How Could You? Hall of Shame-Deidre Anne Matthews and Jerry Dean Matthews UPDATED and Lawsuit

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 Jay, Oklahoma,adoptive mother Deidre Anne Matthews,46, has been charged ” in Delaware County District Court with three counts of child abuse by injury, child endangerment and child neglect.”

“A Delaware County woman who bragged about being honored by the state for her work as a foster parent was charged Friday with multiple counts of child abuse.

Included in the charges are accusations that the woman failed to seek medical attention after her daughters were bitten repeatedly by pet monkeys.

“Matthews told Delaware County sheriff’s deputies during their investigation that her family was chosen by DHS in 2008 as Adoptive Family of the Year,[of course!] sheriff’s officials said.

According to a court affidavit, Matthews mobile home was covered in filth, she was overly medicated and she depended on her eldest children to care for her younger children and a variety of exotic animals.

State Department of Human Services spokeswoman Sheree Powell said agency officials have not seen the charges “and are waiting to view the documents.”

The children are eight girls ranging in age from 4 to 17 and a 10-year-old boy, court records show.

Delaware County deputies removed the 14-year-old girl from the home after DHS failed to remove the teenager after investigating abuse allegations, the affidavit states. The children’s father, Jerry Matthews, took the rest of the children from the residence with DHS’ approval.

The two oldest children were taking care of the younger children — cooking, cleaning and doing laundry and bathing, dressing and getting the younger children ready for school.

They also fed and took care of numerous animals, the affidavit states.

Deputies first learned of problems at the house when they were called to the residence in late February to investigate allegations that the 14-year-old was being repeatedly physically assaulted by a sibling and that Diedre [sic]Matthews was so heavily medicated she couldn’t care for the children.””

“The mobile home was full of garbage and had animal feces ground into the carpet, according to the affidavit.

Cockroaches were seen in and around rotting food that was either on the floor or on the countertop.

Diedre Matthews “was extremely unsteady on her feet,” and her “pupils were dilated and her eyes were glassy,” the affidavit states. One daughter told investigators she was “concerned about Matthews’ excessive prescription drug use,” telling authorities Diedre [sic] Matthews had a monthly prescription for 360 10-mg hydrocodone tablets.

Monkey attacks

The 14-year-old victim told authorities she was attacked and bitten twice by a 3 1/2-foot spider monkey, the affidavit states.

Another sibling said she also had been bitten.

One girl told authorities they “never went to the doctor, and the monkey bite was not reported” and that Diedre Matthews sewed up the monkey bite wound with a needle and thread and admonished the teens not to tell anyone, according to the affidavit.

At one time there were 20 primates, including spider monkeys, lemurs and marmosets, at the residence.

Previously the couple housed 20 miniature horses, alpacas, numerous dogs, cats, goats, cattle, a buffalo, a South African raccoon, a North American raccoon that had its fangs removed and was declawed, 15 to 20 birds, and an assortment of other animals, the affidavit states.

Representatives from the Delaware County sheriff’s office said Matthews was not in custody Friday. Her bail is set at $100,000.”

Oklahoma foster mother charged with abuse after reports of monkey attacks[The Oklahoman 4/4/14 by Sheila Stogsdill]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Seriously? How could this woman have passed the homestudy?

Update:“A former foster parent who was charged last week with multiple counts of child abuse was not a Department of Human Services foster parent at the time, a DHS spokeswoman said Monday.

Deidre Anne Matthews, 46, of Jay is charged in Delaware County District Court with three counts of child abuse by injury as well as single counts of child endangerment and child neglect in connection with the nine children who were living with her.

DHS spokeswoman Sheree Powell said Deidre Anne and Jerry Matthews were foster parents from 2003 to 2006.

“The public perception is that DHS placed these children with them,” Powell said. “These children were not placed in the home by DHS.”

The children range in age from 4 to 17, according to a probable cause affidavit. Matthews is the adoptive mother of the two teenage girls, who are 14 and 17, the affidavit states.[So, where did she get the other children from???]

