Cases

Jessica, adopted in China 6 months earlier, died of a fractured skull in 1993 at 10 months. She had 14 broken bones (hand, wrist, leg, upper arm, collar bone and three ribs) in the 2 months prior to her death. Her adoptive mother Julie McClure was charged with murder and manslaughter. A piece of wallboard from the home had a dent about the size of a baby's head with embedded human hairs. The defense contended that Jessica had brittle bone disease and the skull fracture was caused by a fall when the 10 month girl was standing on a chair. Her body was cremated before tests could be completed; no bone anomalies were noted during the autopsy.

Two separate grand juries indicted Julie before a Juvenile Court judge decided the verdict without a trial saying the state failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that McClure killed Jessica.
It is not clear if Jessica was abused, suffered from osteogenesis imperfecta, or if both items played a role in her death. Adoptive father Jim McClure was not charged.

Kyle Golebieski (aka Kyle Kelly) was killed by by his mother, Kathleen D. Golebieski, who frequently beat him. Kyle and his younger bio brother were adopted from Honduras in 1992. Ryan Golebieski, a year younger than Kyle, showed no signs of abuse. Kathleen was sentenced to 10 to 20 years. Her then husband Joseph Golebieski pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child.

Kathleen Golebieski (then Kathleen Kelly) adopted Kyle and Ryan, two months before she married Joseph Golebieski. Ryan, who was 2 when Kyle died, was placed in a foster home.

17-year-old man learned his daughter Kara had been given up for adoption by his ex-girl friend Stacey Goss. After the paternity suit, the adopters, Donald and Christine Carr, from Tampa Fl, decided not to contest the adoption and returned the girl to her father.

Archive of overmedication of psychotropic drugs cases in foster care in Oregon.

John Davies encouraged Romania woman to give birth or abandon Romanian children in Hungary to circumvent Romania's adoption rules

Misc trafficking cases from Ukraine

Two girls adopted in the mid-1980's were sexually abused by their adopter George Ogle, a known child molester, who had previously been convicted for the rape of two of his nieces.

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.

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.

7 year-old boy adopted by Robert and Carmencita Mitchell died of starvation.