OH - Michael & Sharen Gravelle for child abuse, Clarksfield Twp, 2005

[gamegirl]

The couple hasn't been charged with a crime, and could regain custody, with some restrictions, after a hearing later this month.

What? They needed to abuse 12 children to have committed a crime? :banghead:

 

[SewingDeb]

What? They needed to abuse 12 children to have committed a crime? :banghead:

I hope there is no way this couple will regain custody. The judge ruled that they were abusive, didn't he? Why have they not been charged and why are they still in line to get these children back?

 

[bertajo]

After viewing the pictures of the enclosures/cages, I have a few notes to add to this topic. I was attempting to buy into the philosophy that these people were trying to keep these children safe; however, the spaces that they created for them are genuinely farmish, reminiscent of my grandfather’s chicken coop.

Once the parents finally speak out, their justification for the sleeping arrangements is based on the premise that their children also urine and defecate in other areas of the home. Somehow, I am missing the correlation, but clearly these people do not pass the litmus test for decent parenting. When did chicken wire and 2X4s become the only option?

While I hold these people accountable for their actions, I feel the government assumes a larger responsibility for allowing these people to adopt 11 special-needs children with a variety of mental, emotional, physical, and cogative issues. My apartment complex has restrictions regarding the sizes and quantities of pets within a certain square footage, yet multiples states are passing kids around without regard for the long-term outcome.

The state hears “rumors” of things, yet fails to conduct a full investigation. How many children were adopted during this timeframe? I can visualize the eager case workers pleased to get another “hard-to-place” kid off of their dockets by the end of the fiscal year. With 11 children, I would imagine that home visits by social workers would be as common as FedEx deliveries. Several "someones" clearly were not doing their jobs appropriately as the kids are currently placed in four separate homes bringing the adult-child ratio to a somewhat manageable arrangement.

 

[Alice253]

http://www.newsnet5.com/news/6222898/detail.html

Add this judge to the list. He's going to end up letting these animals have these kids back...he's doing it slowly so no one will notice. Well, judge, I got news for you...we are watching and you will hear us screaming if that happens. :razz:

Sorry to rant, but da*n!!

 

[alpharee]

working in the legal dept in this area, I'm not so sure this Judge will give them back.

 

[mysteriew]

They went to court to fight for their children, and on Tuesday afternoon, Michael and Sharen Gravelle, the Ohio couple who kept their kids in cages, found out someone else wants to make sure that doesn't happen.

It was a surprising turn of events. Huron County now says it wants permanent custody of the Gravelle children. This is something that neither the court nor the Gravelles had been prepared for.

If the hearing was allowed to continue and Huron County did not make that request, if the Gravelles did not get custody, the custody still could have gone to the county, but it would have been on a temporary basis. That means there would have been a possibility that the Gravelles could be reunited with their children.

If the county is given permanent custody, the Gravelles would lose parental rights and those 11 children would be up for adoption again.

Gravelle was expressing his joy at the fact that until this new custody hearing, he and his wife will be able to see those kids and they will be able to visit with them until February 22. That's when the permanent custody hearing will begin.
http://ohionewsnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=4376788

 

[LinasK]

They went to court to fight for their children, and on Tuesday afternoon, Michael and Sharen Gravelle, the Ohio couple who kept their kids in cages, found out someone else wants to make sure that doesn't happen.

It was a surprising turn of events. Huron County now says it wants permanent custody of the Gravelle children. This is something that neither the court nor the Gravelles had been prepared for.

If the hearing was allowed to continue and Huron County did not make that request, if the Gravelles did not get custody, the custody still could have gone to the county, but it would have been on a temporary basis. That means there would have been a possibility that the Gravelles could be reunited with their children.

If the county is given permanent custody, the Gravelles would lose parental rights and those 11 children would be up for adoption again.

Gravelle was expressing his joy at the fact that until this new custody hearing, he and his wife will be able to see those kids and they will be able to visit with them until February 22. That's when the permanent custody hearing will begin.
http://ohionewsnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=4376788

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: This positive turn of events for the children - to never have the Gravelle's get custody ever again belongs in the News That Makes You Smile Forum!

 

[Alice253]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-02-14-caged-children_x.htm?csp=15

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

FINALLY!!!

 

[Amraann]

and the wack job social worker too!!!! YAYAYAYAYAY

 

[SewingDeb]

and the wack job social worker too!!!! YAYAYAYAYAY

I'll second that!

 

[~wildangel~]

WTF!!!! I am so pi$$ed!! What the hell kind of world are we living in that people are actually debating on whether or not keeping children in cages is okay? :banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead:

RIGHT ON!!!!!!!!! I totally agree!!!!!:furious: *sings and dances* :boohoo:

 

[SewingDeb]

Any word on the formal custody hearing that was scheduled for today?

