Parents Charged In Jonesville Abuse Case

Parents Charged In Jonesville Abuse Case

POSTED: 6:55 pm EDT September 27, 2006
UPDATED: 6:38 pm EDT September 28, 2006

JONESVILLE, S.C. -- A Union County detective said it is the kind of case you take home with you.

A Jonesville couple were arrested and charged after police say their two adopted children were malnourished and abused, and locked out of the house while their mother was shopping.

Deputies found a 12-year-old girl who weighed 40 pounds and her 10-year-old brother, who weighed 45 pounds, unattended near a church playground on Saturday.

A caller to 911 said that the children had been at the playground for most of the day.

The children told investigators that their mother always kicked them out of the home on West Lane when she went shopping. The children told investigators they were left to fend for themselves.

"It's just very heartbreaking and a very overwhelming case," Union County Sheriff's Lt. Robert Hines. "It pulls on my heart or any other law enforcement officer's heart because all we want to do is try to protect people. We're so grateful to the people who initially called."

The Union County Sheriff's Office said Connie Lucille Oliver is charged with felony unlawful neglect. Her husband, John William Oliver, was charged with cruelty to children, a misdemeanor.

Both were released from jail on Tuesday.

Connie Oliver is a teacher's aide in Laurens County. School district officials said she has been placed on administrative leave.

A state Department of Social Services spokeswoman said the children have been placed in protective custody out of the county .

Investigators said that the couple adopted the children eight years ago from the former Soviet republic of Estonia, in part to help the children escape abuse.

According to an incident report, DSS said that they had received several reports about the condition of the children, but had not been able to do anything with the case. WYFF News 4's calls to DSS were not returned.