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CARROLLS' WISH COMES TRUE TODAY

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CARROLLS' WISH COMES TRUE TODAY

Lou Grieco

May 20, 1994

Dayton Daily News

        

They asked at Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter, but Kathleen and Timothy Carroll will get their family reunion today.

Two of their children who have been in foster care, Isaiah, 11, and Samuel, 6, will visit the family home in Cedarville for two hours. They will be accompanied by a representative from the Children's Services Board of Greene County.

"This is a major breakthrough for our defense team, a major first step," said John Rion, the Carrolls' lawyer.

For the past nine months, the Carrolls' visits with Isaiah and Samuel have been held at the board's office, while the boys remained in foster care. Isaiah is living with a family in Clark County; Samuel in Greene County.

Visiting Judge Richard Cole removed the two boys from the Carroll home Aug. 17 after a coroner's inquest into four suspicious deaths among the family's 10 adopted children. Isaiah suffers from a form of paralysis and Samuel has Down syndrome.

Rion estimated the two boys will be home permanently within 90 days. But assistant county prosecutor Suzanne Schmidt said that is Cole's decision, and depends on how well upcoming visits go.

For the next few weeks, the two children will come back for more two-hour visits, which will initially be supervised by someone from the Children's Services Board. Later, the children will be home for full-day visits.

The stipulations are that Mrs. Carroll must be home during that time, and James Carroll, 18, is not to supervise the children, Schmidt said. Representatives of the Children's Services Board will also be able to make unannounced visits.

James Carroll was charged in the death of Hannah Carroll, 6, but Cole found him not guilty. Hannah, who had Down syndrome, died Sept. 21, 1992, three days after the family said household bleach was spilled on her. Mr. and Mrs. Carroll pleaded guilty to neglect charges in connection with that death.

1994 May 20