9-year-old Brian Edgar, died of asphyxiation after his mouth had been taped shut and something like a sock had been stuffed in it.  According to the coroner, there were signs that Brian had vomited and that he had been bound around the chest with a belt.  In addition, the autopsy showed  Brian had been dead for several hours before being brought to the hospital. There were bruises on his cheeks and old marks on his wrists and ankles, suggesting he probably had been bound with a rope in the past. 

He was punished by his adoptive mother for stealing cookies.

Neil and Christy Edgar, pastors of God's Creation Outreach Ministry were also charged with abusing 3 other adopted children. Christy Edgar was referred to as a prophet, and reportedly claimed God told her to tie up children as a discipline method.

Three year old Christian was placed with along with his 2 younger siblings with inexperienced parents Angela and Ian Gay in Nov 2002. Six weeks after placement, Christian was admitted to a hospital then died. He had head injuries and a significant amount of salt in his bloodstream. The initial autopsy listed the cause of death as blunt force trauma.

Gays were initially found guilty of manslaughter. This verdict was overturned based on new medical evidence. At the second trial, they were found not guilty.

News reports of the second trial mention hydrocephalus and "salt diabetes" (Diabetes insipidus). Christian was alleged to have been diagnosed with hydrocephalus at 7 months. The condition was not monitored or disclosed to the Gays or the prior foster parents.

It is unclear if a medical condition, forced salt ingestion, physical abuse, or some combination of the three caused his death.

age 1       undated

In 1998 Jeffrey Baldwin and a sister were placed by Catholic Children's Aid with his maternal grandparents Elva Bottineau and Norman Kidman, who had been convicted of child abuse in 1970 and 1978 respectively. The grandparents had been given custody of 2 other siblings earlier. Jeffrey died 4 years later, after he and his next oldest sister had been starved, beaten, locked in an unheated room and forced to drink from a toilet. Jeffrey was never toilet trained and denied schooling. The 2 other siblings were trained to treat Jeffrey and his sister as 'pigs'. Jeffrey died at age 5 of septic shock from pneumonia complicated by his starvation. He was covered with wounds and weighed 21 lbs; one pound less than he weighed for his 12 month doctor visit.

There were 6 adults and 6 children under age 10 in the home. Bottineau and Kidman used the children as a source of income.  Bottineau and Kidman were convicted of 2nd degree murder and sentenced to 22 and 20 years, respectively.

See also
Children's Aid Society workers should be reined in, critics say
Kevin Libin: Readers detail rarely-seen ugly side of child-protection agencies

8-year-old Christopher Forder stricken with pneumonia, heavily bruised and nearing death, only to call 911 after he had dies. Kimberly Ann Forder, Christopher's adoptive mother abused and neglected him to the point of death, never seeking outside medical help as his pneumonia grew worse. Adoptive father Robert Forder was not charged, though he also did not call for help.

Kimberly and Bob Forder homeschooled and home-churched the children. They did not seek modern western health care treatment the children. They told police Christoper's injuries were due to reactive attachment disorder.

In addition to Christopher, who was adopted from Oregon DHS, Forders had 3 adult bio children and 4 adopted or foster children. In 2005, after Christopher's death, they adopted a set of infant triplets from Liberia with the assistance of West African Children Support Network (WACSN). In 2006, the Forders and the 7 remaining minor children moved to Liberia to serve as missionaries. Around the same time, one of their adult bio children was charged with raping another of their adult children.

In December 2007, the 7 adopted children were returned to Washington state from Liberia after Bob Forder had left them at a WACSN orphanage.

 
2-year old Maria Bennett, adopted by Susan Jane Bennett, died from shaken baby syndrome. Susan Jane Bennett, said that she had tripped while carrying Maria and had dropped her. Medical evidence proved otherwise. Susan Bennett pleaded no contest to 1 count of reckless homicide and was sentenced to 3 years in prison. Maria was adopted from Primorsky Krai, Russia 9 months prior to her death. Maria's older sister, also from Russia is cared for by Bennett family members

4-years-old boy adopted by Marie-Claude Vallée, was beaten to death by his adoptive mother’s boyfriend, Éric Grenier. The corpse of the child was covered with 72 bruises. October 21, 2004, Grenier was found guilty of non-premeditated homicide.

Sacha was born in Russia in 1998. He had spent the first year of his life in a Siberian prison where his mother was imprisoned and where she died; the orphanage where he was transferred put him up for adoption. In August 2001, he was placed with Marie-Claude Vallée.

Theresa and Reed Hansen, of Saratoga Springs, Utah had been accused of felony and misdemeanor charges for withholding food, sometimes for days at a time, from two of their three children adopted from Russia, who were of pre-school age at the time. The abused boy and girl were bio siblings adopted 2 years after the first. All three adoptees were removed from the home in 2002 and have reportedly thrived since in new adoptive homes.

3 and 5 year old learning disabled children adopted in 2001 from Latvia were locked in a room by themselves for 4 hours while the Irish-born immigrant parents went shopping. The home was filthy and determined to be uninhabitable. Both parents were convicted.
The parents had a criminal record from 2000 for locking an 87 year old woman in a home.

Twenty six month old Kelsey Hyre was permanently paralyzed September 26, 2002. Kelsey and her brother Nathan were adopted from Amur Russia, probably Blagoveshchensk, 8 months earlier when they were 18 and 22 months old. Her spine was severed after her adoptive father Gerald Hyre slammed her on the floor. Adoptive mother, Bonnie Hyre, who was at work at the time, took her to hospital when she came home. Ms. Hyre had previously suspected her husband of abusing both Kelsey and her adoptive brother Nathan, 3, and had taken photos of other injuries, discussed suspicions with co-workers, but after husband's arrest she destroyed pictures and did nothing.

Gerald Hyre was sentenced to 16 years for felonious assault and child abuse. Bonnie Hyre was sentenced to 2 years for permitting child abuse and evidence tampering and served 10 months. Kelsey has been adopted by another couple and is reportedly responding well. Nathan was placed temporarily with Bonnie Hyre's mother, but now Bonnie has custody.