep in wire-and-wood cages pleaded guilty Tuesday to failing to report a crime.

Elaine Thompson, 64, could get up to three months in jail on each the three misdemeanor counts at sentencing April 10. Twenty-nine other charges, most of them felony counts of aiding child abuse, were dropped as part of a plea bargain.

Sharen and Michael Gravelle said they contacted Thompson, a private social worker, in 2000 while looking for help in controlling unruly children. Sharen Gravelle testified at a custody hearing that Thompson approved the enclosed beds.

And Thompson testified that the children's behavior improved with use of the cages.

Last week, the Gravelles were sentenced to two years in prison for mistreating the youngsters by forcing them to sleep in the cages. They said they did it for the youngsters' own safety.

The Gravelles have lost custody of the children.

[agentorange]

Social Worker Pleads Guilty (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070220/ap_on_re_us/caged_children;_ylt=Am34qjviCO1a.9JQsdwmxQdbIwgF)

NORWALK, Ohio - A social worker who knew a husband and wife were forcing some of their 11 adopted, special-needs children to sleep in wire-and-wood cages pleaded guilty Tuesday to failing to report a crime.

Elaine Thompson, 64, could get up to three months in jail on each the three misdemeanor counts at sentencing April 10. Twenty-nine other charges, most of them felony counts of aiding child abuse, were dropped as part of a plea bargain.

Sharen and Michael Gravelle said they contacted Thompson, a private social worker, in 2000 while looking for help in controlling unruly children. Sharen Gravelle testified at a custody hearing that Thompson approved the enclosed beds.

And Thompson testified that the children's behavior improved with use of the cages.

Last week, the Gravelles were sentenced to two years in prison for mistreating the youngsters by forcing them to sleep in the cages. They said they did it for the youngsters' own safety.

The Gravelles have lost custody of the children.
So the beds were "cages" because they had wood railings. Sounds like every fucking bunkbed I've ever seen. Where's the crime here again?

[Powerhouse]

Social Worker Pleads Guilty (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070220/ap_on_re_us/caged_children;_ylt=Am34qjviCO1a.9JQsdwmxQdbIwgF)

NORWALK, Ohio - A social worker who knew a husband and wife were forcing some of their 11 adopted, special-needs children to sleep in wire-and-wood cages pleaded guilty Tuesday to failing to report a crime.

Elaine Thompson, 64, could get up to three months in jail on each the three misdemeanor counts at sentencing April 10. Twenty-nine other charges, most of them felony counts of aiding child abuse, were dropped as part of a plea bargain.

Sharen and Michael Gravelle said they contacted Thompson, a private social worker, in 2000 while looking for help in controlling unruly children. Sharen Gravelle testified at a custody hearing that Thompson approved the enclosed beds.

And Thompson testified that the children's behavior improved with use of the cages.

Last week, the Gravelles were sentenced to two years in prison for mistreating the youngsters by forcing them to sleep in the cages. They said they did it for the youngsters' own safety.

The Gravelles have lost custody of the children.

:1clap5: :1chirol_c :1clap5:

Thanks for that update, Deb. It's nice to know that the person that gave them the bad advice is learning a lesson as well. :1kool1-ai

[Powerhouse]

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-caged-children,0,2306921.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines


No Jail for 'Caged Kids' Social Worker
By Associated Press

April 10, 2007, 2:39 PM EDT

NORWALK, Ohio -- A private social worker who knew that a couple forced some of their 11 adopted special-needs children to sleep in cages avoided a jail sentence Tuesday.

Elaine Thompson cried in relief after she received a suspended three-month jail term and five years of probation, during which she cannot serve as a social worker.

She counseled Michael and Sharen Gravelle, who were sentenced in February to two years each in prison for felony child endangering and other convictions. They remain free on bail pending their appeal.

"This entire situation has been tragic," Thompson said. "I'm sorry for the role that I played."

Thompson, 64, of Elyria, pleaded guilty in February to three counts of failing to report a crime. She had previously testified at a custody hearing that the children's behavior improved with use of the cages.

The 11 children, who suffered from problems such as fetal alcohol syndrome and a disorder that involves eating nonfood items, ranged in age from 1 to 14 when authorities removed them in September 2005 from the Gravelles' home in Wakeman, about 60 miles west of Cleveland.

Huron County Prosecutor Russell Leffler had requested that Thompson serve six months in jail and pay back the $100,000 in wages she collected from the county when serving the Gravelles.

"This is the worst form of failure to report child abuse you can have," Leffler said during the hearing. "She could have stopped this with a phone call. She chose not to do that."

Common Pleas Judge Earl McGimpsey said he received 85 letters from Thompson's colleagues, patients, friends and family, and said her compassion and exemplary career should not be ignored.

[chococake]

She should have gotten a jail sentence to see what it's like to sleep in a cage. It seems she had plenty of people to stand up for her, but when it was time for her to stand up for the children, she failed.