She remains in jail in lieu of $100,000 bail. She appeared in court Monday via closed circuit camera from jail and asked for a public defender.

Deidre Anne Matthews is accused of failing to seek medical attention for those two girls, who were bitten several times by a monkey; failing to protect one child against another child; driving under the influence of medication; and failing to provide proper care for the nine children, according to court records.

The two older teens were taking care of the younger children — cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, bathing and dressing them, and getting them ready for school — as well as caring for numerous animals, the affidavit states.

Some of the children hadn’t been to school for several weeks, the affidavit alleges.

Deidre Anne Matthews was also charged March 21 with two counts of causing a minor to become deprived and two counts of violation of the compulsory education act, all misdemeanors.

The home was full of garbage and had animal feces ground into the carpet, according to the affidavit. Cockroaches were seen in and around rotting food that was either on the floor or on a countertop, the affidavit states.”

Jay woman in child-abuse case wasn’t a DHS foster parent at the time, agency says[Tulsa World 4/7/14 by SHEILA STOGSDILl]

Update 2:“The biological parents of three girls who were in the care of a Delaware County woman charged with child abuse said they never signed guardianship papers and want their children returned.

Parents of children in DelCo child abuse case say they want their children back: Couple allege they never gave guardianship to the Matthews [Miamiok.com 5/31/2014 by Sheila Stogsdill]

Update 3:”An estranged couple recognized as Adoptive Parents of the Year will be in court Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 9 and 10, for their preliminary hearing on 47 counts of child abuse related charges, including failure to seek medical attention after children in their care were bitten several times by a pet monkey and for keeping a child locked in a dog pen.

Deidre Matthews, 46, of Jay is charged in Delaware County District Court with 14 counts of child abuse, eight counts of child neglect, three counts of child abuse by injury, two counts of child endangerment and one count of enabling child abuse. She is in jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Former ‘adoptive parents of year’ facing 47 counts of child-abuse: Preliminary hearing starts Tuesday in Jay[Grand Lake news 9/8/14 by Sheila Stogsdill]

September 28, 2016/Update 4: “A Delaware County man set to plea to several child abuse charges was ordered to return in January 2016 where he will be on the felony disposition docket.

On Wednesday, Nov. 4, Jerry Dean Matthews, 64, of Jay appeared before District Judge Robert Haney in Delaware County District Court. Haney said after the hearing the plea wasn’t ready to go.

Officials are attempting to work out a plea with Matthews for a suspended life sentence in exchange for testifying against his estranged wife, Deidre Matthews, 48.

Jerry Matthews is charged with 10 counts of child abuse, five counts of child neglect, enabling child abuse, child endangerment. Deidre Matthews is charged with 14 counts of child abuse, seven counts of child neglect, child endangerment and enabling child abuse.

Both Jerry and Deidre Matthews are free on a reduced bail of $50,000 and are scheduled to return to court on January 11 where either a plea or trial date will be set.

About The Charges

Deidre Matthews is accused of routinely beating nine children placed in her custody. The children ranged in age from 4 to 27 at the time of Deidre Matthews arrest in April 2014.

Abuse allegations by Deidre Matthews includes allowing pet monkeys to bite the two older teens and refusing to seek medical treatment, She is also accused of locking a child in a dog crate on numerous occasions and when not locked up tying the child to her bed, withholding food and water as punishment, beatings with a wooden board, wooden spoon or a braided leather belt that “broke the skin” and “left bruises.”

Authorities charge that Jerry Matthews failed to stop the alleged abusive treatment toward the children.

The Matthews were recognized as the Oklahoma Department of Human Services’ Adoptive Parents of the Year for northeast Oklahoma in 2006. Court records allege abuse started in 2009.

Two teenage adopted daughters, then ages 14 and 17, were the primary caregivers to the seven younger siblings and at one time the family had more than 50 animals, including three spider monkeys and 11 lemurs, preliminary hearing testimony showed.

The couple no longer have custody of the children.”

