Huron County should be held accountable for "caged kids"

County to blame in case of caged children, juror says
Columbus Dispatch, Jan. 2, 2007, pg. E2.

NORWALK, Ohio -- A member of the jury that convicted a couple of endangering and abusing some of their 11 adopted children by forcing them to sleep in cages says the county's children services agency should be held accountable for not acting sooner to help.

The Huron County board of commissioners will discuss the agency's involvement with the family because of a letter written by juror Nancy Whitacre, commissioner Gary Bauer said.
Whitacre said the agency knew about "cages with sirens" two years before the children were taken from the home.

"For two years the children continued to live under deplorable conditions because no action was taken," Whitacre wrote in the letter sent to Bauer and the Sandusky Register. "Two years! Why? Where is the accountability of the county agency and its employees?"

Both Michael Gravelle, 57, and his wife, Sharen, 58, were convicted last month of four felony counts of child endangering, two misdemeanor counts of child endangering and five misdemeanor counts of child abuse. Each was acquitted of 13 charges.

"Everyone I talked to on the jury, they all feel Children's Services failed," Whitacre said.

Huron County Job and Family Services did make some mistakes, but no employee should be disciplined, Director Erich Dumbeck said.

Social workers and supervisors acted quickly to care for the children once the situation was discovered, Dumbeck said. "I feel that people handled the case superbly," he said.

Bauer said a state investigation did not include any findings against the agency.

Although jurors decided not to discuss the trial publicly, Whitacre said she told them she wanted to write letters when it was over.

Whitacre, of Wakeman, said it was sometimes difficult to handle the testimony's emotional effect, she said.

"It was hard to go from that to Christmas, the happy times," Whitacre said. "It's hard to get over this."

The Gravelles could get one to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000 for each felony count when they are sentenced Feb. 12.