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 Dayton, Ohio, adoptive parent,former president of the Foster Parent Association for Miami County and board member of the Troy Junior Basketball Association, Kenneth H. Brandt, 39, and two other men Jason Zwick, 29, of Beavercreek and Patrick Rieder, 31, of Dayton “were the subjects of an Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigation,” according to WHIOTV.
WHIOTV says that Kenneth Brandt has been charged with “three counts of rape and one count of compelling prostitution. He is in Miami County Jail on $800,000 bond.”
“Meanwhile, state and local agencies have launched separate investigations into the child abuse allegations and the adoption process.”
“Brandt has adopted three children – a 9-year-old girl and three boys, ages 9, 10 and 12, according to authorities. The adoption of a fourth has not been finalized. The children — who are not all birth siblings — were adopted in 2011 from Texas via a private adoption agency.
Brandt had removed the girl from the Troy school system on Jan. 2 and two of the boys Feb. 13, according Troy City Schools Superintendent Eric Herman.”
“One of the boys in Brandt’s home said that Brandt had allowed Rieder and Zwick to have sex with him, according to a police report.
On Friday, Troy police were contacted by a representative from the Franklin County ICACT . Police were told that Brandt had been communicating online with an undercover detective and was making arrangements to allow the detective to have sex with a 10-year-old boy on Sunday.
That same detective had chatted online with two men who were claiming to have had sex with the boy.
Troy investigators executed a search warrant Friday at Brandt’s house. Police found Brandt and the children at his parents home, also in Troy.
During questioning, Brandt admitted having sex with the 10-year-old about 10 times, according to the report. He also told police that Zwick had sex with the boy, but denied Rieder’s involvement.
The boy initially told police that he didn’t want to tell them anything because he was afraid he would be taken away from his home and separated from his new brothers and sister. But when police asked him to help them protect his siblings , he wept. He told police he had sex — spelling out the word — with Rieder and Zwick. He said Brandt had sex with him two to three times a week since he had arrived at the home.
The two other boys also told police that Brandt had sex with them. The 9-year-old boy said it started about two weeks after he arrived from Texas.
Zwick was arrested Tuesday. No charges had been filed against Rieder late Tuesday, but he is to be in court Wednesday. A preliminary hearing for Brandt is set for March 6.”
Dayton Daily News says “Kenneth H. Brandt, 39, is charged with raping three of his children and allowing two men to have sex with one of them.
“Our involvement at this point is due to the allegations of abuse,” June Cannon, executive director of Miami County Children’s Services, said Tuesday. “We are working a child abuse investigation in conjunction with the criminal investigation that the Troy police department is doing.”
Cannon said the four children are being cared for by Brandt’s mother. She said the child who wasn’t yet adopted likely will be returned to Texas.
An Ohio Department of Job and Family Services spokesman said his agency will review how the adoption took place.
The children were adopted via the Interstate Compact for Placement of Children (ICPC) program Dayton-based Action Inc., a private adoption agency at 6000 Philadelphia Drive.
Oversight of such an adoption and follow-up falls mostly to the private agency, according to officials from both Texas and Ohio. Ben Johnson at ODJFS said the ODJFS will assist Miami County.”
“Patrick Crimmins from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, said that office also will review this case. “We are heartsick about what has happened to these children — they are Texas children — and we are going to be taking a hard look at all aspects of this, from the beginning,” Crimmins said.
Messages left for Action Inc. were not immediately returned. Patricia Hill is listed as the agency’s director. The nonprofit’s website said it was founded in 1994. Johnson said the agency is licensed.
Troy Superintendent Eric Herman said one of Brandt’s children was enrolled in Troy schools from Aug. 18, 2011, until Jan. 2; another from Aug. 13, 2010, until Feb. 13, and a third from Dec. 17, 2010 until Feb. 13.
Herman said Brandt fulfilled his obligations to home-school the children by proving he had a high school diploma and by turning in a proper curriculum. Cannon said her office had no legal right to check on the children until there were allegations of abuse or neglect.”
Community Reaction
Dayton Daily News says “Brandt, who owned Brandt Insurance Services, LLC — but did not have an insurance agent license, according to the Ohio Department of Insurance — had never been booked into the Miami County Jail prior to his Friday arrest, according to county jail records.
“It’s beyond my comprehension,” said Jeff Price, president of the Troy Junior Basketball Association, of the news about Brandt. “You don’t expect these things to happen so close to home.”
Price declined to comment on Brandt’s role in the youth sports program, but a 2010 Troy Junior Basketball Association handout posted online lists Brandt as a board member who served as 7th–9th grade representative.
On Tuesday, a man and a woman, who declined to identify themselves, were moving furniture and other items from Brandt’s ranchstyle brick house.
“I’m so ashamed. I don’t have anything to say,” the man said.
Brittani Jackson, who has lived a couple of houses down the street since October, said she did not see people around the house. A For Sale sign was in the yard recently, led her to think the occupants were moving.
“I was very shocked,” Jackson said of Brandt’s arrest.
Ed and Sherry Rogers said Brandt was living in the neatly kept house across the street when they came to the neighborhood five years ago. They said the first child showed up at the house about two-to-three years ago, followed by others last summer. They said they would see two boys and a girl with Brandt. They said they did not see three boys.”
Details emerge in Troy child sex case
[WHIOTV 2/27/12 by Lou Grieco, Kelli Wynn and Mark Gokavi]
Man accused of child rape
[Dayton Daily News 2/29/12 by Kelli Wynn and Nancy Bowman]
Man used private Dayton adoption agency
[Dayton Daily News 2/29/12 by Mark Gokavi]
Accused rapist in process of adopting fourth
[Dayton Daily News 2/29/12 by Kelli Wynn, Lou Grieco and Mark Gokavi]
REFORM Puzzle Pieces
Update: “The FBI says it has enough evidence to pursue federal sexual exploitation charges against three Ohio men accused of raping the adopted children of one of the men.
The FBI also says the accused 39-year-old adoptive father also once served as president of the Foster Parent Association for Miami County in southwest Ohio, although he was not in that position when he was arrested.The Dayton Daily News reports Thursday that authorities are also investigating the father’s history as a foster parent, including allegations he brought children from Texas to Ohio as supposed foster children.
The Associated Press is withholding the man’s name to protect the children’s identities. [All other media have already published his name. In the interest of other possible victims, this is ridiculous. This man was the former head of a foster parent organization and was on the BOD of a children’s basketball association. Hello?This investigation needs to expand to all children he has been in contact with.]
The newspaper says two other men have been arrested on charges of sexually assaulting one of the father’s sons.”
[WYTV 3/1/12]
Excellent commentary:
“The depths of depravity are sometimes too heinous to even begin to comprehend. Child abuse and neglect headlines are always hearth wrenching to read, but a recent case of abuse in Ohio illustrates the pure evil that can lurk inside the empty soul of man. The alleged sexual abuse of multiple young boys by their adoptive father and his friends proves again the child welfare system in America needs a thorough overhaul.
The Dayton Daily News paints a horrifying picture of shattered childhood, leaving four children with emotional and physical scars that could last a lifetime. Kenneth H. Brandt was arrested on three counts of rape after an online sting designed to catch pedophiles discovered alleged communications from him offering his children for sex.
Excerpts of interviews with the alleged victims would break even the most jaded of hearts. All four children are younger than 12 and came to live with their adoptive father through a private adoption agency in Texas.
While investigators sort out which agency made the mistake of considering the alleged child rapist a fit parent, counselors scrambled to help the children who were fearful of being separated. There are so many children waiting for adoptive and foster families, it is easy to understand how any agency or staffer could feel overwhelmed. But there is no excuse for not doing your due diligence in every case.
An innocent child’s health and well-being is worthy of extreme scrutiny into every aspect of a potential parent’s character.
The task of separating caring from ill-intentioned prospective parents must be a difficult task. The alleged Ohio child sexual predator and hundreds like him may have a clean background, perfect grammar and exhibit a loving persona during the interview process. Unfortunately adoption agency and child services workers do not possess a crystal ball or magic wand to separate the good from the evil.
An out-of-state adoption should have included mandatory home visits and child interviews in Ohio. If follow-up procedures are mandated by law through private agency adoptions, Ohio social services agencies dropped the ball and allowed untold horrors to occur to these children. According to the Dayton Daily News report, the children were removed from school last month, forcing them to spend all their time inside the home. A breakdown in supervision and responsibility occurred somewhere, causing four young lives to be forever altered.”
[Yahoo news 2/29/12 by Tara Dodrill]
Update 2: “The children, all believed to have come from North Texas, were placed with Brandt through a cooperative effort by child welfare workers in both Texas and in Ohio, and by ACTION Inc., an Ohio-based adoption service.”
