How Could You? Hall of Shame-Malayia Knapp and Malayia’s Sister case 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 Urbanville, Iowa, adoptive mother 38-year-old Mindy Dawn Knapp,was arrested on Tuesday, April 15, 2016 “on two counts of assault causing bodily injury or mental illness. The charges stem from the accusations that she aided and abetted in the assault of two of her adoptive daughters, and she allegedly did it by instructing her other adoptive children to punish them.”

““It’s been a long investigation. The detectives did a lot of interviews, and there’s a lot of work in that investigation. The Department of Human Services has been involved the whole time,” said Urbandale Police Sgt. Gary Lang.

The investigation began in the winter, after Knapp’s adoptive children came to Urbandale police with allegations of abuse.

“They came to us first,” Lang said. “We went to DHS to collaborate with them on the investigation.”

The criminal complaint says that two of Knapp’s adoptive children were the victims of punishment at the hands of other adoptive children in the household, all at the direction of Knapp.

Punishment for one of the juvenile victims included excessive physical exercise, water saturation, exposure to weather and being struck with a belt that caused bruising to her arms and buttocks.

The complaint states that Knapp witnessed the abuse, which was also video recorded. Knapp allegedly instructed two of her adoptive children to get a confession from their sister. Knapp introduced a belt to use for physical assault.

Knapp posted a surety bond and has since been released.

Channel 13’s Mike DaSilva went to Knapp’s home for comment but he was turned away.

“The important thing now is the kids are safe. The investigation, although it’s pretty much wrapped up, is always ongoing in something like this until the courts give a verdict,” Lang said.

A spokesperson for DHS said the department could not comment on the case because child abuse assessment information is confidential under the law, but the criminal complaint says the state requested no contact orders for both victims.”

Mom Allegedly Instructed Adoptive Children to Abuse Each Other[Who Tv 4/15/16 by MICHAEL DASILVA]

“Eighteen-year-old Malayia Knapp’s allegations of abuse – that her mother had instructed her and her siblings to punish each other however they chose – eventually led to the April arrest of 38-year-Mindy Knapp on charges of assault causing bodily injury.

Malayia’s came forward with her story after hearing about Natalie Finn, the 16-year-old girl who died of emaciation in October as a result, prosecutors said, of parental abuse, neglect and torture.

“They need to speak up,” Malayia said. “They don’t need to be afraid to stand up for what’s right. They don’t deserve to have anything happen to them. They don’t deserve to be abused.”

Natalie’s parents, Nicole and Joseph Finn, of West Des Moines, face multiple charges, including kidnapping and child endangerment resulting in death, and are set to be arraigned Monday. The mother is also charged with first-degree murder.

The recent instances of child abuse have probed questions about the Department of Human Services’ handling of such cases, and Malayia said she’s reached out to state Sen. Matt McCoy, a Democrat from Polk County, in the hopes that tougher child abuse laws would be enacted.

Malayia, who was adopted when she was 10 along with her siblings, by Mindy and Anthony Knapp, said the abuse worsened in their Urbandale home after the parents threatened to hurt the children and encouraged the siblings to punish each other.

McCoy wants to prevent cases like that of the Knapp and Finn families by bringing up stricter monitoring.

“We need to follow these kids to 18 at a minimum,” McCoy said. “I want to have hearings, and I want to know we are doing all we can to make sure our systems are in place and that we are working to protect children.””

Alleged child abuse victim speaks out after Finn case arises[KCCI 1/22/17 by Adam Brower]

“She and two of her siblings, ages 6 and 2 at the time, were adopted by the Knapps, who later adopted the other three children. The Knapps also had three biological children. The biological children were treated differently from the adopted children; they were allowed to attend “The Network Connection, a private Christian organization in Des Moines that helps supplement education provided by home-schooling parents.” Malayia and the other adopted children did not receive similar educational supplements. The Knapps began to abuse Malayia in 2008, shortly after the adoption was finalized, and she and her siblings were abused more harshly as time went on. The Knapps changed their names and their social security numbers so family members could not find them. The children were beaten with belts, forced to exercise (often outside without coats or shoes) as punishment, and were often kept tied up. In 2011, the minister at the Knapps’ church, Heritage Assembly of God in Des Moines, noticed that the children were being mistreated and tried to investigate. The Knapps left the church shortly thereafter. In 2014, after Malayia’s sister tried to run away, the Knapps began to lock Malayia and her sister “inside a small basement room with no windows, no bed and a steel door locked from the outside.” In 2015, Malayia was kept locked in the room for seven days with no food. Also that year, the Knapps allowed Malayia to get a job working at McDonald’s so she could save up for when they kicked her out at age 18. The Knapps “grew upset because Malayia talked to people at work,” however, and forced Malayia to quit her job, stole her debit card and phone, and stole the $1400 Malayia had saved.

The abuse came to light in late 2015 when Mindy Knapp forced Malayia’s brother (b. 1999) to punish Malayia and her sister. The punishments included being doused with water and forced to exercise outside without a coat or shoes. As she was exercising outside, Malayia realized she could run away to seek help. She rode her bike to a local store, asked the clerk to borrow a phone, and called the police. Mindy Knapp was charged with two counts of assault; she pleaded guilty and was given a year’s probation. The Knapps were allowed to keep custody of Malayia’s siblings.”

