How Could You? Hall of Shame-Russian Adoptee case-Child Death 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 Brown Deer, Wisconsin, a  state-sanctioned group home for boys’ operator and foster parent/adoptive parent Jermarro Dantzler,” 37, of Brown Deer is charged with first-degree sexual assault of a child using the threat of force or of violence. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Thursday.”

“A man who police say raped a 15-year-old boy at gunpoint ran a state-sanctioned group home for boys where, four days before the alleged assault, another 15-year-old boy committed suicide by hanging himself from an evergreen in the home’s backyard.’

“According to an Oct. 4 complaint:

The assault occurred in Brown Deer on July 19. The victim told police he was walking home when Dantzler, gun in hand, approached him near the 6700 block of W. Brown Deer Road.

Dantzler, the boy said, grabbed his arm and ordered him: “Don’t do nothing, just do exactly what I ask you.”

Dantzler, the boy said, asked him his name and what high school he went to. He then marched the boy behind some bushes, where Dantzler ordered him onto the ground and began to frisk him. The boy thought he was being robbed and told Dantzler he could have his cellphone.

Dantzler told the boy he didn’t want his phone and then raped him. When it was over, Dantzler handed the boy two $20 bills, the complaint says.

About a month later, Dantzler sent the boy a Facebook invitation. Police matched Dantzler to DNA evidence collected by a hospital on the night of the assault.

According to the Department of Children and Families, Dantzler was licensed in 1999 to run a group home for boys, Rights of Passage Living Center, 7911 W. Beechwood Ave.

The department sought to revoke his license for financial improprieties on April 10, 2015, said Joe Scialfa, communications director for the department. He was allowed to continue operating the home during the appeals process.

On Sept. 3, Scialfa said, the department received an anonymous tip that Dantzler had been released from jail.

“DCF proactively worked with the Brown Deer Police Department in order to assist them in their investigation of the criminal allegations and subsequently issued an amended revocation letter.”

The house, located in a residential neighborhood not far from Brown Deer, was empty Monday. Several neighbors said Dantzler was difficult to get along with and that the house had been an unending source of trouble.

According to Milwaukee Police Department records, officers have been dispatched to the house dozens of times since 2011.

The calls have ranged in severity from missing person checks to Priority 1 calls for fights, battery and reports of a subject with a weapon.

At least six boys living at the home have been arrested in the past year on robbery, battery, auto theft and other charges. The boys ranged in age from 14 to 16 years.

On July 15, a neighbor’s young daughter noticed a boy hanging from a tree in the home’s backyard.

Suicide at home

According to a medical examiner’s report:

The boy was born in Russia and adopted by an Oak Creek family when he was 9. The family was unable to take care of the child, and he was placed in the state-licensed group home.

The boy was depressed, the report says. Dantzler said the boy always remained fully clothed. When taken for a swim, the boy would get into the water, shoes and all.

He never wore pajamas, Dantzler said. He wore shoes to bed, and if not a hooded sweat shirt, then a hat.

Dantzler told investigators the boy had frequent contacts with a caseworker, counselors and other support service providers.

Sometime during the night of July 14, Dantzler told investigators, the boy sneaked out of the house and, using a nylon belt, hanged himself.

The boy was discovered the next morning 30 or 40 feet from the ground.

He had carved a suicide note into his left arm.

It said: “(Expletive) this life.”

Dantzler and a woman identified as his wife, Felicia Dantzler, did not respond to requests for comments.

A June 13 story in the Journal Sentinel reported that the two were honored at the Youth Empowerment Awards Gala in 2009.

The story says that the two had been foster parents for eight years, that they had two children of their own and had adopted three and had cared for more than 20 children.

Dantzler “noted that being a foster parent, while challenging, is rewarding when one sees the positive changes in the kids’ lives,” the story says.

“‘The real reward is when they tell you how much they appreciate’ what you’ve done for them,” he said.””

Man accused of raping 15-year-old ran group home for boys [Journal-Sentinel 10/14/15 by Crocker Stephenson]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update:”A man police say raped a 15-year-old boy at gunpoint while running a state-sanctioned group home for boys is now facing additional charges of concocting a fake alibi.

Jermarro Dantzler, 37, of Brown Deer was charged in October with first-degree sexual assault using a threat of force or violence. A final hearing in that case is scheduled for Monday.

