Aspies For Freedom

Stella, are you okay?  I realize you've been absent.
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Ohio Couple Lose Custody of Adopted Kids

Ohio Couple Accused of Making Children Sleep in Cages Lose Custody of 11 Adopted Children

By JOHN SEEWER

The Associated Press

NORWALK, Ohio - A couple charged with abuse for forcing some of their 11 adopted children to sleep in cages were stripped of custody Monday, six months after a social worker discovered the enclosures.

Juvenile Judge Timothy Cardwell said there was a good chance Michael and Sharen Gravelle would mistreat the children again, citing a history of sexual abuse allegations against the father.

The couple have pleaded not guilty to several charges, including child endangerment, in a separate criminal case. They deny abusing the children, ages 2 to 15, and say the cages were necessary to protect the youngsters, who suffered from psychological and behavioral problems.

"They love their children. They want them back. They are truly devastated," said the couple's attorney, Kenneth Myers. He said they will appeal the ruling.

Sharen Gravelle testified that she met her husband in 1986 at a potluck dinner for a child sex abuse support group. She said her biological daughter had been molested by a previous husband, and Michael Gravelle was there because he was accused by his biological daughter of inappropriate touching. Michael Gravelle denies the accusation.

Prosecutors accuse the couple of locking the children in cages to discipline them. One child testified that he was forced to sleep in a bathtub as punishment for wetting the bed.

The children were removed from the home in September and placed with several foster families. Prosecutor Russ Leffler said the ruling stripping the Gravelles of custody "allows the children to be placed with good adoptive families."

Sharen Gravelle testified at an earlier custody hearing that she and her husband built bunk beds for the children and eventually added wire enclosures and alarms to help prevent them from wandering at night and getting dangerous kitchen utensils.



Associated Press Writer Connie Mabin in Cleveland contributed to this report.

good...they don't need to have the kids back.  now they need to go to jail for child abuse.

and if they love their children, why would they treat them like this?

So glad of that outcome those children don't need to be in a situation like that and also if they can't handle that many children, then why did they adopt that many, it's so unfair to the children.

Sharen Gravelle testified that she met her husband in 1986 at a potluck dinner for a child sex abuse support group. She said her biological daughter had been molested by a previous husband, and Michael Gravelle was there because he was accused by his biological daughter of inappropriate touching. Michael Gravelle denies the accusation.



:shock:  The mind boggles at why an accused person is at a support group for victims. Its like inviting people on trial for arson to a burn's victim support group.

Shopping, I imagine.

What I find even more scary is that they then let someone with those allegations foster children!! :shock:
Alison

Why, why, why could they not see the so blindingly obvious? That is not how to raise a child.

What the...?  They can jury-rig a kiddie-kennel, but they can't find a way to keep the kitchen door locked at night?  What could possibly be going through these people's heads?

One of the kids was locked in the cage for taking some breakfast cereal and eating it.
:evil:

Jeeze.   I detest violence, but this is one of those very rare situations where I wonder if there isn't a severe flogging in order.  Of all the ignorant, prejudiced.....arggggghhh!  This has got to be a hate crime; even at my most depressed and cynical I can barely imagine a human being that stupid, let alone a pair of them.  

When you lock a kid in a cage for twelve hours and punish them for having to go to the bathroom, you're not trying to teach them anything.

Yeah, it is not parenting.  It is sadism.