Children Allegedly Locked In Closet, Fed Animal Feces

[Steven Snyder]

http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/5767738.htm

Mary Rowles' firstborn was not yet 3 months old when the Summit County Children Services Board got a call claiming the infant was the victim of neglect by his parents -- both teen-age high school dropouts.

According to the caller, the boy was being fed 2 percent milk and the mother was seen picking him up by an arm and a leg ``not in anger, but in ignorance.''

That was in October 1988, but shortly thereafter, according to CSB records, the father joined the Navy, the mother moved in with the maternal grandmother and the case was closed because ``there did not appear to be any need for further service.''

It was the first of many complaints involving Mary Rowles and her six children that were called to the attention of CSB, but in 14 years or so, they all went nowhere.

Then on Monday, shortly before dawn, Akron police picked up Mary Rowles' firstborn, now 14, wandering barefoot through the city's streets with two brothers -- one 10, the other 8.

They told police they had pried open a nailed-shut window at their 30-year-old mother's home on Florida Avenue in Kenmore where she and her partner = [100.0]of seven years had kept them locked in a closet since Valentine's Day.

The youngsters claimed the closet was hot, dark, reeked of excrement, and that they were allowed out only once a day to eat.

They weren't missed at school because, according to authorities, they weren't enrolled; the mother had filed paperwork to home-school at least three of the children this year.

Their grotesque story of punishment and torture included them getting sick after their mother's partner, 27-year-old Alice Jenkins, forced them to eat dog and cat feces, they said.

In another incident, according to the youngsters, they were forced to hold down the 10-year-old while Jenkins kicked him in the groin with steel-toed boots.

Every time CSB came to the home, the situation for the children became worse, the 14-year-old said.

Wandering the streets

Akron police began receiving calls about the three youngsters wandering the streets shortly before 4:30 a.m. Monday.

They later retrieved a 12-year-old girl and two boys, ages 13 and 6, from the home.

Police said all of the youngsters appeared to be malnourished.

Two were admitted to Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron where they remained Thursday night -- including the 8-year-old, who weighed only 28 pounds.

Their brothers and sister are currently being cared for in separate foster homes and authorities said when the hospitalized youngsters are released they will likely be placed in a third foster home.

As of late Thursday, no arrests had been made in the matter.

Akron Police Lt. Sylvia Trundle said authorities spent all day Thursday interviewing the youngsters.

At Advance Auto Parts in Springfield Township, Alice Jenkins had earned a reputation for cleanliness and attention to detail.

Home visited

A co-worker, who wished to remain anonymous, said he had visited the home in January and detected no hint of the alleged horrors happening there.

He said he only saw the girl, who seemed happy playing with her new dollhouse.

But he didn't see the five boys.

``(Alice) said they were all in bed,'' the co-worker said.

Jenkins hasn't been to work this week, though, her colleagues said. She told them she had a death in the family.

Police records show officers had been called to the house for several incidents of alleged domestic violence, including one involving a juvenile in the home, but details were not available.

According to the police records, in January two of the boys tried to leave the house through a window when their mother was away on a bank errand.

She reported the incident to police, saying she got home in time to stop them from running away.

The matter was referred to Juvenile Court and the boys were released back to their mother, according to the records.

Rowles' six children apparently have at least three fathers -- all of whom Rowles has accused of various forms of abuse either against her or her children.

Yet in the numerous allegations that have been hurled back and forth for years, none prompted removal of the children.

In court documents filed in 2001, clinical psychologist Robin Tener -- who examined Rowles' only daughter on behalf of her father, Brady Postlethwaite -- said the girl described ``an extremely chaotic environment in her mother's home.''

Tener also wrote about the girl's description of ``significant physical abuse occurring to two of the children who lived in that home, including her younger half brothers being tied to their beds at night.''

She went on to say the girl claimed the boys were ``deprived of the opportunity to use the bathroom, and were made to sleep in a urine-soaked bed.''

Tener said the girl claimed she was able to avoid such punishment ``due to her good behavior and quiet demeanor.''

Frequent complaints

Beginning in 1996, Lisa Postlethwaite -- the girl's stepmother -- said she began contacting CSB to report stories she had heard from her stepdaughter about incidents in the Rowles household.

