BRIEFS: Deliberations on 'caged kids' continue today
Columbus Dispatch, Dec. 22, 2006, News pg. D5.
NORWALK, Ohio (AP) -- Jurors ended their third day of deliberations without reaching a verdict in the case of parents charged with forcing some of their 11 special-needs children to sleep in wood and wire cages.
The jurors worked overtime yesterday before going home in the early evening and were to resume this morning.
Sharen and Michael Gravelle each face eight felony counts of child endangering, eight misdemeanor counts of child endangering and eight misdemeanor counts of child abuse.
Jurors began deliberating Tuesday and got an early start yesterday.
The endangering charges against the Gravelles accuse the couple of putting some of their children at substantial risk of harm to their mental health.
The Gravelles could get one to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000 for each felony count if convicted.
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, and the couple lost custody in March.
The case began when a county social worker visited the home after a complaint and likened the red and blue cages to kennels. In the trial, that social worker testified that the cages reminded her of slave quarters.
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