How Could You? Hall of Shame-Amber Marie Harris 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 Fairfield, Ohio, Amber Marie Harris, 33, a former case manager and youth leader for the  juvenile offender rehabilitation center known as Butler County Juvenile Justice Center, appeared in court on August 20, 2013 and “admitted her crimes after an investigation that began three months ago, according to Sgt. Mike Craft. He says Harris has not worked with Butler County’s juvenile justice agency for two years. But someone currently on-staff heard allegations about what Harris had done and contacted authorities.

Craft says investigators have confirmed there were at least three victims. Juvenile justice officials in Butler County have not yet responded to FOX19’s inquiries, over approximately the past 24 hours, about Harris’ time with their agency.

Harris is not in custody right now, according to Sgt. Craft, and is scheduled to appear in court October 1 for her sentencing.”

 

Former social worker pleads guilty to having sex with teens in facility

[Fox 19 8/21/13 by Matt Norton]

Amber worked at Butler Juvenile Justice Center  from “May 2002 to July 2011, when she was fired for missing too much work, according to Juvenile Justice Center director Rob Clevenger.

It wasn’t until June of this year that authorities realized too many absences may have not been her biggest fault. That’s when a staff member at the Butler County Juvenile Detention Center, a separate facility at the same address, overheard two of the young people incarcerated there talking about an inappropriate relationship involving Harris, according to Clevenger.

“These allegations were related to actions which occurred sometime in early/mid 2011,” Clevenger wrote in an e-mail to FOX19, while the boys were on “home passes.” Sheriff’s investigators then began looking into the claims. In a judicial system that usually moves at a glacial pace, Harris pleaded guilty quickly — yesterday.

FOX19 learned that most recently, Harris has been working at the Beech Acres Parenting Center in Cincinnati.

“Although there was no indication of any issue with her work while employed at Beech Acres, she was immediately placed on leave as soon as we learned of the investigation,” said spokeswoman Susan Wiesemann. “At that point, she had no access to clients.”

Now that she’s pleaded guilty, Wiesemann says Harris and Beech Acres have parted ways.”

Former youth leader pleads guilty to having sex with locked-up boys

[Fox 19 8/21/13 by Matt Norton]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

 

Update/July 31,2014:

“A social worker who admits to having sex with three teenage boys being held at the Butler County Juvenile Rehabilitation Center will spend the next 90 days in jail, a sentence that delighted her defense team.

34-year-old Amber Marie Harris of Fairfield cried throughout much of her time in court Tuesday morning. She pleaded guilty over the summer to two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and one count of sexual battery, a story FOX19 broke in August. At the time of the crimes, in 2011, Harris was a part-time “youth leader.” She had sex with the boys while they were on “home passes,” according to the facility’s director, Rob Clevenger. A member of Harris’ defense team tells FOX19 at least one of the boys had sex with Harris at her home.

“I know what I did was wrong,” she told Judge Charles L. Pater at her sentencing hearing Tuesday. She said she’s come to believe that the boys “developed emotions for me,” something that makes her feel particularly bad because she admits she was just being “selfish.”

But defense attorney Mark Krumbein of Cincinnati told Judge Pater that there are mitigating circumstances to consider. Harris claims she was in an abusive marriage at the time. Krumbein compared her situation to someone suffering from battered wife syndrome. He said she’s been diagnosed with major depressive disorder and is addicted to drugs. He urged the judge to send her into drug treatment and only send her to county jail — not state prison — if he felt he had to incarcerate her at all.

He also revealed that Harris had given birth to a baby only a few weeks ago.

Then, in a stream-of-consciousness monologue that went on for several minutes, Judge Pater went over the pros and cons of treating Harris differently than a man who’d had sex with teenage girls.

“We snicker about this stuff,” Judge Pater said at one point, after reflecting on the stereotypical view that a boy is often ready for sex with an adult earlier than most girls.

In the end, he sentenced Harris to 90 days in the county jail and ordered her to complete drug treatment. If she doesn’t, or if she commits another crime in the next five years, he said he’ll send her to prison. Harris will also have to register as a sex offender for the rest of her life because she’s considered a tier three offender, due to the fact that she was in a position of authority over the boys, which resulted in the sexual battery charge.

“She was looking at many, many years in prison as a potential sentence,” Krumbein told FOX19 outside the courtroom. “And what we really appreciate, on behalf of my client, is the fact that Judge Pater carefully considered all of the evidence and also considered her background.”

Asked by FOX19 about the paternity of Harris’ newborn baby, Krumbein said the father is Harris’ fiancé, a man around her age — not one of the victims in the case.

At the end of the hearing, the judge asked a deputy to take Harris into custody. The deputy went to the podium where Harris was standing and put gold-colored handcuffs on her wrists. He then directed her to the jury box, where she sat, sobbing.”

Social worker jailed after admitting to sex with juvenile delinquents[Fox 19 10/1/13]