But in July 2001 she halted her complaints, she said, after a magistrate threatened them with prosecution over the number of reports they had filed.

Following their marriage in 1997, the Postlethwaites were granted custody of the girl and at that time, she said, the girl began confiding her stories of abuse and neglect being suffered by her and her five brothers.

``You have to understand I never witnessed any of this personally,'' Lisa Postlethwaite said, ``but we were very concerned.''

According to documents, CSB followed up on at least some of the reports but ultimately concluded the allegations were unsubstantiated.

The change of residence, however, didn't end the Postlethwaites' concern.

Although the girl was no longer living with Rowles and Jenkins, she did stay at the women's home on court-ordered visitation. When she returned from those stays, the Postlethwaites say, she was often shaken.

``She would be hungry, unbathed and tired,'' her stepmother said. ``She would talk about not being able to sleep because the other kids would be crying all night because they were locked in the closet.''

She said her stepdaughter also told of her siblings being beaten by Jenkins and not being fed for days.

``She said sometimes they were so thirsty they had to drink water from the toilet,'' Postlethwaite recalled.

``I knew those children were desperate so I would call CSB again with what I heard... They (CSB) acted like I was crying wolf,'' Lisa Postlethwaite said.

At one point, she said, Rowles stopped visitations and didn't see her daughter for nearly a year, but in 2000 began an all-out effort to regain custody.

In the process, she said, the Postlethwaites were accused of child abuse against their daughter and police were called in to investigate.

The charges were later dropped.

A little more than a year later, the Postlethwaites lost custody of their daughter to Rowles.

Court document

In a tersely worded Summit County Domestic Relations Court order, the hearing officer chastised the Postlethwaites for making numerous complaints to CSB.

The order, signed by Magistrate Deborah Matz, said that Brady Postlethwaite and his wife had ``previously established a pattern of false reporting'' and that ``such reports are subject to criminal prosecution.''

Matz did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

Lisa Postlethwaite, her voice cracking with emotion, said: ``We couldn't continue fighting. They threatened to put us in jail. They threatened to take away our other children. What could we do?''

She said her stepdaughter gave in to pressure from Rowles and returned to live with her mother.

``The last time we saw her was Nov. 16, 2001,'' Postlethwaite said.

Since then, she said, attempts to visit the girl were thwarted by Rowles.

``We had friends drive by the house, but no one ever saw her outside.

``For years we worked on this trying to get someone to help,'' she said. ``But nothing was ever done. I'm just glad something finally happened.''

I want these people to be executed NOW!

[InnerBrat]

What?!?!?!

Why can social services never seem to do their goddamn jobs?

[neoolong]

Fucking A. Damn social services are there for a reason.

[Enforcer Talen]

-gets out noose-

[Newtonian Fury]

Just seeing the title makes me sick.

[Shinova]

Why haven't the authorities caught those people and have them convicted of child abuse yet????

[Stormbringer]

What?!?!?!

Why can social services never seem to do their goddamn jobs?

Because thanks to the low bugets most are severly over worked and understaffed. They simply can't recruit enough people and pay for the kind of services they need to get the job done.

[Darth Wong]

What?!?!?!

Why can social services never seem to do their goddamn jobs?

Because thanks to the low bugets most are severly over worked and understaffed. They simply can't recruit enough people and pay for the kind of services they need to get the job done.

Of course not, because the private sector will always get things done better without the evils of Big Government Haven't you taken neo-con Econ 101?

[Steven Snyder]

Oh now, don't blame everything on Social Services...though they should be crucified along with this bitch and her bitch.

Don't forget about the Judges, and the police who still as of Thursday, have made no arrests.

[InnerBrat]

What?!?!?!

Why can social services never seem to do their goddamn jobs?

Because thanks to the low bugets most are severly over worked and understaffed. They simply can't recruit enough people and pay for the kind of services they need to get the job done.

Oh come now - this has nothing to do with a budget. A girl is complaining of child abuse, and they just ignore it and blame the only adults that actually believe her, allowing the courst instead to grant custody to the couple she was accusing? The least they could do is get the girl a councillo, to find out whether she's lying or not.

[Colonel Olrik]

Moved to OT, because in all my disgust I could find nothing related to SLAM.

[Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi]

When Social Services got the complaint of the mother neglecting her firstborn, action should have been taken. People like that shouldn't be allowed to reproduce.

[Stormbringer]

Oh come now - this has nothing to do with a budget. A girl is complaining of child abuse, and they just ignore it and blame the only adults that actually believe her, allowing the courst instead to grant custody to the couple she was accusing? The least they could do is get the girl a councillo, to find out whether she's lying or not.

Actually, the fact that no doubt the people involved had dozens upon dozens of other cases contributed. It was a fuck up no question about it but when you have one person doing the work of ten or more clusterfucks like this happen. It's what happens in "the System", cases get shoveled in an cranked out producing shit like this because no one knows any better until after the fact.

[Crayz9000]

Great. Another idiot gives homeschooling a black eye.

[Frank Hipper]

Six kids????? Bitch needs to spend some time in front of a microwave oven with a broken door! Waist height, preferably!
I'm not Mohammed, but she clearly shows an ineptitude at parenting, and she should be stopped from having any more kids.

[Howedar]

Kill the parents. I'm 100% not joking.

[LT.Hit-Man]

What I would not give to have them alone in a hardware store for half an hour.

[Howedar]

A torque wrench is your friend. 3/4" or 1" drive especially.

[Stormbringer]

A torque wrench is your friend. 3/4" or 1" drive especially.

No, a nice propane torch and a grinder. The painful shit you can do with a little imagination.

[LT.Hit-Man]

A torque wrench is your friend. 3/4" or 1" drive especially.

No, a nice propane torch and a grinder. The painful shit you can do with a little imagination.

That's kid's stuff some fine sandpaper rolled up tightly thrust into an ear and twisted a few times will make some one scream very loudly, that just for staters

[Vertigo1]

A torque wrench is your friend. 3/4" or 1" drive especially.

No, a nice propane torch and a grinder. The painful shit you can do with a little imagination.

Air-drill + wire brushes duct-taped to the tip

Shove that up their asses and pull the trigger. Then pump a mixture of salt-water and iodine up their ass and epoxy their anus shut.

[LT.Hit-Man]

A torque wrench is your friend. 3/4" or 1" drive especially.

No, a nice propane torch and a grinder. The painful shit you can do with a little imagination.

Air-drill + wire brushes duct-taped to the tip

Shove that up their asses and pull the trigger. Then pump a mixture of salt-water and iodine up their ass and epoxy their anus shut.

Not to bad, better yet in this bitch's case take a metal garden gnome weld to wires up to it cram it up her cunt staple it shut with some large palstic staples then hook the wires up to a generator and slowly crank up the power, cook for five minutes or so then cut the wires take this bitch out to a scrap yard hammer some thick wodden stakes though her elbows and knees then swing a big electormagnet over her and turn it up to full power

[Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi]

The power tool stuff is good, but I say we only do that after we lock her in a closet, feed her feces, beat her, starve her, deprive her of basic necessities, and pretty much do everything she did to her children.

[Companion Cube]

Just seeing the title makes me sick.

You're not the only one. We need a 'disgusted' emoticon...

[Steven Snyder]

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/5788215.htm

Posted on Mon, May. 05, 2003

Families reunited
Two fathers meet with abused children removed from Kenmore home
By John Higgins
Beacon Journal staff writer


The strange family reunion took place in a medical clinic with nurses, social workers, a lawyer, and fathers and children who hadn't seen one another in years.

The Summit County Children Services Board organized the Thursday meeting to gather medical information about five boys and one girl, ages 6 through 14, removed from their Kenmore home last week.

So began the long process of sorting out what should happen with the children, whose stories of abuse -- as well as the agency's admitted failure to act sooner -- have outraged the Akron community.

The biological fathers, who each have a complicated custody history with the children, could not provide much medical information because they haven't seen them in so long.

Darrell ``Butch'' Shaffer Jr., father of the two eldest boys, said it was their first reunion in three years. The boys also asked to see Shaffer's fiancee, Heather McMillen, who hopes the boys can be part of their wedding next month.

``I was heartbroken, and at the same time my blood was boiling,'' McMillen said. ``When they gave me hugs, you felt their spine and their ribs. They were all up on us giving us hugs and kisses. They were so happy. Their mom told them that we tore our house down and moved away.''

Shaffer and McMillen also saw the 6-year-old, whom police found locked in a bedroom when they removed the children from their home April 28.

``He's as big as my 2-year-old. He's really little, but he looked to be the healthiest one there. (The 14-year-old) wears the same size shoes that my 8-year-old does -- size 5,'' McMillen said.

She said the boys wanted to talk about what had happened to them in the home of their mother, Mary Rowles, and her domestic partner, Alice Jenkins.

Rowles and Jenkins were arrested Friday and charged with several felonies, including child endangering.

A CSB worker told Shaffer and McMillen if they discussed the case with the children at all, the visit would end. This is standard CSB policy.

``They wanted to come home that day,'' McMillen said. ``(The oldest boy) told the caseworker, `Pack us up; we're going home with Mom and Dad right now.' ''

Brady Postlethwaite was able to see his daughter for a few minutes and gave her a book on dogs that was supposed to be her Christmas present in 2001. He had last seen her Nov. 16, 2001.

She had been living with her mother then.

``Her mom would not allow her to keep it, so my mother-in-law kept it,'' Brady Postlethwaite's wife, Lisa Postlethwaite, said. ``We've kept it all this time because we knew that we would see her again.''

The girl brightened when her father gave her the book again Thursday.

``She grabbed it and opened it up and said, `I remember this' '' he said.

Authorities do not know who the fathers of the other two boys are.

Children's welfare

Now life becomes complicated for everyone.

The same social service agency that failed to intervene despite years of repeated calls now is charged with recommending what should happen next.

``At this point, our focus is on the (immediate) welfare of the children now,'' said CSB spokeswoman Louise Miller on Friday.

The children have all received physicals and have been placed in foster care. Four of the boys are in one home. The other boy and the girl are in separate foster homes.

The siblings will get to visit one other, but coordinating visits with fathers and other relatives is still being worked out.

Rowles and Jenkins -- who posted bond Saturday and were released from the Summit County Jail -- are not permitted any contact with the children, Miller said.

The children eventually will be enrolled in school. Rowles removed at least three of the children a year ago, and authorities believe all the children were supposedly being taught at home.

``Since they haven't been in school, you have to assess what their knowledge level and needs are,'' Miller said.

Sorting out who would provide the best home for the children won't be an easy task. Shaffer and Ronnie Stuart, the father of the 6-year-old boy, have some criminal convictions -- mostly stemming from their relationships with Rowles.

Stuart was not allowed to visit with his son Thursday.

Stuart's wife, Angie Stuart, said a CSB worker told them the boy had no memory of his father, who hasn't seen his son since the boy was 3 months old.

Ronnie Stuart was in prison for some of those years, but even after his release, he says his attorney advised him to steer clear of Rowles if he wanted to avoid false accusations.

His son doesn't know him.

``They say he is confused, and he does not know his dad. So they want to give him some time to adjust,'' Angie Stuart said.

Ronnie Stuart's history includes drug abuse, and he must prove he's overcome those problems, she said.

The fathers say they were asked to provide names of relatives who might care for the boys if CSB decides that placement with the biological fathers while the case is pending is not suitable.

A series of Juvenile Court hearings beginning May 23 will begin the process of deciding what is in the best interest of the children.

Coping with abuse

But the real work will take a long time.

``You're looking at years of help for those kids, not just with psychotherapy, but with a lot of really great parenting,'' said Charles Vehlow, executive director of the Akron-based Child Guidance Centers.

Children in such situations develop defenses that help protect their young, fragile minds from the world they're experiencing.

``Sometimes they believe they're at fault and they deserve whatever they're getting,'' Vehlow said. ``The caretaker has convinced them that what's happening is normal, and it's clearly not normal.''

Akron police said some of the boys had mixed feelings about the arrest of their mother and the woman they were told to call ``Dad.''

Some children play down what has occurred like it's no big deal. They might say: ``I don't mind eating this stuff; I don't mind sleeping on the floor. This isn't so bad,'' Vehlow said.

And they might prefer the home they know, no matter how bad, to a future in strangers' homes they can't imagine will be any better.

Still, some of the children knew that their treatment wasn't normal.

The 8-year-old boy -- hospitalized because he weighed only 28 pounds -- does not have any eyelashes because he pulled them all out, according to court documents.

``He states that he bangs his head against the wall. (He) stated that he would like a better life and that he does not want this bad life anymore.''