Parental rights terminated for Middlefield couple accused of abusing children
By Lauren Sievert
MIDDLETOWN >> Two Middlefield parents had their parental rights terminated after being found guilty of reckless endangerment of three children.
Peter Gable, 49, and Tamera Gable, 48, 41 Louis Ave., Middlefield, both pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree reckless endangerment on Wednesday in Middletown Superior Court. Both parents plead nolo contendre, meaning they do not contend the facts, but chose to accept the plea deal offered to them.
Judge Lisa Morgan informed both Gables that there would still be a finding of guilty to the charges. According to court documents, the allegations of abuse date back to 2007. Both have been released after posting a $75,000 bail each. Attorney Stephen Traub represented Tamera Gable and Attorney Hubert Santos represented Peter Gable.
An attorney appointed as guardian for the children said parental rights have been terminated for three adopted children and one other child. The judge also put standing criminal protective orders in place, which protect all four children from any and all contact from both Gables. The protective orders have an expiration date of Jan. 30, 2099.
The guardian said the children's number one goal is to move on from this. All the children are in therapy and are working to put their lives back together.
According to police reports, state troopers were assigned to investigate a claim of suspected child abuse on April 24 at the Gable home. The state Department of Children and Families reported a complaint of children suffering from physical abuse and neglect and emotional abuse.
Police said the Gables have nine children, two biological and seven adopted, but there were only four children living in the home at the time. The initial report came from the biological child living at the home after the parents were on vacation in Barbados and left the child in charge of the other three children.
When police interviewed the children with a DCF worker present, the children started crying and dry-heaving. The children continually asked the DCF worker if they were going to be sent back to the home and allegedly appeared relieved when they were told they would not be returning to the home.
The children were brought to a church and reunited with older siblings who no longer lived in the home.
The children told police and DCF workers that if they misbehaved, their parents would make them do "writings" where they would be given a religious phrase to write out a minimum of 500 times, and the number required would go up exponentially depending on the parents' mood.
The children said they would be locked in their bedroom to do the writings, and police reported seeing copies of the lists with up to 2,386 lines written. The children said if one of their parents decided they were not writing the lines fast enough, they would be taken to the garage and forced to stand on a bucket with a clipboard and complete the discipline.
Both parents were interviewed by police and allegedly admitted to using the "writings" and bucket discipline on the children.
The children also told police about when they were beaten with a belt up to 40 times for lying or misbehaving. The children reported that the adopted children got the "worst of it," with the older boys who were out of the home having received the most severe punishments. The children also described incidents where the father threw one of the adopted children on a pile of wood in the garage "really hard, hurting her ribs and chest."
The father also allegedly admitted to putting hot sauce in the children's food if they used "hateful words or bad language." Both parents allegedly acknowledged that the biological child still living in the home did not receive the same discipline and the parents said it was because that child did not come with the "baggage" that the adopted children had.
DCF reported to police about two past occasions when DCF had investigated claims of abuse, but those cases were closed due to being unsubstantiated. When police spoke with the older siblings no longer in the home, officers described them as still being terrified of the Gables.
Tamara Gable allegedly told police she and Peter Gable "felt overwhelmed" by the needs of the adopted children. Tamara Gable allegedly said she and her husband took on too much, but that they never reached out to DCF for help or support for dealing with "difficult" adopted children and that they were doing the best they could.
A DCF worker reported that about six months prior, Tamara Gable had contacted the office to activate her foster care license to start taking more placements again. When told by the worker that she would have to take a training class and a home visit would be required as standard protocol, Gable allegedly was not willing to comply.