Neglect case ends in plea, probation

DAVID KARP

St. Petersburg Times

The foster care home of Charles and Marjorie Moss was a horrible place, according to some of the children who lived there.

Children were punched in the face, kicked in the stomach and dunked under hot water, according to court records. Authorities originally arrested the couple on 40 counts of child abuse and neglect.

But this week, the case ended with a sentence of five years' probation for Marjorie Moss.

"It was clear the children had been mistreated," Assistant State Attorney Michael Sinacore said, "but it was going to be tough to prove any abuse beyond a reasonable doubt."

Under a deal with prosecutors, Marjorie Moss pleaded guilty to one count of child neglect and gave up parental rights to seven adopted children, ages 7 to 17. She also agreed never again to try to adopt children.

Formal charges were never filed against her husband, who had been arrested on six counts of felony child neglect. He also gave up rights to his adopted children.

The case illustrates how hard it is to bring abuse charges against foster parents when the only witnesses are children, lawyers said. It also hurt that the statute of limitations on some abuse allegations against the Mosses had run out.

"I think it was a very fair agreement," said Brian E. Gonzalez, an attorney for the Mosses. The charges were "pretty outlandish," he said, adding that he thought several witnesses had credibility problems.

"Marjorie Moss always got the worst of the worst," Gonzalez said. "We felt that Mrs. Moss probably did the best she could."

The sentence given to Marjorie Moss shocked the parents who had taken in some of the children who had lived with the couple. "That's all? That's all she gets?" said Rhoda Burrill, a former foster care parent. "Five years' probation? That is an insult to those kids."

Ashley Rhodes-Courter, 15, who spent six months at the Moss home, said she was starved and whipped.

"Kids are always taught there are going to be consequences for what they do, but this case is completely contradicting to that because they are getting a slap on the wrist," she said. "I think they deserve a little time to think of what they have done. A little time out."

Ashley's adoptive parents and other families have sued the Mosses and the Department of Children and Families, saying the state should not have placed children in an overcrowded home where they knew abuse was taking place.

The Mosses oversaw 35 foster children for the state between 1992 and 1996 and were paid $115,000 during that time to look after the children. They lived in a mobile home in Plant City, where as many as 16 children lived at one time.

"There is no question about the brokenness of the foster care system," said lawyer Karen Gievers, who represents the families.

The state should change the statute of limitations on child abuse cases, she added.

"This should not be a situation where people can escape criminal prosecution just because the clock is running," Gievers said.

- David Karp can be reached at (813) 226-3376 or karp@sptimes.com.