by: Jonathon Sharp

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — A Utah woman who pleaded guilty in the death of her two-year-old foster child in 2018 is facing new child abuse allegations after she allegedly slapped her young adopted son.

Lisa Jo Vanderlinden, 46, of Roosevelt, was charged last week with a misdemeanor count of child abuse in violation of her probation, court documents filed in Duchesne County show.

Vanderlinden allegedly hit her nine-year-old adopted son while he was at her home for a weekend visit.

The child reported to investigators with Utah Children’s Justice Center that Vanderlinden struck him when he was 8 years old, slapping him with an open hand twice. The hits, the child reported, “left a red mark on his face for two days.”

By Ken Brown

CINCINNATI (WXIX) – The sixth day in the trial of two Springfield Township parents facing charges in the 2016 death of their adopted son saw a former Hamilton County Coroner’s Office employee take the stand.

John and Katherine face 26 total charges in connection with the death of their adoptive son, 8-year-old Adam Snyder, according to the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office.

Adam was one of five children with learning disabilities the couple adopted from China, court documents show.

Prosecutors claim Adam died after Katherine slammed his head for soiling himself on Oct. 4, 2016.

By The Associated Press

VANCOUVER, Wash. — The trial has started for parents accused of starving a boy to death nearly three years ago in Washington state.

Prosecutors in opening statements this week said 15-year-old Karreon Franks weighed 61 pounds when he died from starvation and neglect, The Columbian reported.

Felicia Adams, 54, and Jesse Franks, 58, are charged with domestic violence, homicide by abuse and second-degree murder in Karreon’s death in November 2020. They are also charged with two counts of second-degree criminal mistreatment of Karreon’s two younger brothers.

Adams is the children’s aunt. She adopted them in 2012 in California, and after that she moved with them and Franks to Vancouver, according to prosecutors.

BYAKEMI TAMANAHA

OCTOBER 19, 2023

Timothy Ferriter, the adoptive father to a Vietnamese son, was found guilty on all counts in an aggravated child abuse trial.

Ferriter, who is from Jupiter, Florida, was convicted of aggravated child abuse, child neglect and false imprisonment on October 11, WPTV reports.

Police arrested Timothy Ferriter and his wife Tracy Ferriter in February 2022. Tracy will face a separate trial.

By Ken Brown

CINCINNATI (WXIX) – A psychologist who worked with Adam Snyder the night before his death took the stand during the fifth day of his parents’ trial on Thursday.

Dr. Rena Sorenson said Katherine Snyder had taken her 8-year-old son to see Sorensen at the Cincinnati Children’s College Hill Campus.

“When they initially adopted him he was self-eating and feeding well,” Sorensen testified. “After he broke his femur, he started to decline. He wanted them to feed him. Pretty soon they had to puree his food and put it in a bottle. Then he was even refusing that and they had to move to syringe feeding. The last days prior to him coming in, he had hardly eaten at all.”

The defense said Adam Snyder’s health issues could have been a potential cause of his passing.

Garland Malcolm of Pleasant View was sentenced to a maximum term of 32 years in prison for child abuse

By Bailey Duran Special to The Journal

The Colorado Court of Appeals on Oct. 12 upheld the court’s decisions in a dependency and neglect case that was filed on behalf of the Montezuma County Social Services.

In a separate but related case, Garland Malcolm was found guilty of neglect and severe child abuse that resulted in a maximum sentence and severed parental rights for both parents to all four of their children.

On July 14, 2023, Malcolm was sentenced to 32 years in prison after a jury convicted her of severely abusing one of her children to the point that he may never recover, according to the doctors who treated him at the Colorado Springs Children’s Hospital.

by: Aimee Plante

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A trial is underway for the Vancouver parents accused of starving their adopted 15-year-old son to death nearly three years ago.

Court documents show Jesse Franks and Felicia Adams-Franks have faced charges for the death of Karreon Franks since turning themselves in during the spring of 2021.

Karreon died the day after Thanksgiving in 2020 in a Vancouver hospital, where records show he was 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighed 61 pounds. Karreon had been autistic, legally blind and unable to speak.

Officials say Adams-Franks had gone to a casino hours after his death to spend more than four hours gambling. 

Karreon Franks was 61 pounds when he died in November 2020

By Jessica Prokop, Columbian Assistant Metro Editor

“How much hunger can a child endure? How small can a child become before their body stops working?” Senior Deputy Prosecutor Erik Podhora asked a jury Wednesday. “For Karreon Franks, it was 61 pounds.”

Prosecutors say that’s how much a 15-year-old Vancouver boy weighed when he died from starvation and neglect in November 2020 at the hands of his adoptive mother and her husband. Their joint trial began Monday in Clark County Superior Court.

Felicia L. Adams, 54, and Jesse C. Franks, 58, are facing domestic violence charges of homicide by abuse and second-degree murder in Karreon’s death and two counts of second-degree criminal mistreatment of Karreon’s brothers, then 14 and 13 years old.

By Mike Schell

SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WXIX) - A doctor from Children’s Hospital took the stand Wednesday as the trail of John and Katherine Snyder continued Wednesday.

John and Katherine face 26 total charges in connection with the 2016 death of their adoptive son, 8-year-old Adam Snyder, according to the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office.

Adam was one of five children with learning disabilities the couple adopted from China, court documents show.

Prosecutors claim Katherine Snyder slammed Adam’s head, which led to his death, after he soiled himself on Oct. 4, 2016.

By Ken Brown

SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WXIX) - The judge overseeing the trial of the Springfield Township couple accused of killing their 8-year-old son issued a stern warning to both sides on Tuesday.

The warning from Judge Wende Cross came after concerns were raised that someone tried to make contact with a child witness who gave testimony in the trial of John and Katherine Snyder on Monday.

“The court has a duty to make sure that these proceedings do not cause trauma to these minor children, and that’s what I’m going to do,” Judge Cross said. “I will have you arrested, plain and simple. You can explain it to me after you get out of the justice center.”

John and Katherine face 26 total charges in connection with the 2016 death of their adoptive son, 8-year-old Adam Snyder, according to the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office.