Eleven Children Found Caged in Ohio Home, disgusting <_< Options

[Serendipityxx]

woah, okay whats wrong with this theres no post?

I DID NOT START THIS

This post has been edited by Serendipityxx: Sep 12 2005, 10:15 PM

[Chii]

damn it

WAKEMAN, Ohio - Sheriff's deputies found 11 children locked in cages with alarms in a north Ohio home, and prosecutors are looking into possible charges of abuse and neglect.


The children, ages 1 to 14, were in nine cages in the walls of a house outside this city of about 1,000 about 50 miles west of Cleveland, according to the Huron County Sheriff's Office. They had no blankets or pillows, and the cages were rigged with alarms that sounded if the cages were opened, Lt. Randy Sommers said.

The children told authorities they slept in the 40-inches-high by 40 inches-deep cages at night. Doors to some of the cages were blocked with heavy furniture.

Sharen and Mike Gravelle are adoptive or foster parents for all 11 children, officials said. Prosecutors are reviewing the case, but no charges had been filed as of Monday night.

A children's services investigator saw one of the children in a cage Friday, Sommers said. The sheriff's office obtained a warrant and returned to the house around 5 that evening and removed the children.

The Gravelles do not have a listed telephone number.

A woman who identified herself as Sharen Gravelle's mother but would not give her name said the reports about her daughter were not true. She said the children were happy in their new home.

"This year they have played and had fun and laughed like no other children have, which they have never been able to do," she said.

At a hearing Monday, a judge placed the children in the custody of the Department of Job and Family Services, where officials placed them in four foster homes, said Huron County Juvenile Court Administrator Chris Mushett.

Appearing with a lawyer at the hearing, the Gravelles denied they had abused or neglected the children.

Huron County Prosecutor Russell Leffler said the children had various disabilities, including autism.

people like them piss me off, how can you do that to another human let alone children and a 1 year old?

[asilentxxscream]

sad
:(

[*jooleeah*]

Oh my god, that's terrible.

At least they're safe now.

[*RiC3xBoy*]

Wait wait, was there proof that the adopted parents put the kids in the cage?

[Hiphop d[-_-]b]

Thats Horrible !
How could you do that to a child ?

Then again, maybe the cages were the new rage amongst foster parents.

[lovescream]

=O Well, that's just a bad thing. They getting coal for Christmas. But iunno.. they could be telling the truth of not putting them in cages. XD Who knows? Pft. Oh well.

KIDS ARE THE FUTURE.

[Heewee]

That is soooo disgusting. What especially makes me mad is that those so-called "parents" volunteered to take those children in by adopting them and being foster parents. They're supposed to give them a better life than they had before and they put them in cages?!

[*suddenly she*]

WTF.
they need to be shot and left in a pit.

[Chii]

Wait wait, was there proof that the adopted parents put the kids in the cage?

[*stephinika*]

wow, thats just horrible! i can't believe people would do that.

[*RiC3xBoy*]

There was no proof that the parent forced the child in there. A neighbor or friend could have done so.

[*lolita kitty*]

those poor kids. what kind of parents... =O

[whomps]

Dude.. that's so.. wow. Foster parents are suppose to bring a better life to kids. 40x40" cage ? What the shit.

[yukichan]

Wow..Thats horrible..Well its good someone found out and removed the children..

[EXPLO5ION]

That is just... horrible. I don't really know what else to say..

[Chii]

There was no proof that the parent forced the child in there. A neighbor or friend could have done so.

how would a neighbor/friend going into their house, place 40x40 cages in there, rig them with alarms, and block them with furniture without the foster parents noticing?

[Miss Criss]

Things like this makes me wish crucifiction was in style. ;)

[misoshiru]

that's HORRIBLE. 40x40" cages...and the oldest being 14?! this is why i am utterly ashamed of being human. i hope they die.

[*incoherent*]

40x40?
that's tiny if you think about a human in it.

thats really weird that someone actually has a mind to do that. i hope they get stuck into a small prison cell for 547 years.

[*mzkandi*]

Poor kids

Those bastards should fry.

[racoons > you]

ew, people repulse me...

and to think... there ar enormal people who can thave children... btw, god, who would volunttarily have eleven kids in their home under he age of 15

*shudder*

[Aoiro]

God that's horrible!
So sad...
>_<;;

[Ington]

These people were obviously sadists.

They didn't have eleven kids and neglect them.
They took in eleven kids to neglect them.

At least the kids are free from their wrath now.

[silver-rain]

Wow, that's really horrible. Yeah, I don't like people like them.

[mzislandpinay]

po0r kids.. but i'm glad they are safe now..

[coconutter]

Yeah, I saw that on the news, they were small cages, and one of the kids was 14, ouch.

[jue]

40x40 inch cages? HOW DO YOU FIT SOMEONE INTO THAT. LET ALONE A 14 year old kid. man thats messed up. thats why i would never want my parents to like not want me and then get sent to some foster family cause you never knowwhat that new family might do to you.

gosh; thats just wrong.

[BrokenDream]

Oh. Lord. I feel so bad for them. =[

[Hell-Rell]

The world is wicked

[*mishyerr*]

Confused.. really. o_o

[Nicolatofu]

Wow, that is so freaky. How can people be so cruel?

[5ayuri]

That's horrible...
People like that shouldn't live.

[Phearsome77]

That's repulsive. There are some really nasty people really hurting kids out there... want to hear something painfully riduclous? A guy got 9 years in jail for shooting his cat which had broken it's leg, but a mother only got 3 years for kicking her 2 year old to death. So, lets make a list... we have looneys in our communites, the judicial system is corrupt, and on top of it all, 'jailhouses' today aren't exactly 40"x40" cages.

~cass

[OhXiet_ItzDonnA]

That's wrong. How can they put 11 kids in 9 cages? and make them sleep in there. Stupid parents. I hope they like their new home.

[shortiiex]

oo..i thought teh title said chickens



makes you wanna kill the parents

[Chii]

btw, god, who would volunttarily have eleven kids in their home under he age of 15

*shudder*

people who want money...when you adopt a kid or foster a kid, you get money every month or so for him/her.

Neighbors Say Kids Found in Cages Polite

Their adoptive parents, Michael Gravelle, 56, and Sharen Gravelle, 57, denied in a custody hearing Monday that they abused or neglected the children, who are ages 1-14 and have conditions that included autism and fetal alcohol syndrome.

No charges had been filed as of Tuesday afternoon, and messages left with the couple's lawyer were not immediately returned.

The Gravelles have said a psychiatrist recommended they make the children sleep in the cages, Huron County Prosecutor Russell Leffler told the Norwalk Reflector. The parents said the children, including some who had mental disorders, needed to be protected from each other, according to a search warrant on file at Norwalk Municipal Court.

Leffler refused to speak with an Associated Press reporter Tuesday at his office.

Neighbors said they often saw or heard the children playing, and the family yard was littered with toys — plastic cars, tricycles, slides and an overturned skateboard near a wooden ramp. Seven bicycles were piled in a storage shed.

"Those kids were dressed better than some of the kids who live in Cleveland. They behaved like any other kids when they were outside playing," said Jim Power, who lives across the street.

At night, authorities say, eight of the children were confined in 3 1/2-foot-tall wooden cages stacked in bedrooms on the second floor. The cages were painted in bright, primary colors, with some rigged with alarms that would send a signal to the downstairs when a cage door was opened. One cage had a dresser in front of it, county sheriff's Lt. Randy Sommers said Tuesday.

"The sheriff and I stood there for a few minutes and just kind of stared at what we were seeing. We were speechless," Sommers said.

No one answered the Gravelles' door Tuesday, and the gray, four-bedroom house was dark. A pig, roosters and other animals shared the yard outside Wakeman, a city of about 1,000 people 50 miles west of Cleveland.

