How Could You? Hall of Shame-Sabrina Ray case-Child Death UPDATED now Bittersweet Justice X 2
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 Perry, Iowa, 16-year-old adoptee, Sabrina Ray, was ” found dead Friday was being monitored by Iowa’s Department of Human Services after complaints of inadequate nutrition and corporal punishment.”
“Sabrina Ray, who was adopted out of foster care and home-schooled, was found unresponsive at the home at… at about 6:30 p.m. Perry Police Chief Eric Vaughn has not released a cause of death from an autopsy Monday.
The Iowa State Medical Examiner’s office said Tuesday it could be weeks before a formal cause of death is released because of ongoing tests.
State licensing records show that Sabrina’s parents, Misty and Marc Ray, ran a state-licensed daycare in their home for as many as 16 children.
Rays of Sunshine Daycare was visited by state inspectors and social workers in 2013, 2014, 2015 and last year after at least two complaints were lodged against the home. Workers who visited reported they found no evidence of abuse at the time.
The Ray case bears similarities to the October starvation death of Natalie Finn, a West Des Moines 16-year-old who was adopted out of foster care, home-schooled and died from starvation, and Malayia Knapp, a Des Moines teen who was adopted, home-schooled, and ran away and called police after she was severely abused.
Abuse investigations questioned
Details of Natalie’s death and Malayia’s abuse, first exposed by Reader’s Watchdog, prompted oversight meetings at the Legislature and ongoing probes by Iowa’s state ombudsman, child-welfare officials and others.
All three cases are raising questions about the decision of Human Services leaders to investigate fewer cases of alleged abuse.
Lawyers who work on behalf of children in juvenile court have raised concerns about the agency failing to investigate child abuse allegations, particularly those involving older teens.
Human Services has lost more than 800 workers since Gov. Terry Branstad was re-elected in 2014.
The cases also call into question a decision by state lawmakers in 2013 to allow some home-schooled children in Iowa to not be monitored in any way by school districts.
“We did a bad thing in 2013 when we did that,” said state Sen. Matt McCoy, ranking Democrat on the legislature’s government oversight committee. “Now we don’t even have the basic details about this girl. Had she been in school, we’d know a lot more than we know today.”
McCoy, a West Des Moines senator who has been spearheading an inquiry into such cases, said Tuesday he was told by a child-protective worker within Human Services that, like Natalie Finn, Sabrina Ray was adopted out of foster care and home-schooled.
Lynn Ubben, the superintendent for Perry Community Schools, also said her understanding was that Sabrina was home-schooled.
Sabrina had four siblings, according to her grandmother’s 2013 obituary.
Amy McCoy, a spokeswoman for human services, said Tuesday the agency was hiring an outside expert to examine Human Services’ performance and make recommendations to strengthen practices “and best support our staff as we work to keep children safe from abuse.”
“We want to convey our deep sadness at the loss of this young woman. We are taking a comprehensive review of our child welfare system and want to assure the public of our commitment to protecting vulnerable children,” she said in a statement.
Food used as punishment?
McCoy said the agency was awaiting direction from Perry law enforcement to make further statements.
Sen. McCoy said the insider he spoke to within the Department of Human Services told him Ray was found dead in her family’s basement.
The worker also said food reportedly was used in the house as an inducement or punishment.
“The worker said the case was just like Natalie Finn. Said she would be fired if anyone knew she was talking to me,” he said.
Child care licensing reports and complaints are considered public under state law.
However, child-abuse investigations are typically confidential except in death and near-death cases. A county attorney has to give permission for child abuse information to be released when a criminal investigation is ongoing.
Watchdog has requested all child-abuse assessments associated with the girl and her siblings.
State child-care licensing records show that in October 2013, a complainant said there was improper discipline in the Ray daycare, improper supervision and inadequate food.
Earl Crow, a Story County worker for Human Services who does spot-compliance checks, said two workers at the agency visited the daycare that month and found no evidence to support the claim.
A second similar complaint was made in April 2014. But Crow wrote in a Human Services report that he found no evidence of inadequate food or abuse in a spot check of the day care.
It’s unclear whether workers visited the entire home or just the part of the home that was a day care.”
“Some home-school children vulnerable to abuse
The Coalition for Responsible Home Education, based outside Chicago, has identified at least 331 cases of home-schooled children ages 6 to 17 who have been severely neglected and abused since 2000.
Children have died in 118 of the cases. They were adopted in 89 cases.
In 156 cases, the children were subject to food deprivation, according to Rachel Coleman, executive director of the coalition.
Included in the database are children such as Natalie Finn and 10-year-old Timothy Boss, who was beaten to death by his parents in Remsen, Ia., in 2000.
The special-needs child, who was among four adopted and seven biological children of Lisa and Donald Boss Jr., spent the night before his death bound to a chair in the family’s basement.
He and his siblings were locked in that basement at night and forced to wear diapers for urinating on the floor.
The Bosses said Timothy was being home-schooled during the 1999-2000 school year.
Coleman said there often is no education taking place in so-called home-school situations when there is physical abuse discovered.
“We believe there are some very basic fixes that can prevent at least some of what is going on,” she said.”
Dead Perry girl’s home was being monitored by state workers
[Des Moines Register 5/16/17 by Lee Rood]
“Ray’s autopsy was completed Monday by the state medical examiner’s office, but a cause of death has not been released.
A former foster child at the home told KCCI he witnessed the abuse firsthand.
Marco Mendez, 19, said he was placed in Marc and Misty Ray’s foster home four years ago and that he watched them terrorize Sabrina Ray for months.
“(Sabrina) was really sweet,” Mendez said.
Mendez held back tears as he spoke about Sabrina Ray. He said the two spent eight months together in the Perry foster home in 2013.
“Sabrina was the main one who got beat the most,” Mendez said.”
““Sabrina would take the trash out,” Mendez said. “She would be so hungry that she would eat out of the garbage. Like old food. Trash (that) has probably been there like a week.”
Perry police have released few details about how Sabrina Ray died. Officers said they removed other children from the home.
“Those three didn’t get to eat much,” Mendez said. “They would stash hot dogs in their diaper (and) Pop Tarts. Mind you, without the wrappers because if the wrapper made a noise and they got caught they’d get spanked or beaten or disciplined with no food for the next few days.”
Mendez said he was allowed to eat in the home, but he reported Sabrina Ray’s abuse to DHS.
“They would always make sure they were eating at the time when the DHS worker was showing up there, but they never had a spot at the table or anything,” Mendez said.
KCCI EXCLUSIVE: Teen who lived with Sabrina Ray details horrific abuse
[KCCI 5/17/17 by Laura Terrell]
REFORM Puzzle Piece
Update:“A 16-year-old girl found dead last week in her Perry home weighed just 56 pounds and was severely malnourished, investigators said Thursday.
Perry Police Chief Eric Vaughn said at a news conference that Sabrina Ray was found around 6:30 p.m. Friday inside a residence in the … The home is listed as Rays of Sunshine Daycare, a state-licensed day care run by Misty Ray, 40, and her husband, Marc Ray, 41, who authorities say are Sabrina Ray’s adoptive parents.
The couple have been arrested and booked into the Dallas County Jail in lieu of $1 million cash-only bail. Each is to be represented by the state Public Defender’s Office, but online court records did not reveal the name of their attorneys Thursday.
Vaughn said the Rays were out of state when their daughter died. A sign posted on their house said the day care was closed when officials discovered the body, but the police chief declined to divulge where they had been, saying investigators have not been able to verify that information.
According to court documents, two other children were inside the home when police arrived. It indicates Sabrina Ray showed signs of suffering “unreasonable force, torture and cruelty.”
Both parents were arrested and each charged with child endangerment resulting in death and seven other child endangerment and negligence counts.
“Once those autopsy reports are received, it will be up to the county and the Dallas County Attorney’s Office to see if other additional charges are warranted or if this charge will stand as is,” said Mitch Mortvedt, assistant director of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.
Vaughn said Misty and Marc Ray operated the in-home day care but also served as foster parents, and police are pursuing investigative leads related to other children.
Authorities had previously revealed that Sabrina Ray was homeschooled and that she and her siblings had been monitored by the Iowa Department of Human Services following complaints about inadequate nutrition and the use of corporal punishment.
A former foster child at the home told KCCI in an exclusive interview that he witnessed abuse firsthand. Marco Mendez, 19, said he was placed in the Rays’ foster home four years ago and that he watched them terrorize Sabrina Ray for months. The two spent eight months together in the Perry home in 2013, he said.
“She was really sweet,” Mendez said as he fought back tears. “Sabrina was the main one who got beat the most.”
She endured intense physical abuse at the hands of her adoptive parents and she would be kept from eating, Mendez said.
“Sabrina would take the trash out,” Mendez said. “She would be so hungry that she would eat out of the garbage. Like old food. Trash (that) has probably been there like a week.”
He also gave a glimpse into the lives of the three other children — including two girls, ages 10 and 12, who were adopted and now under a doctor’s care — living in the home, saying: “They would stash hot dogs in their diaper (and) Pop Tarts. Mind you, without the wrappers because if the wrapper made a noise and they got caught they’d get spanked or beaten or disciplined with no food for the next few days.”
Police would not reveal their medical conditions or why they were being treated by a doctor. The third child is a boy. Police did not reveal his age, but noted the Rays don’t currently face charges concerning him.
Mendez said he was allowed to eat in the home, but he reported Sabrina Ray’s abuse to DHS.
“They would always make sure they were eating at the time when the DHS worker was showing up there, but they never had a spot at the table or anything,” Mendez said.
“(Sabrina) could have been something,” he added. “Now she’s gone. Kids don’t deserve that.”
Amanda Howard used to take her 3-year-old son to the day care until a few months ago when she stopped working to stay home, saying she had no complaints about the Rays and that she considers them family friends.
“It was fine; I never noticed anything that was bad about it,” Howard said, adding that Sabrina Ray was shy and quiet. “If I had been in that house, if I would have known, I would have done something. It breaks my heart.”
Howard said she struggles with guilt for not picking up any signs the 16-year-old was being abused.
“I am mad at myself. I am angry,” she said. “I’ve replayed it in my head, ‘Did I miss something? Did I not catch something?’ If I would have somehow been like, ‘Hey, follow me out to the car or something,’ to get her to talk to me, maybe it would have made a difference.”
Perry Mayor Jay P. Pattee said the death could have happened in any city and that Iowans should not be afraid to make a call to report any suspicious activity.
“I think it’s time we all just be a little more vigilant and maybe be more neighbors than what we are,” Pattee said. “I think we need to know our neighborhood and know our people who live nearby and keep an eye out for the welfare especially of children.”
Pattee said his heart goes out not only to the family but also to the first responders, many of whom are parents themselves.
Vaughn said initial autopsy reports showed Sabrina Ray was severely malnourished. He declined to comment on whether the autopsy concluded that malnutrition caused her death, saying he was waiting for the final autopsy results.
Sabrina Ray’s death has drawn comparisons the October starvation death of 16-year-old Natalie Finn, of West Des Moines. Like Sabrina, Natalie Finn went through the state’s foster care and adoption system. Her parents, Nicole Finn and Joseph Finn II, are charged in her death and the suspected abuse of two of Natalie’s siblings. Both have pleaded not guilty.
On Thursday, some Iowa lawmakers called for legislative oversight of Iowa’s DHS in the wake of Sabrina Ray’s death. At least one, Rep. Abby Finkenauer, called for the immediate resignation of DHS Director Chuck Palmer.
Rep. Bobby Kaufmann and Sen. Mike Breitbach, co-chairmen of the Joint Government Oversight Committee, said in a written release that the girl’s death “confirms the need for legislative oversight into the management of the DHS as it appears that the Finn case was not an isolated incident. The process overseeing children placed in the state system must be examined and reforms need to be considered.”
“My gut just dropped and I said “My God. Another kid has fallen through the cracks,’” said Sen. Matt McCoy said, who is calling on the Iowa DHS to release more information.
The Iowa DHS said it does not comment on child abuse investigations but released a statement, saying in part, “We are taking a comprehensive review of our child welfare system and want to assure the public of our commitment to protecting vulnerable children.”
The Rays made their initial court appearance Friday.
The Perry community is remembering Sabrina Ray at a candlelight vigil in Pattee Park inside the band shelter. The vigil starts at 8 p.m. Friday.”
Police: 16-year-old Iowa girl found dead weighed 56 pounds
[KCCI 5/19/17 by Hannah Hilyard and AP]
“Iowa legislators, alarmed by the latest death of an adopted Iowa teenager, are scheduling a joint hearing with child protective workers to investigate whether policy or personnel changes at the state’s Department of Human Services could have prevented the deaths.
