How Could You? Hall of Shame-Barbara Brooks 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 Mt. Healthy, Ohio, a “babysitter arrested Thursday for allegedly raping two children years ago will also be investigated for any possible problems during her time as a Hamilton County foster parent.

The two children Barbara Brooks stands accused of raping between 2000 and 2003 were kids for whom she babysat, not foster children. They are now 18 and 23 and recently came forward with information about what they say happened to them in Brooks’ house.

Because Brooks was a foster parent during that same time period, the Hamilton County Department of Job and Family Services is researching how many foster children she cared for and when, said Brian Gregg, spokesman for the agency.”

“Brooks, 62, was a foster parent from 1996 to 2008. The county stopped using her as a foster parent after she was accused of abusing a foster child in her care, Gregg said. Both JFS and police investigated that allegation and couldn’t find enough evidence, he said. Brooks was not charged, but the county “had enough concern” that it stopped placing foster children with her, Gregg said, just to be safe.

“We conducted our own investigation as we do in every allegation of abuse,” he said. “While we couldn’t get enough evidence to prove anything, we took the same action we would have taken if we had — we stopped using her as a foster parent and shared our findings with police.”

Brooks remained in jail Friday in lieu of posting $100,000 bond. She denies the allegations and hasn’t worked as a babysitter for at least the last three years because she suffers from severe asthma, said her lawyer, Suellen Brafford of Batavia.

“She’s never been arrested in her life,” Brafford said of her client. “She hasn’t had contact with (the children) for years.”

Brooks allegedly forced the children to have sex with her inside her Martin Street residence in Mount Healthy, Cincinnati police wrote in court records.

Detectives referred calls on the case to a spokesman for Cincinnati police, who said they are trying to gather information on the case.

Sonya Hudson, Brooks’ daughter, called the allegations “a bunch of crap.”

The woman who was caring for the children, who are siblings, has a longtime grudge against Brooks, Hudson said.

“I feel like it didn’t happen,” Hudson, 38, said. “Why didn’t somebody say something back then?”

Hudson said she didn’t know anything about the 2008 sex abuse complaint and didn’t know why her mother stopped being a foster parent.

During Brooks’ brief court appearance, two of her relatives shouted out in the audience.

Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge Melissa Powers charged both women with contempt of court, saying she had warned the audience not to make any outbursts during proceedings.

When one of the women started to argue, Powers threatened her with another 30 days in jail.”

Former babysitter accused of raping children

[Cincinnati.com 6/8/12 by Jennifer Edwards Baker]

Babysitter facing child rape charges was Hamilton Co. foster parent for 12 years

[Kentucky Post.com 6/8/12 by Scripps Media Inc.]

REFORM Puzzle Pieces

Update: “A Hamilton County grand jury has indicted  Barbara Brooks, 62, on 15 counts of rape and three counts of  gross sexual imposition. If convicted of all charges, she faces the possibility of spending the rest of her life in prison.”

“Brooks is charged with sexually assaulting four different children she babysat between January  1, 2000 and February 27, 2007. The sexual assaults are alleged to have occurred in her homes in Mt. Healthy and Springfield  Township.

In April of 2011 two of the victims disclosed to the police that Brooks had sexually abused them  while they were in her care. This started a police investigation  that resulted in the indictment.”

According to the Hamilton County  Prosecutor’s Office, Brooks worked as a licensed foster parent for the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services from July  1996 to December 2008. She was terminated as a foster parent in   2008 when JFS and the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department  investigated allegations of sexual abuse. The charges could not be substantiated so no criminal charges resulted from that  investigation.”

Former foster parent indicted on sex charges

[Fox 19 6/18/12]

Update 2: “Barbara Brooks, 62, of Colerain Township, pleaded not guilty when she appeared this morning before Common Pleas Court Judge Steve Martin, court records show.

Martin set her bond at $500,000. Brooks remains locked up at the county jail.

The case will come up again on Aug. 8, when the results of the mental evaluation should be back. She also will be tested for sexually transmitted diseases.

It will be decided at that point if Brooks will plead out or stand trial, court officials said.

She was indicted earlier this week on 18 charges, including 15 charges of rape and three charges of gross sexual imposition.

If convicted of all charges, she faces up to life in prison.

Brooks is accused of sexually molesting four different children she babysat between Jan. 1, 2000 to Feb. 27, 2007 in her homes in Mt. Healthy and Springfield Township.

In April 2011, two of the victims revealed that Brooks had sexually abused them while they were in her care. That set off the investigation.”

“Brooks worked as a licensed foster parent for the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services from July 1996 to December 2008.

She was terminated as a foster parent in 2008 when JFS and the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department investigated allegations of sexual abuse.

The charges could not be substantiated, so the case was dropped and no charges were filed.”

Former foster mom pleads not guilty to rape charges

[Cincinnati.com 6/20/12 by Jennifer Edwards Baker]

Update 3: On Wednesday August 8, 2012, Judge Steve Martin ruled that Barbara Brooks is competent to stand trial. She had pled not guilty by reason of insanity. The trial date has not been set yet. She faces life in prison if convicted of all of the charges-she has been indicted on “15 counts of rape and three counts of gross sexual imposition.  The charges stem from Brooks sexually assaulting four different children she babysat between Jan. 1, 2000 and Feb. 27, 2007.”

Former foster parent found competent to stand trial

[Fox 19 8/8/12]

Update 4/September 24, 2013

“The case of a former Hamilton County foster mother scheduled to stand trial today [Sep 17] for allegedly sexually assaulting four children while babysitting them is continued until Nov. 4.

Barbara Brooks, 63, was set to appear at 9 a.m. before Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Steven E. Martin. It was not immediately clear why the case was postponed, court officials said.

Brooks remains at the Hamilton County jail in lieu of $500,000 bond since her 2012 arrest. She faces 15 counts of rape and three counts of sexual imposition.

The case came to light after her alleged victims, who are now adults, came forward. They allege the abuse took place between 2000 and 2007 in her Colerain Township and Springfield Township homes.

She was a foster parent for Hamilton County Job and Family Services between 1996 to 2008.

If convicted on all counts, she could spend the rest of her life in prison.”

Trial postponed for foster mom accused of rape

[Cincinnati Enquirer 9/17/13]

Update 5: “Barbara Brooks, a 63-year-old former Hamilton County foster parent, pleaded not guilty in June 2012 to charges of sexually assaulting four different children she babysat between January 2000 and Feb. 27, 2007.

Officials said the rapes occurred in her homes in Mt. Healthy and Springfield Township.

During court proceedings in September 2013, defense attorneys attempted to introduce seven new witnesses to the case after opening remarks were made. Prosecutors were unaware of the witnesses, and some of them were in court listening to the start of the trial. That created an issue of separating witnesses from jurors and the court beforehand.

Prosecution in turn was offered an option to allow the witnesses, declare a mistrial, or not allow the witnesses to be called. The third option, according to prosecutors, would have left open doors for multiple appeals if a jury convicted Brooks.

Attorneys decided a mistrial, and a new trial date with new jurors, and possibly a new defense, was the best option.

That new trial will start Sept. 2.

Brooks is charged with 15 counts of rape and three counts of gross sexual imposition. If convicted of all the charges, she faces the possibility of spending the rest of her life in prison, said Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters.

Brooks was a foster parent from 1996 until 2008, according to Hamilton County Job and Family Services spokesperson Brian Gregg.

Police arrested Brooks on June 7, 2012 after a relative of the alleged victims, who are now 18 and 23-years-old, reported to police that the babysitter had abused them between 2000 and 2003.

In 2008, a child sex abuse complaint was made against Brooks, said Gregg. Cincinnati police investigated, but didn’t file charges. Brooks resigned from the foster care program and Job and Family Services officials permanently terminated their relationship with her.

“These cases are always difficult to comprehend,” Deters said in a previous news release. “We are glad that the victims had the courage to come forward so that we can make sure that Brooks is never in a position to care for a child again.””

Barbara Brooks: Former foster parent charged with raping children ruled competent to stand trial[WCPO 6/2/14]

Update 6:”An elderly babysitter pleaded guilty on Friday to molesting several young children while she took care of them at her Cincinnati home.

Barbara Brooks, 64, was accused of raping three girls and a boy, 7 to 16 years old, between 2002 and 2007, according to WKRC.

The crimes happened while she babysat them at her homes in Mt. Healthy and Springfield Township.

Brooks will be sent to prison for five years under a plea deal. She was sentenced to seven years behind bars, but will be credited the two she has already spent incarcerated.

Under the deal, she pleaded guilty to four of the 15 rape charges stacked up against her. She had also been charged with three counts of gross sexual imposition.

Cincinnati Police Detective Dana Jones said she has been contacted by several other victims in a number of states.

‘Although we have several victims on paper, following her arrest the case grew and was much bigger,’ Jones said in court, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

The detective said many of the victims asked her to speak on their behalf in court.

‘Some of the victims consider Mrs. Brooks family, so for them the trauma was deeper than the act,’ Jones said. ‘The trauma that they suffered is unlike anything I have ever seen.’

Brooks was a licensed foster parent in Ohio from July 1996 to December 2008.

She was let go in 2008 while she was investigated for sexual abuse

The charges were dropped and she was never charged, the Enquirer reported.”

Elderly babysitter, 64,is jailed for five years for raping four children
[Daily Mail 8/22/14]