Adopted children remain with Urbandale mom convicted of abuse
Four adopted children remain in the home of an Urbandale mother convicted for abuse, and that's how they will likely stay for now.
Malayia Knapp said Thursday that Polk County Juvenile Judge Colin Witt is keeping all but one of her half-siblings in the home of her adoptive mother, Mindy Knapp. A boy accused of hurting another sibling is living separately with their adoptive father, Andy.
Malayia Knapp ran away from the home in late 2015, when she was 17, after years of abuse she said was inflicted by Mindy Knapp, who adopted her from foster care.
Those allegations and others — including that Malayia Knapp and her sister were routinely locked in a basement room — were recounted to police and child-protective authorities. Mindy Knapp ultimately was found responsible for child abuse and convicted of assault.
The case, investigated by Watchdog in January, has drawn attention elsewhere around the country.
Knapp's treatment and that of Natalie Finn, a West Des Moines teen who died Oct. 24 from after starving in her adoptive mother's home, raised questions at the Iowa Legislature about whether child-welfare authorities are taking appropriate steps to safeguard children when abuse is reported.
Malayia Knapp and her siblings, and Finn and her siblings, were adopted out of Iowa's foster care system and later pulled from public schools by their mothers, ostensibly to be home-schooled. Finn's mother has been charged with Natalie's murder and heads to trial in October.
The drawn-out juvenile court case involving the five children adopted by the Knapps — the couple also has three biological children — involves complex issues. The biological parents of Malayia's half-siblings have no legal ties because their parental rights were severed years ago.
Judge Witt said at Thursday's brief hearing his responsibility is to do what's in the best interest of each of the children, and not wade into public policy issues the case raises. He set aside a half day in early May to hear additional evidence, including testimony from Malayia Knapp.
Before that happened, Witt excluded media and a crowd of other family and friends from the hearing. He said there was "information that could be harmful to these children if reported in the press."
Several attorneys, including those for Mindy and Anthony Knapp, requested the hearing be closed.
But Lynn Hoskins of Knoxville, a biological grandmother to Malayia and two other of the children, said the way the case has been handled out of public view concerns her.
Hoskins said one of the adopted children, who like the others was home-schooled by Mindy Knapp until the abuse case, has been found to be two years behind her peers in public school.
Although other children reportedly were angry with Malayia for making the abuse case public, at least two have run away since Malayia, including one last fall.
Hoskins said no one has obtained or ordered a psychological evaluation of the parents after 16 months of scrutiny and oversight, though Mindy Knapp is alleged to have done and said troubling things.
Now a party in the juvenile case, Hoskins said she has had her lawyer enter into evidence testimonials from others who knew the Knapp family well. One letter came from the Rev. James Snow, who with his wife saw the family at church for years until 2013.
Snow wrote a state child-protection worker to say that Mindy Knapp believed the children she adopted were trying to kill her and her family, that they had demons and that God told her when the children were doing wicked things, according to case records.
Other testimony came from a former boyfriend of the Knapps' oldest birth daughter, who said Andy and Mindy used to whip the adopted children with a braided stainless steel water-supply hose they called "the motivator."
He also said Mindy Knapp was controlling and that he saw her treat the adopted children worse than her biological children.
Witt said he could not address whether anyone had requested a psychological evaluation of the parents.
Mindy Knapp, who has declined to talk to media and could not be reached Thursday for comment, has alleged to authorities that Malayia Knapp has multiple diagnoses that make her manipulative and prone to harmful behavior.
Among other claims, she has said Malayia had reactive attachment disorder, a condition sometimes found in abused and adopted children who haven't learned to bond properly with others.
But Malayia Knapp said her adoptive mother provided no proof of her claims from psychological professionals. And Iowa Department of Human Services workers told Sen. Matt McCoy in a briefing on the case that Malayia had no such diagnoses.
Malayia, who now lives with Hoskins, her grandmother, was the oldest of six half-siblings of two parents with drug abuse problems. She said she was placed in foster care at age 7 while living in Chariton in Lucas County.
She and two siblings, then ages 6 and 2, were the first in her family to be adopted by Mindy Knapp, who had babysat them, and her mechanic husband. The Knapps changed the children's names and Social Security numbers when they were adopted from foster care, she said.
The Knapps eventually adopted three more of the half-siblings and moved in 2009 from Chariton to Urbandale. They continue to receive adoption subsidies from Iowa.
Malayia Knapp said the adoptive children received regular and severe beatings, and were forced to exercise for long periods as punishment.
She also said she was tied up repeatedly with belts and scarves, and that she and siblings often were locked up for hours, a ritual that started soon after they were adopted.
Lee Rood's Reader's Watchdog column helps Iowans get answers and accountability from public officials, the justice system, businesses and nonprofits. Contact her atlrood@dmreg.com, 515-284-8549 on Twitter @leerood or at Facebook.comeaderswatchdog.