Judge rejects new trial in ‘cages’ case

Judge rejects new trial in ‘cages’ case

January 30, 2007
Mark Puente
Plain Dealer Reporter

Huron — The parents accused of keeping some of their 11 adopted, special-needs children in enclosed beds will not get a new trial, a judge ruled Monday.

A jury last month found Michael and Sharen Gravelle guilty of 11 of 24 counts of child endangerment and child abuse. Huron County Common Pleas Judge Earl McGimpsey denied their request to set aside the verdict or allow another trial.

Attorneys Ken Myers and Richard Drucker, who represent the Gravelles, accused county officials of withholding information during the trial.

But McGimpsey ruled that the Gravelles did not provide grounds justifying a new trial.

Prosecutors focused during the trial on enclosures, which they called cages, that the couple built around some of their children’s beds.

The Gravelles maintained that county officials knew of the enclosures years before the children were taken from the home in September 2005.

The children were placed for adoption last March. The couple will be sentenced Feb. 15.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: mpuente@plaind.com, 440-324-3773

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