exposing the dark side of adoption
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1992 Sep 25
Thirteen month old Chinese girl adopted by Lisa Hawkins-Rusch and her husband, died of severe brain injury, inflicted by her adoptive mother. Meghan was adopted a three months earlier in China.
1992 Sep 21
Four children adopted by Kathleen and Timothy Carroll die under suspicious circumstances.

Chronology

  • 1991 Anne Marie, 19,  placed with the Carrolls in 1985. She attempts to burn family home in Madison Twp. and and subsequently placed in custody of the Ohio Department of Youth Services. She claims most of the care for 10 children in the house hold lies on her shoulders and her biological brother James.
  • Sept. 21, 1992, the first death: Hannah, 6, a Down syndrome child, dies. Parents say she was "doing fine" after household bleach was spilled on her three days earlier, but evidence showed the child suffered horribly, with chemical burns inside her lungs and over nearly one-third of her body. Until this incident, Greene County Children Services is unaware of the family, which had 10 adopted children, all with physical, mental or emotional problems. Originally from Massachusetts, they moved to Madison Twp. in 1990, and then to Cedarville two months before Hannah died. The agency's attempt to get emergency custody of the remaining children is denied.
  • October-December 1992, three more deaths: A 1-month-old child, Chloe, who was born with only a brain stem and no brain, dies Oct. 19 in the care of the Columbus adoption agency that had placed her with the Carrolls. On Nov. 15, Noah, 3, a "crack" baby who suffered brain damage and seizures, dies. Officials express extreme concern after Mollie, a 3-year-old with mental retardation and severe allergies, appears to have been dead for 12 hours before she was found Dec. 9. County Juvenile Judge Robert A. Hagler removes the remaining children from the home, but returns them two days before Christmas.
  • January 1993, a guilty plea: Kathleen and Timothy Carroll, originally charged with involuntary manslaughter, plead guilty to child neglect charges in Hannah's death, admitting they should have sought medical treatment for her burns. They are placed on five years' probation and they agree to adopt no more children without prior court consent.
  • June 1993, the fifth death: After several months of little activity in the case, Josiah, a 12-year-old with cerebral palsy, dies. Again, officials become alarmed and ask for removal of the remaining children, but the request is denied.
  • July 1993, the inquest: The county's first inquest in a decade produces inconsistencies between experts' testimony and family members' stories about the deaths, and Judge Hagler removes himself from the case, citing innuendos about his objectivity.
  • August 1993, the charge and the removal: The family's eldest son, James, then 17, is charged with delinquency by reason of involuntary manslaughter because he was supervising Hannah at the time of the injury that caused her death. The new judge in the case, Richard T. Cole, orders Samuel, then 5, and Isaiah, then 11, removed from the Carroll home and placed in foster care.
  • October 1993, the exhumations: Despite the Carrolls' protests, the bodies of Mollie and Josiah are exhumed from their Preble County graves to allow further investigation of their deaths.
  • November 1993, the trial: After a three-day trial, Cole acquits James of all charges. The family then spends several days trying to convince Cole to return Samuel and Isaiah to the home.
  • December 1993, the custody ruling: In a harshly worded decision, Cole tells the Carrolls that their two handicapped children will stay in foster care at least for a while because the Carrolls have no plan to care for them and have refused outside help.
  • April 1994, the battle resumes: The Carrolls again argue to get their children back, and they also ask that their probation be lifted. They're denied on both counts.
  • May 1994, home visits begin: Previously visiting Samuel and Isaiah at the Children Services Board's office, the Carrolls are elated to have their children come to their home for visits.
  • June 1994, a new accusation: Officials file for permanent custody of Samuel and Isaiah and ask that James be kept separate from them. Prosecutors say Isaiah, who cannot speak, implicated James in Josiah's death. After a lengthy custody hearing, Cole rules that home visits can resume as long as James is not present.
  • November 1994, in court again: Questions linger about the deaths. Meanwhile, officials try to get permanent custody of Samuel and Isaiah, saying that the Carrolls, even after more than a year of working with Children Services, still fail to acknowledge how much care the youngsters need. The Carrolls say, however, that they're determined to demonstrate that the children would do best living with them.
  • May 1995, Samuel and Isaiah return to the Carrolls
  • October 1997 Carrolls regained the right to home school Samuel and Isaiah

Despite being called a homicide, no one was ever charged in the case of Noah.
1992 May 20
7 year-old boy adopted by Robert and Carmencita Mitchell died of starvation.

