Cape couple charged in sexual, physical abuse of children
MICHAEL BRAUN , AMY BENNETT WILLIAMS | Fort Myers News-Press
From outside, neighbors saw a family with children laughing and playing, taking boat rides, performing Christmas plays and going to church on Sunday.
Inside the family's two-story SE 11th Place Cape Coral home, the children told detectives they were abused.
Daniel and Jenise Spurgeon were arrested Monday by Cape Coral police on charges of sexual and physical abuse of at least 10 adopted or foster children in their care.
Daniel Spurgeon, 47, is in Lee County jail on a nearly $500,000 bond and faces 15 counts, including sexual assault and lewd and lascivious behavior on a child 12-18 as well as multiple counts of aggravated child abuse.
His wife, Jenise Spurgeon, 52, was released on $300,000 bond after being booked on 10 counts of aggravated child abuse.
The Florida Department of Children and Families has removed all adopted and foster children from the home.
Before they did, the 2,900-square-foot, four-bedroom home housed at least 15 people: the Spurgeons; five adopted children: daughters who are 11, 13, 14 and two 16-year-olds; five foster children: boys 8 and 9, girls 10, 11 and 13; and their three biological children, the arrest report said.
The case came to light Sunday when Cape Coral police were called to a local KFC for a report of intoxicated juveniles.
Three extremely intoxicated teenage girls, two age 13 and one 16, told officers they lived with their adoptive/foster parents and seven other adopted/foster children and that Daniel Spurgeon had given them the alcohol, according to the narrative. The girls also outlined sexual and physical abuse by Daniel Spurgeon.
A biological sister of one of the girls who had moved out of the Spurgeon home met with Cape Coral police detectives, the report said, and confirmed the alleged sexual and physical abuse she'd experienced from age 12 to 16.
The Cape PD report said four of the female children, ages 13 to 16, detailed sexual acts they claimed Daniel Spurgeon committed. The 13-year-old said Daniel Spurgeon had abused her sexually for the first time on Sunday.
The sexual abuse detailed by the children in the report included being forced to watch pornography and then copy the acts, being made to drink Mountain Dew mixed with alcohol before the abuse and to perform massages on Daniel Spurgeon with only a towel covering his genital area.
Natalie Harrell, communications director for the SunCoast Region of DCF, said the agency has opened a child protection investigation into the allegations.
"The adopted and foster children in the home were placed with the family while they lived in Alabama. Since the five foster children were in the process of being adopted, they were allowed to move with the family from Alabama to Florida under the federal Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children," Harrell said. "The foster and adopted children from Alabama are in the process of being returned to their home state. Local child protective services in Alabama will be handling appropriate placement and services for the children."
The Spurgeons became foster parents in 2004 and received a stipend from the state for the foster children in their care — at least $2,100 a month. Alabama foster parents generally receive a $14-$16 a day per foster child, though the payment can be higher if there are medical issues, said Alabama Department of Human Resources spokesman Barry Spear. The state also offers subsidies to adoptive parents, but "these parents don’t get into it to make money," Spear said.
The Spurgeons left Alabama in August 2015, but weren’t licensed as a foster family in Florida until June 3, Spear said.
When foster families move from another state, Florida does its own vetting before they're granted a license. It's a complicated process that includes a home study, background checks, and medical exams before Florida will approve them, said Ray Fischer, COO of the Children’s Network, which oversees foster care in Southwest Florida.
Though on average, approval takes about six months, "Sometimes there's a tremendous delay before we even get (the paperwork)," Fischer said.
The entire process is governed by the interstate compact, which mandates both the sending and receiving state are kept in the loop.
"The receiving state’s local agency also visits the family monthly, and submits quarterly reports to the sending state through ICPC," Spear wrote in an email.
Harrell said there were no Florida foster children placed in the home and no more information can be disclosed about the case due to state child confidentiality regulations.
As for the number of children in the Spurgeons' care, "We have no set maximum," said Spear. "As part of the home study, they have to have enough bedrooms and have got to have accommodations for all the children — including biological children."
Nobody answered the door at the Spurgeon home Wednesday. About a dozen pairs of shoes littered the front stoop, a large white passenger van was parked in the driveway and a screen door was swinging in the breeze.
Neighbors said they had seen nothing but children riding bikes and playing and a seemingly normal family routine.
Kate and Jack England live just across the Calabar Canal from the Spurgeon household and had a virtual open view of the comings and goings of the family.
“I haven’t seen anything but wonderful things,” she said. “The kids all get along. We had them over for a hot dog cookout when they got here.”
Jack England said there were about 15 kids lined up on his couch during the cookout. "We had to fill the candy dish several times," he said. His wife noted whenever she offered the kids candy their faces would light up.
Kate England said she was shocked and horrified by the charges against the Spurgeons and could recall nothing but positive activities.
“They’ve come by the neighborhood and sold Girl Scout cookies,” she said. “At Christmas, I had an old Christmas tree, and I called Daniel and told him he could have it and all the decorations.”
Kate England said soon after the family came over and the children put on a holiday play for her and her husband and neighbors. “It was just adorable,” she said. "I thought they were the salt of the Earth," Jack England said.
Kate England also said she and her husband would watch as David Spurgeon would take the children out on his boat, a few at a time. She also saw the children swimming in the canal.
“They’d be hugging and laughing,” she said. “They were very loving. I never heard them cry or swear.”
On Sundays, she said, she could see the children, the boys in shirts and ties and the girls in dresses, clamber into the family’s van and presumably head off to church.
England said she had a difficult time imagining the situation. “I must be living under a rock,” she said. “God, it’s horrible.”
Bill Pimm, a neighbor on the north side of the home, said he had seen DCF representatives there every so often. He said the kids were usually well-behaved, all had chores to do, were home-schooled and would stop by to sell Girl Scout cookies or for trick-or-treating.
Pimm noted he and Daniel Spurgeon, whom he knew worked from home as a computer programmer for Xerox, talked over the fence but did not socialize.
“I lived two doors down, and I didn’t know about it,” said Bill Meyer Jr. “Who would think that way?”
The children reported a pattern of physical abuse. They told police and DCF investigators the abuse was doled out by both Spurgeons and they were treated differently than the biological children. The report said meals for the adopted/foster children was mainly grits, bread, rice and beans while the biological children were fed a normal varied diet.
The adopted/foster children said food for the biological children was kept on the second floor of the home and they were not allowed to eat it. The only time they were allowed to eat from that supply was if the biological children didn't want it and there were leftovers.
The adopted/foster children told investigators if food went missing they would be blamed and punished.
The report said the adopted/foster children described punishment ranging from being made to swim laps clothed in the pool or a canal behind the house, forced to take cold showers, smacked with spatulas, and grabbed by the arms and thrown into walls.
A 9-year-old told police he was smacked by Daniel Spurgeon across the face for being loud.
The report also said sleeping arrangements for some of the older girls included bedding placed on the lanai and medical care for the adopted/foster children had not been provided for years.
Cape Coral police said the investigation was ongoing. Arraignments for the Spurgeons will be Aug. 22.
Fischer could not comment on any of the case's specifics, but pointed out the allegations are just that until a judge rules.
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What they said
“I must be living under a rock. God, it’s horrible.” — Kate England, neighbor.
“I lived two doors down, and I didn’t know about it. Who would think that way?” — Bill Meyer Jr., neighbor. ch