 

[OneLostGrl]

Mother in 'Caged Kids' Case Takes Stand
Wednesday, March 1, 2006

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 or that he touched a daughter inappropriately...

More at link

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...6030101154.html

 

[Becba]

The parents need to be caged. Let them see how it feels. Cage them for every year these children were.

 

[luckyevan93]

Good grief. How do these people pull this over on the DHS people who make housecalls or adopts these children out to them in the first place? Are the rules so lax that they're desperate for a home, any home ? I wonder if the old timey called orphanages would be a step up ? I just keep hearing more and more of these cases. *heavy sigh*.

L/E

 

[aussieblue]

WTF!!!! I am so pi$$ed!! What the hell kind of world are we living in that people are actually debating on whether or not keeping children in cages is okay? :banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead:

What the hell kind of world are we living in

I understand jannuncutt that you typed the above as a "figure of speech" so to speak BUT please don't question the world for this.

In my country this would never have happened as it is against policy/law to foster-out children with disabilities to untrained or unrelated foster career/families.

Its not often that children with serious disabilities are even fostered out, they are usually placed in Gov-care homes (these are not institutions).

In my state most of these homes are in normal everyday suburbs. They are normal everyday homes that have been converted (ramps, fittings,security,privacy etc). These homes each have there own profess/trained career staff. Staff consist of 1 home manager plus day staff and night staff (so staffed 24hours-7 days)
I worked in one of these homes part-time for 3 years. All staff are gov approved qualified/trained and police checked.
All staff MUST attended regular training updates (approx every 2 years).
The number of children, ages and their types of disabilities depend on the number of staff. I worked in a home of 6, we had a staff of 5.

There is also a special procedure/policy for adopting kids with special needs and its NOT EASY to adopt and that's the way it should be as they are the most vulnerable in society.

Our states do differ to some small degree in their policies BUT all must follow the Federal Health/disability etc laws.

So i guess what I'm saying is here in aussieland we wouldn't be/aren't debating "the cages". Those cages are abuse, those parents are abusers, no questions there at all!!!!!!!!!

BUT what we are (and in that i mean the people who work/train/teach/associated in the welfare/disability/children/mental health field/s) are debating HOW can so many children who are so serverely disabled/problem ed be adopted out to one couple.

What laws do you have to protect the disabled who are in need of care??????
What type of training do your Child welfare/agencies have when it comes to placements/adoption/follow ups??????

I'm sorry it just blows the mind to think that your gov/state welfare officials/agencies, ALLOWED those 2 people to adopt that number of special-needs children IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Where were the follow ups, the bckg checks??????????

That couple, the cages, the abuse, this court case, all this debating is all because these 2 adults could not cope with all those kids and their disabilities/problems.

:waitasec: Who in their right mind would even think that they could?????????

Strange how the very people/agencies employed to look after the well being of these children thought that couple could. Plus the fact that there are no laws/policies/follow ups/bkg checks saying that they couldn't adopt that many children w/disabilities/probs.

YES the cages are bad enough but whats sickening is the fact that they were allowed to have that number of kids with disabilities/probs to begin with.

So what does this say about your disability laws/policies/child welfare agencies????? and how many more kids are out there at RISK because of them?????????


So i believe What the hell kind of world are we living in should actually be What the hell kind of country are we living in


BTW in no way am i saying my country is perfect/shame free when it comes to kids/people with disabilities. As a mum of 2 kids with disabilities i know all to well our system. I actually joined the system just so i would know how to fight the system.

So my post is based on "the systems" and in my part of the world 1 couple adopting that many disabled children and then caging them because they couldn't cope, It just wouldn't happen here, it couldn't happen here because our laws/policies wouldn't allow those non-related adoptions to begin with!!!!!!!

Charging these parents and locking them up isn't enough here, its just sugar coating for the real problem. To stop this type of abuse your laws/policies on all levels need to be changed, your child welfare agencies need a good kicking up the butt.

This is only 1 of many stories about abuse against adopted/fostered out kids with disabilities here on WS. There are many more here that are more horrific than this one eg:deaf,blind,crippled young female child being used as a sex toy by her foster parents. They made home movies of it all, shared them on the net. Totally sickening.

All countries need to have strict laws/policies in-regards to children with disabilities as they are the easiest to abuse and neglect, they are the most vulnerable.

~aussieblue

 

[jannuncutt]

What the hell kind of world are we living in

I understand jannuncutt that you typed the above as a "figure of speech" so to speak BUT please don't question the world for this.

In my country this would never have happened as it is against policy/law to foster-out children with disabilities to untrained or unrelated foster career/families.

Its not often that children with serious disabilities are even fostered out, they are usually placed in Gov-care homes (these are not institutions).

