How Could You? Hall of Shame-Peter and Tamara Gable 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 Middlefield, Connecticut, adoptive parents Peter Gable, 49, and Tamara/Tamera Gable, 48, were arrested on September 21, 2012 “on three counts of third degree assault and three felony counts of risk of injury to a minor.” This is said by Durham Patch to involve some their 7 adopted children over a period of 20 years. It appears that some if not all the children were adopted through foster care.

“According to a police report, the Connecticut Department of Children and Families was notified of suspected child abuse by the pair and conducted a lengthy investigation.”

“Following the investigation an arrest warrant was issued for both parents. On Sept. 21, the pair surrendered to Connecticut State Police at Troop F barracks in Westbrook, the report says.

Police say each was released on a $75,000 bond.”

Middlefield Parents Arrested on Child Abuse Charges

[Durham Patch 9/24/12 by Michael Hayes]

“The couple also has two biological children, the report says.

Authorities began investigating the couple in April after the Department of Children and Families received a complaint that four of the pair’s children still living at home — three of whom are adopted — endured physical abuse, physical neglect and emotional abuse inside the couple’s home.

The abuse was first reported by one of the alleged victims during a visit to New Life Church in Meriden. The couple was away on vacation in Barbados at the time and the church’s pastor called DCF to report the abuse, according to the affidavit.

During interviews with the alleged victims, police learned that only the couple’s adopted children had been abused, according to the arrest warrant. The pair used a leather belt, spoons and a hairbrush to beat the children, the report states.

On at least one occasion, the victims had attempted to run away from home but Peter Gable had “screwed the windows shut,” the affidavit says.

When the couple was initially confronted with the allegations of abuse they told investigators they would never harm their children, the report says. But under questioning by police, according to the affidavit, the couple admitted to “disciplining” their children by using a punishment known in the home as “writings.”

“[The parents] require the children to write religious remarks or phrases a minimum of five hundred times,” the affidavit says. In one example recovered by investigators, the same line had been written repeatedly 2,386 times.

The children were forced to write on a “near daily basis,” according to the report, for punishment ranging from “perceived lying, disobedience” to “taking food from the kitchen without permission.”

In some cases, the affidavit states, the children were forced to stand on a five-gallon bucket and continue writing using a clipboard.

According to investigators, the door knobs to the children’s bedrooms had been installed backwards in order to allow the couple to lock the room from the outside of the door. During an interview with police, Peter Gable admitted to turning at least one door knob back around before officers arrived to interview him.

In another incident detailed in the affidavit, one of the victims recalled being “whipped” with a belt 40 times. A day after the incident, the report says, the victim went to the school nurse to get a band-aid and when she returned home she was hit with a spoon and thrown onto a wood pile, “hurting her ribs and chest.”

Another victim told investigators that she’d been slammed into walls and pushed down the stairs of the house by her mother on more than one occasion. “[The victim] added that her mother digs her nails into her forearms to inflict pain and punishment,” the affidavit says.

During the investigation, police say Peter Gable admitted to putting “ill-tasting” additives into his children’s meals as punishment for bad behavior. The additives included garlic spices and red hot sauce, the report says.

When confronted with the statements made by the children, the couple admitted to using all of the forms of discipline alleged by the victims.

Tamera Gable told police her adopted children “came with a lot of baggage,” according to the affidavit.

On two previous occasions, according to the affidavit, the couple had been investigated by DCF including an incident in 1994 in which charges were never filed.

Following an alleged incident in 2004, “when [one of the couple’s children] told a school nurse at Memorial School in Middlefield that he had been injured by his parents who also locked him in the basement,” the couple denied the abuse.

In the affidavit, the couple admitted to telling their children not to tell DCF workers how they were disciplined at home. The 2004 case was expunged in 2009 because no further complaints had been received, the affidavit states.

The couple’s biological children have not filed formal complaints of abuse, the report says.

According to the affidavit, one of the couple’s adopted children now serving in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan admitted to being abused by the couple and told investigators he would be willing to help his younger siblings. However, investigators said he still appeared “afraid of his parents and was unwilling to go against their wishes.”

Another sibling who now attends college in Virginia was “terrified” of his parents and did not tell anyone of the abuse he endured, the report says.

