How Could You? Hall of Shame-Joseph William Sickler,Erik Sean-Michael Spaziani, and Jacques Johns Jr
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 Latrobe,Pennsylvania, “a 17-year-old girl testified she called a Pittsburgh man for help to run away from a foster home because she felt it was inappropriate for one of the foster parents to bathe her younger sisters.[?]
“The lady was bathing my sister, and I have pictures,” Brittney Dainty testified on Tuesday during a preliminary hearing for the man and two others accused in the May 14 incident that police said began in Latrobe and ended in Uniontown.
“I said, ‘Come get me,’ ” Dainty testified, describing how she used a cell phone to call Joseph William Sickler, 41, an ex-boyfriend of her mother’s. “I feel this is disgusting. Everybody else never did this to my sisters.”
Sickler; Erik Sean-Michael Spaziani, 18, of Charleroi; and Jacques Johns Jr., 18, of Uniontown were held for trial after the hearing before Uniontown District Judge Michael Metros on charges of interference with the custody of children, conspiracy and concealment of the whereabouts of a child.
Foster mother Janet Harr of Latrobe testified the five Washington County girls, ranging in age from 1 to 17, were placed in her care just after 6 p.m. on May 13. She testified the girls were fed and played outside before they were brought inside for baths.
The girls went to bed in an upstairs bedrooms at midnight, Harr testified, but were gone five minutes later.
I did not hear them going down the steps,” Harr testified. “The only thing my husband heard was the door slam.”
Brittney Dainty testified that she; her 1-year-old daughter, Neveah; and her three sisters, Danielle, 14, Cassie, 11, and Hannah, 7, went to a nearby garage, where they met Sickler in his van. Dainty testified she was surprised to see her boyfriend, Spaziani, and ex-boyfriend, Johns, with Sickler because she had called only Sickler for help.
“I don’t see why they are getting in trouble,” Dainty testified. “They were trying to help me.”
In a criminal complaint, police said the men and girls traveled as far as Cumberland, Md., before returning to Fayette County and sleeping in the van.
About 9:30 a.m. May 14, the men dropped off the girls at a home on Lenox Street in Uniontown.
Dainty on Tuesday testified she had Sickler walk her sisters partway to the city police station around 3 p.m., “right after I found out I was all over the Internet.”
Police had released the girls’ names and photographs when they left the foster home. News outlets ran stories seeking the public’s help to find them.
After the three girls arrived at the Uniontown Police Station on May 14, officers found Sickler walking away from the Lenox Street address. Spaziani was found hiding in the basement, police said, and Brittney Dainty and her daughter were found inside the residence.
Johns turned himself in on May 15, police said.
Trooper James Garlick testified Sickler told him he was with the other two men in Charleroi when Brittney Dainty called him because she was upset over the baths.
A Washington County Children and Youth Services caseworker said the five girls remain in foster care but are no longer in the Latrobe home.
Sickler, Johns and Spaziani are in the Fayette County Jail in lieu of $25,000 percentage bonds.”
3 men to stand trial over runaway Latrobe foster children
[Trib Live 7/29/14 by Liz Demba]
REFORM Puzzle Piece
In the absence of special needs, a seven-year-old can bathe herself. If a child doesn’t need help in personal hygiene, it IS creepy for an adult to even offer this kind of “care”, let alone insist on providing it. This seems like “grooming” behavior– getting a child used to gradually more invasive violations of her personal space as a lead-up to sexual abuse. Brittany was right to be highly suspicious.
And since Brittney Dainty said “sisters”, that implies that at least one of the older girls was subjected to this intrusive ritual as well. Physically bathing an 11 or 14 year old is EXTREMELY inappropriate unless they have special needs that require this kind of assistance. Since Brittany said no other carers engaged in this behavior before, it seems clear that Danielle and Cassie can bathe themselves.
Neveah isn’t mentioned, so presumably Brittney bathed her herself or she was okay with developmentally-appropriate bathing. If I were Brittney, I wouldn’t let such a sicko put their hands on my non-verbal baby, but as the youngest, Neveah might have been first in line for a bath.
I hope CPS has suspended the Harrs’ foster care license and is investigating them. Maybe they thought it was their job to screen every new kid for bruises (rather than allow a CPS physician to do this) but behavior this odd should be carefully checked into.