Pound Pup Legacy

Mayura Janwalkar

Mumbai: Jennifer Haynes, 28, who was deported to India abruptly in 2008, finally traced her roots after over a year-long search. She met her brother, Christopher, 24, who lives in Ambernath. But in the reunion there was no drama, no emotion.

“I felt nothing. Nothing hurts anymore. I only think of my kids,” Haynes said.

By Chang Jun

San Francisco - American families with adopted Chinese children have hailed the recent conviction of a couple from Washington State who had sexually abused their adopted Chinese daughter, even as they expressed concern about the likely negative impact of the incident on future adoptions of children from China.

8-Year-Old: Husband sentenced earlier for abusing girl

JEREMY PAWLOSKI

OLYMPIA - A Thurston County judge sentenced a 47-year-old woman to 16 years to life in prison Thursday for raping her 8-year-old adopted daughter.
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Donna Marie Whisenhunt and her husband, Eddy Tony Whisenhunt, were arrested in May after their daughter told a school counselor that her parents had sexually abused her, court papers state.

BY ANN KELLEY

FAIRVIEW — Ashton Tyler confessed to sexually assaulting his adopted Liberian sister but cast most of the blame for his actions on the 9-year-old girl, according to court records.

Major County District Judge Ray Dean Linder on Wednesday sentenced Tyler, 20, to two years in prison and eight years probation for the assault.

As part of the sentence, Tyler is required to complete a treatment program for sex offenders, register as a sex offender and pay a $2,000 fine.

BY JEREMY PAWLOSKI

A Thurston County judge sentenced a 47-year-old woman to 16 years to life in prison today for raping her 8-year-old adopted daughter.

Donna Marie Whisenhunt and her husband, Eddy Tony Whisenhunt, were arrested in May after their adopted daughter told a school counselor that her parents had sexually abused her, court papers state.

Thurston County Superior Court Judge Gary Tabor sentenced Donna Whisenhunt during a hearing this afternoon. She earlier had pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree child rape as part of a plea deal.

By Bill Keisling

Time and again, court and county officials have intervened to protect Children and Youth Services -- and other insiders -- from scrutiny, and blame, while kids continue to be hurt.

'A worker at York County Children and Services at the time told us that the office was in continual disarray, with files and other documents strewn about the office. County officials were fearful that the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare would revoke its license if the agency was held responsible for its negligence'.

By Suevon Lee

As her case heads to trial this fall, Violet Ray was noticeably absent in the courtroom Tuesday during a scheduled status hearing.

That's because, according to court-appointed attorney Tricia Jenkins, the Belleview woman accused of murder is in "a very fragile state" and requested she sit out the hearing.

Although Circuit Judge Jonathan Ohlman granted that request in advance, prosecutors had a different idea in mind for future court events.

By JOHN SEEWER (AP)

TOLEDO, Ohio — Eleven adopted and foster children forced to sleep in cages by their adoptive parents have reached a $1.2 million settlement with the Ohio county where they once lived.

Lawyers for the children contended that Huron County children's services workers should have discovered what was before they did and removed the children.

"There were red flags that should have had the county in their sooner," said attorney Jack Landskroner.

By Kristin Rodine

Kekoa Glenn Gaunavinaka, 35, will be able to ask for parole after serving 25 years of the maximum life term for lewd conduct with a child younger than 16.

“It’s going to take all of these children a lifetime to overcome what you’ve done,” 3rd District Judge Bradly Ford told Gaunavinaka at his sentencing hearing Wednesday.

By Joe Malan

ENID — FAIRVIEW — A member of the family accused of abusing a child adopted from Liberia was given a 10-year sentence Wednesday in Major County District Court.

Ashton Malachi Tyler, 20, was sentenced to two years in the Oklahoma Department of Corrections and eight years suspended after pleading no contest to a felony count of rape by instrumentation.

The sentence was handed down by Major County District Judge Dean Linder after hearing arguments from the state and defense.

By THOMAS CLOUSE
THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

SPOKANE, Wash. -- Carole DeLeon, the foster mother blamed for starving Tyler DeLeon to death, gets out of prison Wednesday after serving about half of the sentence she received in a 2007 plea agreement.

DeLeon, 55, has lost all parental rights of the other adopted and foster children who were in her care. And she did not contest a motion brought by attorneys to make sure she receives no part of a settlement with the state concerning its failure to protect Tyler.

But the legal fight over who failed Tyler is far from over.

BY LARA BRENCKLE

When authorities say a child died at the hands of people who are supposed to love him, the first question everyone asks is why.

How, people ask, did schools, social services, neighbors and family members miss the clues that might have saved a child's life?

In 7-year-old Nathaniel Craver's case, these questions are being asked from Harrisburg to Russia, where Michael and Nanette Craver of Carroll Twp. traveled to adopt the boy and his twin sister.

By LARA BRENCKLE
The Patriot-News

When authorities say a child died at the hands of people who are supposed to love him, the first question everyone asks is why.

How, people ask, did schools, social services, neighbors and family members miss the clues that might have saved a child’s life?

In 7-year-old Nathaniel Craver’s case, these questions are being asked from Harrisburg to Russia, where Michael and Nanette Craver of Carroll Twp. traveled to adopt the boy and his twin sister.

BY LARA BRENCKLE

Northern York County is ground zero for an international incident.

The beating death of a 7-year-old Dillsburg-area boy has prompted Russian officials to call for a suspension of adoptions to U.S. parents and sparked demands for an investigation into whether the Russian-born boy's adoption was legal.

ELIZABETH EVANS
The York Dispatch

Chief deputy prosecutor Tim Barker said that when reviewing evidence in the alleged murder of 7-year-old Nathaniel Craver, he focused on a single issue - getting justice for Nathaniel.

So when four Russian television news crews showed up at the York County Judicial Center on Wednesday to interview Barker about the boy's death, it was a surprise, he said.