Aspies For Freedom

Caged kids' custody debated; witness calls structures weird, not abusive at home

By STEVE MURPHY
Toledo Blade
Wednesday 7th December 2005

NORWALK, Ohio - A Toledo-area man listed as the person who reported a Huron County couple for keeping some of their adopted special-needs children in cages testified yesterday that he initiated no such complaint and thought the structures were "weird" but not abusive.

Edward Clunk, an insurance agent from Sylvania, said he saw a child in "a little cubbyhole type of thing" and another youngster in a "cage-type thing" during a 2004 sales visit to the home of Michael and Sharen Gravelle near Wakeman, Ohio.

Testifying during a custody hearing for 11 children who were removed from the home three months ago, Mr. Clunk said he had no reservations about approving life insurance for the couple, plus accidental insurance policies on the eight children who then lived there.

"I didn't see any abuse in that house," he said.

After the hearing, which is scheduled to continue today through Friday in Huron County Juvenile Court, Judge Timothy Cardwell will decide whether authorities have proved allegations that the children were abused and neglected and whether to return the youngsters to the Gravelles.

The children suffer from such disorders as fetal alcohol syndrome, autism, and pica, a compulsion to eat things not normally consumed as food.

Mr. Clunk's visit was relayed to Huron County Job and Family Services on Aug. 3 by a confidential informant whose relative had spoken to Mr. Clunk about conditions inside the Gravelle home, agency investigator Jo Johnson testified.

Mr. Clunk said he saw no reason to notify authorities after his visit to the Gravelle home. He testified that he told only two people about what he saw there.

One was his fiancee; the other was a neighbor of the Gravelles who asked him about the home during a sales visit several months later, Mr. Clunk testified.

He said he became involved in the investigation in mid-August when county investigators began calling him on his cell phone with questions about the Gravelles and their home.

Questioned by Kenneth Myers, an attorney for the Gravelles, Mr. Clunk disputed a Job and Family Services intake form that listed him as the person who reported the cages to the agency.

"No, I never called anyone. I never made any such complaint," he said.

When Mr. Myers read from the report and asked Mr. Clunk if it accurately reflected what he told authorities.

"A lot of that is fictitious," Mr. Clunk replied. "I didn't say a lot of those things that were in there."

Ms. Johnson, who testified for three hours, acknowledged that her agency received a report in 2003 that the Gravelles were keeping some of their adopted special-needs children in cages.

But she testified yesterday that the Huron County Department of Job and Family Services could not substantiate the allegation against the Gravelles because the couple would not cooperate.

"We knew of an allegation, but we did not know about the beds," the investigator said.

Ms. Johnson said two of her colleagues visited the Gravelle home in 2003, but were not allowed to see the children's bedrooms upstairs.

She added that a full investigation was not done after the visit in 2003.

The agency received another complaint about the children's sleeping arrangements in August, 2005, and Ms. Johnson visited the Gravelle home on Sept. 9.

The couple allowed her to go upstairs, where she said she saw eight wood-and-wire cages, including one with a child inside.
Less than four hours later, Ms. Johnson returned to the home with sheriff's deputies who had a search warrant.

They removed the 11 children, ages 1 to 14, who have since been placed in foster homes.

Ms. Johnson and Lt. Randy Sommers, of the Huron County Sheriff's Office, who also testified, said the upstairs of the house smelled strongly of urine, and that the children had little bedding apart from some mats and blankets.

Under questioning from Mr. Myers, Ms. Johnson defended the agency's investigation and the decision to remove the children.

"I could not see me walking in, seeing the kids living in those conditions ... yes, absolutely, they needed to come out," she testified.

"The issue is, those children were being abused," she testified.

The Gravelles sat quietly during the testimony, watching the witnesses intently but betraying little emotion.

During sometimes-contentious exchanges with Ms. Johnson, Mr. Myers accused her and other county investigators of exaggerating the case against his clients.

Ms. Johnson acknowledged that a sheriff's office report listed the house as having nine cages for the children, but said that number mistakenly included a metal pet cage found on the first floor near the stairs.

Mr. Myers objected to Ms. Johnson's statement in a report that some of the cages were too small for the children to stretch out in, arguing that she checked only the enclosure used by one of the couple's school-aged boys.

"You put 'some of the children,' ... you exaggerated this, didn't you?" he asked her.

"I'm not going to say that, sir," Ms. Johnson replied.

"You don't have to," Mr. Myers shot back.

