As father of a son who has special needs, this story hits me like a kick in the groin. This Ohio couple built "cage-like beds fitted with alarms" because, as wife Sharen Gravelle explains, her special needs foster childen "had asked for the structures to be built". Oh, they did? I believe you. Why, just yesterday, my son asked my why I hadn't begun to bulid him that 4x4 cage he wants so desperatly to live in. But, my spidy senses told me that I shouldn't do that because kids really need to have a room with toys in it, a bed, lots of books (that's only if you want to make you kid smart), and lots of clothes.
While I'm at it, where was the child protection agency on this? It wasn't like this couple was caring for one kid. They have 15 kids living in cages like animals. Nice going, State of Ohio.
Finally, I'd like to wish the Gravelle's a fun time in prison. Hey, at least your jail cells will be bigger than the cages you built for your kids. Have a happy time!
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Ohio Woman Says Kids Requested Caged Beds
By CONNIE MABIN, Associated Press WriterThu Mar 2, 11:13 AM ET
Some of the special-needs children who slept in cage-like beds fitted with alarms had asked for the structures to be built, their adoptive mother testified at a custody hearing.
Sharen Gravelle testified Wednesday that she and her husband Michael built bunk beds and attached a wooden playhouse the family called a clubhouse for some of the children's toys. The other children then requested and got them.
The couple eventually added wire enclosures and alarms to help corral what the mother described as uncontrollable wandering at night. The couple felt the cage-like, brightly painted enclosures helped keep the children from getting dangerous kitchen utensils and into other trouble, the mother testified Wednesday in a custody hearing.
The couple have pleaded not guilty to several charges, including child endangerment, in a separate criminal case.
Sharen Gravelle was the last witness in the custody hearing, and the judge has set a March 13 deadline for closing arguments. Once those are received the judge was likely to rule within a week, court administrator Christopher Mushett said Thursday.
Prosecutors accuse the couple of locking some of their 11 adopted children in cages to discipline them, and want Huron County to take permanent custody them. The children have been in foster care since the enclosed beds were discovered last fall.
The Gravelles are fighting to regain custody. They deny abusing their adopted children, ages 1 to 15, and say the beds were necessary to protect the youngsters, who suffered from psychological and behavioral problems.
Under questioning by her attorney, Ken Myers, Sharen Gravelle said that when the children became older they acted up more, including escaping from their regular beds in the middle of the night to fetch knives from the kitchen or punch each other.
"They just didn't seem normal to me, I mean the behavior didn't and I didn't know what to do," she said.
The mother said she sought help from county social workers and received none. Research on the Internet led her to Elaine Thompson, an independent licensed social worker who is also charged in the case.
Gravelle said Thompson approved the beds and that at least one inspection for another adoption was done at the home in rural Wakeman about 60 miles west of Cleveland after the enclosures were built.
Prosecutor Jennifer DeLand said the Gravelles have refused a court order to undergo psychological testing. She presented documents from the Gravelles' first adoption home study that she said proved the couple had lied about previous abuse allegations and investigations by a child protective agency in Lorain County, where they used to live.
Sharen Gravelle denied lying and said she had not seen the documents, although she acknowledged her and her husband's signatures were on the papers below a sworn statement that the information was true.
Sharen Gravelle said she met her husband in 1986 at a dinner for a child sex abuse support group. She said she was attending because a relative had been molested. Michael Gravelle was there because he was accused of inappropriate touching, a charge he denies. The couple married two months later.
The Gravelles are charged with child endangering, falsifying adoption applications and lying under oath when becoming qualified for adoption funding. If convicted, they would face one to five years in prison and a maximum $10,000 fine for each of 16 counts of felony child endangerment.
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