“Officials in both states said they did everything by the book. ACTION sent CBS 11 News a statement that said, in part, that it “follows and complies with the rules and regulations in cases that it is involved with,” and “is cooperating and in contact with all appropriate parties” involved in the ongoing investigation of Brandt.
CBS 11 News has learned that the state of Texas paid ACTION $33,750 to help place the four Texas children with the man now accused of being their assailant.
Since implementing a contract with ACTION in December 2004, Texas paid the Ohio adoption agency a total of $286,750 to place 28 adopted children in that state, according to records obtained by CBS 11. There have been no problems with any of the other adoptions, authorities say.”
Ohio Man Accused Of Hurting Children He Adopted From Texas
[CBS Dallas Fort Worth 3/8/12 by Jack Douglas, Jr.]
Update 3: “Police Captain Chris Anderson said between ten and 15 of the 31 grand jury charges carry potential sentences of up to life in prison for the man. ”
“The man first was certified as a foster parent in Ohio’s Miami County in 2005. Action Inc. has been certified by Ohio for more than a decade.”
Father charged with THIRTY-ONE counts of raping his three adopted sons
[Daily Mail 3/16/12 by Rachel Rickard Strauss]
Update 4: He now has been indicted in a second county.
Kenneth Brandt “was indicted by a Montgomery County grand jury on three counts of rape of a child under 13 and four counts of complicity to commit rape of a child under 13. Patrick Rieder, 31, of Dayton, was indicted on four counts of rape of a child under 13.
The adoptive father is accused of bringing the boy to Rieder’s home, where both men engaged in sexual conduct with the child, county prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. said. The men were introduced in a chat room and eventually agreed to meet, Heck said.”
Bizarrely STILL “The Associated Press is withholding the father’s name to protect the child’s identity” even though ALL local Ohio papers have divulged his name the day the story broke on 2/27/12.
“Rieder’s attorney didn’t immediately return calls for comment Friday. Court records don’t list an attorney for the adoptive father, who is in Miami County jail awaiting trial on 31 counts of rape involving three boys in his care.
The adoptive father was indicted in March in Miami County on charges that he raped the three boys.
A third man, 29-year-old Jason Zwick, of Beavercreek, was indicted in March in Miami County on three counts of rape. Prosecutors say he raped a boy in meetings arranged through the adoptive father.
Both the adoptive father and Zwick have pleaded not guilty to the charges in Miami County. Zwick’s lawyer hasn’t returned messages for comment.
Officials have said that the Troy man adopted three children, including a 9-year-old girl, and was in the process of adopting a fourth child.
Authorities have said Zwick raped a boy at the adoptive father’s home in Troy. They say the adoptive father took the boy Rieder is accused of raping to Rieder’s Dayton home.”
Apparently, Action, Inc. is STILL under investigation. “Ohio authorities have said they’re investigating a private adoption agency that helped place the children with the man. If Ohio Department of Job and Family Services investigators find serious procedural violations, the state could take actions including revoking the license of Action Inc. Several messages left at Action’s office in Dayton haven’t been returned.”
Ohio men indicted in adoptive father rape case
[Boston.com 5/4/12 by Associated Press]
Hat tip to a reader who forwarded on to us that Action, Inc. charges expedited homestudy fees, a red flag. See http://www.actionadoption.org/id18.html.
Update 5: Unbelievable! Action, Inc. used college INTERNS for home inspections and follow-up!
“The Ohio adoption agency that sent three children to a man who sexually abused them has been disciplined by state regulators for sending college interns to do the work of paid social workers.
ACTION Inc, based in Dayton, reportedly sent college students to perform home assessments and post-placement check-ups on families on their own.”
Brandt “told the Associated Press in a jailhouse interview that a college student went to his home once with an ACTION case worker for a visit and then returned by herself on subsequent visits.
Ohio investigators found improper use of college interns, among other violations of procedures, by the private adoption agency.”
[As an aside, Brandt and the other defendants have been identified LOCALLY and NATIONALLY since the beginning of this case, so why the Associated Press continues this charade of not naming them makes no sense.]
The state findings listed 12 problems; in most cases they involved incomplete records and lack of documentation. They also found that college interns improperly conducted some home assessments and post-placement visits alone.
ACTION Inc. submitted a detailed corrective action plan in response that included ending its college internship program. The Ohio department accepted the plan and has continued its state license.