Ms. Johnson said she believes the Gravelles love the children, but intentionally harmed them by confining them.

She also said the couple have told the county they won't remove the cages and have otherwise impeded the agency's efforts to work toward reuniting the children.

"I've never seen a case this hostile in my entire life," Ms. Johnson said.

Contact Steve Murphy at:
smurphy@theblade.com
or 419-724-6078.

Source: Toledo Blade
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll...433/0/NEWS

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Foster care as a business.

"Ms. Johnson, who testified for three hours, acknowledged that her agency received a report in 2003 that the Gravelles were keeping some of their adopted special-needs children in cages.

But she testified yesterday that the Huron County Department of Job and Family Services could not substantiate the allegation against the Gravelles because the couple would not cooperate.

"We knew of an allegation, but we did not know about the beds," the investigator said.

Ms. Johnson said two of her colleagues visited the Gravelle home in 2003, but were not allowed to see the children's bedrooms upstairs.

She added that a full investigation was not done after the visit in 2003."

How long ago were they arrested?  Were these children kept in cages for years and no one investigated?  

This makes me sick.

My NT classmate brought this story in and was very upset. People were outraged at this.

     This incident is so bad that ASA actually issued a statement condemning the parents and the home. That is really rare. ASA usually holds its nose and puts up with anything, as it and its three aspie ASA National Board Members did after the chelation death in Pittsburgh.


                                   Jerry Newport

I've read a few articles on this in my local newspapers. Apparently, one boy was forced to live in the bathroom, sleeping in the tub, because he urinated in his cage.

It's horrible. What I really can't believe is that this isn't a trial. This couple has not been charged with anything. It's a custody hearing. They should be trying them for child abuse, but instead, they're discussing whether or not to return the kids to them.

"Ms. Johnson acknowledged that a sheriff's office report listed the house as having nine cages for the children, but said that number mistakenly included a metal pet cage found on the first floor near the stairs."



It shows how bad the cages must have been to have an actual pets cage mistaken as one of them.

So you can explain to them calmly of the impact of their actions on the children lives, and seek to resolve their poor pattern of behaviour and so that they can attempt to remedy their negative actions right?

Good. It could help.

Hearing to be held on caged children
Adoptive parents could regain custody

By STEVE MURPHY
TOLEDO BLADE
January 18, 2006

NORWALK, Ohio - A custody hearing set for today in Huron County Juvenile Court could determine whether 11 special-needs children are kept in foster care or returned to the adoptive parents who made some of them sleep in wood-and-wire cages.

Hoping to persuade Judge Timothy Cardwell to return the youngsters to them, Michael and Sharen Gravelle have modified the cages to make them more like traditional bunk beds.

The Gravelles' attorney, Kenneth Myers, said yesterday the Clarksfield Township couple removed the doors, wire netting, wooden slats, and battery-powered alarms from the six enclosed beds.

"The doors and the alarms are gone," he said. "We've said all along that the Gravelles will do just about anything within reason to get these kids back, and this is the first step toward showing that."

The Gravelles also removed a dresser used to barricade a room where two of the children slept and modified a homemade door that consisted of a wooden gate with a plastic baby gate atop it. The room now has a door of wooden slats with a knob that allows it to be opened from either side, Mr. Myers said.

Photographs of the redesigned structures have been submitted to the court, the attorney said.

Mr. Myers described his clients as "nervous and anxious" on the eve of the custody hearing.

After an adjudicatory hearing last month, Judge Cardwell found that eight of the children had been abused, and that all 11 youngsters were dependent - meaning that conditions in the home put them at risk of being abused or neglected.

The children, age 1 to 15, were taken from the home Sept. 9 after county authorities found the cages.

One of the Gravelles' adopted sons testified during the hearing last month that he slept in one of the cages and was sometimes confined there during the day as punishment.

He also testified that some of the children were spanked with a wooden board for setting off the cages' alarms, and that he was once confined to a bathroom for 81 days for urinating in his bed.

A therapist for the children testified that she "recoiled" the first time she saw the cages but came to accept the parents' rationale that they were needed to protect the youngsters from themselves and each other. The children suffer from such conditions as autism, fetal-alcohol syndrome, and pica, a compulsion to eat nonfood items.

The Gravelles have not been charged with a crime, but Huron County Prosecutor Russell Leffler said after last month's hearing that he was continuing a criminal investigation into the matter.

Mr. Leffler said yesterday through a spokesman that he had no information to release about possible indictments.