In my state most of these homes are in normal everyday suburbs. They are normal everyday homes that have been converted (ramps, fittings,security,privacy etc). These homes each have there own profess/trained career staff. Staff consist of 1 home manager plus day staff and night staff (so staffed 24hours-7 days)
I worked in one of these homes part-time for 3 years. All staff are gov approved qualified/trained and police checked.
All staff MUST attended regular training updates (approx every 2 years).
The number of children, ages and their types of disabilities depend on the number of staff. I worked in a home of 6, we had a staff of 5.

There is also a special procedure/policy for adopting kids with special needs and its NOT EASY to adopt and that's the way it should be as they are the most vulnerable in society.

Our states do differ to some small degree in their policies BUT all must follow the Federal Health/disability etc laws.

So i guess what I'm saying is here in aussieland we wouldn't be/aren't debating "the cages". Those cages are abuse, those parents are abusers, no questions there at all!!!!!!!!!

BUT what we are (and in that i mean the people who work/train/teach/associated in the welfare/disability/children/mental health field/s) are debating HOW can so many children who are so serverely disabled/problem ed be adopted out to one couple.

What laws do you have to protect the disabled who are in need of care??????
What type of training do your Child welfare/agencies have when it comes to placements/adoption/follow ups??????

I'm sorry it just blows the mind to think that your gov/state welfare officials/agencies, ALLOWED those 2 people to adopt that number of special-needs children IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Where were the follow ups, the bckg checks??????????

That couple, the cages, the abuse, this court case, all this debating is all because these 2 adults could not cope with all those kids and their disabilities/problems.

:waitasec: Who in their right mind would even think that they could?????????

Strange how the very people/agencies employed to look after the well being of these children thought that couple could. Plus the fact that there are no laws/policies/follow ups/bkg checks saying that they couldn't adopt that many children w/disabilities/probs.

YES the cages are bad enough but whats sickening is the fact that they were allowed to have that number of kids with disabilities/probs to begin with.

So what does this say about your disability laws/policies/child welfare agencies????? and how many more kids are out there at RISK because of them?????????


So i believe What the hell kind of world are we living in should actually be What the hell kind of country are we living in


BTW in no way am i saying my country is perfect/shame free when it comes to kids/people with disabilities. As a mum of 2 kids with disabilities i know all to well our system. I actually joined the system just so i would know how to fight the system.

So my post is based on "the systems" and in my part of the world 1 couple adopting that many disabled children and then caging them because they couldn't cope, It just wouldn't happen here, it couldn't happen here because our laws/policies wouldn't allow those non-related adoptions to begin with!!!!!!!

Charging these parents and locking them up isn't enough here, its just sugar coating for the real problem. To stop this type of abuse your laws/policies on all levels need to be changed, your child welfare agencies need a good kicking up the butt.

This is only 1 of many stories about abuse against adopted/fostered out kids with disabilities here on WS. There are many more here that are more horrific than this one eg:deaf,blind,crippled young female child being used as a sex toy by her foster parents. They made home movies of it all, shared them on the net. Totally sickening.

All countries need to have strict laws/policies in-regards to children with disabilities as they are the easiest to abuse and neglect, they are the most vulnerable.

~aussieblue

I agree with you. Thanks for a great post!

 

[OneLostGrl]

Michael and Sharen Gravelle are emotionally ill and should never get their children back, prosecutors say in documents released Tuesday.

"The history of Mr. and Mrs. Gravelle's destructive and pathological parenting repeated itself to a new level," Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer DeLand wrote.

"This is an indication of a chronic illness of both parents."

http://www.cleveland.com/ohio/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1142415421292330.xml&coll=2

 

[Alice253]

http://www.comcast.net/news/national/index.jsp?cat=DOMESTIC&fn=/2006/03/20/349737.html

A couple charged with abuse for forcing some of their 11 adopted children to sleep in cages were stripped of custody Monday, six months after a social worker discovered the enclosures.

Juvenile Judge Timothy Cardwell said there was a good chance Michael and Sharen Gravelle would mistreat the children again, citing a history of sexual abuse allegations against the father.

SNIP....

"They love their children. They want them back. They are truly devastated," said the couple's attorney, Kenneth Myers. He said they will appeal the ruling.

 

[LinasK]

http://www.comcast.net/news/national/index.jsp?cat=DOMESTIC&fn=/2006/03/20/349737.html

A couple charged with abuse for forcing some of their 11 adopted children to sleep in cages were stripped of custody Monday, six months after a social worker discovered the enclosures.

Juvenile Judge Timothy Cardwell said there was a good chance Michael and Sharen Gravelle would mistreat the children again, citing a history of sexual abuse allegations against the father.

SNIP....

"They love their children. They want them back. They are truly devastated," said the couple's attorney, Kenneth Myers. He said they will appeal the ruling.

About time!:clap: :clap: :clap: