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Me too, I'm constantly amazed that
people can do what they do to kids. Mothers drowing their own kids, folks
keeping them in cages like animals, staving them.......I just can't fathom
it.....
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2003 7:43
PM
Subject: RE: [Sndbox] Starving Kids
It
disgusts me that someone could do that to their kids
(AP) A couple whose adopted teenage sons weighed
less than 50 pounds have been arrested on charges of starving four boys they
adopted through the state Division of Youth and Family Services, New
Jersey's troubled child welfare agency.
Vanessa Jackson, 48, and
Raymond Jackson, 50, were arrested Friday and charged with four counts each
of aggravated assault and 14 counts of child endangerment, Camden County
Prosecutor Vincent P. Sarubbi said.
Each was jailed Saturday on
$100,000 bail.
An investigation into the family began Oct. 10 after
neighbors in the Philadelphia suburb of Collingswood called police to report
someone rummaging through their trash. Officers then found the oldest
adopted child, now 19.
The young man, who was adopted in 1995,
measured 4 feet and weighed 45 pounds when he was discovered. He is now in
the hospital receiving specialized care for apparent heart irregularities.
The three other boys, ages 14, 10, and 9, also were removed from the
home and hospitalized. They were treated and released into other foster
placements, authorities said.
The 14-year-old weighed 40 pounds and
stood 4 feet tall. The other boys also were dramatically underweight,
according to the prosecutor's office.
Two adopted girls, ages 5 and
12, also were living in the Jacksons' home. They were placed in foster care,
along with a 10-year-old girl who was in the Jacksons' home pending
adoption.
The girls' physical condition �appeared to be within
normal range,� the prosecutor said.
The state Department of Human
Services suspended five employees, including caseworkers, a manager, and
supervisors, pending the outcome of the investigation, said Micah Rasmussen,
a spokesman for Gov. James E. McGreevey.
Rasmussen said McGreevey
was �angered and shocked� by another discovery of neglected children under
DYFS oversight. The governor called on Kevin Ryan, his newly appointed state
child advocate, to assess the case.
�There appears to be no
explanation other than negligence, indifference, incompetence, or a
combination of all three,� Colleen Maguire, deputy commissioner for the
Human Services Department and the person charged with spearheading reform at
DYFS, said in a statement Saturday.
Maguire said a caseworker
assigned to the girl living with the Jacksons while awaiting adoption by the
couple apparently failed to note the boys' condition, despite conducting a
safety assessment of the home.
The Jacksons adopted the boys through
DYFS and were receiving a stipend from the state, which peaked at about
$28,000 a year before the oldest child turned 18 last year, according to
Camden County Prosecutor's Office.
Sarubbi said locks apparently
were used to keep the boys from the kitchen and that the children were fed
uncooked pancake batter, cereals and peanut butter and jelly.
The
parents apparently explained the boys' condition by saying they had an
eating disorder, said Bill Shralow, a spokesman for the prosecutor.
The discovery of the children follows several high-profile abuse
cases that revealed lapses in state oversight, including a 7-year-old who
died after his case was closed by the child welfare agency.
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