Staff survey criticizes Butler children agency
McGurk, Margaret. Cincinnati Enquirer, Feb. 23, 2007, pg. B5.
Butler County Children Services workers gave their agency dismal marks in a survey presented Thursday night.Workers painted a picture of a badly run organization plagued with mistrust and confusion. More than half questioned the agency's integrity.
A third said the agency shortchanges the children it is supposed to serve. Forty percent said biological families are underserved.
The survey was conducted by FountainWorks marketing and policy consultants on behalf of a special task force that is weighing the agency's future. About half the agency's staff took the survey, which was voluntary.
The agency contracted with a placement service that put Marcus Fiesel into the home of Liz and David Carroll Jr., where he died.
The agency's director, Jann Heffner, resigned her $125,000-a-year job this month.
In response to the survey, the Butler County Children Services Board issued a letter from University of Cincinnati research expert Sourushe Zandvakili that criticized the survey as unscientific and unreliable. Zandvakili instead recommended a retreat "where all stakeholders are represented" to address the agency's problems.
Unmanageable workloads and an oversupply of supervisors were common complaints in the FountainWorks results.
County Commissioner Mike Fox called the survey "the last straw" for the board that oversees the agency. "It's time to drain the swamp," he said.
Fox was incensed that the agency refused to provide contact information so FountainWorks could survey foster children and foster families.
"They can play the privacy card all day long," Fox said, "but the law gives them the flexibility to bring in consultants to interview their customers. To me, not wanting to know what your children have to say is a fatal indictment.
"If Marcus Fiesel's death is not enough to light a fire under the board and agency management to get opinions from the children they care for, they've abdicated their right to govern anything."
The task force also heard a report Thursday from John Steinbach of JP Consultants Inc., who interviewed workers, board members and others about what would make the agency work better.
While his aim was to find positive ideas, he did note that he heard "stories of an abusive organization" and "examples of wonderfully dedicated employees working in almost impossible situations."
Monday, February 26, 2007
Adopt Cuyahoga's Kids
County expands adoption efforts
Older children are harder to place
Mazzolini, Joan. Cleveland Plain Dealer, Feb. 23, 2007, pg. B3.
The number of Cuyahoga County children available for adoption has dropped by more than half in the last six years, but those still looking for permanent homes are older and harder to place.
As a result, commissioners on Thursday agreed to spend nearly $1.8 million this year to expand a coordinated effort, called Adopt Cuyahoga's Kids, to find homes for the 916 children in permanent county custody.
The children, who are placed in county custody because of parental abuse or neglect, end up in foster care, group homes or with relatives on a temporary basis.
Cuyahoga County, the United Way and other local groups launched the program three years ago, targeting 656 kids who were 10 or older and who had been in the county's permanent custody for more than a year.
Coordinated by Adoption Network Cleveland, 14 adoption agencies researched the children's pasts in search of potential parents, such as distant relatives, teachers, coaches and other adults who had passed through the children's lives.
In addition to finding families for children, the Adopt Cuyahoga's Kids program helps guide prospective parents through the adoption process.
More than 300 of the children were adopted, but hundreds of others are still waiting. And some children turned 18 and left the system without being adopted.
"Sixty-seven percent of the kids are 9 years or older," said Jim McCafferty, director of the county's Children and Family services. McCafferty told the commissioners Thursday that the older children are much harder to place, with many families preferring infants or toddlers.
McCafferty said the program has drawn national and state attention.
"It's expensive, it's time-consuming," he said, "but it works."
At the same time, the county is working to keep families together.
The commissioners also voted to pay more than $900,000 to Beech Brook, a mental-health and treatment center in Pepper Pike, to work toward reuniting families and their children.
However, the cases are particularly difficult and the agency also works toward finding alternative families if a reunion seems unlikely.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: jmazzolini@plaind.com, 216-999-4563
Author: Joan Mazzolini
Section: Metro
Page: B3
Older children are harder to place
Mazzolini, Joan. Cleveland Plain Dealer, Feb. 23, 2007, pg. B3.
The number of Cuyahoga County children available for adoption has dropped by more than half in the last six years, but those still looking for permanent homes are older and harder to place.
As a result, commissioners on Thursday agreed to spend nearly $1.8 million this year to expand a coordinated effort, called Adopt Cuyahoga's Kids, to find homes for the 916 children in permanent county custody.
The children, who are placed in county custody because of parental abuse or neglect, end up in foster care, group homes or with relatives on a temporary basis.
Cuyahoga County, the United Way and other local groups launched the program three years ago, targeting 656 kids who were 10 or older and who had been in the county's permanent custody for more than a year.
Coordinated by Adoption Network Cleveland, 14 adoption agencies researched the children's pasts in search of potential parents, such as distant relatives, teachers, coaches and other adults who had passed through the children's lives.
In addition to finding families for children, the Adopt Cuyahoga's Kids program helps guide prospective parents through the adoption process.
More than 300 of the children were adopted, but hundreds of others are still waiting. And some children turned 18 and left the system without being adopted.
"Sixty-seven percent of the kids are 9 years or older," said Jim McCafferty, director of the county's Children and Family services. McCafferty told the commissioners Thursday that the older children are much harder to place, with many families preferring infants or toddlers.
McCafferty said the program has drawn national and state attention.
"It's expensive, it's time-consuming," he said, "but it works."
At the same time, the county is working to keep families together.
The commissioners also voted to pay more than $900,000 to Beech Brook, a mental-health and treatment center in Pepper Pike, to work toward reuniting families and their children.
However, the cases are particularly difficult and the agency also works toward finding alternative families if a reunion seems unlikely.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: jmazzolini@plaind.com, 216-999-4563
Author: Joan Mazzolini
Section: Metro
Page: B3
Liz Carroll will be 84 years old before being eligible for parole
Carroll says she's no killer
Defense portrait of good mom, meek wife, fails
Brunsman, Barrett and Eileen Kelley, Cincinnati Enquirer, Feb. 23, 2007, pg. B1.
BATAVIA - Liz Carroll apologized for the lies that prompted about 2,000 people to hunt for the 3-year-old foster son she claimed was missing, but she still denies killing Marcus Fiesel.
"I didn't do this to Marcus," Carroll said before being sentenced to prison Thursday by Judge Robert Ringland. "I didn't, and I wouldn't, hurt a child.
"I did lie after (the death of Marcus) to try to protect my family," Carroll said. "And I'm sorry. I want to apologize to the community, my family."
Ringland was unmoved.
Carroll, 30, will spend at least 54 years in prison - and perhaps the rest of her life - based on sentences for murder and five other offenses.
She will be 84 years old before being eligible for parole.
On Wednesday, she was found guilty of murder by a jury in the Clermont County Court of Common Pleas.
On Thursday, she again implied that her former live-in girlfriend, Amy Baker, was responsible for Marcus' death.
"I'm sorry for the lies," Carroll said. "And I just hope that some day the truth can come out because Amy Baker does not speak the truth."
Ringland said Carroll was to blame. "The character and the acts of the people who lived with you do not take away in any fashion what you have done," he said. "I also note that throughout this entire episode there has never been a sincere concern for Marcus Fiesel.
"Even to this day, your only remorse is that you are being found guilty and not for the death of this child," Ringland said.
Before sentencing, Ringland said he was surprised that The Enquirer had run the names of the jurors in Thursday's paper.
"I am somewhat perplexed and a little disappointed that I read that the names of the jurors were published this morning in The Enquirer. I realize there's a First Amendment right - and I realize that it's almost an unfettered right - but frankly, people, what purpose does this serve?"
Enquirer editor and vice president Tom Callinan said more than 30 readers canceled their subscriptions.
"Of course we don't routinely report this level of detail, but the overriding public interest in this case caused us to consider a rare exception," Callinan said.
Prosecutors said Marcus was bound in a blanket with packing tape and left in the closet of Liz and David Carroll Jr.'s home in Union Township the weekend of Aug. 4.
When they returned Aug. 6 from a family reunion in Grant County, Ky., the boy was dead, Baker testified during Liz Carroll's trial.
Baker accompanied the Carrolls on the trip, along with the couple's four children and the family dog.
"The dog was alive," Liz Carroll interjected during closing arguments Wednesday, implying that Marcus was left behind because he wasn't.
Liz Carroll had told The Enquirer that Baker killed Marcus Aug. 4.
Clermont County Assistant Prosecutor Daniel "Woody" Breyer asked the judge to impose the stiffest sentences possible.
"This is the most offensive and heinous crime that I can recall being involved in - in my 30 years as a lawyer - and I believe that a maximum consecutive sentence would be appropriate," Breyer said.
The judge sentenced Carroll to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 15 years on the murder charge. The judge considered the murder and involuntary manslaughter charges as a bundle when imposing the sentences.
Carroll must also serve - consecutively -- a 10-year sentence for kidnapping, another eight years for felonious assault and 21 years total on three child endangering charges.
She will be imprisoned at the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville, northwest of Columbus.
Her attorney, Gregory Cohen, asked the judge to consider that Carroll's husband was abusive. "This is not a monster standing here next to me," he told the judge. "This is a well-liked, well-loved woman who made a horrendous error in judgment" - including her choice of a husband.
"Nobody can come in here and say that she, but for this instance, is a bad mother," Cohen said. "She loves children. She wanted to be around children all the time.
"She was unable to control the situation, and then once unable to control it found herself in a whirlpool that took her down," he said.
Breyer responded that Carroll was far from a good mother.
That would have come out under cross examination by prosecutors if Carroll had taken the witness stand to testify in her own defense, Breyer said.
If Carroll had claimed to be a good mother, Breyer said, he would have called as a witness the psychologist who evaluated her to determine whether she was competent to stand trial.
Carroll had told the psychologist "that she has taped her own kids up for fun," Breyer said.
When the four Carroll children were placed in foster care after the Aug. 28 arrest of their parents, some of them shared tales of abuse, Breyer said.
The oldest child, who is about 7, said Marcus's hands were taped behind his back almost every day by David Carroll Jr. to prevent the developmentally delayed boy from smearing his excrement around the house.
But Marcus wasn't the only one who was taped, Breyer said.
"The Carroll child had his hands taped up by his dad over something with regard to football," Breyer said.
In court Thursday, Liz Carroll didn't respond to those allegations.
She seemed to suggest the only harm to them came from concocting the hoax that Marcus had wandered off in an Anderson Township park on Aug. 15. "I know now I have mentally hurt my own children by my own lies," she said.
Breyer also disputed Cohen's statement that Liz Carroll's home life was shattered when David Carroll invited Baker to live there.
Before that, two other women shared the house with the Carrolls, Breyer said. One, who became a baby sitter for the couple at age 17, engaged in a sexual relationship with David Carroll in front of his wife.
Breyer also discounted Liz Carroll's claim that she was distraught to find Marcus dead at the hands of Baker on Aug. 4.
Police had evidence that Carroll sold Xanax - a prescription anti-anxiety drug - to friends that evening.
"As they left to go to the reunion, they stopped down the street and Liz sold 25 of her Xanax to a friend," Breyer said.
Union Township police have taped statements from that person and his live-in girlfriend that they bought 25 Xanax pills from Carroll on Aug.4 - and made other drug buys from her at least 20 times, Breyer said.
"Mr. Breyer wasn't telling the truth about everything," Liz Carroll said in response. "A lot of that stuff was allegations, people saying stuff, like the pills."
Carroll wore an orange jail uniform with her hands cuffed and feet shackled when brought into the courtroom at 11:30 a.m. Thursday for sentencing.
During the trial, she wore dark pantsuits that hid a security leg brace from the sight of jurors.
Her mother, Audrey Sims, who became hysterical Wednesday when her daughter was found guilty of all seven charges, was composed during sentencing.
"I'm OK," she said after leaving the courtroom. "I believe in her."
Sims said she is confident her daughter will win an appeal.
But the judge's stern sentencing left David Carroll's mother in tears Thursday. His murder trial is to begin March 19.
Debbie Hounshell said her son told her he wasn't willing to make a plea deal with prosecutors.
If David Carroll agreed to plead guilty to murder and gross abuse of a corpse, Clermont County Prosecutor Don White and Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters had been willing to drop all other charges against him.
He faces the same charges in Clermont County that Liz Carroll was convicted of, as well as inducing panic and raising false alarms in Hamilton County.
The deadline to accept the deal was Thursday, but David Carroll's defense attorney said she would seek an extension from White and Judge Jerry R. McBride.
Attorney Cathy Adams said David Carroll was upset by the murder conviction of Liz Carroll and might need until next week to reconsider the plea bargain.
David Carroll, 29, "was going to fight" the charges "for the both of them because he didn't do it," Hounshell said of her son
"He kept saying, 'They are taking my complete sunshine away,' and 'I cannot believe this is happening.' "
Defense portrait of good mom, meek wife, fails
Brunsman, Barrett and Eileen Kelley, Cincinnati Enquirer, Feb. 23, 2007, pg. B1.
BATAVIA - Liz Carroll apologized for the lies that prompted about 2,000 people to hunt for the 3-year-old foster son she claimed was missing, but she still denies killing Marcus Fiesel.
"I didn't do this to Marcus," Carroll said before being sentenced to prison Thursday by Judge Robert Ringland. "I didn't, and I wouldn't, hurt a child.
"I did lie after (the death of Marcus) to try to protect my family," Carroll said. "And I'm sorry. I want to apologize to the community, my family."
Ringland was unmoved.
Carroll, 30, will spend at least 54 years in prison - and perhaps the rest of her life - based on sentences for murder and five other offenses.
She will be 84 years old before being eligible for parole.
On Wednesday, she was found guilty of murder by a jury in the Clermont County Court of Common Pleas.
On Thursday, she again implied that her former live-in girlfriend, Amy Baker, was responsible for Marcus' death.
"I'm sorry for the lies," Carroll said. "And I just hope that some day the truth can come out because Amy Baker does not speak the truth."
Ringland said Carroll was to blame. "The character and the acts of the people who lived with you do not take away in any fashion what you have done," he said. "I also note that throughout this entire episode there has never been a sincere concern for Marcus Fiesel.
"Even to this day, your only remorse is that you are being found guilty and not for the death of this child," Ringland said.
Before sentencing, Ringland said he was surprised that The Enquirer had run the names of the jurors in Thursday's paper.
"I am somewhat perplexed and a little disappointed that I read that the names of the jurors were published this morning in The Enquirer. I realize there's a First Amendment right - and I realize that it's almost an unfettered right - but frankly, people, what purpose does this serve?"
Enquirer editor and vice president Tom Callinan said more than 30 readers canceled their subscriptions.
"Of course we don't routinely report this level of detail, but the overriding public interest in this case caused us to consider a rare exception," Callinan said.
Prosecutors said Marcus was bound in a blanket with packing tape and left in the closet of Liz and David Carroll Jr.'s home in Union Township the weekend of Aug. 4.
When they returned Aug. 6 from a family reunion in Grant County, Ky., the boy was dead, Baker testified during Liz Carroll's trial.
Baker accompanied the Carrolls on the trip, along with the couple's four children and the family dog.
"The dog was alive," Liz Carroll interjected during closing arguments Wednesday, implying that Marcus was left behind because he wasn't.
Liz Carroll had told The Enquirer that Baker killed Marcus Aug. 4.
Clermont County Assistant Prosecutor Daniel "Woody" Breyer asked the judge to impose the stiffest sentences possible.
"This is the most offensive and heinous crime that I can recall being involved in - in my 30 years as a lawyer - and I believe that a maximum consecutive sentence would be appropriate," Breyer said.
The judge sentenced Carroll to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 15 years on the murder charge. The judge considered the murder and involuntary manslaughter charges as a bundle when imposing the sentences.
Carroll must also serve - consecutively -- a 10-year sentence for kidnapping, another eight years for felonious assault and 21 years total on three child endangering charges.
She will be imprisoned at the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville, northwest of Columbus.
Her attorney, Gregory Cohen, asked the judge to consider that Carroll's husband was abusive. "This is not a monster standing here next to me," he told the judge. "This is a well-liked, well-loved woman who made a horrendous error in judgment" - including her choice of a husband.
"Nobody can come in here and say that she, but for this instance, is a bad mother," Cohen said. "She loves children. She wanted to be around children all the time.
"She was unable to control the situation, and then once unable to control it found herself in a whirlpool that took her down," he said.
Breyer responded that Carroll was far from a good mother.
That would have come out under cross examination by prosecutors if Carroll had taken the witness stand to testify in her own defense, Breyer said.
If Carroll had claimed to be a good mother, Breyer said, he would have called as a witness the psychologist who evaluated her to determine whether she was competent to stand trial.
Carroll had told the psychologist "that she has taped her own kids up for fun," Breyer said.
When the four Carroll children were placed in foster care after the Aug. 28 arrest of their parents, some of them shared tales of abuse, Breyer said.
The oldest child, who is about 7, said Marcus's hands were taped behind his back almost every day by David Carroll Jr. to prevent the developmentally delayed boy from smearing his excrement around the house.
But Marcus wasn't the only one who was taped, Breyer said.
"The Carroll child had his hands taped up by his dad over something with regard to football," Breyer said.
In court Thursday, Liz Carroll didn't respond to those allegations.
She seemed to suggest the only harm to them came from concocting the hoax that Marcus had wandered off in an Anderson Township park on Aug. 15. "I know now I have mentally hurt my own children by my own lies," she said.
Breyer also disputed Cohen's statement that Liz Carroll's home life was shattered when David Carroll invited Baker to live there.
Before that, two other women shared the house with the Carrolls, Breyer said. One, who became a baby sitter for the couple at age 17, engaged in a sexual relationship with David Carroll in front of his wife.
Breyer also discounted Liz Carroll's claim that she was distraught to find Marcus dead at the hands of Baker on Aug. 4.
Police had evidence that Carroll sold Xanax - a prescription anti-anxiety drug - to friends that evening.
"As they left to go to the reunion, they stopped down the street and Liz sold 25 of her Xanax to a friend," Breyer said.
Union Township police have taped statements from that person and his live-in girlfriend that they bought 25 Xanax pills from Carroll on Aug.4 - and made other drug buys from her at least 20 times, Breyer said.
"Mr. Breyer wasn't telling the truth about everything," Liz Carroll said in response. "A lot of that stuff was allegations, people saying stuff, like the pills."
Carroll wore an orange jail uniform with her hands cuffed and feet shackled when brought into the courtroom at 11:30 a.m. Thursday for sentencing.
During the trial, she wore dark pantsuits that hid a security leg brace from the sight of jurors.
Her mother, Audrey Sims, who became hysterical Wednesday when her daughter was found guilty of all seven charges, was composed during sentencing.
"I'm OK," she said after leaving the courtroom. "I believe in her."
Sims said she is confident her daughter will win an appeal.
But the judge's stern sentencing left David Carroll's mother in tears Thursday. His murder trial is to begin March 19.
Debbie Hounshell said her son told her he wasn't willing to make a plea deal with prosecutors.
If David Carroll agreed to plead guilty to murder and gross abuse of a corpse, Clermont County Prosecutor Don White and Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters had been willing to drop all other charges against him.
He faces the same charges in Clermont County that Liz Carroll was convicted of, as well as inducing panic and raising false alarms in Hamilton County.
The deadline to accept the deal was Thursday, but David Carroll's defense attorney said she would seek an extension from White and Judge Jerry R. McBride.
Attorney Cathy Adams said David Carroll was upset by the murder conviction of Liz Carroll and might need until next week to reconsider the plea bargain.
David Carroll, 29, "was going to fight" the charges "for the both of them because he didn't do it," Hounshell said of her son
"He kept saying, 'They are taking my complete sunshine away,' and 'I cannot believe this is happening.' "
Last minute editing decision causes reluctant jurors for David Carroll's trial, and a lighter sentence for him
Editorial: Publishing names of jurors was wrong
Callinan, Tom. Cincinnati Enquirer, Feb. 24, 2007, pg. B7.
I apologize.
To the citizens who served on the jury in the trial of Liz Carroll, who was convicted of murder and six other charges in the death of foster child Marcus Fiesel.
To Judge Robert P. Ringland, who presided over the case in Clermont County Court of Common Pleas.
To our readers:
The Enquirer on Thursday published the names of the nine women and three men who served on the jury. It was a late-night, deadline decision that simply was wrong. It was a mistake that could cause harm to those citizens. It had the potential to harm the judicial process. There is no doubt that it harmed the trust you have in The Enquirer.
Yes, the names, ages and occupations of jurors are a public record, and there's good reason for that. We want a system that allows us to know who is judging us. We want a system that allows us to watch out for age, gender or racial bias. I don't think the strong reaction we have seen from readers, including some on this page, is a mandate that the jury process should be shrouded in secrecy. Indeed, when this column was posted on our Web site Friday, many online comments were that The Enquirer should have stuck by its decision.
Even an angry Judge Ringland acknowledged from the bench that The Enquirer had an unfettered right to publish the names. But the names were not essential in our wish to convey the makeup of the jury. It is interesting and not irrelevant that a power company lineman, restaurant server and psychiatric nurse are among those entrusted such an awesome and important responsibility. Certainly, jurors bring those life experiences to the process. But it's not necessary to publish their names.
It is not unusual for us to quote jurors who are willing to talk with us when a trial ends. Their voices give us insights into their world. That was the case when a neighbor of one of our columnists willingly talked with him for a Friday story, in which she said:
"I never want to be in that position again. It was an overwhelming, all-consuming sadness . It wasn't about convicting her. It was about doing right by him."
The difference is that this juror and others willingly came forward to share their stories.
So how did the decision to publish the list of the jurors' names happen? All I can say is that we lost our perspective. In being aggressive on a big story we rushed to a very bad decision. The case of the blue-eyed 3-year-old, who was bound, abandoned and then incinerated in a chimney captivated the attention of our community. The horrific story galvanized Ohio and prompted calls for reform, including a 30-member task force to investigate foster care and legislation strengthening child welfare laws. It has attracted national attention, including a recent series on National Public Radio.
Some of us at The Enquirer got caught up in all that and made a serious mistake. You should know that others argued against the decision. They should have prevailed, and we are reviewing our decision-making policies.
There are times when circumstances may dictate an exception should be made in our usual practice. There may be specific stories when it is in the public interest to publish the names of juveniles, rape victims or jurors. Those exceptions are rare, and this should not have been one of them.
-Tom Callinan is editor and vice president of The Enquirer
Callinan, Tom. Cincinnati Enquirer, Feb. 24, 2007, pg. B7.
I apologize.
To the citizens who served on the jury in the trial of Liz Carroll, who was convicted of murder and six other charges in the death of foster child Marcus Fiesel.
To Judge Robert P. Ringland, who presided over the case in Clermont County Court of Common Pleas.
To our readers:
The Enquirer on Thursday published the names of the nine women and three men who served on the jury. It was a late-night, deadline decision that simply was wrong. It was a mistake that could cause harm to those citizens. It had the potential to harm the judicial process. There is no doubt that it harmed the trust you have in The Enquirer.
Yes, the names, ages and occupations of jurors are a public record, and there's good reason for that. We want a system that allows us to know who is judging us. We want a system that allows us to watch out for age, gender or racial bias. I don't think the strong reaction we have seen from readers, including some on this page, is a mandate that the jury process should be shrouded in secrecy. Indeed, when this column was posted on our Web site Friday, many online comments were that The Enquirer should have stuck by its decision.
Even an angry Judge Ringland acknowledged from the bench that The Enquirer had an unfettered right to publish the names. But the names were not essential in our wish to convey the makeup of the jury. It is interesting and not irrelevant that a power company lineman, restaurant server and psychiatric nurse are among those entrusted such an awesome and important responsibility. Certainly, jurors bring those life experiences to the process. But it's not necessary to publish their names.
It is not unusual for us to quote jurors who are willing to talk with us when a trial ends. Their voices give us insights into their world. That was the case when a neighbor of one of our columnists willingly talked with him for a Friday story, in which she said:
"I never want to be in that position again. It was an overwhelming, all-consuming sadness . It wasn't about convicting her. It was about doing right by him."
The difference is that this juror and others willingly came forward to share their stories.
So how did the decision to publish the list of the jurors' names happen? All I can say is that we lost our perspective. In being aggressive on a big story we rushed to a very bad decision. The case of the blue-eyed 3-year-old, who was bound, abandoned and then incinerated in a chimney captivated the attention of our community. The horrific story galvanized Ohio and prompted calls for reform, including a 30-member task force to investigate foster care and legislation strengthening child welfare laws. It has attracted national attention, including a recent series on National Public Radio.
Some of us at The Enquirer got caught up in all that and made a serious mistake. You should know that others argued against the decision. They should have prevailed, and we are reviewing our decision-making policies.
There are times when circumstances may dictate an exception should be made in our usual practice. There may be specific stories when it is in the public interest to publish the names of juveniles, rape victims or jurors. Those exceptions are rare, and this should not have been one of them.
-Tom Callinan is editor and vice president of The Enquirer
Donna Trevino perpetuated the cycle of neglect and abuse
Marcus' mother wants kids back
Says she's trying to redirect her life
Kelley, Eileen. Cincinnati Enquirer, Feb. 24, 2007, pg. B1.
Donna Trevino wrapped her hands around a tissue as she talked about the little boy she gave away.
He was beautiful. He had striking blue eyes. He was full of life.
But he was too much for her. And now he's dead.
Marcus Fiesel's mother, 38, cries easily when she recounts the life she had with her 3-year-old son.
"I played ball with him. I played patty-cake," the Middletown woman said Friday in her first interview since Liz Carroll's murder conviction.
A judge sentenced Carroll Thursday to 54 years in prison for causing the boy's death. She and her husband, David Carroll Jr., were his foster parents.
Trevino is satisfied with the sentence.
She said she thought when she surrendered Marcus in April he would go to a better place. "What they did was cold and heartless," she said.
Less than four months after she told police and children's services Marcus was too much for her to handle, he was dead.
Trevino cried, looked stern and wrapped her arms around herself when she looked back at her own childhood - one she said forced her to run away from home at age 13.
"It was torture," she said of the physical, sexual, emotional and verbal abuse she said she suffered as a child.
She said her father, who adopted her when she was 1, would tuck money into the hands of child protective workers who came to check on her as a child.
They would go away.
"It was just terrible. The counselors say I will never forget it and you know what, they are right. I won't forget it."
Out on the streets as a teen, Trevino won't say how she survived; only that she did.
After her first child was born - one whom she hasn't seen in more than a decade - she said she vowed to get her life together.
Abuse and on-and-off homelessness followed her.
Most of the men in Trevino's life, including the fathers of her four children, she said, beat her. She had three boys and a little girl.
She lost custody of Marcus 10 months ago after he was found wandering on a Middletown street. Her 19-month-old daughter and 11-year-old son are in foster care.
She agreed to have them taken away, a decision she struggles with. "I didn't want my kids to see anything like what I saw," she said. "That's a lot, what I saw."
Trevino was living in a Middletown homeless shelter when Marcus was born.
Not long after his first breath, she said she knew something was wrong. As a baby, he cried constantly. As a toddler, he never wanted to stop running.
"I was out of my league with Marcus," she said. "I really didn't know what to do with him. I loved him to death and I know one thing, I never would have done what the Carrolls did. Never, not in a million years."
Not long after it was discovered that Marcus was dead, Trevino filed a lawsuit against Lifeway for Youth, the private foster care agency that placed Marcus. Also named in the suit were the Carrolls, their live-in girlfriend, Amy Baker, and various Butler County agencies.
The lawsuit opened Trevino up for criticism. Public opinion seared her, saying the woman who gave up her child was trying to profit from the tragedy.
"If she had paid half as much attention to Marcus before as she is now, she wouldn't be in this situation," said Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters after the arrest of the Carrolls.
Just last week she was followed into a Kmart.
"How could you raise children in such filth?" a stranger blurted out, according to Trevino. It wasn't the first insult she'd heard from strangers.
Trevino says she doesn't fight back.
"If you haven't been in that situation, how can they judge you?" she asks. "I think the judging needs to stop until you have walked (in my) shoes."
Butler County has since been dropped from the suit although, she says, it didn't give her the help she needed to raise Marcus, who was developmentally delayed, and her other two children.
The $207,000 settlement deal with Lifeway is expected to be reviewed by a Butler County probate judge Tuesday.
If it's approved, up to $800 a month would go to the care of Marcus' older brother and younger sister.
Trevino is working with children services to get two of her children back. If she does, the money would follow them and she would be able to use it for rent and other household necessities for them. The oldest child, she said, was taken to Alaska by his father years ago.
What she wants is to give her children a better chance than she had.
Trevino left her childhood home in Indiana and landed in South Carolina as a young girl. "I was just trying to get away from my dad - as far away as I could," she said.
Growing up, she took classes with other children who are learning disabled. In the 11th grade she said she gave up.
"I can't read," she said.
The names her father called her stung, she said. "He used to tell me I was worthless and that my life would amount to nothing and it (sank) in after a while. You get in that mind frame and it's like, 'OK, I'm not worth anything, why try?' "
She said she has been free of abusive men for more than a year.
But life is still rocky. She has moved around a lot in the last few months and said she is trying to find a suitable home so she can bring Marcus' older brother and younger sister home one day.
"It's just a loss. It's just like a part of my heart is tore up and I'm never going to get it back," she said of Marcus' death. "And there is nothing I can do about it. It's just an emptiness that I think I am going to have to live with for the rest of my life."
Donna Trevino says she grew up in an abusive home, ran away at a young age and had four children. One lives with his father; Marcus was killed; and two are in foster care.
Says she's trying to redirect her life
Kelley, Eileen. Cincinnati Enquirer, Feb. 24, 2007, pg. B1.
Donna Trevino wrapped her hands around a tissue as she talked about the little boy she gave away.
He was beautiful. He had striking blue eyes. He was full of life.
But he was too much for her. And now he's dead.
Marcus Fiesel's mother, 38, cries easily when she recounts the life she had with her 3-year-old son.
"I played ball with him. I played patty-cake," the Middletown woman said Friday in her first interview since Liz Carroll's murder conviction.
A judge sentenced Carroll Thursday to 54 years in prison for causing the boy's death. She and her husband, David Carroll Jr., were his foster parents.
Trevino is satisfied with the sentence.
She said she thought when she surrendered Marcus in April he would go to a better place. "What they did was cold and heartless," she said.
Less than four months after she told police and children's services Marcus was too much for her to handle, he was dead.
Trevino cried, looked stern and wrapped her arms around herself when she looked back at her own childhood - one she said forced her to run away from home at age 13.
"It was torture," she said of the physical, sexual, emotional and verbal abuse she said she suffered as a child.
She said her father, who adopted her when she was 1, would tuck money into the hands of child protective workers who came to check on her as a child.
They would go away.
"It was just terrible. The counselors say I will never forget it and you know what, they are right. I won't forget it."
Out on the streets as a teen, Trevino won't say how she survived; only that she did.
After her first child was born - one whom she hasn't seen in more than a decade - she said she vowed to get her life together.
Abuse and on-and-off homelessness followed her.
Most of the men in Trevino's life, including the fathers of her four children, she said, beat her. She had three boys and a little girl.
She lost custody of Marcus 10 months ago after he was found wandering on a Middletown street. Her 19-month-old daughter and 11-year-old son are in foster care.
She agreed to have them taken away, a decision she struggles with. "I didn't want my kids to see anything like what I saw," she said. "That's a lot, what I saw."
Trevino was living in a Middletown homeless shelter when Marcus was born.
Not long after his first breath, she said she knew something was wrong. As a baby, he cried constantly. As a toddler, he never wanted to stop running.
"I was out of my league with Marcus," she said. "I really didn't know what to do with him. I loved him to death and I know one thing, I never would have done what the Carrolls did. Never, not in a million years."
Not long after it was discovered that Marcus was dead, Trevino filed a lawsuit against Lifeway for Youth, the private foster care agency that placed Marcus. Also named in the suit were the Carrolls, their live-in girlfriend, Amy Baker, and various Butler County agencies.
The lawsuit opened Trevino up for criticism. Public opinion seared her, saying the woman who gave up her child was trying to profit from the tragedy.
"If she had paid half as much attention to Marcus before as she is now, she wouldn't be in this situation," said Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters after the arrest of the Carrolls.
Just last week she was followed into a Kmart.
"How could you raise children in such filth?" a stranger blurted out, according to Trevino. It wasn't the first insult she'd heard from strangers.
Trevino says she doesn't fight back.
"If you haven't been in that situation, how can they judge you?" she asks. "I think the judging needs to stop until you have walked (in my) shoes."
Butler County has since been dropped from the suit although, she says, it didn't give her the help she needed to raise Marcus, who was developmentally delayed, and her other two children.
The $207,000 settlement deal with Lifeway is expected to be reviewed by a Butler County probate judge Tuesday.
If it's approved, up to $800 a month would go to the care of Marcus' older brother and younger sister.
Trevino is working with children services to get two of her children back. If she does, the money would follow them and she would be able to use it for rent and other household necessities for them. The oldest child, she said, was taken to Alaska by his father years ago.
What she wants is to give her children a better chance than she had.
Trevino left her childhood home in Indiana and landed in South Carolina as a young girl. "I was just trying to get away from my dad - as far away as I could," she said.
Growing up, she took classes with other children who are learning disabled. In the 11th grade she said she gave up.
"I can't read," she said.
The names her father called her stung, she said. "He used to tell me I was worthless and that my life would amount to nothing and it (sank) in after a while. You get in that mind frame and it's like, 'OK, I'm not worth anything, why try?' "
She said she has been free of abusive men for more than a year.
But life is still rocky. She has moved around a lot in the last few months and said she is trying to find a suitable home so she can bring Marcus' older brother and younger sister home one day.
"It's just a loss. It's just like a part of my heart is tore up and I'm never going to get it back," she said of Marcus' death. "And there is nothing I can do about it. It's just an emptiness that I think I am going to have to live with for the rest of my life."
Donna Trevino says she grew up in an abusive home, ran away at a young age and had four children. One lives with his father; Marcus was killed; and two are in foster care.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Social worker should be held liable; Gravelles should never have been given custody
Parents of caged kids get 2 years
Couple free on bond pending their appeal
Sheeran, Thomas. Columbus Dispatch, Feb. 16, 2007.
Two of their former adopted children smiled as a husband and wife were sentenced to two years in prison each for forcing some of their 11 adopted, special-needs children to sleep in cages.
Sharen and Michael Gravelle were released on bond after their sentencing yesterday by Huron County Common Pleas Judge Earl McGimpsey pending an expected appeal of their convictions.
"Mom, you always said whatever you think you are doing in private, it will be brought to the public," said a statement read on behalf of one of their former children, a girl who was one of the two who appeared in court. "So in this case, I would say it's your turn."
The other former adopted child, a boy, tried to control his laughter as Sharen Gravelle cried and told the judge before her sentencing that her problem derived in part from a child-welfare system indifferent to the destructive behavior of some of her children.
The two children sat elbow-to-elbow in court. The judge ordered that their names and other identifying information, including ages, be kept confidential to protect their privacy
The Gravelles sat impassively as the judge handed down the sentence, with Sharen Gravelle taking notes as she did throughout her trial. Michael Gravelle held his face in his left hand as the judge sentenced him.
The girl seemed to blame her former adoptive mother more than Michael Gravelle."I'll admit Dad wasn't as bad as Mom. He did whatever Mom told him to do. It was like he had no backbone when he was supposed to be the man of the family, always scared to go against whatever she said," her statement said.
Sharen Gravelle told the court the children were never confined as punishment but rather to protect them, including a child who wanted to jump out a second-floor window.
"Would you prefer that we let them jump? Either way, we'd be here. The difference is they're still alive," she said in a statement that lasted 26 minutes.
The 11 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 Gravelles' home in Wakeman, about 60 miles west of Cleveland. They were placed in foster care in fall 2005 and the couple lost custody in March.
The Gravelles each could have received up to five years in prison for each of the four felony counts of child endangering they were convicted of in December. They also were convicted of seven misdemeanors.The couple has said they needed to keep some of the children in enclosed beds with alarms to protect them from their own dangerous behavior and stop them from wandering at night.
Prosecutors said the Gravelles were cruel. Witnesses, including the sheriff and some of the children, said the cages were urine-stained and lacked pillows or mattresses, but a social worker and others who testified for the defense said they never witnessed abuse. They said the children's behavior improved because of the cages, which were painted bright blue and red.
One Gravelle child testified he was forced to live in a bathroom for 81 days, sleeping in a bathtub because of a bed-wetting problem. The Gravelles' attorneys said the boy exaggerated the length of his bathroom stay, and an expert for the defense testified that the technique helped.
Michael Gravelle told the judge yesterday the problems began when they took in a group of siblings with an array of behaviorial and emotional problems.
"What do you do with these kids?" Michael Gravelle asked. "I prayed constantly for the answer."He said the enclosures resulted from the suggestions of a social worker, who recommended strict rules to improve the children's behavior.
"I'm begging you," Michael Gravelle told the judge. "I do not deserve jail."
Prosecutor Russell Leffler said the Gravelles deserved prison and that the number of children or their behavior were not excuses for how they were treated.
The former foster son who appeared in court yesterday said in a statement that he was thankful that his time with the Gravelles was behind him.
With his new foster parents, "I don't have to steal food. I can use the bathroom whenever I want," he said. "Never again will I have to sleep in a box."
Couple free on bond pending their appeal
Sheeran, Thomas. Columbus Dispatch, Feb. 16, 2007.
Two of their former adopted children smiled as a husband and wife were sentenced to two years in prison each for forcing some of their 11 adopted, special-needs children to sleep in cages.
Sharen and Michael Gravelle were released on bond after their sentencing yesterday by Huron County Common Pleas Judge Earl McGimpsey pending an expected appeal of their convictions.
"Mom, you always said whatever you think you are doing in private, it will be brought to the public," said a statement read on behalf of one of their former children, a girl who was one of the two who appeared in court. "So in this case, I would say it's your turn."
The other former adopted child, a boy, tried to control his laughter as Sharen Gravelle cried and told the judge before her sentencing that her problem derived in part from a child-welfare system indifferent to the destructive behavior of some of her children.
The two children sat elbow-to-elbow in court. The judge ordered that their names and other identifying information, including ages, be kept confidential to protect their privacy
The Gravelles sat impassively as the judge handed down the sentence, with Sharen Gravelle taking notes as she did throughout her trial. Michael Gravelle held his face in his left hand as the judge sentenced him.
The girl seemed to blame her former adoptive mother more than Michael Gravelle."I'll admit Dad wasn't as bad as Mom. He did whatever Mom told him to do. It was like he had no backbone when he was supposed to be the man of the family, always scared to go against whatever she said," her statement said.
Sharen Gravelle told the court the children were never confined as punishment but rather to protect them, including a child who wanted to jump out a second-floor window.
"Would you prefer that we let them jump? Either way, we'd be here. The difference is they're still alive," she said in a statement that lasted 26 minutes.
The 11 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 Gravelles' home in Wakeman, about 60 miles west of Cleveland. They were placed in foster care in fall 2005 and the couple lost custody in March.
The Gravelles each could have received up to five years in prison for each of the four felony counts of child endangering they were convicted of in December. They also were convicted of seven misdemeanors.The couple has said they needed to keep some of the children in enclosed beds with alarms to protect them from their own dangerous behavior and stop them from wandering at night.
Prosecutors said the Gravelles were cruel. Witnesses, including the sheriff and some of the children, said the cages were urine-stained and lacked pillows or mattresses, but a social worker and others who testified for the defense said they never witnessed abuse. They said the children's behavior improved because of the cages, which were painted bright blue and red.
One Gravelle child testified he was forced to live in a bathroom for 81 days, sleeping in a bathtub because of a bed-wetting problem. The Gravelles' attorneys said the boy exaggerated the length of his bathroom stay, and an expert for the defense testified that the technique helped.
Michael Gravelle told the judge yesterday the problems began when they took in a group of siblings with an array of behaviorial and emotional problems.
"What do you do with these kids?" Michael Gravelle asked. "I prayed constantly for the answer."He said the enclosures resulted from the suggestions of a social worker, who recommended strict rules to improve the children's behavior.
"I'm begging you," Michael Gravelle told the judge. "I do not deserve jail."
Prosecutor Russell Leffler said the Gravelles deserved prison and that the number of children or their behavior were not excuses for how they were treated.
The former foster son who appeared in court yesterday said in a statement that he was thankful that his time with the Gravelles was behind him.
With his new foster parents, "I don't have to steal food. I can use the bathroom whenever I want," he said. "Never again will I have to sleep in a box."
Group sews quilts for foster children
Quilters sew security for children
Toledo Blade, Feb. 18, 2007, pg. A13.
Sharon Rueter, above, irons while other volunteers stitch quilts that will be given to foster children. Marlene Hittler, right photo, secures a seam on her quilt. The quilters were participating in the eighth annual Project Linus Make a Blanket Day at Sonflower Quilts & Gifts in Sylvania. Project Linus is a volunteer project to provide a sense of security with quilts and blankets for children who are seriously ill or traumatized. The quilts are donated to the Lucas County Children Services.
Toledo Blade, Feb. 18, 2007, pg. A13.
Sharon Rueter, above, irons while other volunteers stitch quilts that will be given to foster children. Marlene Hittler, right photo, secures a seam on her quilt. The quilters were participating in the eighth annual Project Linus Make a Blanket Day at Sonflower Quilts & Gifts in Sylvania. Project Linus is a volunteer project to provide a sense of security with quilts and blankets for children who are seriously ill or traumatized. The quilts are donated to the Lucas County Children Services.
Marcus' death makes special ed teacher lose her appetite
Spectator who looked for Marcus feels case deeply
His loneliness haunts ex-special ed teacher
Kelley, Eileen. Cincinnati Enquirer, Feb. 20, 2007, pg. A8.
BATAVIA - Michelle Wolf walked down Main Street with a large hot-fudge sundae Monday afternoon.
She hoped she'd be able to get the bulk of it down.
"My stomach (is) in knots," said Wolf, 56, of Hamilton County.
Six months ago, Wolf joined the thousands of volunteers who trooped across an Anderson Township park and nearby neighborhoods searching for 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel.
At the time, Wolf weighed 32 pounds more than she does now.
The stress, the anger, the sadness brought on by the revelation Aug. 28 that the 13-day search for Marcus was a lie and that the boy had actually been dead for weeks has taken a toll on Wolf.
On Aug. 28, Wolf raced to an area near the park where buzzards circled. It was the same day Amy Baker told a grand jury that Marcus was dead after his foster parents, Liz and David Carroll Jr., bound him and left him alone in a closet as the family and Baker went to a reunion in Kentucky.
At the time, she said her heart had long told her Marcus was dead, but she continued to search on behalf of Liz Carroll. "I wanted closure for her," she said. "I saw her on TV; she was tormented."
She is one of many in Greater Cincinnati captivated by the heart-wrenching saga of the dead foster child.
Wolf said she seldom has the stomach for food.
She's been a regular at the Clermont County Courthouse since the trial began eight days ago.
On Friday, Wolf raced from the courtroom in tears when prosecutors carted out the playpen they say Marcus died in after he was bound the weekend of Aug. 4.
Witnesses also described the abandoned chimney in Brown County where Baker went with David Carroll to burn his remains.
"You wouldn't even do that to a dog," said Wolf.
Baker testified Monday that the Carrolls left Marcus in the closet, but brought their dog to the reunion.
Wolf, a special-education teacher for 27 years, said she cannot shake the images of Marcus and what she knows from her career. She said she has reviewed photos of Marcus, ones in which he has a rather typical autistic, faraway glare, and others where he seems like a typical child, full of life.
"He was blossoming in that home," she said. " And then they turn around and do this?"
Liz Carroll's defense attorney, Gregory Cohen, has not committed to putting his client on the stand.
If he does, it is likely he will portray her as a loving mother in fear of her husband.
Wolf doesn't want to hear about the alleged abuse.
"Abuse is no excuse," she said. "If she was afraid, she still could have made an anonymous call."
As Wolf began to walk away to try and eat her ice cream, she paused to sum up what haunts her.
"I start to eat and I get this knot. It's nuts. It's not that he was bound, it's not that he was burnt," she said. "It's the time that he spent waiting for them to come back, and being afraid, alone in a closet."
Michelle Wolf of Sharonville reacts to testimony. She says she cannot shake images of Marcus, and has lost 32 pounds since his death was revealed.
His loneliness haunts ex-special ed teacher
Kelley, Eileen. Cincinnati Enquirer, Feb. 20, 2007, pg. A8.
BATAVIA - Michelle Wolf walked down Main Street with a large hot-fudge sundae Monday afternoon.
She hoped she'd be able to get the bulk of it down.
"My stomach (is) in knots," said Wolf, 56, of Hamilton County.
Six months ago, Wolf joined the thousands of volunteers who trooped across an Anderson Township park and nearby neighborhoods searching for 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel.
At the time, Wolf weighed 32 pounds more than she does now.
The stress, the anger, the sadness brought on by the revelation Aug. 28 that the 13-day search for Marcus was a lie and that the boy had actually been dead for weeks has taken a toll on Wolf.
On Aug. 28, Wolf raced to an area near the park where buzzards circled. It was the same day Amy Baker told a grand jury that Marcus was dead after his foster parents, Liz and David Carroll Jr., bound him and left him alone in a closet as the family and Baker went to a reunion in Kentucky.
At the time, she said her heart had long told her Marcus was dead, but she continued to search on behalf of Liz Carroll. "I wanted closure for her," she said. "I saw her on TV; she was tormented."
She is one of many in Greater Cincinnati captivated by the heart-wrenching saga of the dead foster child.
Wolf said she seldom has the stomach for food.
She's been a regular at the Clermont County Courthouse since the trial began eight days ago.
On Friday, Wolf raced from the courtroom in tears when prosecutors carted out the playpen they say Marcus died in after he was bound the weekend of Aug. 4.
Witnesses also described the abandoned chimney in Brown County where Baker went with David Carroll to burn his remains.
"You wouldn't even do that to a dog," said Wolf.
Baker testified Monday that the Carrolls left Marcus in the closet, but brought their dog to the reunion.
Wolf, a special-education teacher for 27 years, said she cannot shake the images of Marcus and what she knows from her career. She said she has reviewed photos of Marcus, ones in which he has a rather typical autistic, faraway glare, and others where he seems like a typical child, full of life.
"He was blossoming in that home," she said. " And then they turn around and do this?"
Liz Carroll's defense attorney, Gregory Cohen, has not committed to putting his client on the stand.
If he does, it is likely he will portray her as a loving mother in fear of her husband.
Wolf doesn't want to hear about the alleged abuse.
"Abuse is no excuse," she said. "If she was afraid, she still could have made an anonymous call."
As Wolf began to walk away to try and eat her ice cream, she paused to sum up what haunts her.
"I start to eat and I get this knot. It's nuts. It's not that he was bound, it's not that he was burnt," she said. "It's the time that he spent waiting for them to come back, and being afraid, alone in a closet."
Michelle Wolf of Sharonville reacts to testimony. She says she cannot shake images of Marcus, and has lost 32 pounds since his death was revealed.
67% of foster children are 9 years old or older
County expands adoption efforts
Older children are harder to place
Mazzolini, Joan. Cleveland Plain Dealer, Feb. 23, 2007, pg. B3.
The number of Cuyahoga County children available for adoption has dropped by more than half in the last six years, but those still looking for permanent homes are older and harder to place.As a result, commissioners on Thursday agreed to spend nearly $1.8 million this year to expand a coordinated effort, called Adopt Cuyahoga's Kids, to find homes for the 916 children in permanent county custody.
The children, who are placed in county custody because of parental abuse or neglect, end up in foster care, group homes or with relatives on a temporary basis.
Cuyahoga County, the United Way and other local groups launched the program three years ago, targeting 656 kids who were 10 or older and who had been in the county's permanent custody for more than a year.
Coordinated by Adoption Network Cleveland, 14 adoption agencies researched the children's pasts in search of potential parents, such as distant relatives, teachers, coaches and other adults who had passed through the children's lives.
In addition to finding families for children, the Adopt Cuyahoga's Kids program helps guide prospective parents through the adoption process.
More than 300 of the children were adopted, but hundreds of others are still waiting. And some children turned 18 and left the system without being adopted.
"Sixty-seven percent of the kids are 9 years or older," said Jim McCafferty, director of the county's Children and Family services. McCafferty told the commissioners Thursday that the older children are much harder to place, with many families preferring infants or toddlers.
McCafferty said the program has drawn national and state attention.
"It's expensive, it's time-consuming," he said, "but it works."
At the same time, the county is working to keep families together.
The commissioners also voted to pay more than $900,000 to Beech Brook, a mental-health and treatment center in Pepper Pike, to work toward reuniting families and their children.
However, the cases are particularly difficult and the agency also works toward finding alternative families if a reunion seems unlikely.
Older children are harder to place
Mazzolini, Joan. Cleveland Plain Dealer, Feb. 23, 2007, pg. B3.
The number of Cuyahoga County children available for adoption has dropped by more than half in the last six years, but those still looking for permanent homes are older and harder to place.As a result, commissioners on Thursday agreed to spend nearly $1.8 million this year to expand a coordinated effort, called Adopt Cuyahoga's Kids, to find homes for the 916 children in permanent county custody.
The children, who are placed in county custody because of parental abuse or neglect, end up in foster care, group homes or with relatives on a temporary basis.
Cuyahoga County, the United Way and other local groups launched the program three years ago, targeting 656 kids who were 10 or older and who had been in the county's permanent custody for more than a year.
Coordinated by Adoption Network Cleveland, 14 adoption agencies researched the children's pasts in search of potential parents, such as distant relatives, teachers, coaches and other adults who had passed through the children's lives.
In addition to finding families for children, the Adopt Cuyahoga's Kids program helps guide prospective parents through the adoption process.
More than 300 of the children were adopted, but hundreds of others are still waiting. And some children turned 18 and left the system without being adopted.
"Sixty-seven percent of the kids are 9 years or older," said Jim McCafferty, director of the county's Children and Family services. McCafferty told the commissioners Thursday that the older children are much harder to place, with many families preferring infants or toddlers.
McCafferty said the program has drawn national and state attention.
"It's expensive, it's time-consuming," he said, "but it works."
At the same time, the county is working to keep families together.
The commissioners also voted to pay more than $900,000 to Beech Brook, a mental-health and treatment center in Pepper Pike, to work toward reuniting families and their children.
However, the cases are particularly difficult and the agency also works toward finding alternative families if a reunion seems unlikely.
Timeline regarding Marcus Fiesel's death
The Marcus case
Cincinnati Enquirer, Feb. 22, 2007, pg. A7.
The Marcus Fiesel case began the weekend of Aug. 4-6, when Marcus' foster parents, Liz and David Carroll Jr., their children and girlfriend Amy Baker went to a family reunion in Williamstown, Ky. Authorities later accused the Carrolls of murder, saying they had left Marcus wrapped in blankets and bound with tape, hands behind his back, in a closet while they were gone. When they returned Aug. 6, authorities say, Marcus was dead.
Aug. 3
Marcus Fiesel's social worker visits Liz and David Carroll Jr. and sees the Middletown boy for the last time.
Aug. 4
Liz and David Carroll Jr. leave their Union Township, Clermont County, home to attend a family reunion in Williamstown, Ky. Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters later says they left Marcus "restrained" in a closet in their home while they were gone.
Aug. 6
The Carrolls return home. Deters later says they found Marcus dead upon their return and that David Carroll Jr. took the child's body to Brown County and burned it.
Aug. 10
Marcus' social worker arrives at the Carroll home, but is told he is sick. The social worker leaves.
Aug. 15
A Hamilton County dispatcher receives a 911 call reporting a woman unconscious in Juilfs Park in Anderson Township, with three small children nearby. Liz Carroll tells EMTs her foster child, Marcus, is missing. A missing-child alert goes out in Anderson Township, and hundreds of volunteers show up for the search, which continues around the clock.
Aug. 16
Hundreds more volunteers join the search. Police search the Carrolls' home and remove some items. Liz Carroll talks to reporters from her hospital bed. She suggests park workers lost Marcus during her collapse. The volunteer search is called off at 8 p.m.
Aug. 17
Police bring in dive teams, police dogs and mounted officers. They urge anyone who saw Marcus in the park to come forward.
Aug. 19
The Carrolls move out of their Union Township home.
Aug. 21
Liz Carroll says her Clermont County day-care certificate was taken away.
Aug. 22
Police say Liz Carroll reported that a Lifeway For Youth caseworker saw Marcus on Aug. 10. She describes adults she saw in the park in the hope that someone saw Marcus. She says her husband failed a lie-detector test. She calls Marcus "my son. I know 100 percent he was at the park with me -- and my husband, myself, nobody harmed him."
Aug. 23
Police release more photos of Marcus. Clermont, Hamilton, Butler and Warren counties halt placements through Lifeway and remove some clients from Lifeway-trained foster parents.
Aug. 24
Butler County officials reveal that the caseworker who was supposed to see Marcus on Aug. 10 was told the boy was sick and the caseworker was turned away.
Aug. 25
Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis says he doubts Marcus is alive.
Aug. 28
Liz Carroll and Amy Baker, a live-in girlfriend, go before a Hamilton County grand jury. Liz and David Carroll Jr. are each indicted on one count of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of child endangering. David Carroll Jr. also faces one charge of abuse of a corpse. They are arrested and jailed. Investigators search in Brown County for the boy's remains.
Sept. 1
The state orders all counties to check on the safety of foster children who were placed through Lifeway For Youth.
Sept. 5
Donna Trevino, Marcus' birth mother, sues the Carrolls, Baker, Lifeway For Youth, Butler County commissioners and Butler County Children Ser vices for $5 million.
Sept. 6
Prosecutors in Clermont County file murder charges against the Carrolls, but say they won't seek the death penalty because the couple, who were receiving $1,000 a month from Butler County to care for Marcus, didn't intend to kill the boy.
Sept. 7
Hamilton County Coroner O'dell Owens says authorities recovered just 18 frail bones from the chimney where Marcus' body was burned.
Oct. 6
Prosecutors say the Carrolls routinely tied Marcus up with tape and a blanket and left him in a closet while they did their daily chores.
Oct. 31
A Hamilton County sheriff's deputy says during a court hearing that David Carroll was deceptive when given a lie-detector test on Aug. 16, the day after his wife reported Marcus missing.
Nov. 15
A Clermont County judge delays a court case on whether the Carrolls will keep custody of their four children until after their murder trials.
Nov. 27
State regulators slam Lifeway For Youth for its placement of Marcus with the Carrolls and call for stricter licensing requirements, better monitoring of foster children and increased state oversight of private agencies. The state later announces it will not renew Lifeway's license.
Dec. 19
Grand jury testimony from August is made public. In it, Liz Carroll told officials that girlfriend Amy Baker had come up with the plan that led to Marcus' death.
Jan. 17
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Ser vices notifies Lifeway For Youth that it intends to revoke its license to operate as a foster-care placement agency. That move would leave the care of more than 400 Ohio foster children in question.
Feb. 6
A Clermont County judge sets David Carroll Jr.'s murder trial for March 19, after he hires a private lawyer.
Feb. 12
Liz Carroll's murder trial is scheduled to begin in Clermont County.
Feb. 21
Jury finds Liz Carroll guilty of murder, involuntary manslaughter, kidnapping, felonious assault and three charges of child endangering.
Cincinnati Enquirer, Feb. 22, 2007, pg. A7.
The Marcus Fiesel case began the weekend of Aug. 4-6, when Marcus' foster parents, Liz and David Carroll Jr., their children and girlfriend Amy Baker went to a family reunion in Williamstown, Ky. Authorities later accused the Carrolls of murder, saying they had left Marcus wrapped in blankets and bound with tape, hands behind his back, in a closet while they were gone. When they returned Aug. 6, authorities say, Marcus was dead.
Aug. 3
Marcus Fiesel's social worker visits Liz and David Carroll Jr. and sees the Middletown boy for the last time.
Aug. 4
Liz and David Carroll Jr. leave their Union Township, Clermont County, home to attend a family reunion in Williamstown, Ky. Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters later says they left Marcus "restrained" in a closet in their home while they were gone.
Aug. 6
The Carrolls return home. Deters later says they found Marcus dead upon their return and that David Carroll Jr. took the child's body to Brown County and burned it.
Aug. 10
Marcus' social worker arrives at the Carroll home, but is told he is sick. The social worker leaves.
Aug. 15
A Hamilton County dispatcher receives a 911 call reporting a woman unconscious in Juilfs Park in Anderson Township, with three small children nearby. Liz Carroll tells EMTs her foster child, Marcus, is missing. A missing-child alert goes out in Anderson Township, and hundreds of volunteers show up for the search, which continues around the clock.
Aug. 16
Hundreds more volunteers join the search. Police search the Carrolls' home and remove some items. Liz Carroll talks to reporters from her hospital bed. She suggests park workers lost Marcus during her collapse. The volunteer search is called off at 8 p.m.
Aug. 17
Police bring in dive teams, police dogs and mounted officers. They urge anyone who saw Marcus in the park to come forward.
Aug. 19
The Carrolls move out of their Union Township home.
Aug. 21
Liz Carroll says her Clermont County day-care certificate was taken away.
Aug. 22
Police say Liz Carroll reported that a Lifeway For Youth caseworker saw Marcus on Aug. 10. She describes adults she saw in the park in the hope that someone saw Marcus. She says her husband failed a lie-detector test. She calls Marcus "my son. I know 100 percent he was at the park with me -- and my husband, myself, nobody harmed him."
Aug. 23
Police release more photos of Marcus. Clermont, Hamilton, Butler and Warren counties halt placements through Lifeway and remove some clients from Lifeway-trained foster parents.
Aug. 24
Butler County officials reveal that the caseworker who was supposed to see Marcus on Aug. 10 was told the boy was sick and the caseworker was turned away.
Aug. 25
Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis says he doubts Marcus is alive.
Aug. 28
Liz Carroll and Amy Baker, a live-in girlfriend, go before a Hamilton County grand jury. Liz and David Carroll Jr. are each indicted on one count of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of child endangering. David Carroll Jr. also faces one charge of abuse of a corpse. They are arrested and jailed. Investigators search in Brown County for the boy's remains.
Sept. 1
The state orders all counties to check on the safety of foster children who were placed through Lifeway For Youth.
Sept. 5
Donna Trevino, Marcus' birth mother, sues the Carrolls, Baker, Lifeway For Youth, Butler County commissioners and Butler County Children Ser vices for $5 million.
Sept. 6
Prosecutors in Clermont County file murder charges against the Carrolls, but say they won't seek the death penalty because the couple, who were receiving $1,000 a month from Butler County to care for Marcus, didn't intend to kill the boy.
Sept. 7
Hamilton County Coroner O'dell Owens says authorities recovered just 18 frail bones from the chimney where Marcus' body was burned.
Oct. 6
Prosecutors say the Carrolls routinely tied Marcus up with tape and a blanket and left him in a closet while they did their daily chores.
Oct. 31
A Hamilton County sheriff's deputy says during a court hearing that David Carroll was deceptive when given a lie-detector test on Aug. 16, the day after his wife reported Marcus missing.
Nov. 15
A Clermont County judge delays a court case on whether the Carrolls will keep custody of their four children until after their murder trials.
Nov. 27
State regulators slam Lifeway For Youth for its placement of Marcus with the Carrolls and call for stricter licensing requirements, better monitoring of foster children and increased state oversight of private agencies. The state later announces it will not renew Lifeway's license.
Dec. 19
Grand jury testimony from August is made public. In it, Liz Carroll told officials that girlfriend Amy Baker had come up with the plan that led to Marcus' death.
Jan. 17
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Ser vices notifies Lifeway For Youth that it intends to revoke its license to operate as a foster-care placement agency. That move would leave the care of more than 400 Ohio foster children in question.
Feb. 6
A Clermont County judge sets David Carroll Jr.'s murder trial for March 19, after he hires a private lawyer.
Feb. 12
Liz Carroll's murder trial is scheduled to begin in Clermont County.
Feb. 21
Jury finds Liz Carroll guilty of murder, involuntary manslaughter, kidnapping, felonious assault and three charges of child endangering.
Fool me once...
Ruse during search aided prosecution
Kinsey, Terry. Cincinnati Post, Feb. 22, 2007, pg. A1.
The Marcus Fiesel case first captured the tri-state's attention when thousands of people helped search for the boy last August.
It was that search -- and Liz Carroll's performance during it -- that prosecutors turned back to Wednesday in their closing arguments to persuade jurors Carroll should be convicted of murder.
"Her performance before all those cameras was something even grizzled veterans cannot do," Hamilton County Assistant Prosecutor Mark Piepmeier told the jury in closing arguments.
At the time of the search, Carroll's story was that her autistic 3-year-old foster child had wandered off or was snatched from Juilfs Park in Anderson Township after she fainted.
When police began to question her story, she held a tearful news conference and begged people to keep looking. She later admitted that she knew Marcus had died in a closet in her home.
After deliberating for five hours Wednesday, the jury found Carroll, 30, guilty of murder for causing the death of Fiesel, who was wrapped cocoon-like with a blanket and packing tape and left in the closet, where he died while Carroll went to a weekend family reunion in Williamstown, Ky.
Carroll also was found guilty on six other charges -- involuntary manslaughter, kidnapping, felonious assault and three counts of child endangerment. Her husband David Carroll, 29, is to be tried separately in March on the same charges as his wife, along with gross abuse of a corpse. Prosecutors allege that he burned the boy's body and dumped the remains in the Ohio River.
As authorities began to suspect that story about the boy's disappearance was a ruse, they got a break in the case. The Carrolls' live-in friend, Amy Baker, told investigators how the boy died, prosecutors said. They then called Liz Carroll to testify before a grand jury in Hamilton County.
At first, she stuck to her story that the boy had disappeared in a park, but subsequently admitted that she knew he had died in the closet. She did not testify in her trial, but prosecutors read her grand jury testimony to the jury.
Baker has not been charged, but acknowledged that she helped dispose of the child's body. Prosecutors agreed not to prosecute her in exchange for her testimony against the couple, unless evidence shows she had hands-on involvement in the boy's death.
Prosecutors said Marcus was hard to handle and needed constant attention. Baker testified that's why Liz Carroll didn't want to take him to the reunion and bound him, as the Carrolls had done before when they ran errands.
An investigation by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said the Carrolls were unqualified to care for Fiesel and cited failure to check references and inadequate home study and follow-up visits.
The state moved to revoke the license of Lifeway for Youth, a private agency that helped place the boy with the Carrolls, and Lifeway then ended its Ohio operations, which began in 1994.
The state report recommended increased training of foster parent applicants and those who assess them; thorough background checks that would include credit and residence histories; drug testing of applicants; more data-sharing among agencies, courts and law enforcement; and increased state staffing for foster-care oversight.
Legislators expect to work on reform measures this year.
Author: Terry Kinney, Associated Press
Section: News
Page: A1
Dateline: BATAVIA
Kinsey, Terry. Cincinnati Post, Feb. 22, 2007, pg. A1.
The Marcus Fiesel case first captured the tri-state's attention when thousands of people helped search for the boy last August.
It was that search -- and Liz Carroll's performance during it -- that prosecutors turned back to Wednesday in their closing arguments to persuade jurors Carroll should be convicted of murder.
"Her performance before all those cameras was something even grizzled veterans cannot do," Hamilton County Assistant Prosecutor Mark Piepmeier told the jury in closing arguments.
At the time of the search, Carroll's story was that her autistic 3-year-old foster child had wandered off or was snatched from Juilfs Park in Anderson Township after she fainted.
When police began to question her story, she held a tearful news conference and begged people to keep looking. She later admitted that she knew Marcus had died in a closet in her home.
After deliberating for five hours Wednesday, the jury found Carroll, 30, guilty of murder for causing the death of Fiesel, who was wrapped cocoon-like with a blanket and packing tape and left in the closet, where he died while Carroll went to a weekend family reunion in Williamstown, Ky.
Carroll also was found guilty on six other charges -- involuntary manslaughter, kidnapping, felonious assault and three counts of child endangerment. Her husband David Carroll, 29, is to be tried separately in March on the same charges as his wife, along with gross abuse of a corpse. Prosecutors allege that he burned the boy's body and dumped the remains in the Ohio River.
As authorities began to suspect that story about the boy's disappearance was a ruse, they got a break in the case. The Carrolls' live-in friend, Amy Baker, told investigators how the boy died, prosecutors said. They then called Liz Carroll to testify before a grand jury in Hamilton County.
At first, she stuck to her story that the boy had disappeared in a park, but subsequently admitted that she knew he had died in the closet. She did not testify in her trial, but prosecutors read her grand jury testimony to the jury.
Baker has not been charged, but acknowledged that she helped dispose of the child's body. Prosecutors agreed not to prosecute her in exchange for her testimony against the couple, unless evidence shows she had hands-on involvement in the boy's death.
Prosecutors said Marcus was hard to handle and needed constant attention. Baker testified that's why Liz Carroll didn't want to take him to the reunion and bound him, as the Carrolls had done before when they ran errands.
An investigation by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said the Carrolls were unqualified to care for Fiesel and cited failure to check references and inadequate home study and follow-up visits.
The state moved to revoke the license of Lifeway for Youth, a private agency that helped place the boy with the Carrolls, and Lifeway then ended its Ohio operations, which began in 1994.
The state report recommended increased training of foster parent applicants and those who assess them; thorough background checks that would include credit and residence histories; drug testing of applicants; more data-sharing among agencies, courts and law enforcement; and increased state staffing for foster-care oversight.
Legislators expect to work on reform measures this year.
Author: Terry Kinney, Associated Press
Section: News
Page: A1
Dateline: BATAVIA
Yes, Audrey Sims, Liz is your child - and her actions led to the death of Marcus
Liz Carroll to be sentenced today
Her mother yells after the verdict is read, saying key witness is guilty in child's death
Greber, Dave. Dayton Daily News, Feb. 22, 2007, pg. A7.
BATAVIA — The jury foreman in Liz Carroll's criminal trial said the Clermont County Common Pleas panel convicted the foster mother based on her statement to a grand jury, and not the testimony of the prosecution's key witness.
"We were ready and wanted to hear Liz's case. But we feel her defense was unimpressive and disappointing," jury foreman Paul Brownstead told a Cincinnati TV station Wednesday after the jury convicted Carroll of murder and other charges in the death of 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel.
"If Liz Carroll was not guilty, we were fine with that. I feel sorry for Liz that Mr. (defense attorney Gregory) Cohen didn't put up a fight. Our verdict came from her grand jury statement, not from testimony from Amy Baker."
Carroll, who told a grand jury she helped bind the child, is to be sentenced this morning for causing Marcus' death. She could get at least 15 years to life in prison on charges of murder and other felonies for leaving Marcus bound and in a playpen in a closet last August while she traveled to a family reunion in Kentucky.
Carroll's mother, Audrey Sims, stared blankly at her daughter as Judge Robert P. Ringland read the verdict and the jurors were led from the courtroom. Her body flailing, Sims shrieked at the empty jury box.
"She's my child!" Sims screamed over and over.
It's not known whether jurors heard Sims — each declined comment — but her yelling could be heard through two sets of wooden doors guarded by county deputies. Family members escorted Sims outside.
"That's my child. It was Amy (Baker) who did it. Don't nobody care that Amy did it. None of you care!" Sims howled. - IGNORANT WOMAN
Baker, 25, was the prosecution's key witness and the livein girlfriend of Liz and David Carroll Jr. She testified that she helped David Carroll dispose of Marcus' remains. She has immunity from criminal charges so long as she had no responsibility for his death.
Cohen said he plans to appeal the verdict in the 12th District Court of Appeals in Middletown.
Prosecutors Daniel "Woody" Breyer of Clermont County and Mark Piepmeier of Hamilton County declined comment after the case. Ringland imposed a gag order on all three attorneys.
Marcus' biological mother, Donna Trevino of Middletown, could not be reached for comment.
In his summation, Piepmeier said Liz Carroll disobeyed her duty to Marcus as a foster parent. Their foster care application instructed that Marcus should never be left alone because of his history of wandering off.
Liz Carroll disregarded that order and left the child alone in their Union Twp. home, bound and stuffed in a closet for more than 36 hours, Piepmeier said.
"And what makes it more troubling and incomprehensible is when it happens at the hands of his mother."
He painted a picture of isolation, the kind of loneliness experienced by an abandoned child.
"One of the things that came out of this case is how Marcus loved to hug," Piepmeier told the jury. "When we think of a child in his last moments, and at some point, probably late Saturday, Marcus was drawing his last breath, kicking his little feet for the last time …
"And if there's any time a child need his mom to hug him, it's then. And all he had hugging him at that point was a little mummy cocoon blanket that they left him in."
Cohen, as he had done in his opening remarks, attempted to discredit Baker's testimony. He reminded the jury of David Carroll's involvement and portrayed Liz Carroll as a victim.
David Carroll, 29, is to be tried in March on the same charges as his wife, along with gross abuse of a corpse.
Cohen also answered criticism that followed his cross examination of Baker, which failed to expose certain details of her troubled life that includes violence and affairs.
"They (the state) bring you Amy Baker," Cohen said. "And everybody expects me to pound on Amy. Why do I have to pound on Amy Baker?"
He described Liz Carroll as "a beaten-down woman trying to protect her family and protect David. She did a miserable job on both accounts."
Her mother yells after the verdict is read, saying key witness is guilty in child's death
Greber, Dave. Dayton Daily News, Feb. 22, 2007, pg. A7.
BATAVIA — The jury foreman in Liz Carroll's criminal trial said the Clermont County Common Pleas panel convicted the foster mother based on her statement to a grand jury, and not the testimony of the prosecution's key witness.
"We were ready and wanted to hear Liz's case. But we feel her defense was unimpressive and disappointing," jury foreman Paul Brownstead told a Cincinnati TV station Wednesday after the jury convicted Carroll of murder and other charges in the death of 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel.
"If Liz Carroll was not guilty, we were fine with that. I feel sorry for Liz that Mr. (defense attorney Gregory) Cohen didn't put up a fight. Our verdict came from her grand jury statement, not from testimony from Amy Baker."
Carroll, who told a grand jury she helped bind the child, is to be sentenced this morning for causing Marcus' death. She could get at least 15 years to life in prison on charges of murder and other felonies for leaving Marcus bound and in a playpen in a closet last August while she traveled to a family reunion in Kentucky.
Carroll's mother, Audrey Sims, stared blankly at her daughter as Judge Robert P. Ringland read the verdict and the jurors were led from the courtroom. Her body flailing, Sims shrieked at the empty jury box.
"She's my child!" Sims screamed over and over.
It's not known whether jurors heard Sims — each declined comment — but her yelling could be heard through two sets of wooden doors guarded by county deputies. Family members escorted Sims outside.
"That's my child. It was Amy (Baker) who did it. Don't nobody care that Amy did it. None of you care!" Sims howled. - IGNORANT WOMAN
Baker, 25, was the prosecution's key witness and the livein girlfriend of Liz and David Carroll Jr. She testified that she helped David Carroll dispose of Marcus' remains. She has immunity from criminal charges so long as she had no responsibility for his death.
Cohen said he plans to appeal the verdict in the 12th District Court of Appeals in Middletown.
Prosecutors Daniel "Woody" Breyer of Clermont County and Mark Piepmeier of Hamilton County declined comment after the case. Ringland imposed a gag order on all three attorneys.
Marcus' biological mother, Donna Trevino of Middletown, could not be reached for comment.
In his summation, Piepmeier said Liz Carroll disobeyed her duty to Marcus as a foster parent. Their foster care application instructed that Marcus should never be left alone because of his history of wandering off.
Liz Carroll disregarded that order and left the child alone in their Union Twp. home, bound and stuffed in a closet for more than 36 hours, Piepmeier said.
"And what makes it more troubling and incomprehensible is when it happens at the hands of his mother."
He painted a picture of isolation, the kind of loneliness experienced by an abandoned child.
"One of the things that came out of this case is how Marcus loved to hug," Piepmeier told the jury. "When we think of a child in his last moments, and at some point, probably late Saturday, Marcus was drawing his last breath, kicking his little feet for the last time …
"And if there's any time a child need his mom to hug him, it's then. And all he had hugging him at that point was a little mummy cocoon blanket that they left him in."
Cohen, as he had done in his opening remarks, attempted to discredit Baker's testimony. He reminded the jury of David Carroll's involvement and portrayed Liz Carroll as a victim.
David Carroll, 29, is to be tried in March on the same charges as his wife, along with gross abuse of a corpse.
Cohen also answered criticism that followed his cross examination of Baker, which failed to expose certain details of her troubled life that includes violence and affairs.
"They (the state) bring you Amy Baker," Cohen said. "And everybody expects me to pound on Amy. Why do I have to pound on Amy Baker?"
He described Liz Carroll as "a beaten-down woman trying to protect her family and protect David. She did a miserable job on both accounts."
The Liz Carroll who cried wolf
Suspect doesn't take stand
Defense rests in trial of foster mother accused of killing 3-year-old boy
Kinney, Terry, Akron Beacon Journal, February 21, 2007, pg. B5.
A woman accused of leaving her 3-year-old foster son bound in a closet, where he died, declined on Tuesday to tell her story on the witness stand.The defense rested in Liz Carroll's murder trial after presenting only one witness.
Defense attorney Gregory Cohen said there were fears that Carroll might not be able to handle a vigorous cross-examination.
"You can't put someone who appears to be a beaten-down wife against two experienced prosecutors," Cohen said, after the jury was dismissed for the day.
The defense has portrayed her as a compliant wife intimidated into going along with her bully husband and his live-in lover.
Prosecutors allege that Marcus Fiesel, the Carroll's developmentally disabled foster child, was left behind purposely in August when she and her husband went to a family reunion in Kentucky.
The only defense witness was Carroll's uncle Ronnie Sims, who helped establish a timeline for when the Carrolls and their live-in companion arrived at the reunion and when they left the next morning.
Earlier Tuesday, prosecutors had Carroll's Aug. 28 statements to a grand jury read aloud in the courtroom. She initially stuck to her story that the boy had disappeared in a park, but subsequently told the grand jury that she knew he had died in the closet at home.
Carroll, 30, is charged with murder because prosecutors say she caused Marcus' death, though unintentionally, by leaving him bound in a blanket and packing tape.
Closing arguments were scheduled for Wednesday morning in Clermont County Common Pleas Court.
Cohen told Judge Robert Ringland that the decision not to have Carroll testify was made after he conferred privately with her.
"She was satisfied with the decision," Cohen said afterward. He declined to say whether he had advised Carroll not to testify.
Her husband, David Carroll Jr., is to be tried separately next month. The Carrolls' companion, Amy Baker, was the prosecution's main witness in the trial.
Baker has not been charged, but acknowledged in testimony Monday taking part in helping burn the child's body. Prosecutors agreed not to prosecute Baker in exchange for her testimony, but have told jurors that Baker will not get immunity if she had any hands-on involvement in the boy's death.
The Carrolls have pleaded not guilty to murder, kidnapping, involuntary manslaughter, felonious assault and child endangering. The case has led to calls for reform in Ohio's foster care system.
The Carrolls also face trial on lesser charges, including perjury and inducing panic, in neighboring Hamilton County, where they initially said the boy wandered away or was taken from a public park.
In her grand jury testimony, Liz Carroll initially said her foster son and three other children with her had romped in a park in suburban Cincinnati, but that he was gone after she passed out.
Under questioning, she acknowledged that she knew he was dead, but said she didn't intend to harm him.
Defense rests in trial of foster mother accused of killing 3-year-old boy
Kinney, Terry, Akron Beacon Journal, February 21, 2007, pg. B5.
A woman accused of leaving her 3-year-old foster son bound in a closet, where he died, declined on Tuesday to tell her story on the witness stand.The defense rested in Liz Carroll's murder trial after presenting only one witness.
Defense attorney Gregory Cohen said there were fears that Carroll might not be able to handle a vigorous cross-examination.
"You can't put someone who appears to be a beaten-down wife against two experienced prosecutors," Cohen said, after the jury was dismissed for the day.
The defense has portrayed her as a compliant wife intimidated into going along with her bully husband and his live-in lover.
Prosecutors allege that Marcus Fiesel, the Carroll's developmentally disabled foster child, was left behind purposely in August when she and her husband went to a family reunion in Kentucky.
The only defense witness was Carroll's uncle Ronnie Sims, who helped establish a timeline for when the Carrolls and their live-in companion arrived at the reunion and when they left the next morning.
Earlier Tuesday, prosecutors had Carroll's Aug. 28 statements to a grand jury read aloud in the courtroom. She initially stuck to her story that the boy had disappeared in a park, but subsequently told the grand jury that she knew he had died in the closet at home.
Carroll, 30, is charged with murder because prosecutors say she caused Marcus' death, though unintentionally, by leaving him bound in a blanket and packing tape.
Closing arguments were scheduled for Wednesday morning in Clermont County Common Pleas Court.
Cohen told Judge Robert Ringland that the decision not to have Carroll testify was made after he conferred privately with her.
"She was satisfied with the decision," Cohen said afterward. He declined to say whether he had advised Carroll not to testify.
Her husband, David Carroll Jr., is to be tried separately next month. The Carrolls' companion, Amy Baker, was the prosecution's main witness in the trial.
Baker has not been charged, but acknowledged in testimony Monday taking part in helping burn the child's body. Prosecutors agreed not to prosecute Baker in exchange for her testimony, but have told jurors that Baker will not get immunity if she had any hands-on involvement in the boy's death.
The Carrolls have pleaded not guilty to murder, kidnapping, involuntary manslaughter, felonious assault and child endangering. The case has led to calls for reform in Ohio's foster care system.
The Carrolls also face trial on lesser charges, including perjury and inducing panic, in neighboring Hamilton County, where they initially said the boy wandered away or was taken from a public park.
In her grand jury testimony, Liz Carroll initially said her foster son and three other children with her had romped in a park in suburban Cincinnati, but that he was gone after she passed out.
Under questioning, she acknowledged that she knew he was dead, but said she didn't intend to harm him.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Learn more about New York's Children's Aid Society
Editorial: Aging out of foster care
Toledo Blade - Toledo,OH,USA
MOST teenagers look forward to turning 18 and going to college or moving out on their own. But for many foster-care children, the prospect of becoming a legal adult is more intimidating than exciting.
Many of them have nowhere to go, no way to support themselves, and no one to help them figure out what to do with their lives.
American foster-care systems do the best they can to provide for children who must be away from their parents or families. But the systems have serious weaknesses, and among them is the increasing demand for them to do more to help the 20,000 children who "age out" of foster care every year and are no longer eligible - or welcome - to stay in foster homes.
If society forces these new young adults to fend for themselves, the social ills surrounding the issue will become more burdensome to society.
Most foster children do not finish high school. Most don't have jobs. Most don't have a home to call their own. Many have health problems and higher rates of arrest, and are more likely to depend on welfare than their peers of the same age who live with their own families.
Foster care focuses on providing safety and protection to its young charges. Many times they are taken out of their homes because they were being abused or neglected, or in danger of becoming such victims. And while foster care agencies provide for children's material needs, most do little or nothing to prepare them for adulthood.
Certainly some of the teenagers manage to get up on their own two feet by themselves. But that's not the norm. When most leave foster care, they walk into lives of uncertainty, destitution, and marginalization.
Among the efforts to bridge the gap between childhood and adulthood is New York's Children's Aid Society. It provides information on housing, education, jobs, health care, and legal matters. There are also attempts to put former foster care children in contact with an adult willing to provide direction and support.
In Michigan, Supreme Court Justice Maura Corrigan, a longtime champion of foster children, co-chaired a task force last year that was designed to come up with better ways to help foster teenagers who were aging out. But Michigan, Ohio, and other states need to do more.
Solving the problem will be an awesome, and perhaps expensive, task. But society owes these young adults. Their difficult beginnings were not of their making. If we don't help them now, their lives will be ruined, and in every way, the burden on society will increase.
Toledo Blade - Toledo,OH,USA
MOST teenagers look forward to turning 18 and going to college or moving out on their own. But for many foster-care children, the prospect of becoming a legal adult is more intimidating than exciting.
Many of them have nowhere to go, no way to support themselves, and no one to help them figure out what to do with their lives.
American foster-care systems do the best they can to provide for children who must be away from their parents or families. But the systems have serious weaknesses, and among them is the increasing demand for them to do more to help the 20,000 children who "age out" of foster care every year and are no longer eligible - or welcome - to stay in foster homes.
If society forces these new young adults to fend for themselves, the social ills surrounding the issue will become more burdensome to society.
Most foster children do not finish high school. Most don't have jobs. Most don't have a home to call their own. Many have health problems and higher rates of arrest, and are more likely to depend on welfare than their peers of the same age who live with their own families.
Foster care focuses on providing safety and protection to its young charges. Many times they are taken out of their homes because they were being abused or neglected, or in danger of becoming such victims. And while foster care agencies provide for children's material needs, most do little or nothing to prepare them for adulthood.
Certainly some of the teenagers manage to get up on their own two feet by themselves. But that's not the norm. When most leave foster care, they walk into lives of uncertainty, destitution, and marginalization.
Among the efforts to bridge the gap between childhood and adulthood is New York's Children's Aid Society. It provides information on housing, education, jobs, health care, and legal matters. There are also attempts to put former foster care children in contact with an adult willing to provide direction and support.
In Michigan, Supreme Court Justice Maura Corrigan, a longtime champion of foster children, co-chaired a task force last year that was designed to come up with better ways to help foster teenagers who were aging out. But Michigan, Ohio, and other states need to do more.
Solving the problem will be an awesome, and perhaps expensive, task. But society owes these young adults. Their difficult beginnings were not of their making. If we don't help them now, their lives will be ruined, and in every way, the burden on society will increase.
If you cannot handle 11 special needs children, you should not adopt them
Parents get 2 years for using cages
Mother defends actions; boy says he is 'thankful' to be in new foster home
Grand Rapids Press,Feb 16, 2007, pg. A5
NORWALK, Ohio -- Sharen and Michael Gravelle pleaded for understanding at their sentencing hearing Thursday, saying they had some of their 11 adopted, special-needs children sleep in wire-and- wood cages to help control their destructive behavior.
"What do you do with these kids?" Michael Gravelle asked. "I prayed constantly for the answer."
One of the children wanted to jump out a second-floor window, Sharen Gravelle said. "Would you prefer that we let them jump? Either way, we'd be here. The difference is they're still alive," she said.
As the couple was sentenced to two years in prison, a boy and a girl, sitting elbow to elbow in the courtroom, smiled.
"I'm thankful that part of my life is behind me," the boy said in a statement read earlier in the hearing.
He wrote he is thankful he has new foster parents. "Because of them, I don't have to steal food. I can use the bathroom whenever I want. Never again will I have to sleep in a box."
The 11 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 Gravelles' home in Wakeman, about 60 miles west of Cleveland. They were placed in foster care in fall 2005 and the couple lost custody last March.
The judge ordered that names and other information, including ages, of the two children who appeared in court be kept confidential to protect their privacy.
Michael Gravelle said the enclosures resulted from the suggestions of a social workers, who recommended strict rules to improve the children's behavior.
"I'm begging you," Michael Gravelle told the judge. "I do not deserve jail."
The girl said the Gravelles "are grown adults who know the difference between right and wrong. So I ask that they get as much time in jail for as long as my siblings had to be in cages."
Mother defends actions; boy says he is 'thankful' to be in new foster home
Grand Rapids Press,Feb 16, 2007, pg. A5
NORWALK, Ohio -- Sharen and Michael Gravelle pleaded for understanding at their sentencing hearing Thursday, saying they had some of their 11 adopted, special-needs children sleep in wire-and- wood cages to help control their destructive behavior.
"What do you do with these kids?" Michael Gravelle asked. "I prayed constantly for the answer."
One of the children wanted to jump out a second-floor window, Sharen Gravelle said. "Would you prefer that we let them jump? Either way, we'd be here. The difference is they're still alive," she said.
As the couple was sentenced to two years in prison, a boy and a girl, sitting elbow to elbow in the courtroom, smiled.
"I'm thankful that part of my life is behind me," the boy said in a statement read earlier in the hearing.
He wrote he is thankful he has new foster parents. "Because of them, I don't have to steal food. I can use the bathroom whenever I want. Never again will I have to sleep in a box."
The 11 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 Gravelles' home in Wakeman, about 60 miles west of Cleveland. They were placed in foster care in fall 2005 and the couple lost custody last March.
The judge ordered that names and other information, including ages, of the two children who appeared in court be kept confidential to protect their privacy.
Michael Gravelle said the enclosures resulted from the suggestions of a social workers, who recommended strict rules to improve the children's behavior.
"I'm begging you," Michael Gravelle told the judge. "I do not deserve jail."
The girl said the Gravelles "are grown adults who know the difference between right and wrong. So I ask that they get as much time in jail for as long as my siblings had to be in cages."
Imagine spending 81 days in a bathroom
Gravelles get 2-year terms for caged-kids case
Parents' sentence won't begin until expected appeals are over
Sielicki, Jim. Toledo Blade, Feb, 16, 2007, pg. A1.
NORWALK, Ohio - Michael and Sharen Gravelle, convicted in December of forcing some of their 11 adopted children to sleep in caged beds, were each sentenced yesterday to two years in state prison.
They were given a temporary reprieve from heading to prison, though, when Judge Earl McGimpsey delayed the sentences pending outcome of their expected appeal.
The Huron County Common Pleas judge ordered the Gravelles to serve two-year sentences on each of the four felony convictions for child endangering and six months on each of the seven misdemeanors they were convicted of, five of which involved child abuse and two child endangering. The judge then ordered the individual sentences to be served at the same time.
Two of the couple's former children, in statements read to the court, asked the judge to hand down the maximum sentence.
"What the Gravelles did was wrong," one of their daughters said in her statement. The court has ordered that the 11 children removed from the Gravelle home in Sept., 2005, not be identified during the proceedings. They ranged in age from 1 to 14 years when removed from the Gravelles' care.
"They are grown adults who know the difference between right and wrong. So I ask that they get as much time in jail for as long as my siblings had to be in cages," the daughter also wrote.
The Gravelles, who live outside Wakeman in northeast Huron County, were ordered to pay $11,230 in restitution to cover the cost of counseling the children have received since they were removed from the home by Huron County sheriff's deputies.
The parents lost custody of their children a year ago after juvenile court proceedings, which the Gravelles have appealed.
A common pleas jury convicted the Gravelles on Dec. 22 after listening to three weeks of testimony that included some from their children who told how their parents shoved their heads down a toilet and flushed it, beat them with sticks and boards, and hosed them off outside the house in winter.
The girl said she didn't hate her parents. Her biological brother, however, did not share that sentiment.
Outside the courtroom, the teenager, the eldest of the 11 children, said, "I hate them."
"They should have gotten their hands cuffed today," he said.
The Gravelles had forced the boy to sleep in a bathroom for 81 days because of bedwetting.
Prosecutor Russ Leffler, who recommended a minimum 12 years in prison, said he was disappointed with the sentence.
"It wasn't long enough," he said, but added, "The children are out of there for good."
"They knew what they were doing was not correct," the prosecutor said, recalling testimony from a child who told of Sharen Gravelle becoming angry after a county social worker showed up at the home hours before the children were removed.
In addressing the court, the defendants maintained they had their children's best interests at heart.
Michael Gravelle recalled the drive the couple made to pick up their first adopted child, a 55-day-old infant, and their tears of joy at finally having a child of their own.
"We felt we were being led by the Lord," he said in a soft voice before sentencing.
As he went on to defend his and his wife's actions, Gravelle began speaking louder, with the firm voice of a preacher as he spread his arms and gestured for emphasis.
The children's disruptive behavior - jumping from windows, defecating, and urinating into heater vents - forced the couple to seek outside help and to use strict discipline.
"I'm telling you," he implored, "I do not deserve jail."
His wife, who paused to gain composure throughout her statement, also cited the couple's inability to receive help beyond additional money for their children's care. She said county agencies were unresponsive to their call for help in trying to discipline the children.
She said the caged beds, made out of wood and wire, were needed to keep the children safe at night and prevent them from serious injuries by jumping from the second-floor window, repeating the couple's defense throughout the trial.
"The beds were not a punishment, no matter what was said," she said.
"I'd be here [in court] either way, whether we built them or not."
In imposing his sentence, Judge McGimpsey cited "positions of trust as parents" in his reasoning for the prison terms.
"Remember, the case was not just about enclosed beds," the judge said, citing the humiliation the Gravelles forced on their children with harsh discipline.
In explaining his decision to stay sentencing, Judge McGimpsey took note of conflicting rulings in other courts regarding the definition of child abuse and the use of expert testimony when weighing the potential for psychological harm a child faces.
As the judge noted during the trial, an appellate court must sort out those conflicts before the Gravelles' sentence should begin.
The couple are free on a recognizance bond and ordered to file their appeal before April. 2.
He also told the couple they could seek early release after serving six months of their sentence.
They had faced a maximum five years and a maximum $10,000 fine for each felony conviction.
Co-defense attorney Richard Drucker said he was pleased with most of the outcome.
"I don't like the two-year part," he said.
"But we're happy they're free while it's appealed. We will win this on appeal."
Parents' sentence won't begin until expected appeals are over
Sielicki, Jim. Toledo Blade, Feb, 16, 2007, pg. A1.
NORWALK, Ohio - Michael and Sharen Gravelle, convicted in December of forcing some of their 11 adopted children to sleep in caged beds, were each sentenced yesterday to two years in state prison.
They were given a temporary reprieve from heading to prison, though, when Judge Earl McGimpsey delayed the sentences pending outcome of their expected appeal.
The Huron County Common Pleas judge ordered the Gravelles to serve two-year sentences on each of the four felony convictions for child endangering and six months on each of the seven misdemeanors they were convicted of, five of which involved child abuse and two child endangering. The judge then ordered the individual sentences to be served at the same time.
Two of the couple's former children, in statements read to the court, asked the judge to hand down the maximum sentence.
"What the Gravelles did was wrong," one of their daughters said in her statement. The court has ordered that the 11 children removed from the Gravelle home in Sept., 2005, not be identified during the proceedings. They ranged in age from 1 to 14 years when removed from the Gravelles' care.
"They are grown adults who know the difference between right and wrong. So I ask that they get as much time in jail for as long as my siblings had to be in cages," the daughter also wrote.
The Gravelles, who live outside Wakeman in northeast Huron County, were ordered to pay $11,230 in restitution to cover the cost of counseling the children have received since they were removed from the home by Huron County sheriff's deputies.
The parents lost custody of their children a year ago after juvenile court proceedings, which the Gravelles have appealed.
A common pleas jury convicted the Gravelles on Dec. 22 after listening to three weeks of testimony that included some from their children who told how their parents shoved their heads down a toilet and flushed it, beat them with sticks and boards, and hosed them off outside the house in winter.
The girl said she didn't hate her parents. Her biological brother, however, did not share that sentiment.
Outside the courtroom, the teenager, the eldest of the 11 children, said, "I hate them."
"They should have gotten their hands cuffed today," he said.
The Gravelles had forced the boy to sleep in a bathroom for 81 days because of bedwetting.
Prosecutor Russ Leffler, who recommended a minimum 12 years in prison, said he was disappointed with the sentence.
"It wasn't long enough," he said, but added, "The children are out of there for good."
"They knew what they were doing was not correct," the prosecutor said, recalling testimony from a child who told of Sharen Gravelle becoming angry after a county social worker showed up at the home hours before the children were removed.
In addressing the court, the defendants maintained they had their children's best interests at heart.
Michael Gravelle recalled the drive the couple made to pick up their first adopted child, a 55-day-old infant, and their tears of joy at finally having a child of their own.
"We felt we were being led by the Lord," he said in a soft voice before sentencing.
As he went on to defend his and his wife's actions, Gravelle began speaking louder, with the firm voice of a preacher as he spread his arms and gestured for emphasis.
The children's disruptive behavior - jumping from windows, defecating, and urinating into heater vents - forced the couple to seek outside help and to use strict discipline.
"I'm telling you," he implored, "I do not deserve jail."
His wife, who paused to gain composure throughout her statement, also cited the couple's inability to receive help beyond additional money for their children's care. She said county agencies were unresponsive to their call for help in trying to discipline the children.
She said the caged beds, made out of wood and wire, were needed to keep the children safe at night and prevent them from serious injuries by jumping from the second-floor window, repeating the couple's defense throughout the trial.
"The beds were not a punishment, no matter what was said," she said.
"I'd be here [in court] either way, whether we built them or not."
In imposing his sentence, Judge McGimpsey cited "positions of trust as parents" in his reasoning for the prison terms.
"Remember, the case was not just about enclosed beds," the judge said, citing the humiliation the Gravelles forced on their children with harsh discipline.
In explaining his decision to stay sentencing, Judge McGimpsey took note of conflicting rulings in other courts regarding the definition of child abuse and the use of expert testimony when weighing the potential for psychological harm a child faces.
As the judge noted during the trial, an appellate court must sort out those conflicts before the Gravelles' sentence should begin.
The couple are free on a recognizance bond and ordered to file their appeal before April. 2.
He also told the couple they could seek early release after serving six months of their sentence.
They had faced a maximum five years and a maximum $10,000 fine for each felony conviction.
Co-defense attorney Richard Drucker said he was pleased with most of the outcome.
"I don't like the two-year part," he said.
"But we're happy they're free while it's appealed. We will win this on appeal."
She said, she said; Liz Carroll and Amy Baker accuse each other
Baker may take stand Monday
Live-in girlfriend will tell her version of Liz Carroll's role in Marcus' death
Brunsman, Barrett. Cincinnati Enquirer, Feb. 18, 2007, pg. A1.
BATAVIA - Liz Carroll and Amy Baker were the kind of girlfriends who shared everything.
That included a house, a man and - for a while - the secret about the disappearance of Carroll's 3-year-old foster son, Marcus Fiesel.
Now, the main thing they have in common is that they blame each other for killing the developmentally delayed child.
On Monday, in a courtroom in Clermont County, Baker is expected to testify as the prosecution's key witness in the murder trial of Carroll, 30.
"I can't wait to get Amy Baker on the witness stand," the defense attorney for Carroll, Gregory Cohen, told The Enquirer.
He made the statement before a gag order was placed on lawyers in the case in September by Judge Robert Ringland of the Clermont County Court of Common Pleas.
After the trial resumes at 9 a.m., it's possible jurors will also hear testimony from Baker's mother, Theresa Chapman, of Amelia. Cohen had a subpoena issued for her, demanding that she appear at the courthouse on Monday morning.
Also subpoenaed by Cohen - but now unlikely to testify - is news reporter Deborah Dixon, who has been covering the trial for WKRC-TV (Channel 12).
Dixon said Saturday, a day after being subpoenaed, that Cohen has told her she will not be needed.
On Friday, the prosecution showed two hours of video news clips to jurors, including an interview Dixon conducted with the Carrolls before it was learned Marcus had died.
Clermont County Assistant Prosecutor Daniel "Woody" Breyer and Hamilton County Assistant Prosecutor Mark Piepmeier are expected to finish presenting evidence against Carroll by Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning.
Then, Cohen will start presenting the defense case, which would finish on Tuesday.
All three lawyers are expected to make closing arguments. It's unclear which prosecutor will speak first, but Cohen will follow him. Either Breyer or Piepmeier will have the last word.
The jurors have been allowed to go home each night and ordered by the judge to ignore news accounts of the case and not discuss the case with anyone.
A murder conviction could carry a life sentence - with no possibility of parole for 15 years. In addition to murder, Liz Carroll is charged with involuntary manslaughter, kidnapping, felonious assault, and endangering a child in Clermont County.
Carroll could testify this week, but Cohen has told jurors they shouldn't take it as a sign of guilt if Carroll doesn't.
If she does take the witness stand, it might be because Cohen thinks the only hope of avoiding a guilty verdict is if Carroll can persuade jurors she was a loving homemaker who was led astray.
Cohen has already told the jury that David Carroll Jr., 29, was an unfaithful, abusive husband with a bipolar disorder.
The defense attorney told jurors that Baker intimidated and dominated Liz Carroll after David Carroll invited Baker and her three children to move into their Union Township home. The Carrolls cared for four children of their own, plus Marcus and another foster child.
If Liz Carroll testifies, the prosecution might call to the witness stand two Enquirer reporters - Eileen Kelley and Sheila McLaughlin - in an attempt to show Carroll has repeatedly changed her story about Marcus. The reporters wrote stories based on interviews in jail with the Carrolls in which both claimed Baker killed Marcus.
Prosecutors say Marcus died after the Carrolls bound him in a blanket with packing tape, placed the boy in a playpen in a closet, then left him alone the weekend of Aug. 4 while attending a family reunion in Grant County, Ky.
Even if the Carrolls didn't bind Marcus, they could be found guilty if it's proved he died because they left him alone - in violation of their responsibilities as foster parents.
The Carrolls told The Enquirer that Marcus died before they left for the reunion, after Baker bound him so she could have sex with David Carroll while Liz Carroll wasn't home.
On Friday, a playpen was introduced as evidence. Baker is expected to testify Monday that it's the one in which Marcus died.
Baker, 25, avoided charges for her role in the cover-up of the death of Marcus in exchange for testifying against the Carrolls. David Carroll's trial is scheduled to begin March 19.
Baker's deal with prosecutors depends on no evidence arising that she helped kill Marcus.
Prosecutors have stressed to jurors that sometimes unsavory people are given immunity because they are the only ones who can explain how somebody was killed.
Live-in girlfriend will tell her version of Liz Carroll's role in Marcus' death
Brunsman, Barrett. Cincinnati Enquirer, Feb. 18, 2007, pg. A1.
BATAVIA - Liz Carroll and Amy Baker were the kind of girlfriends who shared everything.
That included a house, a man and - for a while - the secret about the disappearance of Carroll's 3-year-old foster son, Marcus Fiesel.
Now, the main thing they have in common is that they blame each other for killing the developmentally delayed child.
On Monday, in a courtroom in Clermont County, Baker is expected to testify as the prosecution's key witness in the murder trial of Carroll, 30.
"I can't wait to get Amy Baker on the witness stand," the defense attorney for Carroll, Gregory Cohen, told The Enquirer.
He made the statement before a gag order was placed on lawyers in the case in September by Judge Robert Ringland of the Clermont County Court of Common Pleas.
After the trial resumes at 9 a.m., it's possible jurors will also hear testimony from Baker's mother, Theresa Chapman, of Amelia. Cohen had a subpoena issued for her, demanding that she appear at the courthouse on Monday morning.
Also subpoenaed by Cohen - but now unlikely to testify - is news reporter Deborah Dixon, who has been covering the trial for WKRC-TV (Channel 12).
Dixon said Saturday, a day after being subpoenaed, that Cohen has told her she will not be needed.
On Friday, the prosecution showed two hours of video news clips to jurors, including an interview Dixon conducted with the Carrolls before it was learned Marcus had died.
Clermont County Assistant Prosecutor Daniel "Woody" Breyer and Hamilton County Assistant Prosecutor Mark Piepmeier are expected to finish presenting evidence against Carroll by Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning.
Then, Cohen will start presenting the defense case, which would finish on Tuesday.
All three lawyers are expected to make closing arguments. It's unclear which prosecutor will speak first, but Cohen will follow him. Either Breyer or Piepmeier will have the last word.
The jurors have been allowed to go home each night and ordered by the judge to ignore news accounts of the case and not discuss the case with anyone.
A murder conviction could carry a life sentence - with no possibility of parole for 15 years. In addition to murder, Liz Carroll is charged with involuntary manslaughter, kidnapping, felonious assault, and endangering a child in Clermont County.
Carroll could testify this week, but Cohen has told jurors they shouldn't take it as a sign of guilt if Carroll doesn't.
If she does take the witness stand, it might be because Cohen thinks the only hope of avoiding a guilty verdict is if Carroll can persuade jurors she was a loving homemaker who was led astray.
Cohen has already told the jury that David Carroll Jr., 29, was an unfaithful, abusive husband with a bipolar disorder.
The defense attorney told jurors that Baker intimidated and dominated Liz Carroll after David Carroll invited Baker and her three children to move into their Union Township home. The Carrolls cared for four children of their own, plus Marcus and another foster child.
If Liz Carroll testifies, the prosecution might call to the witness stand two Enquirer reporters - Eileen Kelley and Sheila McLaughlin - in an attempt to show Carroll has repeatedly changed her story about Marcus. The reporters wrote stories based on interviews in jail with the Carrolls in which both claimed Baker killed Marcus.
Prosecutors say Marcus died after the Carrolls bound him in a blanket with packing tape, placed the boy in a playpen in a closet, then left him alone the weekend of Aug. 4 while attending a family reunion in Grant County, Ky.
Even if the Carrolls didn't bind Marcus, they could be found guilty if it's proved he died because they left him alone - in violation of their responsibilities as foster parents.
The Carrolls told The Enquirer that Marcus died before they left for the reunion, after Baker bound him so she could have sex with David Carroll while Liz Carroll wasn't home.
On Friday, a playpen was introduced as evidence. Baker is expected to testify Monday that it's the one in which Marcus died.
Baker, 25, avoided charges for her role in the cover-up of the death of Marcus in exchange for testifying against the Carrolls. David Carroll's trial is scheduled to begin March 19.
Baker's deal with prosecutors depends on no evidence arising that she helped kill Marcus.
Prosecutors have stressed to jurors that sometimes unsavory people are given immunity because they are the only ones who can explain how somebody was killed.
Jann Heffner has become a target since the Marcus Fiesel
Butler Co. official tied to Marcus case quits
Truong, Quan. Cincinnati Enquirer, Feb. 17, 2007, pg. B1.
HAMILTON - Jann Heffner, executive director of the Butler County Children Services Board since 2002, announced her resignation Friday night, claiming she had become a "target" in the agency since the Marcus Fiesel case.
"I'm a distraction to moving forward the agency. Frankly, life is too short," she said. "You can't afford to have distractions when you're trying to keep kids safe."
She said she would leave April 15.
Heffner blamed the media at times, but also said people in the community and some board members had singled her out after the death of 3-year-old Marcus in August. Her agency had removed Marcus from his Middletown birth mother and used the Lifeway for Youth agency to place him with Liz and David Carroll Jr. in Clermont County. Liz Carroll is now on trial for murder in Marcus' death, and David Carroll is set to stand trial in March.
She denied that her resignation had anything to do with Liz Carroll's trial, which started Monday.
She denied that she stepped down because of a controversial custody case involving agency contract coordinator Michelle Money and agency ombudsman Bill Morrison. Both Money and Morrison have been on paid leave since last month.
Morrison got into trouble after releasing a report accusing Money, Heffner and others of misusing their power in a custody battle between Joetta Street and her ex-husband, Vince Richardson. Money is now married to Richardson.
In the Marcus case, a report from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services in November cast more blame on Lifeway for Youth than on Butler County officials. Lifeway shouldn't have allowed the Carrolls to be foster parents because they weren't qualified or trained, the report said.
"This report shows that we did our job," Heffner said at the time.
Lifeway has since agreed to cease operations in Ohio.
Board member Robert Jarvik praised Heffner.
"She's going to be greatly missed," he said.
"No one, least of all Jann, could have anticipated the obstacles she would face."
Heffner declined to comment on her future plans, except to say, "I will still work with kids. Kids are my life."
Truong, Quan. Cincinnati Enquirer, Feb. 17, 2007, pg. B1.
HAMILTON - Jann Heffner, executive director of the Butler County Children Services Board since 2002, announced her resignation Friday night, claiming she had become a "target" in the agency since the Marcus Fiesel case.
"I'm a distraction to moving forward the agency. Frankly, life is too short," she said. "You can't afford to have distractions when you're trying to keep kids safe."
She said she would leave April 15.
Heffner blamed the media at times, but also said people in the community and some board members had singled her out after the death of 3-year-old Marcus in August. Her agency had removed Marcus from his Middletown birth mother and used the Lifeway for Youth agency to place him with Liz and David Carroll Jr. in Clermont County. Liz Carroll is now on trial for murder in Marcus' death, and David Carroll is set to stand trial in March.
She denied that her resignation had anything to do with Liz Carroll's trial, which started Monday.
She denied that she stepped down because of a controversial custody case involving agency contract coordinator Michelle Money and agency ombudsman Bill Morrison. Both Money and Morrison have been on paid leave since last month.
Morrison got into trouble after releasing a report accusing Money, Heffner and others of misusing their power in a custody battle between Joetta Street and her ex-husband, Vince Richardson. Money is now married to Richardson.
In the Marcus case, a report from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services in November cast more blame on Lifeway for Youth than on Butler County officials. Lifeway shouldn't have allowed the Carrolls to be foster parents because they weren't qualified or trained, the report said.
"This report shows that we did our job," Heffner said at the time.
Lifeway has since agreed to cease operations in Ohio.
Board member Robert Jarvik praised Heffner.
"She's going to be greatly missed," he said.
"No one, least of all Jann, could have anticipated the obstacles she would face."
Heffner declined to comment on her future plans, except to say, "I will still work with kids. Kids are my life."
Liz Carroll and her husband give foster parents a bad name
Gallery swells as curious stop in to view trial
Kelley, Eileen. Cincinnati Enquirer, Feb. 17, 2007, pg. A8.
BATAVIA - The murder trial of Liz Carroll drew more spectators Friday now that jury selection is over and testimony is under way.
Cathy Huhn, 48, and her father, Neal Collins, 68, both of Goshen Township, intended to stop in at Carroll's trial at some point, and found the time Friday.
Collins was just curious, but Huhn had another reason for being there.
"This infuriates me," she said. "I'm a foster mom. The whole thing gives foster parents - the 99.8 percent of us that are in it for the right reasons - a very bad name."
Huhn and Collins watched intently as prosecutors showed the jury two hours of television news footage of the unsuccessful search for Marcus Fiesel and interviews with Liz and husband David Carroll Jr.
"She's good, that's all I can say," Huhn said, referring to Liz Carroll's on-camera performance.
The courtroom session Friday even piqued the interest of Debbie Culberson, whose daughter, Carrie, vanished from her Blanchester, Ohio, home in 1996.
Carrie's boyfriend, Vince Doan, and some of his relatives were convicted in Carrie's death, although the 22-year-old woman's remains were never found.
Culberson helped search for Marcus in August. She'd never seen Liz Carroll in person before.
"It's not as much to see her as to just see the system," Culberson said of her presence in court.
Liz and David Carroll's family members said that watching the two hours of newscasts Friday morning was painful and redundant, especially after watching a press conference by Liz Carroll at Juilfs Park over and over again.
"It was really hard sitting through it," said her mother, Audrey Sims, who hung her head and appeared exhausted about midway through the video.
To Sims, the video showed a daughter ready to crack. - GIVE ME A BREAK
"I don't think she could have lived with it," Sims said. "I think eventually she would have turned Amy in."
The Carrolls maintain that the prosecution's chief witness against them, Amy Baker, is responsible for their 3-year-old foster child's death.
Kelley, Eileen. Cincinnati Enquirer, Feb. 17, 2007, pg. A8.
BATAVIA - The murder trial of Liz Carroll drew more spectators Friday now that jury selection is over and testimony is under way.
Cathy Huhn, 48, and her father, Neal Collins, 68, both of Goshen Township, intended to stop in at Carroll's trial at some point, and found the time Friday.
Collins was just curious, but Huhn had another reason for being there.
"This infuriates me," she said. "I'm a foster mom. The whole thing gives foster parents - the 99.8 percent of us that are in it for the right reasons - a very bad name."
Huhn and Collins watched intently as prosecutors showed the jury two hours of television news footage of the unsuccessful search for Marcus Fiesel and interviews with Liz and husband David Carroll Jr.
"She's good, that's all I can say," Huhn said, referring to Liz Carroll's on-camera performance.
The courtroom session Friday even piqued the interest of Debbie Culberson, whose daughter, Carrie, vanished from her Blanchester, Ohio, home in 1996.
Carrie's boyfriend, Vince Doan, and some of his relatives were convicted in Carrie's death, although the 22-year-old woman's remains were never found.
Culberson helped search for Marcus in August. She'd never seen Liz Carroll in person before.
"It's not as much to see her as to just see the system," Culberson said of her presence in court.
Liz and David Carroll's family members said that watching the two hours of newscasts Friday morning was painful and redundant, especially after watching a press conference by Liz Carroll at Juilfs Park over and over again.
"It was really hard sitting through it," said her mother, Audrey Sims, who hung her head and appeared exhausted about midway through the video.
To Sims, the video showed a daughter ready to crack. - GIVE ME A BREAK
"I don't think she could have lived with it," Sims said. "I think eventually she would have turned Amy in."
The Carrolls maintain that the prosecution's chief witness against them, Amy Baker, is responsible for their 3-year-old foster child's death.
Gravelles were NOT 'being led by the Lord'
'Cages' parents get 2 years in prison
Gravelles can be free during appeal
Puente, Mark. Cleveland Plain Dealer, Feb. 16, 2007, pg. B1.
Norwalk - Michael and Sharen Gravelle should be locked up for as long as they kept four of their 11 special-needs children in enclosures, two of their adopted children told a judge Thursday.
Huron County Prosecutor Russ Leffler asked Common Pleas Judge Earl McGimpsey to jail the Gravelles for 12 years - three years for each of the four children who slept in the wooden and wire enclosures, which had been dubbed cages.
McGimpsey disagreed.
He ordered the couple to each spend two years in prison. But the judge allowed them to remain free until their appeals are exhausted, which could take 12 months or more. Ohio child-abuse laws are not clear on what constitutes abuse, McGimpsey told a packed courtroom.
"Fairness requires the sentence to be stayed," he said.
A jury found each of the Gravelles guilty in December on 11 of 24 counts of child endangerment and child abuse. County officials removed the children from their home in September 2005 after receiving a tip about children sleeping in cages.
Prosecutors focused their case on the Gravelles' harsh discipline and the enclosures. The Gravelles said they built the enclosures to prevent the children from destructive behavior, which included eating nonfood items.
They lost custody of the adopted children last March, but their attorney argued Monday for a reversal of the decision before a Toledo appeals court. The decision will be released within 30 days.
Two of the Gravelles' older children prepared statements and had county officials read them to the court. The judge would not allow the media to identify the children by name.
An older teenage girl said she cannot forget the emotional toll caused by living with the Gravelles, who she said treated her like a dog. The couple had no business adopting children, she said.
"Your excuse was the cages was stopping us from hurting each other and ourselves that is the biggest amount of hogwash you ever told anyone," she wrote. "Why would we hurt ourselves when you were already doing that?"
The teenage boy's statement said he was thankful for no longer having to live with the Gravelles and he preferred to live with foster parents.
"Because of them I don't have to steal food," he wrote. "I can use the bathroom whenever I want. Never again will I have to sleep in a box."
The two children put their heads down and joked with their foster parents as each of the Gravelles addressed McGimpsey.
Michael Gravelle stood at a lectern for about 12 minutes, like a preacher trying to energize a congregation.
His face turned red and his voice rose when he told the judge: "I'm begging you. I do not deserve jail."
He said he and his wife thought they were doing the right thing by trying to help children, but the task overwhelmed them.
"We felt we were being led by the Lord," Michael Gravelle said.
Sharen Gravelle stood and remained silent for about one minute as she wiped away tears.
"I made mistakes," she said. "Nothing was intentional."
The case quickly garnered worldwide attention and focused questions on Ohio's adoption practices.
An investigation by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services concluded in November 2005 that the adoption system was so flawed it could not protect children from going to homes with too many children, unsafe conditions or parents who are accused of child abuse.
After the hearing, Leffler said the judge's sentence should have been longer. Leffler said he did not understand why the judge did not seem confident in sending the Gravelles to prison Thursday.
"They will never serve a day in jail," defense attorney Ken Myers said.
Each of the Gravelles could have received up to five years in prison for each of the four felonies they were convicted of. They also were convicted of seven misdemeanors.
Gravelles can be free during appeal
Puente, Mark. Cleveland Plain Dealer, Feb. 16, 2007, pg. B1.
Norwalk - Michael and Sharen Gravelle should be locked up for as long as they kept four of their 11 special-needs children in enclosures, two of their adopted children told a judge Thursday.
Huron County Prosecutor Russ Leffler asked Common Pleas Judge Earl McGimpsey to jail the Gravelles for 12 years - three years for each of the four children who slept in the wooden and wire enclosures, which had been dubbed cages.
McGimpsey disagreed.
He ordered the couple to each spend two years in prison. But the judge allowed them to remain free until their appeals are exhausted, which could take 12 months or more. Ohio child-abuse laws are not clear on what constitutes abuse, McGimpsey told a packed courtroom.
"Fairness requires the sentence to be stayed," he said.
A jury found each of the Gravelles guilty in December on 11 of 24 counts of child endangerment and child abuse. County officials removed the children from their home in September 2005 after receiving a tip about children sleeping in cages.
Prosecutors focused their case on the Gravelles' harsh discipline and the enclosures. The Gravelles said they built the enclosures to prevent the children from destructive behavior, which included eating nonfood items.
They lost custody of the adopted children last March, but their attorney argued Monday for a reversal of the decision before a Toledo appeals court. The decision will be released within 30 days.