In the affidavit, Tamara Gable describes being “overwhelmed” by the needs of the adopted children. But, according to report, she contacted the DCF office as recently as six months prior to the investigation to activate her foster care license in order to start taking placement again.

Peter and Tamara Gable both posted $75,000 bonds following their arrests and a full no-contact protective order is in place between the parents and the children.

The couple is due back in court on Oct. 23.”

Affidavit: Middlefield Parents Physically, Mentally Abused Adopted Children

[Durham Patch 9/28/12 by Michael Hayes]

Some of the children are commenters in the articles online denying abuse before comments closed. The reporter retrieved his information from the actual police arrest warrant affidavit.

REFORM Puzzle Pieces

Update:“Two Middlefield parents had their parental rights terminated after being found guilty of reckless endangerment of three children.

Peter Gable, 49, and Tamera Gable, 48, 41 Louis Ave., Middlefield, both pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree reckless endangerment on Wednesday in Middletown Superior Court. Both parents plead nolo contendre, meaning they do not contend the facts, but chose to accept the plea deal offered to them.

Judge Lisa Morgan informed both Gables that there would still be a finding of guilty to the charges. According to court documents, the allegations of abuse date back to 2007. Both have been released after posting a $75,000 bail each. Attorney Stephen Traub represented Tamera Gable and Attorney Hubert Santos represented Peter Gable.

An attorney appointed as guardian for the children said parental rights have been terminated for three adopted children and one other child. The judge also put standing criminal protective orders in place, which protect all four children from any and all contact from both Gables. The protective orders have an expiration date of Jan. 30, 2099.

The guardian said the children’s number one goal is to move on from this. All the children are in therapy and are working to put their lives back together.

According to police reports, state troopers were assigned to investigate a claim of suspected child abuse on April 24 at the Gable home. The state Department of Children and Families reported a complaint of children suffering from physical abuse and neglect and emotional abuse.

Police said the Gables have nine children, two biological and seven adopted, but there were only four children living in the home at the time. The initial report came from the biological child living at the home after the parents were on vacation in Barbados and left the child in charge of the other three children.

When police interviewed the children with a DCF worker present, the children started crying and dry-heaving. The children continually asked the DCF worker if they were going to be sent back to the home and allegedly appeared relieved when they were told they would not be returning to the home.

The children were brought to a church and reunited with older siblings who no longer lived in the home.

The children told police and DCF workers that if they misbehaved, their parents would make them do “writings” where they would be given a religious phrase to write out a minimum of 500 times, and the number required would go up exponentially depending on the parents’ mood.

The children said they would be locked in their bedroom to do the writings, and police reported seeing copies of the lists with up to 2,386 lines written. The children said if one of their parents decided they were not writing the lines fast enough, they would be taken to the garage and forced to stand on a bucket with a clipboard and complete the discipline.

Both parents were interviewed by police and allegedly admitted to using the “writings” and bucket discipline on the children.

The children also told police about when they were beaten with a belt up to 40 times for lying or misbehaving. The children reported that the adopted children got the “worst of it,” with the older boys who were out of the home having received the most severe punishments. The children also described incidents where the father threw one of the adopted children on a pile of wood in the garage “really hard, hurting her ribs and chest.”

The father also allegedly admitted to putting hot sauce in the children’s food if they used “hateful words or bad language.” Both parents allegedly acknowledged that the biological child still living in the home did not receive the same discipline and the parents said it was because that child did not come with the “baggage” that the adopted children had.

DCF reported to police about two past occasions when DCF had investigated claims of abuse, but those cases were closed due to being unsubstantiated. When police spoke with the older siblings no longer in the home, officers described them as still being terrified of the Gables.

Tamara Gable allegedly told police she and Peter Gable “felt overwhelmed” by the needs of the adopted children. Tamara Gable allegedly said she and her husband took on too much, but that they never reached out to DCF for help or support for dealing with “difficult” adopted children and that they were doing the best they could.

A DCF worker reported that about six months prior, Tamara Gable had contacted the office to activate her foster care license to start taking more placements again. When told by the worker that she would have to take a training class and a home visit would be required as standard protocol, Gable allegedly was not willing to comply.”

Parental rights terminated for Middlefield couple accused of abusing children[Middletown Press 1/30/13 by Lauren Seivert]

A search of the Connecticut case files shows they received 1 year in jail,execution suspended, and probation of 2 years.