After months of pondering the fate of the two parents child abusers who adopted 11 disabled children only to have them contained to wired caged beds and a home covered in filth, the pondering is half over.
An Ohio couple accused of forcing some of their 11 adoptive, special needs children to sleep in cages was charged Tuesday with child endangerment and other crimes.
In cases like this, where the abuse was abundantly apparent, it's hard to see how a social worker could close her eyes to it. Sadly, it is not a rare occasion that this happens on. We hear of to many stories where a child could have been protected, and often could have been saved if those who are paid to protect them would have.
It's not that parents don't hold the greatest amount of responsibility when it comes to overseeing the well being of their children, but lets face it- if all parents did acknowledge that responsibility and live up to it- we would not need the child protective services, or social workers for kids.
The Gravelles did a huge amount of damage to children that where most needing their love and support, they took in those that could not defend themselves, and betrayed trust, abusing these children. The "hired gun" social worker added insult to injury when she failed to serve the best interest of the children.
Categories: abused, caged
An Ohio couple accused of forcing some of their 11 adoptive, special needs children to sleep in cages was charged Tuesday with child endangerment and other crimes.
A grand jury indicted Michael and Sharen Gravelle on 16 counts of felony child endangering, eight misdemeanor counts of falsifying adoption applications and a felony count of lying under oath when being qualified for adoption funding, Huron County Prosecutor Russ Leffler said late Tuesday.
The Gravelles, who live near Wakeman in a rural area 50 miles southwest of Cleveland, have denied mistreating the children, ages 1 to 15. They have been fighting to regain custody since the children were removed and placed in foster care last fall, after a county social worker examined the wood and chicken-wire cages she likened to kennels.
Elaine Thompson, a private social worker hired by the Gravelles, also was charged Tuesday with 16 felony counts of child endangering, eight misdemeanor counts of complicity to child endangering and eight misdemeanor counts of failure to report child abuse or neglect.
In cases like this, where the abuse was abundantly apparent, it's hard to see how a social worker could close her eyes to it. Sadly, it is not a rare occasion that this happens on. We hear of to many stories where a child could have been protected, and often could have been saved if those who are paid to protect them would have.
It's not that parents don't hold the greatest amount of responsibility when it comes to overseeing the well being of their children, but lets face it- if all parents did acknowledge that responsibility and live up to it- we would not need the child protective services, or social workers for kids.
The Gravelles did a huge amount of damage to children that where most needing their love and support, they took in those that could not defend themselves, and betrayed trust, abusing these children. The "hired gun" social worker added insult to injury when she failed to serve the best interest of the children.
Categories: abused, caged
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