Court: Plea not ready; Matthews to return to court in January [Grand Lake News 11/04/15 by Sheila Stogshill]

“Adoptive dad Jerry Matthews and mom Deidre were named Oklahoma Department of Human Services’ Adoptive Parents of the Year in 2006. But on Wednesday of this week, Jerry Matthews agreed to testify against his wife in a horrifying child abuse case involving monkeys who bite children, a dog cage prison, and a home filled with exotic animals — and their feces.

But by turning against his now-estranged wife, Jerry Matthews of Jay, Oklahoma, avoided spending the rest of his life behind bars. On Wednesday, July 7, he was slapped with a life sentence after pleading no contest to the multiple child abuse and neglect charges, according to a report in The Grand Lake News newspaper.

Jerry Matthews, 65, will remain free, however, because in exchange for his testimony against his 48-year-old estranged wife, Deidre — formerly of Jay, but now living in Independence, Missouri — Delaware County, Oklahoma, District Attorney Kenny Wright recommended that the whole life sentence be suspended, and a judge agreed.”

 

Deidre and Jerry Matthews: Horrifying Monkey bite child abuse case-Mom locked girl in dog cage in feces-filled home, Cops Say[Inquistr  7/9/16 by Jonathan Vankin]

“A Delaware County woman charged with multiple counts of child abuse related charges appeared in Delaware County District Court during the felony docket hearing on Monday, July 25.

Deidre Matthews, of Jay, who has been living in Independence, Mo. since she was released from jail on a reduced bail of $50,000, was ordered to return to court Wednesday, Aug. 3 for an announcement.

Matthews is charged with 14 counts of child abuse, seven counts of child neglect, child endangerment and enabling child abuse and is accused of allowing pet monkeys to bite her two teen daughters and refusing to seek medical treatment and withholding food and water as punishment. She is also accused of locking another child in a dog crate on numerous occasions, according to court testimony.

Deidre and her former husband, Jerry, along with nine children, then ages 4 through 17, lived in an animal feces infested two-bedroom, two-bathroom mobile home in the rural Jay area. The family had more than 50 animals, including three spider monkeys and 11 lemurs, preliminary hearing testimony showed. They were recognized in 2006 as the state Department of Human Services’ Adoptive Parents of the Year for northeast Oklahoma.

Court records allege abuse started in 2009.

Jerry Matthews pleaded no contest earlier this month on two counts of child neglect in exchange for testify against his former wife.

Deidre Matthews could face a life sentence if convicted.

The couple no longer have custody of the children, records show.”

Deidre Matthews ordered to return to court Aug. 3[Grand Lake News 8/2/16 by Sheila Stogshill]

“Issues relating to legal documents for a Delaware County woman facing multiple counts of child abuse related charges prompted District Judge Robert Haney to put off setting her trial date until 2017.

Deidre Matthews, of Jay, who has been living in Independence, Missouri, appeared in Delaware County District Court on Wednesday, Aug. 3 for a felony disposition docket.

Kathy Baker, Matthews’ attorney asked for the continuance, saying she has received voluminous documents related to her client’s federal case and is in the process of reviewing them.

The heart of the federal case Baker referred to is the lawsuit filed in the United States District Court in Tulsa against Jerry and Deidre Matthews and 20 current of former Department of Human Service employees.

The suit alledges the DHS workers concealed evidence of abuse and alerting Deidre Matthews that DHS workers would be making surprise visits. There were at least 17 reported incidents to DHS, from January 2004 to March 1, 2014, according to the federal complaint filed in November.

Matthews also received secret warnings from DHS before an investigator would inspect the Matthews’ property and interview the children, the federal court complaint states.

Baker also referenced Delaware County Assistant District Attorney Nick Lelecas saying he was in the process of amending the complaint. Lelecas agreed that the complaint of 14 counts of child abuse, seven counts of child neglect, child endangerment and enabling child abuse would be amended this week.

“The changes are for date clarification and not substantive,” Lelecas said after the hearing.

Haney ruled Matthews will return to court in January 2017 where she will be on the felony disposition docket and a either a trial or plea date will be set.

