OH - Grandparents lock girl in bathroom for 6 years

[not_my_kids]

I admit it, I send kids to their room all the time. But, due to my older son's very real behavioral problems, very few rooms in my house have doors, (He likes to self harm by slamming his fingers in them.) So it really can't be isolation. He is usually sent there until his attitude improves, that usually takes about five minutes. When he was younger, his sensory issues were very bad and when he would get overwhelmed, I would have to isolate myself with him in a small dark area and just hold him until he calmed. Not really isolation either.

Even if the grandparents saw behaviors that were worrisome or disturbing, which I doubt, socialization is often the key to fixing those issues. Cases like this, we usually hear how the child harmed themselves or tried to harm others, or simply was not socially on par with their peers, and the guardians truly thought that locking them up with no access to others was the answer. I've never bought that excuse, and I never will.

 

[Missizzy]

Thank you, Gitana, for the sweet words. I'm starting to think that this is a classic case of "scapegoating". From what I've read, once it is started, it is very very hard to turn things around. It's interconnected with bullying and can draw siblings in and give them a sense of power over the abused child. How I wish the child would have been listened to earlier. IMO, she could never be safe in that home again.

"A Child Called It" is a perfect example.

 

[OneLostGrl]

Folks--I am not defending these grandparents at all...not in the least. But please please listen to me when I say that most definitely 3 year old children can have tremendous behavior problems. We had a daughter, adopted from Haiti, who was diagnosed with homicidal tendencies one month shy of her fourth birthday. She would bite you hard enough to bring blood and giggle. She killed a large dog in the home she was taken to after she left us. She's still not fully verbal at age 22 and lives in a treatment home. So yes, children can be completely uncontrollable at very early ages. In fact, if you do some checking, preschool ages are when many serious disorders are diagnosed ie. Spectrum Disorder, serious ADHD, anxiety disorders, and Conduct Disorder.

Now I am not saying that this child has these diagnoses at all. I am just trying to educate that they most certainly exist in children so young....especially if the child's health has been compromised in some manner ie parental drug use or extreme prematurity. Notice, grandparents are raising this little girl. There's bound to be a reason for that. And also notice that this child was taken to a psychiatrist. IMO, something was going on.

Concerning the isolation, I can speak to that also. I lived for 6 years and five months cloistered in a bedroom, only faintly hearing the sounds of my family due to my degenerative disorder. I was totally bedbound and wore special earplugs to prevent seizures. I know the pain that this child endured. It's enough to break your heart and/or your spirit.

Now I live alone, 20 miles away from any family and never see anyone. You guys are the only ones I ever talk to. But I have the freedom of not hearing the sounds of happiness and daily life. I keep myself busy. I have my knitting, my books, and my little dogs....total peacefulness. Isolation hurts. It hurts badly. But I chose it as the lesser of two evils. This child didn't get to make that choice.

My prayers are with this child. Hopefully, she will be thoroughly evaluated and her needs met.

Bold is mine

perfect example, though Beth is 6 yrs old. All the parts of the story are to the right.

[video=youtube;ME2wmFunCjU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ME2wmFunCjU&feature=related[/video]

 

[mysteriew]

I think 3.

Here's a link about a neighbor who heard the child being abused, reported it and confronted the grandmother, all to no avail:


"“I frequently heard a lot of commotion, a lot of kids crying,” said Ridge, who is four months from graduating from Ohio University’s medical school, where she is studying to become a doctor of osteopathic medicine. “I heard the little girl scream at one point and say, ‘Mommy, don’t hit me.’ ”
At least twice, Ridge called 911 to report her suspicions, urged to do so by her mother, Lori Wulf, a registered nurse at Miami Valley Hospital, who told her daughter the police would contact Montgomery County Children Services.
Ridge said she never saw a police car come out to investigate..."

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news...by-memories-of-childrens-screams-1077571.html

From your link....

Stevens said all they know is that the girl’s parents lived in another state and that custody shifted to the grandparents between 2003 and 2004. Job and Family Services is searching to find those parents.

Looks like she was about 2 if my math is right. So they had her about a year then started leaving her in the bathroom full time.

From info in that article it looks like there were several chances to stop it. The neighbor reported it, even though the 'police don't have a record of it', the police does show that Brian Hart made a complaint of a neighbor filing a "false" complaint with childrens services. I think that is telling. Though it is possible that the police dept just made a referral to CPS and didn't investigate on their own.

Then the child also tells the school. Has children's services made any statements about their contacts with the family? It is possible that whoever the child told at the school could have made a complaint and when CPS came out the child might have been punished.

From the grandfather's complaint it is apparent that a complaint was made to CPS at some point IMO. And somehow they must have missed it.

This house had two older kids, and two younger ones. That could make for a pretty chaotic household. And from the description of the neighbor it is possible that the girl was acting out at home in reaction to a chaotic household. But since the child was able to do so well at school, it sounds less like she had behavior problems and more like the GP's were unable to provide consistency at home.

