How Could You? Hall of Shame Case -Alona and Rodger Hartwig UPDATED

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Oregon, today a case review of the convicted abusive adoptive parents Alona and Rodger Hartwig was published. In 2005, the 9-year -old boy, identified as RH, was placed in their foster home when he was 5 years old. Though the Hartwigs were certified to have up to 5 kids in their care, they had already been party to 4 abuse allegations before RH was placed in their home. “They involved very young kids who were bruised or who were losing weight.”

 

Abuse allegations began in 2007 when “there were calls to say he didn’t have enough clothes on for the rainy weather — and that he had to stand for hours as punishment.

 

The next year, another call said Richard was made to go days without food and that he was being beaten down mentally and maybe physically.”

 

He then was the only child in the household who was homeschooled, one of the factors that we see in Child Collectors. This always is a red flag when it follows abuse allegations.

 

“Another report that year said the family had been at a wedding and Richard looked scared to death of his adoptive mother.

 

Next year, when he was about nine, someone called to say Richard had weeping sores on his legs — and that Alona Hartwig had gone on vacation instead of taking him to the doctor.

 

The report also said she told other children in the house not to talk to Richard — and coached them on answering questions from state workers.”

 

At this point, the children in the house repeatedly denied being abused, but this case shows the continuing disconnect and shoddy investigations that still occur in these kind of cases.

 

It wasn’t until 2010 when ” he spent more than a month in the hospital with a fractured pelvis and a burn that had turned septic from a lack of treatment,” that a more thorough investigation occurred that led to the charges and conviction of the Hartwigs.

 

Some big “misses” in the initial investigations included

• not conducting enough interviews
• not interviewing the children in a neutral location
• not having a trigger in place to take investigations to a more comprehensive level due to the large number of allegations.

“Alona Hartwig pleaded guilty to criminal mistreatment.She was sentenced to 10 years in jail.

Rodger Hartwig got five years for second-degree assault.  A report on whether the state has made changes as a result of this case, has yet to be published.”

 

The child is said to be doing well in another foster home.

We’ll Call Him Richard: A Story of Foster Child Abuse

[OPB News 3/4/11 by Kristian Foden-Vencil]

REFORM Puzzle Pieces

 

More about this case can be found at Pound Pup Legacy Alona Hartwig Files

Update: “An attorney representing an 11-year-old boy whose Lane County adoptive parents were sent to prison for horrific abuse that hospitalized him for a month is suing the Oregon Department of Human Services for $4.75 million. ”
“Portland attorney David Paul filed the suit Friday in Multnomah County Circuit Court on behalf of the boy, identified by his initials, R.H. According to the suit and investigative reports, the boy suffered a broken pelvis and ribs, was burned badly on his foot and chest, force-fed infant formula, required to sleep in a bathtub and thrown repeatedly in a creek and hosed down. The boy also was forced to stand outside while the other children in the home ate meals — including Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners — or snacked on popcorn and soda during “family nights.”

Alona and Rodger Hartwig had six biological children and four foster children. Some were abused, but Paul said they saved the worst of their abuse for the boy.

“Nobody was treated like this one kid,” Paul said. “They just heaped it on him.”

DHS certified the Hartwigs as foster parents in 2003. From 2003 to 2009, DHS received at least nine reports of child abuse or neglect in the Hartwig home, but child-protective workers failed to step in to protect the boy or other children, the suit alleges. For example, in 2004, DHS received a report of a 3-year-old foster child who was losing weight, had a black eye, scrapes and sores all over his body, shoes that were too small and blood blisters on his feet.

R.H. moved in the following year — in 2005 — and eventually was adopted by the Hartwigs, with DHS’s approval.

The boys suffering came to light in 2010, after someone called the Lane County Sheriff’s Office, and deputies discovered the boy with broken bones and a bad infection from untreated burns. He ended up spending a month at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland.

In a DHS review into what went wrong, DHS acknowledged that repeated reports of possible abuse or neglect at the Hartwig home weren’t adequately investigated or considered as child-welfare workers re-certified the Hartwigs as foster parents and allowed them to adopt. The review suggested ways to prevent such abuse.

In an email Monday, DHS spokesman Gene Evans said protecting children is his department’s highest priority.

“Any abuse or neglect of a child in foster care is unacceptable,” Evans wrote.

Evans said DHS has improved its screening and investigation of reports of abuse and neglect. It also has instituted “more comprehensive background checks of foster parents before they are ever certified to care for a child.” DHS officials note that the reported number of children who are abused or neglected while in foster care has been declining, dropping from one in 100 in 2007, to one in 200 in 2010, the latest figures available.

R.H., who is now 11, is still in the foster-care system. The suit describes his physical and psychological injuries as “permanent and progressive.” The suit seeks $250,000 for medical bills and counseling, $1.5 million for loss of earning capacity over his lifetime and $3 million for pain and suffering. The boy is “severely traumatized” and unable to form close relationships, the suit states.

The suit doesn’t seek compensation from the Hartwigs, who likely have little means to pay. Alona Hartwig, 48, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and criminal mistreatment, and is serving a nearly 11-year prison term. Rodger Eugene Hartwig Jr., 53, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and was sentenced to nearly six years in prison.”

Attorney files $4.75 million lawsuit against state on behalf of 11-year-old boy whose Lane County foster parents broke his bones, burned him

[The Oregonian 6/11/12 by Aimee Green]