How Could You? Hall of Shame -Annissa D. Schoolfield 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 Erie, Pennsylvania, 41-year-old adoptive mother Annissa D. Schoolfield, “accused of 14 counts of child abuse, testified that her four adopted children, who had taken the same oath as witnesses against her, were lying.”

“The panel on Wednesday started deliberating after hearing three days of testimony, much of it from Schoolfield and her children, two boys and two girls, now ages 7 through 13 years old, and all former residents of Millcreek Township.”

The children currently live with their adoptive father in Ohio. Mr. Schoolfield believes the children’s accounts of abuse. The Schoolfields married in 1998, adopted the children from Erie County Office of Children and Youth in 2003, and separated in 2007 at the beginning of the alleged abuse. They are now divorced.

Annissa “Schoolfield testified she is an ordained minister, has a master’s degree in education and now lives in Cleveland. She said she was fired from the State Correctional Institution at Albion after police filed the charges.”

The alleged abuse: “They testified that between March 2007 and January 2010, their mother, among other things, sicced the family dog on one of them, with the dog biting his ear; used prison-issued handcuffs to lock another to a handrail to the basement staircase; tried to choke another with a plastic shopping bag; and cut their fingers with kitchen knives and poured rubbing alcohol on the wounds.

One of the children said Schoolfield cut her after she touched her mother’s collection of angels.”

“In her 90 minutes of testimony, she said she spanked the children, including with a belt and leaving welts, and confirmed elements of one incident.

One daughter testified Schoolfield beat her with a piece of wood that supported a sign to commemorate the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Schoolfield testified she did strike her daughter with the piece of wood, which she likened to a ruler, but did so only in jest, as she and her daughter imitated what could happen at a civil-rights protest.”

Previous involvement with OCY investigations: “OCY looked into previous abuse complaints of the Schoolfield children, according to testimony. OCY turned over the investigations to the state Department of Welfare, which had jurisdiction because OCY was involved in the adoption of the Schoolfield children.

Investigators closed the cases as unfounded in 2004 and 2007, according to testimony. OCY and DPW learned of more complaints of abuse from school officials in February 2010, and investigators contacted the police.

Johnson questioned why police charged Schoolfield when the other probes went nowhere. Hirz said the children were consistent in what they told investigators.”

Jury gets case of ex-Millcreek mom accused of child abuse
[Erie Times-News 3/24/11 by Ed Palattella]

Update: Annissa ” has been sentenced to six to 12 years in prison for child endangerment and simple assault charges against four adopted children.

41-year-old Annissa Schoolfield, who now lives in Cleveland, was sentenced Monday. She was convicted at a trial in March, although she was acquitted of a more serious charge of aggravated assault for allegedly putting a plastic bag over her adopted daughter’s head.

Schoolfield lived in the Erie suburb of Millcreek Township when she allegedly beat and otherwise abused the children from March 2007 to January 2010. She lost her job at the State Correctional Institution-Albion after the charges were filed in April 2010.

According to Millcreek Township Police, Schoolfield cut one of the child’s hands with a knife, beat another child’s leg severely with a belt and slammed another child’s head into a wall in the family’s home.

The children now live with her ex-husband, Eugene Schoolfield, in Youngstown, Ohio, who tells the Erie Times-News he’s thankful the children have been heard and believed. ”

6-12 Years for Cleveland Woman Who Abused Adopted Children
[Fox 8 5/11/11 by Associated Press]

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