Matthews is accused of locking a child in a dog crate on numerous occasions, beating the children, allowing pet monkeys to bite her two teen daughters and refusing to seek medical treatment and withholding food and water for two days as punishment, according to court testimony.

Matthews, and her former husband Jerry, along with nine children, then ages 4 through 17, lived in an animal feces infested two-bedroom, two-bathroom mobile home in the rural Jay area.

The family had more than 50 animals, including three spider monkeys and 11 lemurs, preliminary hearing testimony showed. They recognized in 2006 as the state Department of Human Services’ Adoptive Parents of the Year for northeast Oklahoma.

Court records allege abuse started in 2009.

Jerry Matthews pleaded no contest in July to two counts of child neglect in exchange for testify against his former wife.

Deidre Matthews, who is free on a reduced bail of $50,000, could face a life sentence if convicted.

The couple no longer have custody of the children, records show.”

Matthews’ abuse case pushed to 2017 [Grand Lake News 8/9/16 by Sheila Stogshill]

September 28, 2016/Update 5:A lawsuit has been filed.

“Oklahoma subjected children to abuse in a former foster home in a trailer with 10 monkeys, just part of a menagerie that included “11 lemurs, marmosets, coatimundis, raccoons,” donkeys and other animals, guardians claim in court.
Lead plaintiff Rachel Matthews sued the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, several of its Delaware County employees and parents Deidre and Jerry Matthews, of Jay, on Tuesday in Federal Court.
Matthews says the family moved into a trailer home in 2011 when their home burned down.
“Anywhere from eight to eleven children and two to five adults lived in the Matthews’ home,” the complaint states. “Some of the children were placed with the Matthews by DHS through the foster care program, some ended up being adopted by the Matthews, some had a legal guardianship with the Matthews and some of the children were just living with them. Also present on the property were twenty to fifty animals, which included at least three monkeys, eleven lemurs, marmosets, coatimundis, raccoons, dogs, cats, horses, donkeys as well as various other animals.”
The guardians of eight children, identified by initials, say DHS received at least 17 reports of abuse during a 10-year span, including “mental and physical child abuse, child neglect, dangerous living conditions, lack of supervision, beating of children, failure to protect children, failure to provide adequate medical care, failure to educate minor children, unsanitary living conditions and drug abuse” at the home.
“Interviews of collateral sources and the children presented clear cases of neglect and abuse of the children as well as a dangerous home environment, lack of supervision and education,” the complaint states. “However, DHS failed to protect plaintiffs and left them with the Matthews to suffer continued abuse, neglect and deplorable conditions.”
DHS spokeswoman Sheree Powell told Courthouse News the agency is investigating the lawsuit and “will respond accordingly.”
“Also, we need to clear up the facts,” Powell said Wednesday. “The Matthews are not foster parents for DHS and all of those children involved in the lawsuit are not foster children.
“Ms. Matthews and her husband were foster parents from 2003-2006 until they adopted two children through our agency. They did not own exotic animals when they were fostering and adopting. The Matthews home was voluntarily closed as a foster or adoptive placement after they adopted the two children because they did not have room for any more children. The Matthews have not been foster or adoptive parents for DHS since 2006. Also, we did not place any of the other seven children in that home and do not know where they came from.”
The plaintiffs cite a June 18, 2009, referral to DHS that 10 monkeys were living in the home.
“Along with the monkeys inside the home, the Matthews had many animals outside including, two larger monkeys, a miniature donkey, a Shetland pony, dogs, cats and a buffalo,” the complaint states. “The monkeys living inside the home attacked two people. One bite victim was plaintiff G.M. The bite on G.M.’s arm was very deep and needed medical attention. Deidre Matthews refused to take G.M. to the hospital. Instead, Deidre Matthews gave G.M. at least six shots of a veterinary grade nerve block to deaden the affected area and then stitched up the wound using the needles and string that she used to perform C-sections on dogs. Deidre Matthews does not have any formal medical training.”
Rachel Matthews says she was bitten twice by the same monkey and never was taken to a hospital or doctor for medical treatment.
The complaint cites a Feb. 16, 2012, referral to DHS that claimed food a child brought to school for snack time had “gnawing” on the packages from rats. Matthews claims that referral was “screened out as duplicative” and no action was taken.
Criminal child abuse and neglect charges are pending against the foster parents in Delaware County Court, according to the lawsuit. It adds that a county court took the plaintiffs into emergency custody in April 2014 after DHS employees in Craig County reported indications of “rampant child neglect and abuse.”
Their report included allegations of “instances of mental abuse, such as, forcing plaintiff Rachel Matthews to kill her own pet by bashing its head into the trunk of a tree; instances of mental abuse when Deidre Matthews would verbally traumatize plaintiff E.M. and call her a ‘psycho’; instances of mental and physical abuse, such as routinely handcuffing plaintiff E.M. to a bed and forcibly locking her in dog cages; and instances of sexual abuse, such as forcing plaintiffs to stand outside naked or parading plaintiffs around the house naked; and instances of education neglect and keeping plaintiffs home from school so no one would see the bruises, welts, and wounds left on them by Jerry and Deidre Matthews.”
The plaintiffs also claim DHS employees would “tip off” the parents about investigations and questioned the children in the parents’ presence, in violation of agency policy.
Seven of the 18 employees named in the lawsuit have retired or resigned, Powell said.
“It should not be assumed that employees named in the lawsuit who resigned or retired did so as a result of the Matthews’ case,” she said.
The plaintiffs seek damages for violations of their civil rights and the Government Tort Claims Act.
They are represented by Conner L. Helms with Helms Underwood in Oklahoma City.”