They may have tried to get assistance by complaining that she had behavior problems and that could have been why she tested and seen by the psych. (It is possible that welfare or adoption assistance paid for the testing.) But when they didn't agree it sounds like the GP's just gave up. I wonder if during that process, if perhaps someone may have talked with the GP's about her acting up and said that if she had a problem with acting up to remove her from the scene and let her get control of herself or something similiar. That could have resulted in them putting her in the BR then just forgetting to let her out at first. Then it could become habit.

But no matter how it started, the GP's actions in allowing it to go on is bad enough. But the fact that authorities received complaints and it still continued makes it worse. I would love it if CPS would make a statement as to their involment with the family or the complaints they received.

 

[OneLostGrl]

Folks--I am not defending these grandparents at all...not in the least. But please please listen to me when I say that most definitely 3 year old children can have tremendous behavior problems. We had a daughter, adopted from Haiti, who was diagnosed with homicidal tendencies one month shy of her fourth birthday. She would bite you hard enough to bring blood and giggle. She killed a large dog in the home she was taken to after she left us. She's still not fully verbal at age 22 and lives in a treatment home. So yes, children can be completely uncontrollable at very early ages. In fact, if you do some checking, preschool ages are when many serious disorders are diagnosed ie. Spectrum Disorder, serious ADHD, anxiety disorders, and Conduct Disorder.

Now I am not saying that this child has these diagnoses at all. I am just trying to educate that they most certainly exist in children so young....especially if the child's health has been compromised in some manner ie parental drug use or extreme prematurity. Notice, grandparents are raising this little girl. There's bound to be a reason for that. And also notice that this child was taken to a psychiatrist. IMO, something was going on.

Concerning the isolation, I can speak to that also. I lived for 6 years and five months cloistered in a bedroom, only faintly hearing the sounds of my family due to my degenerative disorder. I was totally bedbound and wore special earplugs to prevent seizures. I know the pain that this child endured. It's enough to break your heart and/or your spirit.

Now I live alone, 20 miles away from any family and never see anyone. You guys are the only ones I ever talk to. But I have the freedom of not hearing the sounds of happiness and daily life. I keep myself busy. I have my knitting, my books, and my little dogs....total peacefulness. Isolation hurts. It hurts badly. But I chose it as the lesser of two evils. This child didn't get to make that choice.

My prayers are with this child. Hopefully, she will be thoroughly evaluated and her needs met.

I thought you have foster children and a husband?

 

[Trident]

tlcox--You could certainly be right. I'm very confused and bothered by this case. Due to confidentiality, I doubt we'll here anything from the school.

Scapegoating certainly does happen, though. We've had a number of recent threads about it--Jeanette Maples, the Andrea and Scott Bass case, several children who were locked in closets. If you do a Google search on scapegoating children, quite a bit comes up. It's another nasty dynamic in often dysfunctional families. This is one of the primary reasons that DHS is often forced to separate biological siblings. If they have witnessed the scapegoating of a child, their empathy is effected and they can become abusive themselves. When questioned, even young siblings rationalize the abuse. It's really tragic:

http://www.libraryindex.com/pages/1389/Causes-Effects-Child-Abuse-VIOLENT-FAMILY.html

Causes and Effects of Child Abuse - The Violent Family


"....The researchers identified four family characteristics that are likely to result in parental psychological violence. The first involves a scapegoat child, who may be different from other family members by his or her unattractiveness, slow mental abilities, or disability. The scapegoat may be an unwanted child, the child of a former spouse, or an adopted child. This child is typically neglected by the parents, who favor his siblings...."

more at link

And:

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a904291362

Empathy Deficits in Siblings of Severely Scapegoated Children

more at link



You'll note that almost always there is something that sets the child apart from the others, who are treated more lovingly. While a healthy family will embrace and support even the most challenging child, a dysfunctional family can turn on a child. And sometimes, even seemingly healthy families can sink to this level if they are confronted with an especially challenging child or one whom they've come to resent for some reason. The story of Cinderella is alive and well.

BBM. Glad you brought that up, it isn't something to which I'd given a lot of thought. I find your posts, even though I don't always agree, empathetic and informative. Thank you.

 

[Rayemonde]

The evidence from the search of the home was suppressed because a judge ruled that the abusers didn't freely consent to it. :banghead: So a plea deal was offered.

April 2012:

Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. on Wednesday evening said Brian G. Hart pleaded guilty to a third-degree felony charge of permitting child abuse, for which the penalty is nine months to three years in prison.
Wednesday’s development follows the guilty plea of his wife, 50-year-old Rivae Hart, who on April 6 admitted to abduction and child endangerment charges in county Common Pleas court. Those charges also are punishable by a penalty of nine months to three years in prison, according to the court.

See more at: http://m.whio.com/news/news/local/husband-admits-endangering-child/nMXRh/#sthash.eVTZpFY8.dpuf

 

[Rayemonde]

Bold is mine

perfect example, though Beth is 6 yrs old. All the parts of the story are to the right.

BTW, "Attachment Therapy" is pseudoscientific and usually abusive, IMO. It has injured and even killed kids.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy