How Could You? Hall of Shame-Randell Stevens and Delis Stevens 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 Cape Coral, Florida, “Cape Coral police arrested a foster father for child abuse.

Randell Stevens is accused of hurting a child he was supposed to be caring for. Now he can’t see them again.

Stevens is a long-time resident of Lee County. He and his wife were parents to at least seven kids. One of them was adopted, and the others were foster children.

A Lee County judge delivered a stern warning and message to Stevens at his first appearance on Saturday. He is not allowed to have any contact with the foster children and will have supervised visitation contact with his young adopted daughter.

On September 25, a judge signed his arrest warrant. Two days later on September 27, United States marshals were at his house with a warrant for one count of cruelty to a child.

Neighbors said that they haven’t seen the children at Stevens’ home in months. At one point, they remember seeing at least seven children in the home.

In court, NBC2 learned new families have been taking care of Stevens’ foster sons and daughters.

Faith-based foster care licensing agency, One More Child, is not involved with Randell Stevens in any way but said arrests like his are always discouraging.

“When those situations happen, it is devastating,” said One More Child foster care director Janelle Hanaburgh. “Not only was the child removed from their family, but now they’re removed from a foster family that they knew to be their family. They’ve already experienced such trauma coming into the foster care system and likely being placed with total strangers. So if something like this happens and they have to move again, it’s just increasing that trauma and re-living it time and again.”

Hanaburgh went on to emphasize that cases like Stevens’ are rare. One More Child has a healthy network of families and parents who undergo a rigorous vetting process and provide care to hundreds of children.

“Sometimes these stories that make headlines are a very, very small portion of what’s actually going on,” Hanaburgh said.

Stevens is now out on bond.

The Southwest Children’s Network would not comment on Stevens’ history of foster parenting or the specifics of the abuse allegations.

An administrative officer provided the following information in response to this story. He cited the agency’s inability to answer NBC2’s specific questions due to the ongoing criminal investigation into Stevens.

“Foster parents have a very comprehensive training that involves 10 weeks of a foster parent curriculum approved by the state, that includes six face-to-face sessions and four online sessions. After that, we complete a written home study that is also a very comprehensive document outlining all background screening for adults and kids if they are over the age of 12 and that includes criminal background checks for the adults.

A licensing specialist would assess the size and capacity of the home and safety equipment (fire extinguishers) and water safety if there is a pool and many, many other strict compliance-driven protocols about the physical composition of the home.

There is also a re-licensure process that is done every year as well that goes into the background checks, criminal checks and assessing any changes in the home. This is all done with our licensing specialist in person.”

NBC2 was unable to obtain Steven’s full arrest warrant. It is not yet available in public records due to Monday’s holiday.”

Cape Coral father of seven arrested for child abuse

[NBC 2 9/30/19 by Delia D’Ambra]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update:“A Cape Coral foster mom, whose husband was arrested for child abuse, was arrested Thursday morning after reports surfaced of the couple abusing their foster children in February, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.

Delis Stevens, 56, was arrested by Cape Coral Police on one count of child neglect with great bodily harm, according to LCSO’s arrest record.

Her husband, Randell Stevens, was arrested on Sept. 27 for child abuse, according to LCSO. He and his wife were parents to at least seven children.

According to Randell’s arrest warrant, the abuse happened sometime between Feb. 1 and Feb. 6, 2019.

Delis would tell the boys they were fostering it was okay for them to be hit because the Bible said that’s what they’re supposed to do. She also threatened to cut off the boys’ private parts if they misbehaved, and she would scream in their ears and bite them when they misbehaved, according to the warrant.

One of their children said the kids were beaten with belts, locked in cages and forced to take cold showers if they wet the bed, according to the warrant.

Delis Stevens is being held without bond, according to the arrest record.

DCF released a statement about the arrest of Delis and her husband:

The Department of Children and Families (DCF) firmly believes that children placed in the care of foster parents should be healthy, happy, and never subject to any form of abuse.

When the allegations against these parents came to light in February, we immediately removed the children from the home and notified law enforcement. Additional information, including details regarding prior reports of child abuse, remain confidential per Section 39.202, Florida Statutes.

We commend Cape Coral Police Department on their efforts to build a case against Mr. Stevens and bring justice to these children.”

Cape Coral foster mom arrested for child neglect
[NBC 2 10/11/19 by Kyra Shroptun]

Update 2:“An accused child abuser was in court Wednesday morning.

Delis Stevens was arrested after reports surfaced about her abusing foster children in her care.

Reports said Stevens and her husband, Randell, hit the children and even bit them when they would misbehave.

In court, attorneys told the judge they’re working on a plea agreement. She’ll be back in court on January 13 for a possible plea deal.

Meanwhile, Randell, who was facing identical charges, admitted to child abuse.

In a plea agreement, he was sentenced to 60 months of probation and is prohibited from ever being a foster parent again.

He’s also not allowed unsupervised visits with children other than his own.”

Cape Coral foster parents face plea deals for child abuse

[NBC 2 12/18/19 by Jaclyn Bevis]

Update 3:“A Cape Coral foster parent was sentenced to five years of state probation after pleading guilty to child neglect on Monday.

Delis Stevens was arrested in October 2019 after reports surfaced of her abusing at least seven foster children in her care.

Reports said Stevens and her husband, Randell, hit the children and even bit them when they would misbehave.

Stevens took a plea deal in court on Monday.

The judge decided to withhold adjudication in Stevens’ case, meaning once she completes her probationary period, her charges will be dropped from the court’s records.

Randell also took a plea deal on Dec. 18, 2019, pleading guilty to a child abuse charge. ”

Cape Coral foster parent pleads guilty to child neglect

[NBC2 01/13/2020 by Kyra Shportun]