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Abuse cases

This archive contains cases of abuse of children within the child placement system.

Some of the these children have been killed, other's survived but suffered from:

In several cases the abuse was hidden from authorities under the pretext of homeschooling.

For an overview of abuse cases by location, see this map.

To make this list as complete as possible we can use your help. If you know of cases not covered, or know of articles not listed with the cases, please subscribe to this group and help maintain this section of the website or send links and articles to this mail address.

Child adopted by John Hintz

John Hintz was charged with felony child abuse for mistreating his seven year old son who he and his wife adopted in November 2010. According to reports the child was forced to do push-ups with closed fists on rocks while Hintz placed his foot on the child's back. That was after learning the boy had stolen a candy bar.

Authorities say when the child could no longer do push-ups, Hintz forced him to run laps until he had blisters on both feet.

The child told authorities he also was forced to eat all of his Valentine's Day candy and drink five glasses of soda in one sitting, causing him to vomit.

In a previous abuse and neglect report filed by Southern Elementary, it stated that on Feb. 10, both of the child’s adopted parents met with school personnel and told school officials they no longer wanted the child to have treats or rewards because they felt the sugar was affecting his behavior.
Date: 2011-03-22
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Home schooling: no

Location

Wymore, Nebraska
United States
See map: Google Maps

Child C

Police are investigating allegations a serious abuse against a five-year-old boy, known as "Child C", while he was in the care of Haringey.

Child C was snatched from his home in Africa and adopted as a "miracle baby" by a follower Gilbert Deya, the evangelist who has been at the centre of investigations into a "miracle baby" child-trafficking scandal, with infants allegedly stolen and passed to infertile women who were then convinced they had conceived through prayer.Once in the UK, the follower adopted the five-year-old, but he was seized by police in 2003 and taken into care where he has passed through six different sets of carers.

His sixth, and final, foster carer, who looked after him for 15 months, forged a strong bond with the child, but partly because her north African ethnic background was different to that of the boy, Haringey council opposed her application to adopt him. Instead, social workers fast-tracked his adoption by a black couple of Caribbean origin instead.  Since being placed with the adoptive parents allegations have surfaced that Child C was admitted to intensive care in a coma in 2006.

The authorities were alerted when concerns were raised by a consultant child psychiatrist after the boy was taken to hospital. The Guardian quoted a report which said that while in care of an adoptive couple, Child C had his head banged against a wall so hard that he needed hospital treatment. Anonymous complainants suggested that Child C was unhappy and would not eat properly. The adoptive mother complained that he was wrecking her marriage and left him with a social worker, it was claimed, only taking him back when the local authority agreed to pay £26,000 for looking after Child C.

 

Date: 2008-12-07
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal neglect
Abuser: Adoptive mother

Placement

Organizations: Haringey Council

Location

Haringey
United Kingdom

Childern in legal guardianship of Rita Makekau

Five siblings aged 8, 11, 13, 14, and 15 placed in legal guardianship of their aunt Rita Makekau were repeatedly abused by her.Makekau used a hammer to break and chip their teeth when they misbehaved. She struck them on their heads with knives and metal spoons, causing bleeding and permanent scarring.The children sometimes went without food for a week, and one had been forced to sleep under the house with dogs and insects and without warm clothes or bedding as punishment for misbehavior.
Date: 2006-04-28
Placement type: Legal Guardianship
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Legal guardian

Placement

Organizations: Child Welfare Services Hawaii

Location

Waianae, Hawaii
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted and fostered by Jonathan and Jaime Swim

Oldest son sexually abused younger children in the Swim home. Parents were charged with one felony count for permitting child sexual abuse after they reported the abuse to DHS
Date: 2010-05-17
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adopted sibling

Location

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by a St Francis couple

5 developmentally disabled children removed from their adoptive home where they were locked in their barren rooms for 14 hours/day. Two young foster children were also removed.
Date: 2001-03-27
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal neglect, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father

Location

St Francis, Wisconsin
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Anya James

Six children adopted by Anya James were physically abused by their adoptive mother.The children were confined in small rooms with alarms on doors and windows to alert James if they tried to escape. They had to use kitty litter buckets as toilets. James homeschooled the children and allowed only minimal contact with the outside world.The children were malnourished because James severely restricted their diets, police say. Their growth was stunted to the extent they didn't go through puberty as teenagers, and some children had downy hair cover (Lanugo) due to starvation.

Between 2000 and 2010, James received $750,000 in adoption subsidies from the State of Alaska.
Date: 2010-10-01
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Home schooling: yes

Location

Anchorage, Alaska
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Brian Kloosterman and Stephanie Schreiner



Four children adopted from Guatemala, allegedly abused by their stay at home adoptive father who is the primary caregiver to five children, ages 5 months through 3 1/2 years. Brian was arrested on suspicion of child abuse. The family was also investigated in Aug. 2007 when their newly adopted 9 month baby girl was rushed to the hospital for a head injury just three weeks after being adopted from Guatemala. She had a 106.8-degree temperature and a urinary-tract infection. No charges have been filed in that case.
First two adoptions (Christopher and Benjamin) completed early 2006, 3rd adoption (girl) July 2007, 4th adoption (boy) completed in April 2008. Bio child born Dec 2007. (Their first bio child died 5 days after birth, prior to any adoptions.)
Date: 2008-05-09
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father

Placement

Persons: Sue Hedberg

Location

Orlando, Florida
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Carol J. Schmidt

Three girls (age 15, 13 and 6) and two boys (age 7 and 9) adopted by Carol J. Schmidt, were physically abused by their adoptive mother. The abuse consisted mostly of cruel and unusual punishment.
Date: 2011-11-11
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother

Location

Verden, Oklahoma
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Charles and Marjorie Moss

Eight children from foster care were abused by Marjorie; she punched children, hit them with a wooden paddle, locked them outside for hours with no food or water, held their heads under hot water, and threatened them with a gun.
Date: 2000-05-11
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive mother

Location

Plant City, Florida
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by couple from Los Angeles county

Four siblings, currently (as of June 2011) in the age between 11 and 14, were allegedly abused by their adoptive parents. Between 2002 and 2008, several referrals of physical and emotional abuse were made, but were regarded unfounded after the children retracted their allegations.

In June 2010, one of the children again made allegations of physical and emotional abuse of the adoptive parents, initially backed up by one of the siblings, who later retracted the support of the allegations.

The Court of Appeals of California, Second District, Division Eight, believed the children were pressured by the adoptive parents to retract their allegations, threatening them with homelessness.

Date: 2011-06-15
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Verbal abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother

Location

Los Angeles county, California
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by couple in Haute-Loire, France

A 4 year-old boy was brought to the hospital at Haute-Loire (France) by his adoptive parents for an injury resulting from falling; but the doctors realized quickly that the injuries were not consistent with a fall. The younger brother of the victim, 18 months-old, was also hospitalized since few days for an injury to his leg. The boys were adopted since May 1, 2008. After having denied any violence, the father admitted that sometime he strikes the children to correct them but he minimizes the brutality of his behaviour saying that it was his way of educating his adoptive son who only speaks an Ehtiopian dialect. The father is imprisoned for aggravated rape, sexual assault and violence on children. The man is known to be impulsive and violent with his wife. His wife is under investigation for "non-denunciation of ill-treatment".

Date: 2008-06-06
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father

Placement

Organizations: Tukul (based in Addis)

Location

Yssingeaux, Haute-Loire - Auvergne
France

Children adopted by couple in Quebec, Canada

Three children were abused for six years by their adoptive parents, in Becancour Quebec. They have been beaten with fists, feet and with sticks. The children were also subjected to backbreaking works for their age. Parents were sentenced to community service.
Date: 2007-02-19
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother

Location

Becancour, Quebec
Canada
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Donald and Linda Hannah

A girl and a boy adopted by Donald and Linda Hannah were physically abused by their adoptive parents. The girl was also sexually abused by her adoptive father. When the girl reported the sexual abuse to her adoptive mother, she was accused of lying. The girl was also made to sleep outside as punishment.
Date: 2013-02-14
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother

Location

Crum, West Virginia
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Douglas and Kristen Barbour


A 6-year-old boy and an 18-month-old girl, adopted from Ethiopia by Douglas and Kristen Barbour, were severely maltreated by their adoptive parents. The boy was malnourished and had skin lesions and the girl had signs of multiple skull fractures (abusive head trauma)  which caused her to be blind in one eye and partially paralyzed.
Date: 2012-09-14
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Fundamentalist faith: yes

Homestudy

Placement

Location

Franklin Park, Pennsylvania
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Dr. Philip J. Broeckel Sr and Julie Broeckel

Dr Broeckel Sr. sexually abused at least 4 of his adopted children including some from Mexico. His now ex-wife Julie Barryman was not charged and was unaware of the abuse

Broeckel and his second wife, Julie, had two children of their own, adopted several others, became guardians for others and, over a period of about five years, took in numerous orphans, runaways and abandoned kids. From 15 to 20 children at a given time lived under his roof; so many that the family eventually began traveling around in a remodeled school bus.

According to one of the adopted children of Philip Broeckel the allegations were false (see: Dr Philip Broeckel was framed by Julie Berryman)
Date: 1989-10-01
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Fundamentalist faith: yes

Location

San Juan, Texas
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Dwayne and Pamela Hardy

Two children, ages 6 and 9, adopted in February 2010, by Dwayne and Pamela Hardy, were locked in their rooms and not allowed to eat. If they were caught sneaking food from the garbage, they were paddled with wooden spoons or a belt, which was the "Christian thing to do".
Date: 2010-08-12
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Home schooling: yes
Fundamentalist faith: yes

Placement

Location

Altamonte Springs, Florida
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Earnest and Windie Perry

Earnest and Windie Perry, adopted six children in total. Five of them were removed from the house after the couple was charged with eight count of aggravated child abuse. Their eldest, Elizabeth Perry, together with her adoptive mother Windie, was also charged with two counts of rape of a child and two counts of aggravated rape.

Earnest was acquitted. Windie and Elizabeth were convicted of  facilitation of rape of a child, false imprisonment, reckless endangerment and more involving 2 of the girls.
Date: 2008-07-10
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother, Adopted sibling
Home schooling: yes
Fundamentalist faith: yes

Location

Clarksville, Tennessee
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Elisha and Cheryl Christopher

Children adopted by Elisha and Cheryl Christopher were allegedly suffocated and forced to jump off a roof. One of the children was allegedly locked into a dog cage.
Date: 2011-07-22
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother

Location

Lexington, Kentucky
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Emily Miller

In November of 1999 the half-naked disabled adoptive son of Emily Miller was found tied to a plastic bucket partially filled with urine. During the examinations, it was revealed two children in the care of  Emily Miller had died earlier. First in January 1993, 4-month-old Ieisha Dyson died after being born with a significant birth defect and in April 1995 DuJuan Miller, Emily Miller's 2-year-old adopted son died, supposedly of sudden infant death syndrome.

All material kindly provided by Jack Kresnak President & CEO of Michigan's Children

Date: 1999-11-02
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Disabilities: yes
Home schooling: yes

Location

Detroit, Michigan
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Garold and Sherry McMillian

A 14-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy adopted by Garold and Sherry McMillian where left outside in the cold and rain for hours, while the adoptive parents and their two biological children visited a friend’s house for dinner and movies.
Date: 2009-11-15
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother

Location

Owasso, Oklahoma
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Gregory Bernard Lacy and LaQuron D. McLean Lacy

Seven children, under the age of 11, adopted by Gregory Bernard Lacy and LaQuron D. McLean Lacy were sexually and physically abused by their adoptive parents.

The Lacy's had an in-house strip club where parties were held in the children's presence. The children were hit with fists, belts, hangers and metal objects and one of the girls was molested by her adoptive father.
Date: 2012-10-12
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother

Location

Perris, California
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Harold Johnson and Sherry Johnson

4 children aged 8 to 13, adopted by Harold and Sherry Johnson were beaten and starved. The Johnsons pleaded no contest to aggravated child abuse and malicious punishment
Date: 1988-10-21
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal deprivation, Economic exploitation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother

Placement

Organizations: Florida HRS

Location

Pensacola, Florida
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Heidi L. Robinson

A boy and a girl, adopted by Heidi L. Robinson, were choked to the point where he couldn’t breathe.
Date: 2011-07-05
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother

Location

Lehi, Utah
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by James and Vonda Ferguson

Three boys and two girls were beaten with sticks, belts, shoes, fists and hammers; burned with a clothes iron, the stove, and a curling iron; bitten; kicked; stabbed with knives, forks and sticks; urinated on; forced to eat their own excrement; forced to drink urine; fed rotting food as well as cat food; forced into the clothes dryer and the dryer turned on; beaten while naked; duct taped to a chair or their beds for days; strangled with a belt; held under water; held over a banister by their feet and dropped; made to drink hot sauce with red hot peppers; made to drink from the toilet; forced to go without food for days; forced to wear urine soaked clothing on their heads; and body slammed, along with other abuses.At least two of the victims also detailed sexual abuses and assaults using a toilet plunger.
James was a former lay minister and church trustee
Date: 2006-08-15
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother

Location

Springfield, Ohio
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Jean-Pierre O. and Anne-Marie O.

Jean-Pierre O., a 73 year-old former professor of literature, accused of having raped his adoptive son during several years and of abusing his two grandchildren, has been sentenced 15 years of imprisonment by the Assize court of Savoie.
His wife, Anne-Marie O. was also sentenced of three years in prison with 30 months suspended for not denouncing her husband, or preventing his actions, especially at home.

The investigation had started in 2006, after a school assistant alerted the justice about a five-year old boy molested by his grandfather Jean-Pierre O. The boy's father revealed to the investigators that he was himself raped by the accused, his adoptive father,  for years, as well as his brother, also adopted. The man said he had been unable to report the events that he preferred to forget until his father attacks his own son.

During his detention, Jean-Pierre O. has actually admitted to having abused his  two grandchildren, aged 5 and 8 years between 2000 and 2003.  He also admitted of having raped his two adoptive sons.

His sons, the children of DDASS (direction départementale des Affaires sanitaires et sociales, in France), now close to their 40s, said they had suffered rape and oral sex several times a week, sometimes in the marriage bed, "for over 20 years."

But the accused will only be judged for  the rape committed on one of his adoptive son, the facts concerning the latter being barred.

Learning the abuses of his husband on his two grandchildren in 2004, Anne-Marie O., a pious woman, was living in "denial" as the experts explained. She pressed his son so that nothing comes outside the family by speaking of forgiveness and the "good side" of Jean-Pierre O. who is also a devout catholic.



Date: 2009-03-00
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Home schooling: no

Location

Savoie
France

Children adopted by Jerry Wayne Love

Three boys adopted by an unordained priest from Huntsville Alabama were sexually abused by him. Circuit Judge Karen Hall sentenced Jerry Wayne Love, 51, to 15 years on each of three first-degree sodomy charges. But she followed the prosecutors' recommendation, ordering Love to spend five years on probation and undergo treatment in a sex offender program.

In the 1990s Love and his wife were named as adoptive parents of the year by the Madison County Department of Human of Resources
Date: 2007-07-09
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father

Location

Huntsville, Alabama
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by John and Carolyn Jackson

Three children adopted from foster care by John and Carolyn Jackson were allegedly assaulted with various objects by the adopters. The children allegedly sustained fractured bones, which no medical attention was sought for. Furthermore, the children were allegedly withheld food and water and were forced to to consume food that caused them pain and suffering, such as red pepper flakes, hot sauce, and/or raw onion.

One of the three children adopted by John and Carolyn Jackson died May 8, 2008.

John and Carolyn Jackson home schooled their children and claim the Department of Youth and Family Services persecute them for their religious beliefs. John E. Jackson is a Major in the U.S. Army.
Date: 2010-04-16
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal neglect, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Home schooling: yes
Fundamentalist faith: yes

Location

Mount Holly, New Jersey
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by John and Linda Dollar

Five children adopted by the Dollars who starved them, shocked them with electricity, pulled out their toenails with pliers, bound them with chains and strips of plastic and struck their feet with hammers. Twin boys, age 14, weighed 36 and 38 pounds when taken from the home.

The family included three girls, ages 12, 13 and 17; three 14-year-old boys (two of them twins) and a 16-year-old boy. One 14 yr old and the 17 year old were favorites and not abused. Dollar's also had an adult daughter, adopted as an infant, who had moved out of the home.
Date: 2005-02-04
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Home schooling: yes
Fundamentalist faith: yes

Placement

Organizations: Hillsborough County DCF (3 children in 1995)

Location

Beverly Hills, Florida
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by John William and Connie Lucile Oliver

A 12-year-old girl who weighed 40 pounds and her 10-year-old brother, who weighed 45 pounds, were found unattended near a church playground in Union County, South Carolina. Both children were adopted from Estonia eight years before.
Date: 2006-09-23
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal neglect
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother

Location

Jonesville, South Carolina
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Juan and Myra Rodriguez

Three children adopted a year before, had allegedly been abused and tortured by their adopters.
Date: 2008-06-08
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother

Location

LaRue County, Kentucky
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Judith Leekin


Eleven teenagers and young adults were held like prisoners in Trinidad native Judith Leekin's home in what appeared to be a decades-long scheme to line her pockets with the government payments she received for adopting and raising them. She adopted at least 11 children and fostered at least 22 children. One of the children an 18-year-old boy named Shane Graham, aka Moo, with autism, Down syndrome and needing round the clock care, is missing, and presumed dead. An infant placed with Ms. Leekin died in 1988 of "crib death".

The children did not attend school. The police and CPS investigated Leekin for abuse in 1999.
Date: 2007-07-30
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Economic exploitation, Death by unknown cause
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Disabilities: yes
Home schooling: yes

Placement

Organizations: Four separate NYC agencies: HeartShare Human Service, St. Joseph’s Children’s Services, SCO Family of Services, and New York City Administration for Children’s Services

Location

Port St Lucie, Florida
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Kekoa and Kaylynn Gaunavinaka

Three children adopted in 2003 by Kekoa and Kaylynn Gaunavinaka were systematically beaten by their adoptive father, allegedly the adoptive mother stood by and did nothing. The eldest, a 13 year old girl was also sexually abused by her adoptive father.

Kekoa Glenn Gaunavinaka is serving a life sentence for sexual abuse of his daughter and physical abuse of his sons. Kaylynn divorced Kekoa in 2010 and served 6 months in jail for covering up the abuse. She is barred from seeing the children as a condition of her probation.
Date: 2009-08-01
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father
Fundamentalist faith: yes

Location

Caldwell, Idaho
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Kelly Doreen Morris

4 biological siblings adopted by Kelly Morris are alleged to have been beaten and tortured.
Date: 2012-05-25
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother

Location

hanford, California
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Kenneth H. Brandt

Three boys, 2 adopted and 1 pre-adoptive placement were raped by single father Kenneth H. Brandt. He allowed two other men to have sex with one of the boys. Brandt had adopted/gotten custody the 3 boys and a girl from Texas in 2011. The children briefly enrolled in public education, but were removed from school, to be home-schooled. Prior to the adoptive placements, Brandt had at least 6 foster children in his home.

Brandt pleaded guilty to 6 counts of rape and was sentenced to 60 years.
Date: 2011-03-01
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse, Sexual exploitation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Foster father
Home schooling: yes

Homestudy

Organizations: ACTION Inc

Location

Troy, Ohio
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Kodzo Dobosu (aka Kojo Odo)



At least three out of thirty-five children adopted by "father of the year" Kodzo Dobosu were sexually abused by him. Another child was sentenced for beating a sibling. He was accused of beating children with a board and pouring hot sauce and hot tea on the genitals of some children. He pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of three children and to petty larceny, in a deal which included no prison time.

Dobosu was born John Love, then legally changed his name to Kojo-Mbogba Odo and later Kodzo Dobosu. Children came from foster care in many states. The family was filmed for a PBS Frontline documentary called "Children of Pride".
Date: 1991-10-22
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adopted sibling
Disabilities: yes

Location

New York, New York
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Mechelle and Bessie Saffold

Former foster parents of the year Bessie and Mechelle Saffold, neglected and battered five children they adopted.
Date: 2007-02-28
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal neglect
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother

Location

Indianapolis, Indiana
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Mercury Liggins



Liggins' children, ranging in age from 8 to 17, were discovered a month ago at the Nigerian orphanage by an American missionary. The children, some of them suffering from typhoid and malaria, told the missionary they were from Houston and wanted to go home. The church's pastor told two U.S. congressmen and arrangements were made to return them to Texas.

Liggins said her only mistake was trusting her brother-in-law to care for the children in Nigeria. The relative took money she sent for the kids' benefit, causing the children to be kicked out of their boarding school and put in the squalid orphanage, she said.

The children, adopted from US foster care, initially were taken to Nigeria in October so she could take a job in Iraq, working for Houston-based Hallilburton subsidiary KBR.
Date: 2004-03-01
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal neglect
Abuser: Adoptive mother

Homestudy

Organizations: Spaulding for Children

Location

Houston, Texas
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Nellie Jasper Johnson

20 children adopted by Gainesville, Fl woman were beaten with sticks, pipes, belts, extension cords and paddles during more than 10 years of abuse.
Date: 2001-09-01
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother

Placement

Organizations: Shepherd's Care Ministries

Location

Gainesville, Florida
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Nikki and Larry Russell

At least 3 of 4 children adopted from foster care by Nikki and Larry Russell were beaten, duct taped to their beds and deprived food.The 93 lb 17 year old was not in school, IcyHot was applied to his genitals and in his rectum. Russells also had a 5th biological child in the home.
Date: 2012-11-27
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal neglect, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother

Location

Terre Haute, Indiana
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Patrick and Sherry Kelley

In 2004, the Kelleys were accused of burning, beating, and slapping their five adopted children, 10 to 15 years old. Later investigation cast doubt on whether the evidence would hold up in court, according to prosecutors. In January 2007, Superior Court Judge Mike Wolverton accepted no-contest pleas to greatly reduced charges and released the Kelleys, who had served about 17 months in jail.

