FL - Wilson & Brenda Sullivan for starving, abusing adopted kids, Jacksonville, 2005

[VespaElf]

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The adoptive parents of a 17-year-old boy who weighed 49 pounds when found in a home where he was forced to wear a diaper and sleep in a locked, cage-like bed have been charged with child neglect, authorities said.

Child welfare workers called to Wilson and Brenda Sullivan's home Jan. 10 found the teen wearing a diaper and appearing developmentally delayed, a police report said. The boy was less than 4-foot-6 and was in the weight range of a 61/2-year-old, officials said................................
http://www.local6.com/news/4267131/detail.html


MORE FLORIDA STATE SPONSERED ABUSE!!!!!
HOW MANY MORE CASES HAVE TO HAPPEN IN "THE SUNSHINE STATE"????


When we moved in Florida and my husband tried to talk me going back into social work Im soooooooo thankful I said no.That system is beyond repair!!

 

[Sudzi]

Arggggggggggghhhh!!!



Child neglect? that's all they are charging them with? Another time when the laws have not kept up with the sick disgusting crimes being commited. :behindbar

 

[Jeana (DP)]

Arggggggggggghhhh!!!



Child neglect? that's all they are charging them with? Another time when the laws have not kept up with the sick disgusting crimes being commited. :behindbar

Once again, the wording leaves much to be desired. How about torture? How about attempted murder? Surely, they can come up with something more than child abuse!!!! :behindbar :behindbar :behindbar

 

[Casshew]

OMG I can't imagine.... Noel is 80 pounds... I can't fathom a 17 year old at 49lbs the poor kid

 

[golfmom]

OMG I can't imagine.... Noel is 80 pounds... I can't fathom a 17 year old at 49lbs the poor kid

Cass my little guy is 71 lbs and looks like someone strung some bones together. I can't even begin to image a 17 yo at 49 lbs.

 

[1986]

The pic of the adoptive mother seems to show a woman with a few too many pounds on her bones. And they try to explain away the locked cage as the way to keep him from over eating during the night. :behindbar At 49 lbs!!!!

I want to know why it took so long for family services to check on these kids. Yet another broken system that needs fixing. And yet another couple of losers that should be shipped to Iraq asap.

 

[snorky]

Once again, the wording leaves much to be desired. How about torture? How about attempted murder? Surely, they can come up with something more than child abuse!!!! :behindbar :behindbar :behindbar

So right you are! I call it attempted murder!!! This is @#$@##$ crazy!:furious:

 

[PrayersForMaura]

this makes me so sick and disgusted!! How come adoptive parents continue to get away with this and how is it that someone JUST found out?? Don't social workers periodically check on adoptive children? Obviously this has been going on for sometime.

 

[Valindrea]

Once again, the wording leaves much to be desired. How about torture? How about attempted murder? Surely, they can come up with something more than child abuse!!!! :behindbar :behindbar :behindbar

I agree, they should be charged with much more than child abuse. I'm so sick of seeing these type of people only getting a slap on the wrist.

 

[Kymistry35]

I thought once children were adopted they were no longer in the system and the periodic checks stopped. Maybe tyhat is why it took so long for someone to come to his rescue. That poor boy, I cannot even imagine what he went through or my heart would break. He is in my prayers. I hope these "parents" pull the maximum time possible!!!!!:behindbar

 

[Sudzi]

This is interesting....
Exclusive: Inside the Home Where the Teen Caged in a Crib Lived



http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=33817

 

[Kymistry35]

HMMM, that was very interesting. I am interested to see what else comes out in this case.

 

[golfmom]

So why would a 17-year-old boy weigh 49 pounds, and be the height of a 9-year-old?

Ordrianne says she isn't suprised at the boy's weight.

"Just because he may be small doesn't mean he isn't getting enough nutritional value," Ordrianne said.
............

The bed looks like a metal crib, with metal bars on the sides. The mattress is smaller than a twin bed, but bigger than a typical baby crib.

Ordrianne said the boy could get himself out or yell to his parents if he needed to use the restroom during the night.