He now also is charged with one felony count of perjury and one felony count of bail jumping. A preliminary hearing on those charges is scheduled for Tuesday.

According to court documents, the boy told police the assault occurred in Brown Deer on July 19. He said he was walking home when Dantzler, armed with a handgun, attacked him in the 6700 block of W. Brown Deer Road.

Dantzler, the boy said, forced him behind some bushes and then raped him. When it was over, the boy said, Dantzler handed him two $20 bills.

About a month later, police said, Dantzler tried to contact the boy on Facebook. Police matched Dantzler to DNA evidence collected by a hospital on the night of the assault.

In March, according to a complaint filed in the perjury case, Dantzler’s attorney, Syovata Edari, contacted prosecutors with an alibi.

According to the complaint, an associate of Dantzler lied to a defense investigator, saying that, at the time of the assault, he and Dantzler were picking up a pizza, which they then brought to Dantzler’s house.

The friend later admitted that pizza story was not true.

In addition, the friend said that he and Dantzler met with two prostitutes who became angry when Dantzler refused to pay them.

“The purpose of this story,” the complaint says, “would be to explain how (Dantzler’s) sperm got on the (victim).”

Another associate of Dantzler, the complaint says, misled the defense investigator, saying that he had heard the victim make various plans to obtain Dantzler’s DNA and use it to support a false allegation of sexual assault.

Both men said Dantzler orchestrated the false reports.

If convicted of the assault, Danztler faces up to 85 years in prison. If convicted of the new charges, he faces an additional 12 years in prison.

A spokesman for the Department of Children and Families said Dantzler was licensed to run a group home for boys in 1999.

Four days before the alleged sexual assault, a 15-year-old resident of the home committed suicide by hanging himself from a backyard tree.

The state revoked Dantzler’s license after he was arrested by Brown Deer police.”

Former group home operator accused of rape now faces perjury charge [Journal-Sentinel 5/20/16 by Crocker Stephenson]

Update 2: “Jermarro Dantzler, a former group home operator convicted of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy and then conspiring to create a false alibi, was sentenced Monday to 18 years in prison.

Dantzler, 38, of Brown Deer, had pleaded no contest to second-degree sexual assault and to felony bail jumping. He also was ordered to serve eight years of extended supervision.

The boy told police that he was walking in the 6700 block of Brown Deer Road when Dantzler, armed with a handgun, raped him on July 19, 2015. About a month later, Dantzler attempted to “friend” the boy on Facebook. Police matched Dantzler to DNA evidence collected at the time of the assault.

But in her argument to Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Wagner, defense attorney Syovata Kanini Edari proposed that the sexual encounter was consensual, that Dantzler did not know that the victim was so young and that the act did not involve violence or penetration.

“He didn’t stranger-rape someone at gunpoint,” Edari said. “That version is not credible.”

She said she believed the boy concocted the story to hide his double-life as a teen prostitute.

“The only liar in this case is Mr. Dantzler,” Assistant District Attorney Kevin Shomin told Wagner. “The only man here with a double life is Mr. Dantzler.”

Weeping, Dantzler told Wagner: “I would never rape anyone. I know that rape is an act of violence. That is not who I am.”

Had he raped the boy, Dantzler said, damage to the teen’s body would have been much worse, an argument Wagner found repulsive.

“Seriously,” Wagner said. “How sick is that?”

Dantzler, seeking a suspended sentence and probation, asked Wagner to consider that he had spent much of his life trying to help foster children and to be a positive force in the community.

“I strive to be a perfectionist, and I fell short again,” he said.

“I don’t doubt that you were, at some point in your life, a great person,” Wagner said. He noted he had received several letters from Dantzler’s family and from community leaders attesting to his good character. Half of Wagner’s courtroom was filled with Dantzler’s family and supporters.

“You betrayed the trust of that community,” Wagner said, calling the assault “a horrific, egregious offense.”

Dantzler was licensed by the Department of Children and Families to run the Milwaukee group home in 1999.

At the time of the attack, the department was seeking to revoke Dantzler’s license for financial improprieties.

Dantzler was allowed to continue running the home during his appeal process, a department spokesman said. His… license was immediately revoked when the department learned of his arrest.”

Former group home operator sentenced for boy’s rape[Journal-Sentinel 11/21/16 by Crocker Stephenson]