George and Shirley Long were accused of standing by while their adopted grandchildren were abused for years.

George Long, the adoptive grandfather, is found guilty of chaining his 10-year-old adopted grandson to a dog run.
Date: 2004-07-01
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother, Other family member
Home schooling: yes

Location

Wasilla, Alaska
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Paul and JoAnn Drake

Paul Alan Drake and JoAnn Marie Drake are accused of locking their 13-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son in the basement for three to four weeks. The teens were fed by sliding a plate under the door and were allowed them out only to attend school. 3 other adopted children were not imprisoned.
Date: 2012-11-08
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother

Location

Ankeny, Iowa
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Paul and Paula Dunham

Sexual abuse among siblings in a family of 24 adopted, foster and (9) biological children. Some of the children came from disrupted placements and/or were family to family adoptions. Eight of the children were originally adopted from the Philippines. Some of the children were home-schooled. At least one child had a history of sexually abusing girls prior to entering the home.

Criminal charges were filed against two of the Dunhams’ biological children and one adopted son. The biological sons were convicted of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. The adopted son was found not guilty after a trial before a Stearns County judge, possibly because a sibling in Florida refused to come and testify.
Date: 2008-11-01
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adopted sibling, Non-adopted sibling, Undetermined
Home schooling: yes

Placement

Location

Holdingford, Minnesota
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Peter and Tamara Gable

Some of seven children, adopted from the foster care system by Peter and Tamara Gable, were physically abused by their adoptive parents. The abuse consisted largely of cruel and unusual punishment.
Date: 2012-04-01
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Fundamentalist faith: yes

Location

Middlefield, Connecticut
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Richard and ? Hill

Two boys and a girl, all 9 or 10 years old, were sexually abused by their adoptive father, Richard Hill, beginning Jan 2006. He allegedly sexually abused children, including his sisters, since he was a child. His sisters say they objected to the adoptions. Hill was sentenced to 9 years to life. His wife was unaware of the abuse.
Date: 2008-01-15
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father

Location

Kearns, Utah
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Roberto Acosta and Shirley Carroll Acosta

Four children between 3 and 9 being beaten with boards, locked in a basement without food and doused with cold water as punishment.
Date: 1999-03-14
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother

Placement

Organizations: Arapahoe County Department of Social Services

Location

Brush, Colorado
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Sandy June Linn

A 6 year old girl and an 8 year old boy were deprived food and water, which resulted in severe malnourishment. The adoptive father was living out of state at the time.
Date: 2007-02-26
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive mother

Location

Gardnerville, Nevada
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Scott Francis

Scott Francis, a 41-year-old Northville, MI man, lived with his two adopted children despite a plea agreement that was supposed to stop him from having unsupervised contact with any child, after his previous conviction on two offenses of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct.

The registered sex offender was convicted of violating probation, and also was charged with new counts of sexual assault involving an adopted son. A judge's written order had failed to mention the plea agreement that forbade contact with any child, and a probation officer also admitted to failing to enforce the deal.

Date: 2003-08-26
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father

Location

Northville, Michigan
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Shelley Blair

A 12 year-old boy and a 13 year-old girl, the adopted children of Shelley Blair, were found wandering a busy road. The children were bruised and malnourished. Shelley Blair is now under investigation.

In 2003, Blair pleaded guilty to three counts of child abuse.
Date: 2008-10-23
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal neglect
Abuser: Adoptive mother
Home schooling: yes

Placement

Organizations: DCS Tennesee

Location

Spring Hill, Tennessee
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Shirley Allen

Three teen age children adopted from the foster care system were refused food, beaten and made to stand on a milk crate for hours by their adoptive mother. Shirley Allen received on top of her $600 disability income, $1,500 per month in compensation for each of the three children
Date: 2008-05-28
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse
Abuser: Adoptive mother

Location

Loganville, Georgia
United States
See map: Google Maps

Children adopted by Sylvia and Michael Wenger

Date: 2001-01-01
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Sexual abuse
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Home schooling: yes

Location

Chewelah, Washington
United States
See map: Google Maps
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