TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - The biological children of a couple charged with starving their four adopted sons say the boys, who weighed no more than 45 pounds each, had eating disorders and were never denied food.
Raymond and Vanessa Jackson say they want to regain custody of the boys.
``We want our children back,'' Raymond Jackson told CBS News in an interview to be aired Wednesday on ``60 Minutes II.''
The Jacksons were charged with aggravated assault and child endangerment last month after their oldest adopted son was found scrounging through a neighbor's trash looking for food. The boys, ages 9 to 19, each stood no more than 4 feet tall and weighed 45 pounds or less when they were found by authorities.
The case outraged state officials and neighbors, and led to the firing of nine child welfare workers who were supposed to be supervising the children's care.
In the interviews with CBS anchor Dan Rather, family members stood by their claim that the boys were well cared for.
``We would eat together. I mean, we would have, like, the same meals. We'd eat breakfast lunch and dinner together,'' the Jacksons' biological son, Raymond, said.
One of the couple's biological daughters, 29-year-old Renee, said her parents put an alarm on the refrigerator to stop the 19-year-old adopted boy, Bruce, from gorging himself. She said the eating disorder led Bruce to eat garbage and chew on wallboard in the house.
``I know he used to go through the trash before he even came with us,'' said Le Rae Jackson, another of the couple's biological daughters.
The Jacksons have said the children were underdeveloped in part because they were born to alcoholics and drug users.
Fragment of the Lord of Nightmares, release thy heavenly retribution. Blade of cold, black nothingness: become my power, become my body. Together, let us walk the path of destruction and smash even the souls of the Gods! RAGNA BLADE!
Lore Monkey | the Pichu-master™
Secularism—since AD 80
Av: Elika; Prince of Persia
Still smacks of extreme neglect to me. If I had a 19 year-old son that was 4 feet tall and 45 pounds, I'd try doing something about it that doesn't involve putting a lock on the kitchen door. I still say put them in jail.
