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In Isaac case, judge upholds revocation of foster mom's rights

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In Isaac case, judge upholds revocation of foster mom's rights

July 18, 2007

Jack Kresnak

The Michigan Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court judge's order terminating the parental rights of Charlsie Adams-Rogers, a former foster mother now in prison for manslaughter in the death of Isaac Lethbridge, a 2-year-old foster child, in her Detroit home.

Appellate judges Patrick Meter, Michael Talbot and Donald Owens ruled that Adams-Rogers, 60, "was responsible for creating a home environment in which her foster child, Isaac, was physically abused."

Isaac died on Aug. 16, 2006, after being beaten and burned -- possibly by a hot iron -- over several days by someone inside Adams-Rogers' loosely supervised home.

The home was occupied by Adams-Rogers, her three adopted children, several foster children, including Isaac and his 4-year-old sister, and a female caretaker.

Police have not positively identified the person responsible for Isaac's death, though suspicion has fallen on a girl, now 13, who was a troubled foster child before being adopted by Adams-Rogers.

The girl, who is in a new foster home, suffers from mental and emotional problems.

She was one of two adopted girls who were minors and the focus of a state petition to terminate Adams-Rogers' parental rights after Isaac was killed. The older of the two girls, just 12 when Isaac died, has not been charged with any crime. The younger girl is now 2 1/2 years old; she also is in a new foster home.

Wayne County Family Court Judge Sheila Ann Gibson terminated Adams-Rogers' parental rights to the two girls in November.

The appeals court panel upheld Gibson's order, saying that under the "doctrine of anticipatory neglect or abuse," the judge was correct in considering how Isaac was treated as showing potential risk to other children in Adams-Rogers' care.

The panel said Adams-Rogers failed to provide a safe home for Isaac and failed to heed warnings from a medical doctor that Isaac probably was being abused in her home. The ruling was dated Tuesday and released Wednesday.

Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Vera Massey Jones -- who called Isaac's abuse torture -- sentenced Adams-Rogers to 5 1/2 to 15 years in prison on July 2 after she was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and second-degree child abuse in Isaac's death.

Contact JACK KRESNAK at 313-223-4544 or jkresnak@freepress.com.

2007 Jul 18