Ohio Caged Children Example

Ohio Caged Children Example
Here is an example letter. Change it in anyway you like. Dear Sir, I am writing in reference to Michael and Sharen Gravelle and their 11 children. How Mr. Gravelle can say the children weren’t abused or caged is unfathomable. Have you seen these “sleeping quarters”? To even consider a compromise to allow them to have the children back is the equivalent of abusing them yourself. If these children were so destructive to themselves and others then why did their lawyer post photo’s showing them in public, well behaved at restaurants? You must use your office and power to protect these children. Do not return them to a home that is truly a prison. Special needs is just that they need special care. Not chicken wire and cages to sleep in or being strapped into bed unable to use the bathroom. As for waiting to see if there is psychological damage, how could there not be. Being raised in an enclosure for years would damage any living being especially a child. The children are now in foster care. Do the people caring for them have them in cages too for their protection? I would also like to know why charges have not been filed. It has been months since this whole story came to light. I have never seen justice move this slowly in a child neglect/endangerment case. I beg you don’t let these children slip through the cracks. Protect them, show them they matter. Don’t give them back to the Gravelle’s. Let them live like normal children, loved and wanted. Not mentally abused and caged like animals. Following this kind of lifestyle ask yourself how will these children be as adults. Stop the cycle of abuse now. Their very lives are in your hands. Sincerely, <Insert Name> www.fromwhisperstoroars.org Hon. Russell Leffler Huron County Prosecutor 12 E. Main, 3rd Floor Norwalk, OH 44857 419-668-8215 FAX: 419-663-3844 Email at: grisner@accnorwalk.com Sheriff Richard M. Sutherland Huron County 255 Shady Lane Dr. Norwalk, Oh. 44857 419-668-6912 No email address located, yet. Governor Bob Taft 30th Floor 77 South High Street Columbus, Ohio 43215-6117 Phone 614-466-3555 or 614-644-HELP or Governor Taft values your views and opinions, and his staff monitors these messages. Responses are sent via U.S. mail. You will not receive a response via e-mail. http://governor.ohio.gov/contactinfopage.asp

All sent. Governor is a web submit but have to mail to Sheriff. The DA has the only email address LOL. I added CC: to the bottom of each. Now we just need Social Services/Child Protective Services email and name of who is incharge.

Mine are sent too

*The Gravelles have been found guilty and are awaiting sentencing. More information will be in that Forum as it becomes available* Parents convicted in caged kids case By THOMAS J. SHEERAN and M.R. KROPKO, Associated Press Writers Fri Dec 22, 5:50 PM ET NORWALK, Ohio - A couple accused of forcing some of their 11 adopted special-needs children to sleep in wood and wire cages were convicted Friday of endangerment and abuse. Sharen Gravelle and her husband, Michael, showed no reaction in the courtroom as the guilty verdicts were read. The jury convicted both of four felony counts of child endangering and seven misdemeanor counts. Each was acquitted of 13 charges, including four felony child endangering charges. The parents claimed during the three-week trial that they needed to keep some of the youngsters in enclosed beds rigged with alarms to protect them from their own dangerous behavior and stop them from wandering at night. Fighting back tears on the courthouse steps, her voice cracking, Sharen Gravelle asked her lawyer to get a small battalion of media cameras "out of my face." Their attorneys said an appeal is likely. "I feel terrible," said Ken Myers, the lawyer for Sharen Gravelle, 58. "We don't think they were guilty of any criminal offenses. They did the best they could with a very difficult situation and with very little help." Myers and Richard Drucker, the attorney for Michael Gravelle, 57, said they were still trying to figure out why the jury found the couple guilty of some charges involving caged beds, but not others. "In many respects, the defendants could consider this a victory in that so many counts were thrown out," Drucker said. Prosecutor Daivia Kasper said she was satisfied with the verdicts. "I had certainly hoped for felonies on behalf of all the children," she said. The children, who suffered from problems such as fetal alcohol syndrome and a disorder that involves eating nonfood items, ranged in age from 1 to 14 when authorities removed them in September 2005 from the Gravelle home in rural Wakeman, about 60 miles west of Cleveland. The youngsters were placed in foster care last fall, and the couple lost custody in March. Margaret Kern, a court-appointed advocate for the children, was delighted with the outcome. "Finally, it was a long time coming, but justice has been served for these children," Kern said. The youngsters are doing well in foster homes, she said. Jurors declined to comment. The Gravelles could face one to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000 for each felony count. The misdemeanors can result in no jail time to up to six months each. Judge Earl McGimpsey set sentencing for Feb. 12 and allowed the Gravelles to remain free on bond. During the three-week trial, their defense included testimony from a social worker and others who said that they never witnessed abuse and that the children's behavior improved because of the bright blue and red cages. Prosecutors said the couple were cruel. Witnesses, including the sheriff and some of the children, said the cages were urine-stained and lacked pillows or mattresses. One Gravelle child testified he was forced to live in a bathroom for 81 days, sleeping in a bathtub because of a bed-wetting problem. The Gravelles' attorneys said the boy exaggerated the length of his bathroom stay, and an expert for the defense testified that the technique helped the boy. The Gravelles have said they took on so many needy children because no one else wanted them. Prosecutors have suggested the couple was after the subsidies that accompanied them. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061222/ap_on_re_us/caged_children

Gravelles ask for another extension By HEATHER CHAPIN-FOWLER, Norwalk Bureau Chief 01/03/2008 NORWALK -- For the eleventh month in a row, Michael and Sharen Gravelle continue to avoid serving their two-year prison sentence because their appeal has not been filed due to not receiving transcripts of their trial for child abuse. The Gravelles are waiting to receive a lengthy copy of the transcripts of the criminal trial in 2006 that are being prepared by Common Pleas Court reporter Yolanda Walton. The court has repeatedly granted extensions to the couple for filing their appeal since they were sentenced in Feb. 2007 to two-years concerning treatment of their 11 adopted children. The latest extension expired on Dec. 31, the same day the Gravelles' attorney, Ken Myers, asked for a further extension, according to the Common Pleas Court. Walton was ill most of December and was unable to work very much on the transcripts, said Myers. The request asks for another 30 days, he said. Meanwhile, a second court reporter is also transcribing a portion of the proceedings and the two must eventually compare notes to complete the process, Myers also said. ''I know (Walton) is very diligent and she's going to get it done as quickly as she can. It's a very lengthy transcript. It's going to take a while,'' he said. The transcripts are estimated to cost between $8,000 and $12,000, Myers said. The case will be filed with the 6th District Court of Appeals in Toledo. In other news, a Huron County resident filed an application to adopt one of the children on Dec. 21, according to Juvenile Court Administrator Chris Mushett. A hearing has yet to be scheduled in the matter as the court waits on documents in the case, Mushett also said. Due to confidentiality laws surrounding the process, further information wasn't released, Mushett said. ''In general, I'm very glad there's some movement toward adoption. It's been my fear that if the Gravelles didn't get them back they wouldn't be adopted,'' said Myers. ''I hope very much they all get adopted by caring people. I think this is very good news. That's better than them bouncing in and out of foster homes. The Gravelles fought very hard to get them back but having lost that fight, I'm sure they will be very happy to hear at least one of the children will be in a permanent and stable home. They do wish and always have wished the very best for the children,'' said Myers. Juvenile Judge Timothy Cardwell has scheduled a dispositional hearing for Jan. 10 for all the children to get an update in their current status as well as review any future plans for them, said Mushett. http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19164015&BRD=1699&PAG=461&dept_id=46371&rfi=6

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