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| Wed, 09-14-2005 - 9:35am |
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Updated: 08:34 AM EDT
11 Kids Found in Cages Seemed OK, Neighbors Say
By M.R. KROPKO, AP
WAKEMAN, Ohio (Sept. 14) - The children - polite and well-dressed - seemed ordinary enough to neighbors, who hired some of them to help bale hay and saw them playing in a yard filled with toys.
AP
Sheriff's deputies say this Ohio home contained cages for the disabled children who lived there.
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But the 11 children - all with conditions ranging from autism to fetal alcohol syndrome - were far from having a normal life, authorities said. Their adoptive parents allegedly forced several of them to sleep in homemade cages about 3 1/2 feet high.
Michael Gravelle, 56, and Sharen Gravelle, 57, have denied abusing or neglecting the children, who are ages 1 to 14. No charges had been filed as of Tuesday, and messages left with the couple's lawyer were not immediately returned.
Officials are investigating how the adoptive parents managed to take in the children, and why no one kept closer tabs on the youngsters. The children have since been placed with foster families.
"I don't believe there were any case workers checking in with this family," said Erich Dumbeck, director of the Huron County Department of Job and Family Services.
Neighbors said they often saw or heard the children playing, and the family yard was littered with toys - plastic cars, tricycles, slides and an overturned skateboard near a wooden ramp.
Leah Hunter, who lives two houses away, said she often saw the children walking down the road. "They looked OK. They hardly ever wore shoes but I'm a country girl and for me that's normal," she said.
At night, authorities said, eight of the children were confined in wooden cages stacked in bedrooms on the second floor. The cages were painted in bright colors, and some were rigged with alarms that would send a signal to the downstairs when the door was opened. One cage had a dresser in front of it.
The cages, made of plywood and wiring, had mats but no pillows or blankets. The house smelled of urine, according to the search warrant.
The Gravelles have said a psychiatrist recommended they make the children sleep in the cages, Huron County Prosecutor Russell Leffler told the Norwalk Reflector. The parents also said the children, including some who had mental disorders, needed to be protected from each other, according to court documents.
The Gravelles received a subsidy from the state of at least $500 a month to care for the children.
Payments are meant to encourage adoption by ensuring families can maintain their standard of living, said Rhonda Abban, chief of adoption services for the state Job and Family Services Department.
"There's no follow up because you're giving that family the money so they can incorporate that child into their life," she said.
In 2001, the Gravelles adopted an infant born with HIV through the Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services, director Jim McCafferty said. Before the adoption, private agencies gave the couple "glowing reports," he said.
Sheriff's deputies were called to the home twice in the last five years: once to settle a neighbor dispute in 2000, and last year when a 12-year-old boy was upset and ran away for several hours. He was found down the road.
Associated Press reporters Carrie Spencer in Columbus and Joe Milicia, Thomas J. Sheeran and Connie Mabin in Cleveland contributed to this report.
09/14/05 06:12 EDT
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

Ya know, I think we need to hear the whole story on that one Jackie. I read that yesterday too. Let me tell you why I think that.
My bestfriend has a son with severe bipolar. For the longest time he was a severe threat to others and himself. They had to lock all knives and medicine in the house. He slept only a couple hours at night and when he would wake he would stealthily hunt the house. On more than one occasion she woke with him holding a sharp object over her threatening to kill her. THis was at age like 4 until 7 or 8. He would break pictures to take the glass out to use as a weapon. He had a compulsion to cut himself. He had hallucinations of people trying to kill him, etc. When he was about 7 or 8 there would be times when she would call me to come over because he would get into a severe rage and she was scared because she could no longer restrain him herself and he could severely injure her. I would go over to help.
She was told he should go residential but any separation from her sent him into even a worse downhill spiral and she didn't want to do that with her small son. None of us would. He was eventually put into day treatment.
Somewhere before I met her, her psychologist either recomended or approved a similar "fort bed" that locked. She knew she had to have it recorded by her psychologist and psychiatrist if ever child services was called. It looks like a fort but the door locks. That is where he slept at night for everyones safety.
I am glad to say the young man is doing worlds better right now. He is not the same young man he was 2 years ago and now sleeps in a regular bed.
We have no idea what these parents are dealing with. The news said the children were well nourished, clothed, cleaned, polite.
Based on my experiences in the matter I am going to hold judgement until I hear the whole story, but it sounded similar to my friends story.
By the way, she is the most loving mom. Has the patience of Job and a total of 5 children. the youngest baby is starting to have trouble and all the oldest have at least ADHD. She treats them currently very successfully with homeopathics mainly and diet. They are at the poverty level with nearly no insurance but what they do have they spend on getting the best doctors and services for thier kids. They are an amazing couple.
Renee
That does sound shocking, but I have to agree with Renee. I'd guess that there is some bipolar-like disorders in that family. We've had a taste of untreated bipolar in our own child, and it is so hard. There are times when you feel like it would be best for everyone if your kid was locked in a cage now and then, I'm afraid to say. Not that we did that, mind you...but we did have to lock him in my room a few times so I could finish changing the baby's diaper without having a clock thrown at me, or without having him dump bowls of water down the stairs.
One thing I've learned, is to be careful about judging before you know all the facts. (Although I suppose I still do it plenty LOL) Life for us, with a little boy suffering from untreated bipolar (mania, depression, crippling anxiety, panic, psychoses), was pretty intense. All parenting advice and folk wisdom had to go out the window, because parenting a child with a neurological disorder like bp is a different kettle of fish all together.
Having said all that, it sounds like that was not a good place for those kids, and changes need to be made. But I'm just saying that maybe there is more to the story than simply abuse and neglect.
Evelyn
Well, I am not a big truster of the media is my problem. The love to sensationalize things. Sure Cages would be horrible, but is this just a term they used to make the biggest impact. My friends one was more a cool fort with a sliding door only used when absolutely neccessary. They haven't taken it down but now it is used for toy storage as they no longer need it.
BTW, thiers was approved by the psychologist, psychiatrist AND child protective services.
As for meds, at the time this boy was on 5-6 big doses of meds and still up alot. Many kids with BP are treatment resistent and medications may not work for a child for one reason or another. The use of mechanical restraints I think would be more deplorable and there is no way you can stay up all night watching a child and restraining them if neccessary.
I am not saying what they did was right. I am just saying we don't know the whole story. I have given up on judging other parents lest I be judged.
Renee
i have worked in the medical field as well as have a child with ASD. last year my son's sleep was so off wack that most meds weren't even working. there is no miracle drug to get a child to sleep. and renee is right, after 2 months of being up with this child screaming all night long and then melting down all day, i was at my wits end. i am not defending the accused here, but if you have never been up with a thrashing child all night for weeks on end, it's hard to imagine the full picture.
valerie
I should clarify that I am not trying to defend it either. I just don't think we are seeing the whole picture. And since the news loves so much to sensationalize things, I am even more cautious to pass judgement.
Renee