Contact Steve Murphy at:
smurphy@theblade.com
or 419-724-6078.

Enclosed beds cause controversy

By Wendy Koch
USA TODAY
1/17/2006 11:58 PM

Is it a cage or bed? Cruel or therapeutic?

Michael Gravelle said the 6-foot-long boxes where his children slept had chicken wire and alarms, but no locks.  

Two large families have recently been accused of child abuse, in part for putting kids in completely enclosed structures. They say they did so for the safety of the children and others in the home.

In Ohio, Michael and Sharen Gravelle abused several of their 11 adoptive children by forcing them to sleep in cagelike enclosures, a judge ruled last month in a custody hearing. A hearing today may decide whether the couple regains custody of the children, now in foster care.

In Tennessee, Debra and Tom Schmitz are charged with putting children in a metal crib — without a mattress, blanket or sheets — for sleep or punishment. Their case goes to trial Jan. 30.

Both families say they practiced so-called attachment therapy, which espouses strict discipline for children who have trouble bonding. A well-known proponent, Nancy Thomas, advocates putting alarms on kids' bedroom doors to make them feel safe. "When the alarm is working, day or night, the child can be controlled by being placed in the bedroom," she writes in her book, When Love Is Not Enough.

Prodded by a social worker, Michael Gravelle says he built the wooden structures, enclosed them with chicken wire and painted them bright colors. He says they had alarms but no locks and measured 6 feet long.

"We had to protect them from each other. They sometimes did mean things," says Sharen Gravelle of the children, who range in age from 1 to 14. She says they suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome, reactive attachment disorder and pica, which compels them to eat non-food items. All were home-schooled.

At a custody hearing last month, though, two psychologists hired by Huron County, Ohio, testified that none of the Gravelle children has reactive attachment disorder, which is relatively rare.

A school-age child of the Gravelles also testified in court that he and his siblings would be punished if they opened the doors at night and set off the alarms. He said he was forced to sleep in a bathtub for 81 days after he wet his enclosure. He said the Gravelles forced him to stay in his "box" for up to two weeks for taking peanut butter, bread and cereal from the kitchen. But he said he liked the couple and felt safe in their home.

Psychologist William Benninger, who interviewed five of the Gravelle kids for the county, testified that the enclosures could worsen the kids' behavioral problems.

The Schmitzes used the enclosures because one or two of the kids wandered at night, says Frank Deslauriers, attorney for Tom Schmitz. Barney Witherington, attorney for Debra Schmitz, says it had no lock, but a nurse who worked at the home, Sherry Dvorak, says it did.

"Many adoptive families have that (enclosed beds)," says Sharon Meyer, founder of the Foundation for Large Families. She says she adopted a boy from a family that lost parental rights because they used one.

Erin Stucky, chairwoman of the American Academy of Pediatrics' Committee on Hospital Care, says hospitals use enclosed cribs to ensure babies and toddlers don't climb out when no one is watching. "It's not meant to be a behavioral restraint," she says.

Stucky argues that children with psychiatric needs should not be enclosed but given sufficient supervision. "In most cases, when a child gets up at night, he needs to be dealt with," she says.


Source: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006...cage_x.htm

CAGED CHILDREN CASE
Judge puts off his decision on custody matter


By STEVE MURPHY
TOLEDO BLADE
19th January 2006

NORWALK, Ohio — A judge yesterday put off a decision on whether 11 special-needs children should be returned to the adoptive parents who kept some of them in cages.

During a hearing in Huron County Juvenile Court, Judge Timothy Cardwell declined to act on a request from county officials to permanently remove the children from Michael and Sharen Gravelle’s custody, saying he needs to hear more evidence.

The judge scheduled a permanent custody hearing for Feb. 22-24. He denied a county request to halt contact between the Gravelles and the children.

Jennifer DeLand, a Huron County assistant prosecutor, said the Gravelles violated the terms of supervised visits by discussing the custody case and encouraging some of the children to call or write them.

The judge also refused a request from the couple’s attorney, Kenneth Myers, to allow unsupervised visits in the home, and maintained the current twice-monthly visitation schedule, with some adjustments.

“I really don’t think I can get into whether visitation should be gradually increased or terminated. … I am keeping an open mind on the issue of permanent custody, as I’m required to do,” Judge Cardwell said.

T. Douglas Clifford, an attorney for the children, said some of the youngsters have asked for more visits and others have said they don’t want to see their adoptive parents anymore.

Mr. Gravelle said he and his wife were pleased with the judge’s decision “because we still get to see our children.”

