How Could You? Hall of Shame -Edelwina and Steve Leschinsky 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 Johnstown, Colorado, adoptive parents Steve and Edelwina Leschinsky, accused of abusing their 3 daughters (now ages 13, 14 and 15), adopted from Stavropol, Russia in 2005, had their silent fundraiser and dinner canceled by their church, St. John the Baptist. The Loveland Knights of Columbus were the sponsors. They were hoping to raise $100,000 for their defense.

The Leschinskys were charged with one count of felony child abuse and four other related charges in March 2010. They had a preliminary hearing in September 2010 and pled not guilty on October 8, 2010.

“Authorities alleged Edelwina Leschinsky gave one of the girls a black eye by hitting her with a snow boot. One girl told police the couple made her do hundreds of pushups while a board spiked with nails sat beneath her thighs. Investigators claim the couple made one of their daughters run more than 45 miles in three days because she chewed her food too much.

The girls told police of being forced to do “fisties,” where they would remain in a push-up position with their fists on a wood floor. One girl claimed she remained in the position for more than 30 minutes. A doctor who examined her said she had significant deformity in her one hand which the doctor characterized as a “serious bodily injury.” ”

Police were called to investigate in January 2010 when one of the girls came to school with a black eye. She accused her mother of throwing a snow boot at her for discipline reasons over the Christmas holiday.

The girls claim that they were spanked with a belt and piece of wood that left bruising.

During the push-up discipline, one girl claims that the mother would place a board with nails under her thighs to keep her from resting her body on the ground. Allegedly, the nails punctured her legs causing them to bleed. Right before the parents’ arrest, one girl claims that 3,600 pushups were required but that the mother reduced it to 3,000.

Allegedly, at least one girl was forced to do headstands on concrete, carpet and rocks outdoors for an hour, leaving red, swollen eyes and an aching neck.

The girls are with guardians and have a no-contact order with the parents.

More information can be found at PoundPup Legacy Leschinsky Files .

Church cancels fundraiser for child abuse suspects
[9 News 4/28/11 by Kyle Clark]

Rally asks, “When is the fundraiser for the treatment that the three daughters will need? The Knights of Columbus are supposed to be helping children (and wives).”

Update: Pathetic sentence imposed. 9 News states “Edelwina Leschinsky, 45, will plead guilty to one count of felony child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury and three counts of misdemeanor child abuse. Steve Leschinsky, 44, will plead guilty to three misdemeanor child abuse charges. Both will receive four-year deferred prison sentences with four years of concurrent probation. They will not be allowed to have contact with the adopted girls, now ages 15, 13 and 12. Both Leschinskys have agreed to give up their parental rights to the children if challenged.”

Furthermore, “If the Leschinskys do not reoffend or otherwise break the terms of their plea agreement, they will not spend any time in jail. The deferred sentences will not remain on their records, but the sentence of probation will.”

The Coloradoan gave additional hearsay details the day before the plea deal. “Prosecutors in recent months filed a motion to admit hearsay evidence from three witnesses, two of whom are related to the Leschinskys. The statements include allegations that one girl said Edelwina Leschinsky made them cut grass with scissors, and when they weren’t doing it fast enough, she used a hose to run water down their throats until they gagged, according to the motion.

Other hearsay statements allege that Edelwina Leschinsky chased one of the girls with a knife, and that when another of them jumped in front of it, she was stabbed below one of her breasts. Another daughter alleged to have been forced to live in a chicken coop for four months, according to the motion.”

The arrest affidavit includes additional allegations.

Couple avoids jail in adopted child abuse case
[9 News 5/9/11 by Kyle Clark]

Couple in abuse case might accept plea deal
[The Coloradoan 5/8/11 by Robert Allen]

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/download/2010/0827/24779245.pdf
[Arrest Warrant Affidavit]

Update 2: “Three sisters adopted from Russia shared emotional reflections and bizarre stories about their adoptive parents in court Friday, where Steven and Edelwina Leschinsky were sentenced to probation on child abuse charges.

The Larimer County couple avoided jail time after a plea deal with prosecutors that involved cutting all ties with the girls, who were aged 12, 13 and 14 when the charges were filed.

Edelwina Leschinsky, 45, and Steven Leschinsky, 44, were accused of forcing a variety of unusual and daily punishments on the girls, such as performing hundreds of push-ups over a nail-spiked board, running 45 miles in three days and getting choked to the point of vomiting with water from a garden hose — for not trimming the lawn quickly enough with scissors.

“You can’t control them any more, Winnie; they have survived your sadistic torture,” Dee Leschinsky, who is Steven’s aunt, said at the sentencing hearing. “Nobody deserves to be treated like a prisoner of war, especially not in America.”

Dee Leschinsky and her husband, Dave, now have full custody of the girls. ”

“Scott Robinson, representing Edelwina Leschinsky, said that the girls’ stories became “wilder and wilder” the more they spoke with investigators, but that only part of the punishments “did at least cause transient harm.”

He later said that the girls had been made to do “fisties” – holding a push-up with hands balled in fists – after Edelwina Leschinsky learned of it from a radio program. And he said Edelwina Leschinsky did throw a boot at one girl when at her “wit’s end.”

But the other allegations are false, he said.”

““If one tenth of what they said was true, then Edelwina should have gone to prison,” Robinson said.

He said the girls’ punishments resulted from their getting caught lying, and the parents were dealing with three adoptive children who “had been forced to lie, steal and cheat in order to survive.”

Before agreeing to accept the plea deal and hand down the sentence, Schapanski asked Deputy District Attorney Renee Doak to expand on why prosecutors asked for no jail time.

“The trade-off here is the relin-quishment of rights,” Doak said, adding that the separate civil case regarding the girls was considered in reaching this agreement. “They get to be together, all three of them, and this is huge. The loss for the defendants is the loss of their children.”

She said she also wanted to avoid subjecting the girls to cross-examination while on the stand in trial.”

Russian child abuse victims recall bizarre punishments at adoptive parents’ sentencing
[The Coloradoan 7/1/11 by Robert Allen]

REFORM Puzzle Pieces