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

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I totally agree. This has been so appalling. Cattle comes to mind as to their thoughts about children. I could say more but the point is already out there.
 
ive watched the gravelle case since it first came to public attention. i saw the picture of the cages, painted in bright colors. i read about the children and their sometimes self destructive behavior, and pondered.

i was raised by my uncle and auntie. by the time they finally proved my biological mother was unfit, i was a seriously damaged child of 5. i could not talk, and was unresponsive to all but my auntie . if touched by anyone else, i would go nearly catatonic. i would run all over, fall constantly, and walk literally miles in my sleep. i would bang my head against whatever was nearby, wall, refrigerator door, car tire, etc, for hours at a time if not distracted.

after months of following me 24 hours a day, finally auntie tied jingle bells to my wrists and ankles. she put inflated inner tubes all around the walls, and a baby gate with jingle bells at the open door. (this didnt all happen all at once, it took months). daytimes she (or someone) followed me all around, but at night i was protected.

these efforts at protecting me were from love. they could have institutionalized me, in fact most of the family thought that best. i was diagnosed with so many disorders it was silly. finally they found a doctor with sense, who recognized autism.

eventually the jingle bells woke me, usually before they woke auntie. and i stopped feeling the need to bang my head by about 9. i began to talk, out of the blue, at 10. now, at 30, i am about as 'normal' as most folks. i still love the sound of jingle bells...to me it is the sound of love and safety.

the gravelles may have gone too far, i agree. but i have a feeling that it started with a need to protect. it is also a good thing to remember that even completely normal children can be encouraged to say anything.

remember this? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMartin_preschool
 
Mira said:
ive watched the gravelle case since it first came to public attention. i saw the picture of the cages, painted in bright colors. i read about the children and their sometimes self destructive behavior, and pondered.

i was raised by my uncle and auntie. by the time they finally proved my biological mother was unfit, i was a seriously damaged child of 5. i could not talk, and was unresponsive to all but my auntie . if touched by anyone else, i would go nearly catatonic. i would run all over, fall constantly, and walk literally miles in my sleep. i would bang my head against whatever was nearby, wall, refrigerator door, car tire, etc, for hours at a time if not distracted.

after months of following me 24 hours a day, finally auntie tied jingle bells to my wrists and ankles. she put inflated inner tubes all around the walls, and a baby gate with jingle bells at the open door. (this didnt all happen all at once, it took months). daytimes she (or someone) followed me all around, but at night i was protected.

these efforts at protecting me were from love. they could have institutionalized me, in fact most of the family thought that best. i was diagnosed with so many disorders it was silly. finally they found a doctor with sense, who recognized autism.

eventually the jingle bells woke me, usually before they woke auntie. and i stopped feeling the need to bang my head by about 9. i began to talk, out of the blue, at 10. now, at 30, i am about as 'normal' as most folks. i still love the sound of jingle bells...to me it is the sound of love and safety.

the gravelles may have gone too far, i agree. but i have a feeling that it started with a need to protect. it is also a good thing to remember that even completely normal children can be encouraged to say anything.

remember this? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMartin_preschool
Click to expand...
If it had been only about one child, and no allegations of prior abuse by their biological children, I might tend to agree with you, but I think by fostering 11 of these special needs kids, they were only out for the money. The cages go way beyond protection, that is abuse! :doh: Plus the Gravelle's met at a child sex abuse support group- her previous husband was convicted of molesting her daughter and Michael was also accused of doing the same thing. These people are sick! There is evidence, this is not the McMartin case.:banghead:
 
LinasK said:
If it had been only about one child, and no allegations of prior abuse by their biological children, I might tend to agree with you, but I think by fostering 11 of these special needs kids, they were only out for the money. The cages go way beyond protection, that is abuse! :doh: Plus the Gravelle's met at a child sex abuse support group- her previous husband was convicted of molesting her daughter and Michael was also accused of doing the same thing. These people are sick! There is evidence, this is not the McMartin case.:banghead:
Click to expand...
Very well said. It seems to me that these people purposely adopted what they thought were "throwaways", that no one cared about, for financial gain.
 
I have read only the first article in this thread. I am sick of reading story after story of the abuse children are suffering in foster care. Is it time to bring back state run orphanages? Maybe we can keep a better eye on children's needs this way.
 