Two school-aged girls who have expressed a desire for more visits with the couple will be allowed additional sessions, while a school-aged boy who has objected to the meetings will be allowed to decide whether to attend, the judge ruled.

The children, ages 1 to 15, were removed from the Gravelles’ Clarksfield Township home Sept. 9 after a caseworker for the Huron County Department of Job and Family Services found that some of the youngsters were sleeping in wood-and-wire enclosures rigged with alarms.

After a hearing last month, Judge Cardwell found that eight of the children had been abused, and that all 11 were dependent — meaning that conditions in the home put them at risk of being abused or neglected.

One of the Gravelles’ adopted sons testified during that hearing that he was sometimes kept in his cage during the day as punishment and that he was once confined to a bathroom for 81 days for wetting his bed.

Before the judge’s ruling, Mr. Myers objected to county officials’ request for permanent custody of the children, which he called “the parental equivalent of the death penalty.”

He told the judge the couple had taken down wire netting, doors, and alarms from the cages to convert them into bunk beds. “The Gravelles understand the court had a problem with how those beds were constructed,” Mr. Myers said.

The Gravelles previously argued the cages were needed to control the children, who suffer from such conditions as autism, fetal-alcohol syndrome, and pica, a compulsion to eat dirt and other nonfood items.

Judge Cardwell granted requests from Ms. DeLand for psychological evaluations of the Gravelles and for a sexual offender risk assessment of Mr. Gravelle because of previous allegations of abuse by one of his biological children.

Mr. Myers said the couple have no criminal record and would not object to evaluations.

Contact Steve Murphy at: smurphy@theblade.com or 419-724-6078.

Source: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll...02/-1/NEWS

I am emailing Steve Murphy to express our horror at this case, and I will direct him to the thread here and Catffeinated's petition.

This is the mail -

Dear Steve Murphy, I have read your story concerning the horrific case of the caged children. I know that some of them are autistic. I am on the autistic spectrum myself, and work for a group called Aspies for freedom. The members are shocked at how the children were treated, and we have been posting about it on our forum. One member set up a petition just yesterday as we are alarmed at the thought of the children being returned.

We feel that autistic children should not be subjected to such abusive treatment as being locked up, autistic children are usually highly sensitive to their environment. There is a misunderstanding from some people that autistic children are 'in their own world' and would therefore not react to unusual conditions, but the reverse is true, autistic children suffer mentally much more from bad treatment as sensory sensitivities are so common.

I hope that you can keep writing on the case and that the children will be re-homed somewhere suitable for their needs.

This is the petition that was just started - http://new.petitiononline.com/CagedK/petition.html
This is our forum thread about the case - http://www.aspiesforfreedom.com/phpBB2/v...php?t=2537

Thank you for your time, Amy Nelson

Excellent  :grin:

Good job Amy!

Yay Amy!

Three consecutive news items, one after the other, on this terrible case:

Huron County jury indicts parents of caged kids
Multiple crimes alleged; therapist also is charged

By STEVE MURPHY
TOLEDO BLADE STAFF WRITER
15th February 2006


NORWALK, Ohio - A week before a custody hearing that will decide where their 11 adopted children will live, a Huron County couple who kept some of the youngsters in cages have been charged with child endangering and other crimes.

Indictments were filed yesterday in Huron County Common Pleas Court against Michael and Sharen Gravelle, and against Elaine Thompson, an Elyria, Ohio, therapist who counseled the children.

Mr. and Mrs. Gravelle were charged with 16 counts of third-degree felony child endangering, eight counts of first-degree misdemeanor child endangering, five counts of first-degree misdemeanor falsification, and one count of perjury, a third-degree felony.

Ms. Thompson, a licensed independent social worker who testified for the couple during an adjudicatory hearing in December, was charged with 16 third-degree felony counts of aiding and abetting endangering children, eight first-degree misdemeanor counts of aiding and abetting child endangering, and eight counts of failure to report child abuse or neglect, all fourth-degree misdemeanors.

The children, ages 1 to 15, were removed from the Gravelles' Clarksfield Township home Sept. 9 after authorities found the cages inside the residence. The youngsters, who suffer from such conditions as fetal-alcohol syndrome and pica, a compulsion to eat nonfood items, have been in foster care since then.