Malayia Knapp, and 8 siblings[Homeschooling’s Invisible Children 1/23/17]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update:”Four adopted children remain in the home of an Urbandale mother convicted for abuse, and that’s how they will likely stay for now.

Malayia Knapp said Thursday that Polk County Juvenile Judge Colin Witt is keeping all but one of her half-siblings in the home of her adoptive mother, Mindy Knapp. A boy accused of hurting another sibling is living separately with their adoptive father, Andy.

Malayia Knapp ran away from the home in late 2015, when she was 17, after years of abuse she said was inflicted by Mindy Knapp, who adopted her from foster care.

Those allegations and others — including that Malayia Knapp and her sister were routinely locked in a basement room — were recounted to police and child-protective authorities. Mindy Knapp ultimately was found responsible for child abuse and convicted of assault.

The case, investigated by Watchdog in January, has drawn attention elsewhere around the country.

Knapp’s treatment and that of Natalie Finn, a West Des Moines teen who died Oct. 24 from after starving in her adoptive mother’s home, raised questions at the Iowa Legislature about whether child-welfare authorities are taking appropriate steps to safeguard children when abuse is reported.

Malayia Knapp and her siblings, and Finn and her siblings, were adopted out of Iowa’s foster care system and later pulled from public schools by their mothers, ostensibly to be home-schooled. Finn’s mother has been charged with Natalie’s murder and heads to trial in October.

The drawn-out juvenile court case involving the five children adopted by the Knapps — the couple also has three biological children — involves complex issues. The biological parents of Malayia’s half-siblings have no legal ties because their parental rights were severed years ago.

Judge Witt said at Thursday’s brief hearing his responsibility is to do what’s in the best interest of each of the children, and not wade into public policy issues the case raises. He set aside a half day in early May to hear additional evidence, including testimony from Malayia Knapp.

Before that happened, Witt excluded media and a crowd of other family and friends from the hearing. He said there was “information that could be harmful to these children if reported in the press.”

Several attorneys, including those for Mindy and Anthony Knapp, requested the hearing be closed.

But Lynn Hoskins of Knoxville, a biological grandmother to Malayia and two other of the children, said the way the case has been handled out of public view concerns her.

Hoskins said one of the adopted children, who like the others was home-schooled by Mindy Knapp until the abuse case, has been found to be two years behind her peers in public school.

Although other children reportedly were angry with Malayia for making the abuse case public, at least two have run away since Malayia, including one last fall.

Hoskins said no one has obtained or ordered a psychological evaluation of the parents after 16 months of scrutiny and oversight, though Mindy Knapp is alleged to have done and said troubling things.

Now a party in the juvenile case, Hoskins said she has had her lawyer enter into evidence testimonials from others who knew the Knapp family well. One letter came from the Rev. James Snow, who with his wife saw the family at church for years until 2013.

Snow wrote a state child-protection worker to say that Mindy Knapp believed the children she adopted were trying to kill her and her family, that they had demons and that God told her when the children were doing wicked things, according to case records.

Other testimony came from a former boyfriend of the Knapps’ oldest birth daughter, who said Andy and Mindy used to whip the adopted children with a braided stainless steel water-supply hose they called “the motivator.”

He also said Mindy Knapp was controlling and that he saw her treat the adopted children worse than her biological children.

Witt said he could not address whether anyone had requested a psychological evaluation of the parents.

Mindy Knapp, who has declined to talk to media and could not be reached Thursday for comment, has alleged to authorities that Malayia Knapp has multiple diagnoses that make her manipulative and prone to harmful behavior.

Among other claims, she has said Malayia had reactive attachment disorder, a condition sometimes found in abused and adopted children who haven’t learned to bond properly with others.

But Malayia Knapp said her adoptive mother provided no proof of her claims from psychological professionals. And Iowa Department of Human Services workers told Sen. Matt McCoy in a briefing on the case that Malayia had no such diagnoses.

Malayia, who now lives with Hoskins, her grandmother, was the oldest of six half-siblings of two parents with drug abuse problems. She said she was placed in foster care at age 7 while living in Chariton in Lucas County.

She and two siblings, then ages 6 and 2, were the first in her family to be adopted by Mindy Knapp, who had babysat them, and her mechanic husband. The Knapps changed the children’s names and Social Security numbers when they were adopted from foster care, she said.

The Knapps eventually adopted three more of the half-siblings and moved in 2009 from Chariton to Urbandale. They continue to receive adoption subsidies from Iowa.

Malayia Knapp said the adoptive children received regular and severe beatings, and were forced to exercise for long periods as punishment.

She also said she was tied up repeatedly with belts and scarves, and that she and siblings often were locked up for hours, a ritual that started soon after they were adopted.”

Adopted children remain with Urbandale mom convicted of abuse[Des Moines Register 3/31/17 by Lee Rood]