How Could You? Hall of Shame- Unnamed Washington Adoptive Parents 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 Snohomish, Washington, a 42-year-old adoptive parent has admitted to rape, incest and child molestation in the assault of the ” the daughter he and his wife adopted after she was removed from what prosecutors described as a “polygamous clan” in Utah. ” “Sentencing was set for Aug. 28. He remains in custody at the Snohomish County Jail. ”

It gets worse.

“A therapist recommended that the man and his wife allow the girl, then 15, to sleep in their bed. A month after the family took the       therapist’s advice, the man allegedly began sexually assaulting the girl, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Adam Cornell wrote in       charging papers.

The man faces up to 8 1/2 years in prison. He’s seeking a sentencing alternative that would emphasize sex offender treatment over prison.
The criminal investigation also resulted in a complaint to the state Department of Health against a therapist, who reportedly recommended that the family share a bed as means to bond.

The case came to the attention of authorities in July 2011. A few months earlier, the now 21-year-old woman disclosed to a mental health professional that her father started sexually assaulting her in 2006, shortly after she was adopted.
Court papers say she was placed in foster care after spending most of her childhood in a polygamous group, where she suffered physical and mental abuse and was later diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder.
When the defendant moved from Utah to Snohomish, he and his wife began visitations with the girl, intending to adopt her.
They were aware that “she was an emotionally fragile and vulnerable child,” Cornell wrote in court papers.
The girl and adoptive parents began meeting with a therapist. Police were told by the therapist that the visits were to address the girl’s “abandonment and attachment issues,” court papers said.
The therapist reportedly acknowledged recommending that the defendant and the then-teenage girl sleep in the same bed together. The therapist said it was “attachment therapy,” Cornell wrote.
The victim told detectives that the sexual abuse lasted several years.
Detectives last year obtained a judge’s permission to record telephone conversations between the woman and the defendant. During two telephone conversations she confronted the man about sexual abuse. He reportedly said, “I understand where you are coming from, I can’t argue with what you said … there’s no argument to be had,” Cornell wrote.
Snohomish man pleads guilty to sexual abuse of adopted teen

[HeraldNet 6/29/12 by Eric Stevik]

Earlier Article

“A month after the family took the therapist’s advice, the man allegedly began sexually assaulting the girl, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Adam Cornell wrote in charging papers.
The man, 42, is charged with child rape and molestation, and incest. He pleaded not guilty to the charges Friday in Superior Court. ”

“He was being held on $100,000 bail and ordered not to have any contact with his daughter.”

“In the criminal case, the defendant is accused of sexually assaulting the teen starting about a month after she and her adoptive parents all began sleeping in the same bed. She later told detectives that the sexual abuse lasted until she left for college in 2010.
The woman told investigators that she was forced to have sex with her father every week. When she attempted to resist, he reportedly threatened to send her back to her birth parents. He said that she would be married off into a polygamous family, court papers said. The man also reportedly threatened to kill himself if she told anyone about the abuse. ”

Snohomish man accused of assaulting adopted daughter

[HeraldNet 1/21/12 by Diana Hefley]

REFORM Puzzle Pieces

 They should have been screened out as adoptive parents.

 What kind of therapist would recommend such bogus therapy? Washington needs to assess all of their DCF therapists.

Update: “The young woman escaped a polygamous clan in Utah only to be adopted by a Snohomish man who sexually abused her for years.
Her adopted father promised to protect her. Instead, he raped and molested her.
The woman on Tuesday asked Superior Court Judge Ellen Fair to send the man to prison for as long as possible. She told the judge that would give her time to get stronger, before she accidentally sees him in the community, at a mall or movie theater.
Fair sentenced the man to six years in prison — the low end under state’s sentencing guidelines.
The Herald is not naming the defendant in order to protect the victim’s identity.
Meanwhile, state health officials said on Tuesday they are continuing to investigate a complaint against a Bothell therapist who recommended that the defendant, wife and victim, who was then a 15-year-old girl, all sleep in the same bed as a way to “bond.”

The girl wound up in foster care after spending most of her childhood in a polygamous group, where she was abused. She met the defendant and his wife soon after she was taken away from her birth parents.
The girl and her adoptive parents started seeing a therapist to address what they were told were the girl’s “abandonment and attachment issues,” court papers said.
That’s when the therapist recommended that they all sleep together in the same bed. Police interviewed the therapist, who confirmed that she’d suggested “attachment therapy,” Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Adam Cornell wrote in charging papers. [We hope that the media will report the results of the therapist investigation.]
A month after the family took the therapist’s advice, the man began sexually assaulting the girl.
The victim told investigators that she was forced to have sex with her father every week. When she attempted to resist, she said he threatened to send her back to her birth parents. He warned her that she would be married off into a polygamous family.
The victim told detectives that the sexual abuse lasted until she left for college in 2010. Detectives began investigating last year after the woman told a mental health professional about the crimes.
Fair on Tuesday declined to sentence the man, 42, under an alternative option for first-time offenders.
The defense requested a Special Sexual Offender Sentencing Alternative that would have sent the man to jail for about a year. He would have been required to undergo years of extensive treatment in the community, while being supervised by the state Department of Corrections.
Defense attorney William Steffener said there are studies that show people sentenced under the alternative program are less likely to commit more sex crimes. The public defender also said that his client would receive better treatment outside prison walls.
Fair explained that, in making her decision, the law required her to give the most weight to the victim’s wishes.
A special sentencing alternative would be “too lenient,” Fair said. The defendant knew the girl was vulnerable because of her past abuse, yet he took advantage of her.
“To say (she) had a tough start to life is the understatement of the year,” Fair said.
The judge said she did give the defendant some credit for sparing the victim the trauma of a trial. He pleaded guilty in June to four sex crimes, including first-degree incest.
The defendant on Tuesday apologized, saying he hoped he could right the wrongs he committed.
The victim wrung her hands and wiped away tears as the man spoke.
Fair complimented the victim for her determination, intelligence and courage. She encouraged the woman to persevere.
“The best thing is a life well-lived in spite of everything you’ve had to endure up to this point,” Fair said.”

Snohomish man sentenced to 6 years for rape of girl

[The Everett Herald 9/4/12 by Diana Hefley]