Judge Timothy Cardwell of Huron County Common Pleas Court ruled Dec. 22 that the Gravelles had abused eight of the children by keeping them in enclosed beds rigged with alarms for sleep and for punishment, or in a room barricaded shut with a dresser. The judge also found that all 11 of the children were dependent, meaning that conditions inside the home put them at risk of being abused or neglected.

A custody hearing set for next Wednesday before Judge Cardwell is to determine whether some or all of the children will be returned to the Gravelles or placed in the permanent custody of Huron County.

"I think that the grand jury certainly decided by the indictments that this was a serious matter and that you can't treat children this way," county Prosecutor Russell Leffler said.

Kenneth Myers, a Cleveland attorney who represents the Gravelles, said the couple had expected the charges, which represented a potential setback in their efforts to have the children returned to them.

The Gravelles have denied abusing the children and said they built the enclosures to keep the youngsters from harming themselves and each other. In response to Judge Cardwell's findings of abuse and dependency, they have since modified the cages into bunk beds.

"They've been prepared for this for months, but it's still a shock," Mr. Myers said. "And they seem to be holding up fairly well, but it's another obstacle. It's a huge obstacle."

The attorney said his clients "intend to vigorously contest these charges."

Mr. Leffler said the number of child endangering counts filed against the Gravelles "relates more to the number of children" than to specific incidents. "For every time a kid was thrown in the bathtub or told to stay there for a week, we didn't have a separate charge for each of those things," he said. "We basically did it as a continuing course of conduct."

One of the couple's adopted sons testified during the December hearing that he slept in one of the cages and was sometimes confined there during the day as punishment.

The boy also testified that some of the children were spanked with a wooden board for setting off the cages' alarms and that he was once confined to a bathroom for 81 days for urinating in his bed.

Mr. Leffler said the five falsification counts allege that the Gravelles misrepresented information about themselves on applications to adopt some of the children and to obtain subsidies for them.

The Gravelles filed competing requests for a legal separation in 2001, and an affidavit filed in county Common Pleas Court that year states that they were receiving $4,256 a month in Social Security benefits and adoption subsidies for eight children.

Mr. Leffler said the perjury counts charge the couple with lying under oath during the initial home study that qualified them to begin adopting children. According to court records, the couple adopted the first of the 11 children in 1997.

Mr. Leffler said Ms. Thompson was indicted because she failed to notify authorities about the conditions in the Gravelle home and because she encouraged the couple's actions, including the use of the cages.

"She's a mandated reporter, and we saw that as basically an act of omission," he said. "And then, it was felt by the grand jurors that the degree of involvement of Elaine Thompson in this entire episode was greater than that, and she really did aid and abet the endangering of the children, and that is a big step."

Ms. Thompson testified during the December hearing that she was taken aback when she first saw the cages in 2003. But she added that she eventually agreed with the Gravelles that the structures were needed to protect the children from themselves and to keep them from urinating on walls and floors and destroying household items.

Ms. Thompson could not be reached for comment last night.

Mr. Myers said he was "very distressed" by the charges against the therapist.

"I thought she provided very good service to the Gravelles, and I thought she was an excellent witness at the hearing, and I'm really upset that she's going to have to be put through this and have her career and her freedom jeopardized," he said.

The most serious charges against the Gravelles and Ms. Thompson are third-degree felonies that carry maximum prison terms of five years each.

The Gravelles are to be arraigned next Wednesday in county Common Pleas Court before the start of the custody hearing in juvenile court. Ms. Thompson's arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 28.

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Attorney vows fight in caged kids case
Therapist facing 32-count indictment

By STEVE MURPHY
TOLEDO BLADE STAFF WRITER
Thursday, February 16, 2006

NORWALK, Ohio - An attorney for Elaine Thompson, the therapist charged in connection with the confinement of several adopted children in cages, said yesterday she expects her client to plead guilty to at least one of the lesser charges in a 32-count indictment.

Marilu Laubenthal called the charges against Ms. Thompson, a licensed independent social worker from Elyria, Ohio, "outrageous." She said the therapist was distraught at being indicted Tuesday in Huron County Common Pleas Court on charges of aiding and abetting child endangerment and failing to report child abuse.

The children's adoptive parents, Michael and Sharen Gravelle of Clarksfield Township, were charged in identical 30-count indictments with endangering children, falsification, and perjury.

"This is a woman that spent 40 years helping adopted kids," Ms. Laubenthal said. "The last thing on earth she ever expected was to be indicted as a criminal."