Bitten by Monkeys in a Foster Home[Courthouse News 12/3/15 by David Lee]

Update 6:”A former foster care and adoptive mother accused of child abuse was sentenced Wednesday to a life sentence, but will only have to serve around three years in prison, a prosecutor said.

After amending the charges, Deidre Matthews, 50, of Independence, Missouri and formally of Jay pleaded no contest in Delaware County District Court to eight counts of child abuse, three counts of child neglect and one count of child endangerment.

She was charged with 14 counts of child abuse, seven counts of child neglect, child endangerment, and enabling child abuse.

Most of Matthews’ life sentence was suspended except for four years and an additional year is knocked off for time served in the county jail, said Nick Lelecas, assistant district attorney.

“She will have to serve 85 percent of the sentence,” Lelecas said.

Lelecas said Matthews will have to have a drug, alcohol and mental health assessment, stay away from the victims and once she completes her prison term, she will be on probation which prohibits her from having custody of children or them living in her home.

Deidre and her former husband Jerry Matthews were recognized as Department of Human Services Adoptive Parents of the Year for northeast Oklahoma in 2006. While married, the couple along with nine children, lived in an animal feces infested two-bedroom, two-bathroom mobile home in the rural Jay area. The family had more than 50 animals, including three spider monkeys and 11 lemurs, court records show.

Some of the abuse outlined in civil and criminal court documents allege that under the care of Deidre Matthews, the oldest teen was forced to kill her pet kitten by bashing its head into a tree; handcuffing another child and placing her in a dog cage; forcing the children to stand outside or parade around the house naked; and keeping the children home from school to avoid detection of bruises, welts, and wounds. Other allegations of abuse include beating the children, allowing pet monkeys to bite the two teen daughters and Deidre Matthews’ refusing to seek medical treatment and withholding food and water for two days as punishment, according to court testimony.

Jerry Matthews pleaded no contest in July 2016 to two counts of child neglect and received a lifetime suspended sentence.

The pair and 19 current and former DHS employees with were named in a civil lawsuit filed in Delaware County District Court and United States District Court in Tulsa alleging 17 incidents were reported to DHS, from January 2004 to March 1, 2014, but were not investigated properly. There are also allegations that DHS workers concealed evidence of abuse and alerting Deidre Matthews when they would be making surprise visits, a state DHS violation.

The couple no longer has custody of the children, records show.”

Former adoptive mom of the year sentenced to four-year prison term in child abuse case

[The Miami Herald 10/06/17 by Sheila Stoghill]