The private agency’s executive director, Patricia Hill, said no wrongdoing was found in its handling of the Troy adoptions. She referred questions to the agency’s attorney, who didn’t immediately return a telephone message Thursday.
“Her agency’s website says she is a licensed social worker with a master’s degree in social work, and is the mother of 22 children through adoption and one through long-term foster care. Hill earned her master’s in social work from UC in 1997.
[Maybe child collectors shouldn’t be allowed to run adoption agencies!]
The Troy man last month pleaded guilty to six counts of child rape in Miami County in a plea agreement. The Associated Press isn’t identifying the adoptive father to protect the children’s identities.
A December 20 hearing is scheduled in Montgomery County on plea negotiations on seven rape-related counts he faces there. Two other men are charged in separate cases with raping one of the boys the man had adopted.
The state investigation was a review of all agency operations, not just the Troy case, department spokesman Benjamin Johnson said. The state found that college interns conducted some home study assessments by themselves, as well as some post-placement visits. It doesn’t say whether they were at the Troy man’s home.
However, the man told The Associated Press during an interview at the Miami County Jail this week that a college student had come to his home once for a regular visit with an ACTION caseworker, then returned alone for other visits.
He said she appeared to follow the same visit procedures as regular caseworkers did, such as separating the children from him for interviews about how they were doing in their new home.
Ohio regulations stipulate that ‘an agency shall not use volunteers or college interns as a replacement for paid staff.’
Withdrawing: The University of Cincinnati School of Social Work, which supplied many of the interns, announced it had already stopped sending its students to ACTION Inc.
In responses to the state, Hill included a June letter to the University of Cincinnati School of Social Work stating that ACTION would no longer provide student internships.
University of Cincinnati spokesman Richard Puff told the AP that top officials at the school didn’t receive the letter, which was addressed ‘To Whom It May Concern.’
Puff also said the school had ended its relationship with ACTION long before the letter because of concerns about how student evaluations were done. He said three UC graduate students in spring of 2011 were the last to intern with ACTION. He didn’t know whether any had been involved with the Troy man’s case.
The state file doesn’t indicate whether any other schools placed interns with ACTION.
The man had been a foster parent dating to 2006. About two years ago, three children from Texas were placed with him through ACTION, part of an interstate compact to help match children with adoptive parents. They included a biological brother and sister. All were under age 13.
The man had adopted all three and was in the process of adopting a fourth child, a 9-year-old boy, who came from Texas last year, when he was arrested.
Texas Department of Family and Protective Services spokesman Patrick Crimmins said the department decided after reviewing the cases to continue contracting with ACTION on adoption placements. It had placed 28 children through ACTION since 2004 and has placed one through ACTION since the Troy arrest.
He said the last boy placed in Troy has been returned to Texas and is in foster care, with efforts being made to find ‘a suitable adoptive family.
The three other children were in the care of Miami County children’s services, and Ohio judges will rule on their permanent custody.
A judge ruled recently that one of the boys can testify via closed circuit TV in the upcoming trial of a man his adoptive father allegedly arranged with to rape him in their Troy home. ”
Adoption agency that placed three children with father who sexually abused them sent college INTERNS for home inspections and check-ups
[Daily Mail 12/6/12 by Daily Mail and Associated Press]
“The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services found ACTION Inc. used college interns to conduct home visits by themselves. Interns and volunteers are not to replace paid staff. The investigation also turned up incomplete forms and records of training for adoptive parents being waived.
The Deputy Director of Communications for the department, Benjamin Johnson said, “We did not review a specific case or a specific employee, or a specific incident. We reviewed the entire operation. We found a handful of violations as I mentioned we certainly want those violations fixed but we didn’t think they warranted revocation of the agency’s certification.”
Johnson said the agency has submitted an action plan to correct its mistakes and the state is satisfied with it. ACTION’s certification is good until February 18, 2014.
Johnson added, “When we reviewed their adherence to state and federal rules and regulations we found no reason to revoke their certification and they remain in good standing with state of Ohio.”
Of course if complaints come to the department’s attention an investigation will follow. Johnson could not and would not say if the violations found in this most recent review had any impact on the adoption of children by Kenneth Brandt, the Troy man pleading guilty to raping the boys he adopted through ACTION. There had been complaints before about ACTION, but never did the state revoke the agency’s certification. Most of the agency’s problems have had to do with lack of documentation.”
