How Could You? Hall of Shame-David Oakley

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 Jacksonville, Arkansas, foster father David Oakley posted a photo on Facebook. It was “a little boy in a diaper appearing to be caged. ”

“The caption under the photo stated, “I don’t think he will get out anymore at night (bed time) and destroy the house and find the older kid’s hidden candy and eat it up. Thanks to my wonderful hubby.”

Foster father David Oakley spoke to Fox 16’s Melissa Schroeder. He said, “The reason they’re upset about it is the boy is 3-years-old. He will not stay in bed. He will get up and get into anything.”

Oakley says he built a gate to protect the child. He took us to the garage where it’s now being stored.

He said, “Just like you would have for a back porch that’s all it is, hinged and we slapped locks on it.”

Oakley told us nothing else worked, so he put the gate around the child’s toddler bed. He explained the boy wasn’t caged in because there was a four inch gap on top.

We showed the photo to the Arkansas Department of Human Services. A spokeswoman says she could not confirm an investigation is going on.

But, Amy Webb did tell us this, “Then we’ll go through the process that we always go through which is reporting it to the child abuse hotline for potential investigation.”

One thing DHS did confirm is that no foster parent is allowed to publicly post photos of children in their care. We were also told that foster parents have a case worker they can talk to if they’re experiencing any behavioral issues with children. Oakley told us he did not talk to their case worker before building the structure used in his foster son’s room.

At the time of our visit, the child was still in the custody of the foster parents. However, Oakley did tell us though, a Department of Human Services worker was inside talking to his wife. Since DHS can not comment on a case involving a child, we do not know if there is a formal investigation, or if the boy will be placed in another home.

Oakley said he’s been fostering children for 15 1/2 years and has never had any issues before.”

Foster Father Defends Facebook Photo of Toddler[Fox 16 2/24/15 by Melissa Schroeder]

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