Helen Gillin

public
1992 Jan 1

Helen Gillin, the 25 year old, mentally retarded, adopted daughter of James and Roberta Gillin, was stomped to death and her body was burned in a backyard fire pit in 1992.

Roberta Gillin made her adopted daughter drink a mixture of bleach and heart medication after finding out her husband was having sex with Helen.When Helen started to vomit, James stomped her to death. The couple dumped the body into a fire pit in the back yard of their Bear Rocks home, about 50 miles south of Pittsburgh. The body was then doused with gasoline and set on fire.

Roberta Gillin was cleared of all charges. James Gillin was sentenced to life in prison, where he remains to this day.,

Dylan Farrow

public
1992 Jan 1
Adopted by Woody Allen and Mia Farrow, Dylan was allegedly sexually abused at the hands of her adoptive father. Charges were eventually dropped to spare Dylan (at the time 7 years old) to testify in court. Woody Allen later started a relationship with Soon-Yi Previn, another adopted child of Mia Farrow.
1991 Oct 22


At least three out of thirty-five children adopted by "father of the year" Kodzo Dobosu were sexually abused by him. Another child was sentenced for beating a sibling. He was accused of beating children with a board and pouring hot sauce and hot tea on the genitals of some children. He pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of three children and to petty larceny, in a deal which included no prison time.

Dobosu was born John Love, then legally changed his name to Kojo-Mbogba Odo and later Kodzo Dobosu. Children came from foster care in many states. The family was filmed for a PBS Frontline documentary called "Children of Pride".
1991 Sep 21
Five children adopted by Thomas L. Bates were sexually abused. Adoptive mother was not charged.
1991 Sep 18
Children adopted by Thomas and Dolly Crapser where physically and sexually abused.

One of the adoptees was Adam Crapser who faces deportation.

Shaun Williams

public
1991 Jun 19


Twelve year old boy murdered by his adoptive father, Luke Williams III, apparently for insurance money. Shaun's cause of death was strangulation, Linda Williams, his mother was beaten to death at the same time. Shaun (or Shawn) Williams was an native of El Salvador who was orphaned by the 1978 civil war. He was adopted 2 years prior to his death. The Williams lived in Georgia, but the trial was held in South Carolina where apparently the crime was committed. Luke Williams was executed Feb 2009.
1991 May 1

From 1968 to 1990 the Nasons adopted between 76 and 84 children, most of them having special needs, to form their "Celebration Family" or "Nason Nation". The also had 6 biological children. Eventually they formed their own school "Great Expectations".

Allegations involve physical abuse, mental injury, neglect, sexual abuse among siblings, and sexual abuse by Dennis Nason. Three small children died of neglect: Natasha (India or Bangladesh), an infant girl who allegedly died of malnutrition and starvation in March 1988; and Jason, 2, and Jodi (Chile), 4, who each died of shigella (dysentery) in 1985, just a few days apart.
Jason Nason Jodi Nason<-- Jason middle, Jodi right
Some of the 76 children they adopted have told of being beaten and being shocked with a cattle prod. At least one younger child, was allegedly caged in his beds. A 27-year-old woman adopted when she was 10 said that Dennis Nason, 49, molested her and attempted intercourse, and that she was forced to eat a bar of soap. She also said she had been hit with a belt during meals for eating too slowly and was hit again when the first beating caused her to urinate.

Diane and Dennis found new homes for at least 40 of the 54 children who lived in the Nason home between January and March of 1991 (Among the charges against them is that Dennis and Diane forged documents, medical histories, to get these children placed.)

The Nasons were acquitted of abuse charges, but convicted of racketeering and forgery involving the children's paperwork.

The children were adopted from Vietnam, India, Korea, Mexico, El Salvador, Ecuador, Chile, Peru, Brazil, Colombia, Israel, and from United States foster care.