The children have been placed with four foster families and were doing well, said Erich Dumbeck, director of the Huron County Department of Job and Family Services.

"We're still trying to figure out what happened in that home. We don't have any indication at this point that there was any abuse," Dumbeck said.

Sommers said a social worker investigating a complaint contacted authorities. Dumbeck would not discuss the complaint.

According to the search warrant, the cages had mats and the house smelled of urine. One boy said he slept in a cage for three years, Sommers said. A baby slept in a small bed, and two girls used mattresses

Deputies said they were called to the home last year when a 12-year-old boy was upset and ran away for several hours. He was found not far away.

Although the family has lived in Huron County for 10 years, the children were adopted through other counties and states, Dumbeck said. He said his agency was trying to determine how the adoptions were completed.

"I don't believe there were any caseworkers checking in with this family," he said. Reviews are ordered only when there is a complaint.

One of the children, a boy born with HIV, was adopted as an infant in 2001 through the Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services, the agency's director Jim McCafferty said. For caring for him, the Gravelles received a subsidy of at least $500 a month.

The private agencies who reviewed the couple's home life before the adoption gave them "glowing reports," McCafferty said.

Leah Hunter, who lives two houses away, said she often saw the children walking down the road.

"They looked OK. They hardly ever wore shoes but I'm a country girl and for me that's normal," she said.

if the children had to be separated because of some mental disorder, they should have been in separate rooms, not cages and if you don't have the room then don't adopt...but you probably get more money each month if the kid has a mental disorder...

i hate how people do sh*t just for the money

[pshaa.shauna]

OKAY! I AM OFFICALLY ASHAMED TO BE HUMAN! That is beyond sick...that is revolting

Excuse me...*barfs*


Greedy greedy sick people. NASTY!

[miss barnes]

theres NO WAY they would put me in a cage. i'd be fighting

[*RiC3xBoy*]

how would a neighbor/friend going into their house, place 40x40 cages in there, rig them with alarms, and block them with furniture without the foster parents noticing?

Don't know, but I dont like how people just assume that the parents did it without evidental proof(or they might of been, but i havent been notified of it). You have to look at both sides of the story before you make rash decisions.

[oneandonlytammie]

We talked about that in Social Studies...pretty sad.

[Paradox of Life]

This happens to animals all the time. And now it's suddenly some absolutely unheard of tragedy when a few humans are penned up?

[*xcaitlinx*]

this morning when i was watching hte news i saw this and my mom got really upset...

people like this have mental issues and need to be put into a mental institution where they belong.

i have no idea what the hell made them think to do that to those poor children. they're KIDS, not ANIMALS.

[sakaitone]

OKAY! I AM OFFICALLY ASHAMED TO BE HUMAN! That is beyond sick...that is revolting

Excuse me...*barfs*
Greedy greedy sick people. NASTY!

You're right, that is revolting! How people do things like that.

There's this book and it's really sad. "A child called it" by David pelzer and in my english class we were talking about it. It's about this boy who starts getting abused by his mother in first grade. His mother would make him stick his hands in boiling hot water or made him eat spoiled food that the dogs refused to eat or starve him and play horrible cruel games like that. The father didn't do anything, he just let it happen! The worst part is it's a true story! It happened to David Pelzer.

anyway...

The world today is horrible! Caging children. Abuse is becoming pretty popular. No wonder the world is coming to an end.

[pshaa.shauna]

This happens to animals all the time. And now it's suddenly some absolutely unheard of tragedy when a few humans are penned up?

Actually, it's quite revolting when that happens to animals too.

[PinkTrash]

ahh ><" horrible.
for both animals and humans.

[demolished]

Parent does not take very good responsiblity. It's same as not adopting the child when parents just left them there. It's like, kidnapping or torturing them.

[Nightmare_Phoeni...]

thats sick.

[WindSorcerous]

That is so sad...
There's a lot of sick people in this world.

[emazing]

SOME adoptive parents they are.