“There’s clearly and unquestionably in my mind some problem with how our kids are being placed,” said Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, a Republican from Wilton and chairman of the House Oversight Committee. “And getting to the root of that has to happen with this investigation.”
Sabrina Ray, who was adopted out of foster care and home-schooled, was found unresponsive at her home in Perry last week. At the time of her death, the 16-year-old weighed 56 pounds.
The home had been visited by Iowa’s Department of Human Services after an in-home day care run by her parents had received complaints of inadequate nutrition and corporal punishment. Workers who visited reported they found no evidence of abuse at the time.
Ray’s parents, Marc and Misty Ray, were arrested Thursday, and they each face four counts of child endangerment with serious injuries, three counts of neglect or abandonment of a dependent person, and one count of child endangerment resulting in death.
Ray’s death has similarities to that of Natalie Finn, a West Des Moines 16-year-old who was adopted out of foster care, home-schooled and died from starvation last October. Malayia Knapp, a Des Moines teen who was adopted and home-schooled, also was abused at the hands of her mother, but she escaped after running away in 2015.
Those cases already had raised questions among lawmakers about whether the state’s child-welfare officials were doing enough to safeguard children and prevent abuse.
Kaufmann previously announced he would investigate DHS practices, but this latest case adds a new sense of urgency, he said Thursday. The House and Senate for the first time agreed to collaborate and conduct a joint investigation of DHS policies, and they have scheduled a public hearing for June 5.
Kaufmann said the committees will speak with DHS officials about how they place children, what checks and balances are in place, how complaints are handled, and whether follow-up checks are being executed effectively.
The goal, Kaufmann said, is to convene a series of hearings and ultimately make recommendations that result in legislation that could be approved during the 2018 legislative session.
“I think it’s appropriate that we do take a look and see what’s going on, and that the case that we had last year was maybe not an isolated incident,” said Senate Oversight Committee Chairman Sen. Michael Breitbach, R-Strawberry Point.
Sen. Matt McCoy, the top Democrat on the Senate committee, hosted a series of meetings during the last legislative session to discuss the deaths and potential underlying factors. He said Thursday DHS is “in crisis.”
He pointed to declines in state human services workers and has questioned changes made by state lawmakers in 2013 that keep school districts from monitoring some home-schooled children.
“In essence, it provides a perfect environment for a perpetrator to victimize children in the home with no oversight by anybody outside the home,” he said.
McCoy and a growing chorus of Democrats now are calling for DHS Director Chuck Palmer to resign.
“Republicans have refused to take action for months and now a second child has died of starvation in under a year,” Rep. Abby Finkenauer, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement. “Both of these children were on DHS’s radar and still managed to slip through the cracks. DHS Director Chuck Palmer has shown an inability to care for the most vulnerable in our state and should resign immediately.”
Kaufmann said that outcome is not off the table, but he’s waiting to see what lawmakers uncover through the oversight process.
“Certainly the overall goal is to examine one serious question: Is this a people problem or is this a process problem?” he said. “When we get that answer, obviously, legislatively we could change policy. If it’s people problem and there was somebody who didn’t do their job, certainly changes would be merited.””
Legislators call for joint hearing on DHS following Perry teen’s death
[Des Moines Register 5/18/17 by ]
Update 2: “Sixteen-year-old Sabrina Ray of Perry was “drop-kicked” by her adoptive brother down their basement stairs and tortured and held captive by other family members before her death, according to law enforcement officials who announced three more arrests Wednesday in the case.
Justin Dale Ray, 21, and Sabrina’s adoptive grandmother Carla Bousman, 62, of Perry were named Wednesday by authorities as accomplices in one of the worst child abuse cases in Iowa in decades.
Bousman is accused of assisting in kidnapping and torturing Sabrina, who was disabled, as well as two other adopted girls in the home and helping cover up Sabrina’s May 12 death and the girls’ injuries, court records filed in Dallas County show.
Bousman was charged with first-degree kidnapping, child endangerment causing death and obstructing prosecution or defense for allegedly altering evidence at the crime scene and providing false evidence.
A niece, Josie Raye Bousman, 20, has been charged after she allegedly admitted she helped injure Sabrina, and that she also helped keep her confined and denied her food and water, according to the complaint.
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