The bed comes with a top made of metal bars. Ordrianne said the family ordered the top, but for some reason never recieved it.

Police say Brenda and Wilson made their own top, and trapped the boy in the "cage" all night.
...........

Something is just not right.

 

[golfmom]

http://www.onnnews.com/Global/story.asp?S=3063661&nav=LQlCXNV9

The adoptive mother accused of forcing her undersized 17-year-old boy to sleep in a cage-like bed in Florida received permission in Ohio in 1995 to use a covered crib for him, a child protection agency official said Thursday.

The Stark County Children Services office in Canton allowed Brenda Sullivan, then known as Brenda Priester, to buy the pediatric bed with a secured top, said Michael B. Vaccaro, the agency's chief legal counsel.

........
Vaccaro said he had no way to know whether the cage-like bed used in Florida was the same one approved in 1995. In either case, he said it would be unreasonable to expect Stark County to know what use would be made of it 10 years later.

"I would certainly hope the crib would not be used for a 17-year-old," Vaccaro said.
........
A police report states the boy was starving and suffered psychosocial dwarfism -- a lack of physical and emotional growth caused by abuse. Authorities also say he was forced to wear a diaper. The boy was just 4-foot-6 and weighed 49 pounds when authorities went to the couple's home in January.

Wilson Sullivan told the Akron Beacon Journal Wednesday night that the bed was the same crib used in Florida, but that he had fashioned a wooden top for it because the original metal lid wouldn't fit in the truck when they moved.
............
Lt. Susan Bowen of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said Thursday the prescription for the bed was issued when the child was 7 or 8, but she said the bed had been modified by adding a top, padlock and chain.

The couple said the covered bed was used because the boy gorged himself at night. Wilson Sullivan said the couple fed the boy three meals a day plus a snack and regularly took him out in public.

Brenda Sullivan told the Beacon Journal in 1996 that the boy had been in and out of the court system since he could walk. She said he is mentally retarded, his parents were suspected of abusing alcohol and he was locked in a closet the first three years of his life.

"His behavior was deplorable when he got here. He destroyed everything he got his hands on, he set fire to things, he was like a baby animal. There were times that I questioned if I would make it," she said.

Brenda Sullivan received special recognition from the state as an adoptive family in 1995, the newspaper reported.

 

[teedie2]

Why would an RX be given for this type of bed? What could have been wrong with the child then? I've never even heard of a bed like this. Imagine, commercially made!

I guess what I'm asking is - what is the "normal" use for that type of bed? Apparently it came with a top to begin with.

 

[golfmom]

Why would an RX be given for this type of bed? What could have been wrong with the child then? I've never even heard of a bed like this. Imagine, commercially made!

I guess what I'm asking is - what is the "normal" use for that type of bed? Apparently it came with a top to begin with.

It was 10 years ago that she had the permission to use the bed. I can't believe anyone would be ok with her using it with a 17 year old. Also, it appears that they altered the bed to lock it down.

I have a hard time imagining *normal* use for a bed like that, but I suspose there must be something for them to manufacture one.

"WEWS reported that since the boy was removed from the home, he has gained 27 pounds. If convicted, the couple faces 15 years in prison.

The Sullivans told investigators the boy was forced to sleep in a criblike cage with a locked lid because he had behavioral problems and was overeating at night. "

 

[CinnamonGirl]

That is just digusting,guess they let anyone adopt or foster these days in Florida.Seems like I have seen more irresponsible parents here then any other state I have lived in.I don't even want to get started on that subject:furious:

 

[golfmom]

That is just digusting,guess they let anyone adopt or foster these days in Florida.Seems like I have seen more irresponsible parents here then any other state I have lived in.I don't even want to get started on that subject:furious:

They were originally from Ohio and moved to Florida.

 

[1986]

Being as underweight as he was, do you think he could actually walk? How was this boy discovered?

 

[Kymistry35]

Of course he was overeating at night!! He was frickin starving to death! I hope those parents pay big time. No child deserves to be mistreated.