Dayton adoption agency answers mistakes
[WDTN 12/6/12]
Update 6: “An adoptive father in Ohio who could spend the rest of his life in prison for raping three boys in his care pleaded guilty Thursday [December 20, 2012] to another child rape charge and agreed to testify against a man he allegedly allowed to rape one of his adopted sons.
The 40-year-old man, a long-time foster parent and youth basketball coach, pleaded guilty to one count each of child rape and complicity to rape in a Montgomery County court in Dayton. Under a plea agreement, prosecutors dropped five other charges against him in exchange for his testimony against a co-defendant.
Sentencing was tentatively set for Feb. 26. The plea agreement calls for a total sentence of 50 years to life in prison.”
“The Troy man previously pleaded guilty in Miami County to raping three boys in his care, and was sentenced Monday [December 17, 2012] to 60 years to life in prison. He also agreed in that case to testify in the Miami County trial next month of a man he allegedly invited to come to his home to rape one of his adopted sons, then 10.”
“Wearing a blue jail jumpsuit in court Thursday, the man answered “Yes, ma’am,” and “No, ma’am” to questions from Montgomery Common Pleas Judge Mary Katherine Huffman. When asked how he pleads, he quickly responded: “Guilty.”
The judge warned him that the plea agreement would be nullified if he didn’t cooperate and testify truthfully.
Prosecutors have said one important reason they agreed to the deal was to avoid having the children testify.
Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. called the man a child abuser who “will basically spend the rest of his natural life locked up and that certainly is a good disposition.”
The sentence in Montgomery County is to run concurrently with his Miami County sentence.
A lawyer for the man said his client also doesn’t want the children to have to testify.”
“Jason Zwick, 30, of Beavercreek is scheduled for trial Jan. 8 [2013]in Miami County on three counts of raping a minor under 13. A judge has ruled that the alleged victim can testify by closed-circuit TV.
Patrick Rieder, 32, of Dayton was indicted on four counts of rape of a child under 13. He was later indicted on charges including more than 40 counts of pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor. His trial is set for Feb. 19 [2013].”
Ohio adoptive father pleads guilty to child rape
[USA Today 12/20/12 by Associated Press]
Update 7: “A western Ohio man pleaded no contest Tuesday to one count of child rape involving the adopted son of a man who had earlier admitted to raping three boys in his care.
Jason Zwick, 30, made the plea in Miami County, just before jury selection was to begin. Common Pleas Judge Christopher Gee pronounced him guilty and sentenced him to 10 years to life in prison.
Prosecutors dropped two other charges that Zwick had raped the 10-year-old adopted son of the Troy man who has pleaded guilty to raping three boys. Zwick, of the Dayton suburb of Beavercreek, allegedly went to the adoptive father’s home in Troy to rape the boy after the men communicated online.
The boy’s 40-year-old adoptive father, who will serve 60 years to life in prison as part of his plea agreement, was expected to testify against Zwick, as was the boy, now 11.
Zwick’s attorney had unsuccessfully sought Monday to delay the trial, alleging possible witness tampering. Attorney Joe Stadnicar wasn’t available immediately for comment after the plea Tuesday.
Dressed in a dark suit, Zwick answered “yes” to a series of questions from the judge, who wanted to make sure Zwick understood his rights and the details of the plea and possible sentence. Zwick declined to make a statement before the judge ruled.
Zwick’s plea means he doesn’t contest the charge against him, without admitting guilt. Anthony Kendell, an assistant county prosecutor, said prosecutors expect him to appeal, but believe they are on solid ground for an appeal.
Gee also sentenced Zwick to pay a $20,000 fine and ordered him to regularly report his whereabouts as a sex offender to law enforcement if he becomes free. He can’t live near a school or daycare.
“This is the most despicable thing I’ve ever seen,” Kendell said after the plea hearing. “This is a guy out shopping for minors … to have sex with. We got him off the street.”
Gee had ruled earlier that the boy could testify via closed circuit television, instead of taking the witness stand in the open courtroom.
Zwick’s attorney had asked Monday to delay the trial, charging that the adoptive father’s mother had taken photos or video of Zwick during a jail visit, possibly to help her son or other witnesses identify Zwick in court. Stadnicar said in his argument Monday that the defense contended that Zwick had been wrongly identified as the culprit. Gee denied the motion for a continuance.