Ms. Thompson, 63, of Elyria, Ohio, is charged with 16 third-degree felony counts of aiding and abetting child endangering, eight first-degree misdemeanor counts of aiding and abetting child endangering, and eight counts of failure to report child abuse or neglect, all fourth-degree misdemeanors.

The Gravelles' 11 adopted children, ages 1 to 15, were removed from their home near Wakeman Sept. 9 after authorities found six wood-and-wire cages inside the residence. The youngsters, who suffer from such conditions as fetal-alcohol syndrome and pica, a compulsion to eat nonfood items, have been in foster care since then.

Judge Timothy Cardwell of Huron County Juvenile Court ruled Dec. 22 that the Gravelles had abused eight of the children by keeping them in the enclosed beds rigged with alarms for sleep and for punishment, or in a room blocked shut with a dresser.

Ms. Laubenthal said Ms. Thompson will fight the charges against her "tooth and nail." The therapist testified during an adjudicatory hearing in December that she had been aware the couple were using the cages and thought they were necessary to protect the children from themselves and each other.

The most serious charges against Ms. Thompson and the Gravelles are third-degree felonies with maximum five-year prison sentences. The least serious charges are fourth-degree misdemeanors with maximum 30-day jail terms.

Dr. Gregory Keck, founder of the Cleveland-based Attachment and Bonding Center of Ohio, once worked with Ms. Thompson and has known her since 1990. He said therapists are sometimes charged with failing to report abuse, but such cases usually involve "much more blatant" sexual or physical abuse.

"I feel quite bad for Elaine," he said. "I feel very certain, just having known her for as long as I have, if she felt the children were being endangered, she very clearly would have made a report."

A custody hearing set for Wednesday before Judge Cardwell is to determine whether some or all of the children will be returned to the Gravelles or placed in the permanent custody of Huron County.

The Gravelles are to be arraigned that morning in Huron County Common Pleas Court before the start of the custody hearing; Ms. Thompson is to be arraigned Feb. 28.

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When parents misbehave

Toledo Blade
Friday, February 17, 2006

A HURON County couple who kept some of their adopted children in cages will get their day in court following their indictment on multiple charges of child abuse. But on the same day Michael and Sharen Gravelle are to be arraigned on grand jury indictments ranging from child endangering to perjury, a custody hearing will be held to determine the fate of their children.

Considering the gravity of the crimes allegedly committed by the adoptive parents, any attempt by them to regain custody should be summarily shut down.

The children were all removed from the Gravelles' house near rural Wakeman and placed in foster care after authorities discovered that some of them were forced to sleep in cages.

A county social worker likened the wood and chicken-wire cages to kennels, but the occupants weren't dogs.

They were special-needs children, ages 1 to 15, who suffer from a variety of conditions from fetal alcohol syndrome to autism. Their parents' contention that they needed to be caged for their own protection obviously didn't impress the grand jury.

It indicted the pair on 16 counts of felony child endangering, eight misdemeanor counts of falsifying adoption applications, and a felony count of lying under oath when being qualified for government adoption subsidies.

For the past several years the Gravelles have received thousands of dollars in adoption subsidies and disability payments for the children.

Indictments were also handed up for a private social worker, hired by the Gravelles to counsel the children. Elaine Thompson faces 16 felony counts of aiding and abetting child endangering and eight misdemeanor counts of failure to report child abuse or neglect.

Huron County Prosecutor Russ Leffler said Ms. Thompson was indicted not only because she failed in her responsibility to report questionable conditions at the Gravelle house but because she apparently concurred with the couple that the cages were appropriate.

That's simply unacceptable treatment, even for children with unique behavioral problems. At a hearing in December, one of the couple's adopted sons testified that he slept in one of the cages at night and was sometimes confined to one during the day as punishment.

Prosecutor Leffler says the grand jury wanted to send a message that "extreme cruelty toward children could not go unpunished."

The Gravelles call the indictments against them a vendetta and remain adamant that their treatment of the children was justified to keep them safe.

The couple's lawyer, Ken Myers, says it's shameful how the county has demonized the Gravelles and is now attempting to put them in jail for taking on a "nearly impossible task."

But good intentions, said Juvenile Judge Timothy Cardwell, who ruled against the Gravelles in a December custody case, are nullified by abusive conduct like bedding down sick children in cages.

While another court deals with the criminal charges involving the adoptive parents, Judge Cardwell will preside over another custody hearing to decide whether the children should be returned to the Gravelles or placed in permanent custody of the county.

It shouldn't take Solomon-like deliberations to arrive at an outcome in the best interests of the children.

ENDS