Love means never caging your special-needs adopted children

Day 2 for jury in caged children case
Sheeran, Thomas. Cincinnati Post, Dec. 21, 2006, pg. A5.

DAY 2 FOR JURY IN CAGED CHILDREN CASE
Cincinnati Post, The (OH)December 21, 2006Author: Thomas J. Sheeran, Associated Press

Jurors reminded that "love isn't what you say, it's what you do" deliberated for a second day without a verdict Wednesday in the case of parents charged with forcing some of their 11 special needs children to sleep in wood and wire cages.

Jurors deliberated about two hours Tuesday, went home for the night and returned promptly about 9 a.m. Wednesday to consider the charges against Sharen and Michael Gravelle. They met Wednesday until just after 5 p.m., then told the judge they wanted to return today to continue.

The Gravelles each face eight misdemeanor counts of child abuse, eight felony counts of child endangering and eight misdemeanor counts of child endangering.

Huron County Prosecutor Russell Leffler, ending more than four hours of summations by himself and two defense attorneys, told jurors Tuesday that the cages robbed the children of the chance to run to a mother in fear during a nighttime storm.

"That's what kids do and that is what these kids couldn't do," Leffler said. "Love isn't what you say, it's what you do."

Defense attorneys Ken Myers and Richard Drucker, representing Sharen and Michael respectively, said the enclosed bunks were meant to protect unruly youngsters from their sometimes violent siblings.

"They did the best they could under the circumstances," Drucker said.The endangering charges against the Gravelles accuse the couple of putting some of their children at a substantial risk of harming their mental health.The Gravelles face 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 last fall and the couple lost custody in March.

The case began when a county social worker visited the home after a complaint and discovered the cages. In the trial, that social worker testified that the cages reminded her of slave quarters.