The Associated Press isn’t naming the adoptive father in order to protect the children’s identities.
The Troy man was a longtime foster father who had adopted two boys and a girl and was in the process of adopting a fourth child, another boy, when arrested last February. The children were ages 9 to 12 at the time of his arrest.
He also has pleaded guilty in neighboring Montgomery County to child rape and complicity to rape. In that case, he was charged with taking the same boy as in the Zwick case to the home of Patrick Rieder, 32, of Dayton. Rieder’s trial is scheduled Feb. 19 on four counts of rape of a child under 13.
The adoptive father also agreed to testify in Rieder’s trial. His Montgomery County sentencing is tentatively set for Feb. 26, and the plea agreement there calls for 50 years to life in prison.
Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. last month called the adoptive father a child abuser who “will basically spend the rest of his natural life locked up.”
The adoptive father told The Associated Press in a recent interview that he was sorry for hurting the children, and hoped they would be spared from testifying. The children were placed in the care of the county children’s service agency after his arrest.
Authorities say they made the arrests after an investigation that began with an undercover detective checking into an online posting about “taboo sex.”
Ohio man pleads no contest to raping child
[Houston Chronicle 1/8/13 by Dan Sewell/Associated Press]
Update 8: Kenneth Brandt has been sentenced in the second case to 50 years in prison. “The sentence will run at the same time with one of 60 years to life in another case, virtually ensuring that he will spend the rest of his life in prison. In both cases, he pleaded guilty in plea agreements with prosecutors.
The sentencing in Montgomery County wraps up child rape cases against the man and two other men he allegedly arranged to let rape a child. ”
UPDATE: Brandt Sentenced to 50 Years in Child Rape Case
[WKEF 2/26/13 by Associated Press]
“The private adoption agency, Dayton-based Action Inc., has said little about the case other than to deny wrongdoing. The state reviewed its operations and noted some procedural violations but no reason to suspend or revoke the agency’s license. All the children had been in Texas foster care before coming to Ohio through the agency, one of many that work through interstate agreements to find homes for some of the more than 100,000 children in foster care awaiting adoption at any given time in the United States.
The adoptive father said the three children appeared to be doing so well, he was asked by an agency employee to take a fourth.
The children were involved in sports, school and church and played with other children. They went trick-or-treating — snapshots from two Halloweens ago show the boys dressed as Green Lantern and Star Wars’ Darth Maul and the girl as a princess. They had Xboxes, Wiis and other games and toys at home.
“I loved my kids and wanted the best for them,” the man said.
He said he had been sexually abused as a child by a close family member and blames that for his feeling that he wasn’t doing anything wrong when he began taking the boys into his bed in what he claimed was a way of showing love.
“I never forced the boys to do anything,” he said. “That might not mean anything to anyone else, but it’s important to me.”
But his explanation doesn’t account for subsequently inviting a man to their Troy home to rape one of the boys, and then taking the same boy to another man’s home to be raped. He agreed that was wrong, although he stressed that he didn’t prostitute the boy by getting anything in return.
Apparently, no child ever hinted at any problem when separated from him by case workers for interviews.
“I guess they just liked it there,” the man said.
Police reported that when they interviewed the boy, then age 10, who had also been raped by the two other men, he began shaking, after initially refusing to confirm that anything wrong had happened.
He told police he “didn’t want to be taken from this home and separated from his new brothers and sister,” a police report stated.
After the man was arrested, the 9-year-old boy who hadn’t been adopted yet was returned to Texas social services authorities, while the other three were placed in foster care in Ohio.
At a pretrial hearing last November, a child psychologist testified about some three dozen therapy sessions he had had with the 10-year-old boy, the Dayton Daily News reported.
“It is so traumatic within the security of my office, when he’s laying on a sofa, hugging a bear, to talk about these things,” said Gregory Ramey of The Children’s Medical Center of Dayton.
The adoptive father has already been sentenced here to at least 60 years in prison. In Dayton, he is expected to be sentenced to at least 50 years, to run concurrently.
He said he agreed to plead guilty in hopes of sparing the children from having to testify, that it “was the last good thing I could do for them.” In a jail interview, his eyes teared up and his voice choked as he said he was sorry for the pain he had caused them.
In a letter from jail, he wrote: “I’ve been able to protect my kids from everything and everyone, except myself.””
Rape of adopted Ohio kids unusual, haunting case
[Yahoo.com 2/24/13 by Dan Sewell]
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