OH - Michael & Sharen Gravelle for child abuse, Clarksfield Twp, 2005

[txsvicki]

http://news.public.findlaw.com/ap/o/51/12-01-2006/b3890010bd38fc29.html
Carlyle Smith, who was working for a company that provides baby sitters, testified Friday he visited the home in 2003 and left shaken after hearing Sharen Gravelle call the children monkeys.

Smith said a boy asked in mid-afternoon to use the bathroom and was told by an angry Sharen Gravelle it was not his scheduled time.

"She told him to go to his cage until morning," Smith said.

I remember hearing Dr. Phil's wife say that she made one of their kids go to bed in the afternoon for acting up in the grocery store. I wouldn't do that, maybe to bed an hour early but to deny going to the bathroom is awful. I believe what the couple said about the kids behavior but they just had too many to handle and don't seem to know how to manage with troubled kids at all.

 

[SewingDeb]

J.K. Rowling (author of the Harry Potter books) is against caging children. This page on her website has many links to organizations working to stop the caging of mentally handicapped children:

http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/links_cb.cfm

 

[Taximom]

Gravelles found guilty on child endangering, abuse charges:
http://www.newsnet5.com/news/10580798/detail.html

A jury in the case of a Huron County couple charged with forcing some of their special needs children to sleep in cage-like enclosures reached a verdict.


The jury found Michael and Sharen Gravelle guilty on some of the felony and misdemeanor child endangering and abuse charges against them.


Both the Gravelles were convicted on four felony counts of child endangering, two counts of misdemeanor child endangering, and five counts of misdemeanor child abuse.


They were found not guilty on nine misdemeanor counts and four felony counts.

(more at link)

 

[Taximom]

More here:

http://www.woio.com/Global/category.asp?C=4397&nav=menu68_2

http://www.myfoxcleveland.com/myfox/

http://www.wkyc.com/

 

[LinasK]

http://news.public.findlaw.com/ap/o/51/12-01-2006/b3890010bd38fc29.html
Carlyle Smith, who was working for a company that provides baby sitters, testified Friday he visited the home in 2003 and left shaken after hearing Sharen Gravelle call the children monkeys.

Smith said a boy asked in mid-afternoon to use the bathroom and was told by an angry Sharen Gravelle it was not his scheduled time.

"She told him to go to his cage until morning," Smith said.

is all I can say! Schedule when nature calls??? I don't think so! This leads to all kinds of health issues, bladder infections, etc., as well as psychological torture, damage...

 

[Bobbisangel]

is all I can say! Schedule when nature calls??? I don't think so! This leads to all kinds of health issues, bladder infections, etc., as well as psychological torture, damage...

That is just bizarre. Because the little boy asked at the wrong time he was sent to his "cage" until morning? You can bet he found a place to pee! Then he probably really got into trouble.

I can't believe that these people were even allowed to adopt 11 disadvantaged children. Someone sure did drop the ball there. How did the state think that two older people could take care of that many kids with problems? That is insane. I know the kids are probably difficult to place but you have to use some common sense. Even 11 perfectly healthy children is a lot of kids. I wonder what will become of the kids now? I doubt they will ever be handed back to these people. Those poor kids had enough problems all ready without being treated like "monkeys."

 

[LinasK]

06:41 PM CST on Thursday, February 15, 2007



[size=-1]Associated Press[/size]



NORWALK, Ohio – A couple who forced some of their 11 adopted, special-needs children to sleep in wire-and-wood cages were sentenced to two years in prison Thursday, after the parents insisted they were only trying to keep the kids safe.

Two of the children, however, said in statements read in court that they were treated harshly while they lived with Sharen and Michael Gravelle. One wrote that they should be imprisoned "for as long as my siblings had to be in cages." more at link:http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/nation/stories/021607dnnatcagedkids.403f15.html

 

[LinasK]

06:41 PM CST on Thursday, February 15, 2007



[size=-1]Associated Press[/size]



NORWALK, Ohio – A couple who forced some of their 11 adopted, special-needs children to sleep in wire-and-wood cages were sentenced to two years in prison Thursday, after the parents insisted they were only trying to keep the kids safe.

Two of the children, however, said in statements read in court that they were treated harshly while they lived with Sharen and Michael Gravelle. One wrote that they should be imprisoned "for as long as my siblings had to be in cages." more at link:http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/nation/stories/021607dnnatcagedkids.403f15.html

 

[txsvicki]

I heard it reported on the news today that most of the siblings were allowed to remain together and all are doing better with new foster parents. I still say that those two should have slept in shifts and hired help if that's what it took instead of locking up the kids, and they probably had no reason to expect the state to assist them after the kids were adopted and they were getting the subsidies. CPS was out of it then probably. I'm glad the kids are doing better and feeling better.

 

[LinasK]

I don't think two years is long enough, but at least they got some prison time. It was never about taking care of the special needs kids, it was only about using them for how much money each kid brought them!:behindbar :behindbar :behindbar

 

[kwatson696]

:waitasec: Michael and Sharen Gravelle answer questions during a news-conference, Wednesday, July 11, 2007, in Norwalk, Ohio. Facing a two-year prison sentence and out of money to fund their appeal, the Gravelles, convicted of child endangering for making some of their adopted children sleep in cages, are looking for public help in financing their legal battle. Although the Gravelles drew worldwide scorn for their treatment of their 11 special-needs children, they're hopeful they will receive support in fighting what they say is an unfair conviction.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3369045

 

[mysteriew]

I just came across this by accident:



Two Ohio children caged by adoptive parents sue

The suit also targets caseworkers and the Hamilton County Department of Job and Family Services in Cincinnati. The suit says the Gravelles were unfit to be parents and should never have gotten custody of the children.

http://www.wfmj.com/Global/story.asp?S=11368470

 

[MeoW333]

I hope those kids suing those evil "parents" win. Our system sucks, if it didn't we wouldnt have children in these situations. You'd think they'd do better checks on foster children. These kids deserve to win a lot of money, hopefully they could eventually help the other children who were abused with them by those evil parents.

 

[Texas Mist]

Children removed from Gravelle home reach settlement with Huron County
Updated: 3/10/2010 11:42:16 AM Posted: 3/10/2010 11:26:13 AM

CLEVELAND -- A $1.2 million settlement has been reached between Huron County and the eleven adopted and foster children who once lived with Michael and Sharen Gravelle.

The Gravelles were convicted in Huron County of child abuse. Their home was raided in 2005 after authorities received a tip that some of the children were kept in what prosecutors described as "cages".

The lawsuit alleged that Huron County's Department of Children's Services should have discovered the mistreatment sooner. None of the children were placed with the Gravelles by Huron County.

"Although we believe that Huron County social workers acted appropriately at all times, there was a strong preference that the children be provided for rather than spending money and years in litigation," said the attorneys for Huron County. "While it is not always possible to know what occurs in the privacy of people's homes, Huron County will continue its efforts to investigate and try to prevent abuse of children regardless of where that abuse occurs."

Huron County removed the children from the Gravelle home in 2006. Both Michael and Sharen Gravelle are currently serving prison terms for their convictions.

Lawyers representing the children say additional lawsuits will be filed against those responsible for allowing the children to be placed and remain with the Gravelles.

http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=132147