How Could You? Hall of Shame-Lee M. Rager

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 Fort Wayne, Indiana, adoptive father Lee M. Rager,45,  is currently being sought on a warrant  of one felony C count of Neglect Of Dependent Resulting In Bodily Injury, according to a search of Indiana court records. The male adoptee is elementary-school aged and formerly attended a charter school.

“A Fort Wayne boy twice reported to his elementary school teachers that he was being abused by his adopted mother.

But it’s his adopted father who is being sought by police on charges of felony child neglect for allegedly putting the boy’s life in danger multiple times.

The boy, whose age was not listed in court files, was enrolled in a local elementary school as of October 2012.

On Thursday, officers issued a warrant for the arrest of Lee M. Rager, 45, on felony charges of child neglect.

Rager… is the boy’s adopted father, according to court documents. Even though the abuse described in court documents allegedly came at the hands of the boy’s adopted mother, she has not been charged in the case. [Why?]

The child’s biological mother and father are unknown.

According to court documents filed Thursday, the boy first reported to a teacher at Hickory Creek Center Elementary School during the 2011-12 school year that he had been tied to his bed and beaten.

After the alleged abuse was reported to the Department of Child Services, the boy’s parents removed him from school, the teacher told police.

In October 2012, the child spoke with a Child Services caseworker after he was found with marks around his wrist and right ankle, court documents said.

At the time of the second abuse report, the child was attending Timothy L. Johnson Academy and had told teachers that he had been “tied up like Jesus on the cross” and spanked with a belt by his adopted mother.

The boy told a Child Services caseworker that he was often locked in his room and would have to shout for someone to let him out to go to the bathroom. He said there had been times when no one would let him out of the bathroom and he would have to go to the bathroom in the vents or on the floor, according to court documents.

A caseworker reported the boy’s room had only a mattress, pillow and sheet and smelled strongly of urine and feces.

The boy also said he is often spanked by his mother with a belt on various parts of his body or is tied up around his thighs, stomach and feet. He added that if he doesn’t remain standing, she uses a belt on his head, documents said.

Timothy L. Johnson Academy administrators said after the alleged abuse was reported, the child was removed from the school by his mother, the documents said.

Hospital medical records from 2012 showed that the child had been treated multiple times for injuries, according to court documents.

In August, the boy was taken to St. Joseph Hospital emergency room with injuries to his hands. His adopted mother said a brick fell on his hand the day before and the boy had fallen asleep with an ice pack on his hand, documents said.

The doctor said the injuries appeared to be second- or third-degree burns. The injuries later resulted in permanent discoloration and disfigurement to multiple fingers, according to the boy’s medical records.

According to court files, the boy was seen multiple times for frostbite to one of his hands and that at least one finger had “self-amputated.”

In October, the boy was taken to a hospital emergency room by his adopted mother with multiple wounds to his wrist and legs.

The boy’s adopted mother said the cuts were likely from play handcuffs or from self-inflicted wounds from a piece of metal. The boy said he had cut himself, court documents said.

It is unclear whether the boy was ever removed from the home, or where he is now.”  [How is this not known?]

School tip leads to neglect count

[The Journal Gazette 8/2/13 by Julie Crothers]

“Although the boy told a social worker that his adoptive mother, Diana Haley, was the one who beat him, police are still searching for Lee Rager, 46, of Fort Wayne.

Police said Rager lived with Haley and Haley’s other son when the abuse occurred.

According to the Allen County Sheriff’s Department, the boy told his teachers at Hickory Center Elementary School and Timothy I. Johnson Academy, that he was tied up and beaten multiple times. After the teacher at Hickory Center alerted the Indiana Department of Child Services, the boy’s parents pulled him out of the school.

The boy was also pulled out of his second school, the Timothy I. Johnson Academy, after administration at the school reported the alleged abuse to child services. Police said that school was the last school the boy was known to attend.

According to the probable cause , the boy was found in October 2012 with marks around his wrists and right ankle. He said his adoptive mother tied him up “like Jesus on the cross” and spanked him with a belt after finding out that the boy had apparently cheated in school.

The boy, who has fetal alcohol syndrome and functions at a first grade level, also told an Indiana Department Child Services caseworker that he was locked in his room at night and had to urinate and defecate into the floor vents because he couldn’t get out.

The boy told the caseworker he sometimes would knock on his door or yell out his bedroom window to get people’s attention to let him out of his room to go to the bathroom.

The caseworker reported that the boy’s bedroom at his home only contained a mattress, pillow, and sheet. The room smelled like feces and urine, according to the caseworker. She also said she found a pair of broken handcuffs and knives, among other things on the kitchen island inside the home.

According to the probable cause, the boy was taken to the hospital multiple times in 2012 for several different injuries, including frost bite, abrasions, and burns.

The boy said during a medical examination, that he caused the injuries, but the examiner believes his injuries came from trauma and were not self-inflicted.

Haley told a doctor at St. Joseph Hospital that a brick had fallen on the boy’s hand so she put an ice pack on it. She said the boy fell asleep with the ice pack on his hand, causing blistering and burns.

The doctor told caseworkers that he does not believe Haley’s story because the boy’s natural reflex would have been to pull away from the ice pack because of the significant pain caused by the application of the ice.

To read the entire probable cause, click here (Warning: The material in this document is graphic)”

Police searching for adoptive father of abused boy

[WANE 8/2/13 by Kate Taylor]

REFORM Puzzle Pieces

Indiana CPS Idiots. Major FAIL on time to investigate and WHY isn’t the adoptive mother being charged? Was this a foster care placement?