Mira said:
ive watched the gravelle case since it first came to public attention. i saw the picture of the cages, painted in bright colors. i read about the children and their sometimes self destructive behavior, and pondered.

i was raised by my uncle and auntie. by the time they finally proved my biological mother was unfit, i was a seriously damaged child of 5. i could not talk, and was unresponsive to all but my auntie . if touched by anyone else, i would go nearly catatonic. i would run all over, fall constantly, and walk literally miles in my sleep. i would bang my head against whatever was nearby, wall, refrigerator door, car tire, etc, for hours at a time if not distracted.

after months of following me 24 hours a day, finally auntie tied jingle bells to my wrists and ankles. she put inflated inner tubes all around the walls, and a baby gate with jingle bells at the open door. (this didnt all happen all at once, it took months). daytimes she (or someone) followed me all around, but at night i was protected.

these efforts at protecting me were from love. they could have institutionalized me, in fact most of the family thought that best. i was diagnosed with so many disorders it was silly. finally they found a doctor with sense, who recognized autism.

eventually the jingle bells woke me, usually before they woke auntie. and i stopped feeling the need to bang my head by about 9. i began to talk, out of the blue, at 10. now, at 30, i am about as 'normal' as most folks. i still love the sound of jingle bells...to me it is the sound of love and safety.

the gravelles may have gone too far, i agree. but i have a feeling that it started with a need to protect. it is also a good thing to remember that even completely normal children can be encouraged to say anything.

remember this? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMartin_preschool
Click to expand...
Mira, you sound like a lovely and compassionate person. I can't imagine how awful it must have been for you in those horrific early years. God bless your dear auntie for having so much love for you. I admire you for your courage and determination in fashioning a decent life for yourself. Your aunt and uncle obviously worked very hard at trying to make your life as happy and secure as possible, but don't forget that your own determination and faith probably carried you as well. You should be very proud of your accomplishment. You are an inspiration.
 
http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/12/06/caged.kids.ap/index.html


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.

Before the boy testified Wednesday, two women took the witness stand saying youngsters they cared for lied, stole and misbehaved after they had been removed from the Gravelles' home.

Anita Thorne said she received two of the children in April and both left in November because she had to struggle to care for them.

She described a girl as violent. "She hit me in the back of the head while I was driving because she couldn't get her way. That did it for me. She could have killed us both," Thorne said.
 
I don't think they're evil. I think they were doing the best they could in a overwhelming situation.

People put their young children in cages every night and many use cages every day. They are called cribs and playpens. It's done for safety.



I have no knowledge of them being religious
 
The article says they made the boy copy pages out of Deuteronomy and that the father refered to himself as Moses.
 
And I hereby resign my "evil" comment, i know it was a bit over the top. But these people do sound like they were in over their heads and didn't appear to have asked for any help. They chose to take these children in, and they got paid good money for it too. If they were having that much trouble they should have resigned. Look at what happened to Marcus Feisel...
 
Local news (tv) reports that the defense team was able to get different statements from at least one of the children on the stand. (Meaning different from what they stated before about some facts.) Nothing on the internet though, just what I heard on the news.

This case baffles me.

I have one special needs child and NO WAY could I have taken on more, along with my 3 other typical children. I understand the "want" to helping all children as my heart breaks when I see children's pics up for adoption, especially the handicapped. I just know I couldn't do any good with more children. :(

What was going through their minds? I hope it wasn't just money.
 
These people were not "doing the best they could"! This was child abuse- they forced one little boy to sleep in a bathtub. The father stated that they wanted as many kids as they could have for the money! I've followed this story from the beginning.
 
californiacarrie said:
And I hereby resign my "evil" comment, i know it was a bit over the top. But these people do sound like they were in over their heads and didn't appear to have asked for any help. They chose to take these children in, and they got paid good money for it too. If they were having that much trouble they should have resigned. Look at what happened to Marcus Feisel...
Click to expand...
Resign from being a parent? They asked for respite when they felt overwhemed according to testimony. When the adoption agency did the homestudy they were aware of the "cages" which btw were not ever locked, just alarmed they obviously had no issue with it.

Adoption subsidy to to help with the expense of raising special needs children, it's not a paycheck.
 
Linda7NJ said:
Resign from being a parent? They asked for respite when they felt overwhemed according to testimony. When the adoption agency did the homestudy they were aware of the "cages" which btw were not ever locked,
Click to expand...
Where are you getting your information? This is contrary to all the articles I've read on this case. We have a whole previous thread about it.
 
Linda7NJ said:
Resign from being a parent? They asked for respite when they felt overwhemed according to testimony. When the adoption agency did the homestudy they were aware of the "cages" which btw were not ever locked, just alarmed they obviously had no issue with it.

Adoption subsidy to to help with the expense of raising special needs children, it's not a paycheck.
Click to expand...

Yes, resign from being a foster parent, if they felt overwhelmed.
 
LinasK said:
These people were not "doing the best they could"! This was child abuse- they forced one little boy to sleep in a bathtub. The father stated that they wanted as many kids as they could have for the money! I've followed this story from the beginning.
Click to expand...
I have a friend that adopted a RAD child. That child pissed all over the house, in the toy box, closets, kitchen drawers, on the dog constantly. He ruined 2 mattresses. He would destroy the house every night. He's 9 years old. He spent a few nights in the tub, and in their walk in closet.

They finally ripped up all the carpet and laid down tile, took everything out of his room except a small air mattress, which he's managed to put more holes in with his teeth than you can imagine. His bedroom door is alarmed. Yes her house always smells like piss. dispite new carpet, burning candles and all of the other changes. I haven't even mentioned his other issues like lying, fecal smearing, stealing and making false allegations. He's been in therapy forever.

Is he being abused? I don't think so.
 
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