Two of the Gravelles' older children prepared statements and had county officials read them to the court. The judge would not allow the media to identify the children by name.
An older teenage girl said she cannot forget the emotional toll caused by living with the Gravelles, who she said treated her like a dog. The couple had no business adopting children, she said.
"Your excuse was the cages was stopping us from hurting each other and ourselves that is the biggest amount of hogwash you ever told anyone," she wrote. "Why would we hurt ourselves when you were already doing that?"
The teenage boy's statement said he was thankful for no longer having to live with the Gravelles and he preferred to live with foster parents.
"Because of them I don't have to steal food," he wrote. "I can use the bathroom whenever I want. Never again will I have to sleep in a box."
The two children put their heads down and joked with their foster parents as each of the Gravelles addressed McGimpsey.
Michael Gravelle stood at a lectern for about 12 minutes, like a preacher trying to energize a congregation.
His face turned red and his voice rose when he told the judge: "I'm begging you. I do not deserve jail."
He said he and his wife thought they were doing the right thing by trying to help children, but the task overwhelmed them.
"We felt we were being led by the Lord," Michael Gravelle said.
Sharen Gravelle stood and remained silent for about one minute as she wiped away tears.
"I made mistakes," she said. "Nothing was intentional."
The case quickly garnered worldwide attention and focused questions on Ohio's adoption practices.
An investigation by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services concluded in November 2005 that the adoption system was so flawed it could not protect children from going to homes with too many children, unsafe conditions or parents who are accused of child abuse.
After the hearing, Leffler said the judge's sentence should have been longer. Leffler said he did not understand why the judge did not seem confident in sending the Gravelles to prison Thursday.
"They will never serve a day in jail," defense attorney Ken Myers said.
Each of the Gravelles could have received up to five years in prison for each of the four felonies they were convicted of. They also were convicted of seven misdemeanors.
Marcus case brings out the worst in human nature
Letters to the Editor:
Marcus case keeps getting more evil
Cincinnati Enquirer, Geb. 16, 2007, pg. B6.
Is there anyone else who wants to try and make a buck off of the tortured body of 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel? Between the horribly messed up Carrolls (payment through foster care program) the sicko live-in girlfriend (also benefiting from income produced from this child in the form of home and utilities for her and her kids), the birth mother who never showed back up in this boy's life until she could be on TV telling why she could use a nice payment herself, and then - just when we thought it couldn't get more evil - we read in "Marcus' mom settles lawsuit" (Feb. 10) that the attorneys will collect a whopping $67,058!
Attorney Kevin Hughes said, "We are happy with the settlement ..." It physically makes me sick. Cincinnati's city problems are not limited to Over-the-Rhine and the dangers at school bus stops. Sometimes they show up well-fed, or in nice cars, with impressive framed degrees. Which author was it that wrote, "We have seen the enemy, and it is us"? We ought to be hanging our heads in shame, or throwing up.
-Winnie House
Marcus case keeps getting more evil
Cincinnati Enquirer, Geb. 16, 2007, pg. B6.
Is there anyone else who wants to try and make a buck off of the tortured body of 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel? Between the horribly messed up Carrolls (payment through foster care program) the sicko live-in girlfriend (also benefiting from income produced from this child in the form of home and utilities for her and her kids), the birth mother who never showed back up in this boy's life until she could be on TV telling why she could use a nice payment herself, and then - just when we thought it couldn't get more evil - we read in "Marcus' mom settles lawsuit" (Feb. 10) that the attorneys will collect a whopping $67,058!
Attorney Kevin Hughes said, "We are happy with the settlement ..." It physically makes me sick. Cincinnati's city problems are not limited to Over-the-Rhine and the dangers at school bus stops. Sometimes they show up well-fed, or in nice cars, with impressive framed degrees. Which author was it that wrote, "We have seen the enemy, and it is us"? We ought to be hanging our heads in shame, or throwing up.
-Winnie House
Gravelle's adopted children were tired of being abused
Couple gets 2 years in caged kids case
Cincinnati Post, Feb. 16, 2007, pg. A2.
A couple sentenced to two years in prison for forcing some of their 11 adopted, special-needs children to sleep in cages insisted to the end that the enclosures were meant to protect unruly and destructive youngsters.
Sharen and Michael Gravelle, who were sentenced Thursday, both made impassioned appeals to a Huron County judge for leniency and said they never intended to harm their children by using the wood-and-wire cages, described as enclosures by the defense.
"Hogwash," responded one of the children, a girl who appeared in court and had a statement read on her behalf.
"Your excuse was the cages were stopping us from hurting each other and ourselves. That is the biggest amount of hogwash you ever told anyone," the girl's statement said. "Why would we hurt ourselves when you were already doing that?"
The girl and another of the couple's former adopted children, a boy, sat side by side in the courtroom for the sentencing. They occasionally smiled as the Gravelles appealed for leniency and the boy tried to hold back laughter.
Sharen Gravelle blamed social services officials for not helping her and her husband control the destructive behavior of some of the children. She told the court they were never confined as punishment but rather to protect them, including a child who wanted to jump out a second-floor window.
"Would you prefer that we let them jump? Either way, we'd be here. The difference is they're still alive," she said in a 26-minute statement.
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 Gravelles' home in Wakeman, about 60 miles west of Cleveland. They were placed in foster care in fall 2005 and the couple lost custody last March.
One Gravelle child testified he was forced to live in a bathroom for 81 days, sleeping in a bathtub because of a bed-wetting problem. The Gravelles' attorneys said the boy exaggerated the length of his bathroom stay, and an expert for the defense testified that the technique helped.
Sharen and Michael Gravelle each could have received up to five years in prison for each of the four felony child endangering charges they were convicted of in December. They also were convicted of seven misdemeanors.
Cincinnati Post, Feb. 16, 2007, pg. A2.
A couple sentenced to two years in prison for forcing some of their 11 adopted, special-needs children to sleep in cages insisted to the end that the enclosures were meant to protect unruly and destructive youngsters.
Sharen and Michael Gravelle, who were sentenced Thursday, both made impassioned appeals to a Huron County judge for leniency and said they never intended to harm their children by using the wood-and-wire cages, described as enclosures by the defense.
"Hogwash," responded one of the children, a girl who appeared in court and had a statement read on her behalf.
"Your excuse was the cages were stopping us from hurting each other and ourselves. That is the biggest amount of hogwash you ever told anyone," the girl's statement said. "Why would we hurt ourselves when you were already doing that?"
The girl and another of the couple's former adopted children, a boy, sat side by side in the courtroom for the sentencing. They occasionally smiled as the Gravelles appealed for leniency and the boy tried to hold back laughter.
Sharen Gravelle blamed social services officials for not helping her and her husband control the destructive behavior of some of the children. She told the court they were never confined as punishment but rather to protect them, including a child who wanted to jump out a second-floor window.
"Would you prefer that we let them jump? Either way, we'd be here. The difference is they're still alive," she said in a 26-minute statement.
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 Gravelles' home in Wakeman, about 60 miles west of Cleveland. They were placed in foster care in fall 2005 and the couple lost custody last March.
One Gravelle child testified he was forced to live in a bathroom for 81 days, sleeping in a bathtub because of a bed-wetting problem. The Gravelles' attorneys said the boy exaggerated the length of his bathroom stay, and an expert for the defense testified that the technique helped.
Sharen and Michael Gravelle each could have received up to five years in prison for each of the four felony child endangering charges they were convicted of in December. They also were convicted of seven misdemeanors.
Liz Carroll is anything but credible
Defense claims foster mom wasn't home when 3-year-old boy died
Greber, Dave. Dayton Daily News, Feb. 16, 2007, pg. A5.
BATAVIA — Liz Carroll, the foster mother charged in the death of a 3-year-old Middletown boy, wasn't even at home when the death occurred last summer, her attorney said Thursday.
Instead, the 30-year-old woman was at a grocery store, and upon returning home, she was told by her husband, David, that Marcus Fiesel was dead, defense attorney Gregory Cohen said in his opening statement. "And they panicked," Cohen said. "They absolutely panicked."
In his opening remarks, Cohen portrayed his client as a victim, controlled by an abusive husband and the couple's live-in girlfriend Amy Baker.
Cohen said it was Baker — the Carrolls' bowling partner, foster care reference and the prosecution's star witness — who conspired to tie up the developmentally disabled boy in a blanket with tape, place him in a playpen in a closet in early August and leave him to die.
Prosecuting attorney Daniel "Woody" Breyer recounted the events that allegedly occurred between Aug. 4-6 — when Marcus allegedly was left in the Carrolls' closet while they attended a family reunion in Kentucky — and Aug. 15-28, when they said the boy went missing and the Carrolls were indicted by a Hamilton County grand jury.
Breyer explained the condition in which Marcus was found Aug. 6, according to an account by Baker: Stiff with rigor mortis, his feet raw from kicking the sides of the playpen and his nose bloodied from thrashing in a blanket "cocoon."
Among the other witnesses called by the state to testify were employees of Lifeway for Youth, the private foster care agency that placed Marcus on May 5, 2006, with the Carrolls.
Kathy Neeley, Marcus' case manager, was the last person outside the Carrolls and Baker to see the boy alive on Aug. 3.
When she visited the Carrolls' home Aug. 10, she was told by Liz Carroll that Marcus had been up all night sick and had just gone to bed.
When asked why she didn't press the issue, Neeley replied: "I had no reason to do that. (Liz Carroll) had taken him to every appointment prior to that. I had no reason to want to wake the child up out of respect for her as a mother."
Greber, Dave. Dayton Daily News, Feb. 16, 2007, pg. A5.
BATAVIA — Liz Carroll, the foster mother charged in the death of a 3-year-old Middletown boy, wasn't even at home when the death occurred last summer, her attorney said Thursday.
Instead, the 30-year-old woman was at a grocery store, and upon returning home, she was told by her husband, David, that Marcus Fiesel was dead, defense attorney Gregory Cohen said in his opening statement. "And they panicked," Cohen said. "They absolutely panicked."
In his opening remarks, Cohen portrayed his client as a victim, controlled by an abusive husband and the couple's live-in girlfriend Amy Baker.
Cohen said it was Baker — the Carrolls' bowling partner, foster care reference and the prosecution's star witness — who conspired to tie up the developmentally disabled boy in a blanket with tape, place him in a playpen in a closet in early August and leave him to die.
Prosecuting attorney Daniel "Woody" Breyer recounted the events that allegedly occurred between Aug. 4-6 — when Marcus allegedly was left in the Carrolls' closet while they attended a family reunion in Kentucky — and Aug. 15-28, when they said the boy went missing and the Carrolls were indicted by a Hamilton County grand jury.
Breyer explained the condition in which Marcus was found Aug. 6, according to an account by Baker: Stiff with rigor mortis, his feet raw from kicking the sides of the playpen and his nose bloodied from thrashing in a blanket "cocoon."
Among the other witnesses called by the state to testify were employees of Lifeway for Youth, the private foster care agency that placed Marcus on May 5, 2006, with the Carrolls.
Kathy Neeley, Marcus' case manager, was the last person outside the Carrolls and Baker to see the boy alive on Aug. 3.
When she visited the Carrolls' home Aug. 10, she was told by Liz Carroll that Marcus had been up all night sick and had just gone to bed.
When asked why she didn't press the issue, Neeley replied: "I had no reason to do that. (Liz Carroll) had taken him to every appointment prior to that. I had no reason to want to wake the child up out of respect for her as a mother."
Butler Co. Children Services director forced to resign
Children Services director resigns
Brooks-Higgin, Candice. Cincinnati Post, Feb. 17, 2007, pg. A3.
The executive director of Butler County Children Services Board announced her resignation Friday night amid a whirlwind of criticism of the agency's handling of the case of Marcus Fiesel, the 3-year-old who died in foster care.
Jann Heffner, hired in 2002 at the bidding of Commissioner Michael Fox and then-Board Chairman Hall Thompson, said she's resigning effective April 15 now that she said the very people who recruited her want to see her out. "I'm a target," Heffner said. "You can't afford to have distractions when you are trying to keep kids safe."
She said Marcus' death has been used as a "political weapon" and she and her staff have had to spend thousands of hours reacting to insinuations, repetitive inquires and continued criticism.
With a children services levy on the November ballot, Heffner said she doesn't want to be a distraction from moving the agency's agenda forward and placing focus back on the safety of children and families.
The announcement followed a two-hour executive session of the agency's eight-member board for what was described as "personnel matters." But Heffner, who earns $125,000 annually, said the decision was hers and she had the support of the board members had she decided to stay.
Board Chairman the Rev. Johnny Wade Sloan said Heffner resigned because "she is dedicated to focusing the community's energy toward improving services to children and families."
However, county Commission President Gregory Jolivette questioned the timing and whether the board rushed Heffner out to save their own positions -- before a county commission-appointed task force could recommend they be removed.
"I believe that the board had a role in this and that bothers me," he said. "There's other things happening behind the scenes that are being played out that would make that statement (that Heffner resigned on her own) not accurate."
Brooks-Higgin, Candice. Cincinnati Post, Feb. 17, 2007, pg. A3.
The executive director of Butler County Children Services Board announced her resignation Friday night amid a whirlwind of criticism of the agency's handling of the case of Marcus Fiesel, the 3-year-old who died in foster care.
Jann Heffner, hired in 2002 at the bidding of Commissioner Michael Fox and then-Board Chairman Hall Thompson, said she's resigning effective April 15 now that she said the very people who recruited her want to see her out. "I'm a target," Heffner said. "You can't afford to have distractions when you are trying to keep kids safe."
She said Marcus' death has been used as a "political weapon" and she and her staff have had to spend thousands of hours reacting to insinuations, repetitive inquires and continued criticism.
With a children services levy on the November ballot, Heffner said she doesn't want to be a distraction from moving the agency's agenda forward and placing focus back on the safety of children and families.
The announcement followed a two-hour executive session of the agency's eight-member board for what was described as "personnel matters." But Heffner, who earns $125,000 annually, said the decision was hers and she had the support of the board members had she decided to stay.
Board Chairman the Rev. Johnny Wade Sloan said Heffner resigned because "she is dedicated to focusing the community's energy toward improving services to children and families."
However, county Commission President Gregory Jolivette questioned the timing and whether the board rushed Heffner out to save their own positions -- before a county commission-appointed task force could recommend they be removed.
"I believe that the board had a role in this and that bothers me," he said. "There's other things happening behind the scenes that are being played out that would make that statement (that Heffner resigned on her own) not accurate."
Giving Dolls for foster kids
Dolls make a difference: Kids facing tough times require someone to hug
And doll-making team provides love they need
Cardwell, Jewel. Akron Beacon Journal, Feb. 20, 2007, pg. E1.
She's not a doctor or a nurse.Yet, Jan Householder has found a way to make a difference in the lives of seriously ill children or those wounded by life itself.
It's a simple concept: a doll.
A very special doll.
Householder's special outreach is aptly called "The Giving Doll."
Householder -- who retired from Wadsworth City Schools with 30 years of service as a family consumer science teacher -- designed the soft, cuddly doll to give to children in hospitals, shelters, foster care or those facing other difficulties.
The cloth dolls are as different as the boys and girls receiving them: a variety of complexions, hair and eye colors. Some even have physical disabilities like the children receiving them.
Householder soon realized the demand for the dolls was more than her skilled hands could handle. So she began recruiting others to help her.
And the beauty of it is that she's happy to train you.
Right now Householder has a dedicated coterie of 20 women -- who come from Apple Creek, Wooster, Barberton, Alliance and Rittman -- making Giving Dolls.
"Construction of the dolls requires basic sewing skills using a copyrighted pattern that is provided for those involved in the project," Householder said.
"This is an ongoing project with no deadline for completion. You make the dolls during your spare time, anytime."
Householder's first Giving Doll went late last year to Katherine McVey when she was at St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Nashville, Tenn.
The 12-year-old Stow girl -- who is battling a rare brain-stem tumor -- was at St. Jude undergoing an aggressive medical protocol. Katherine is the daughter of Householder's friend and fellow teacher Paula McVey.
Katherine was so pleased with her doll that she requested others for St. Jude patients.
"She even placed a prayer in the pocket of each doll," Householder said.
"Because many of the patients were going through chemotherapy and had lost their hair, we made the dolls without hair," Householder continued. "We made them with little scarves instead."
Each Giving Doll is personalized with a tag that reads: My name is --------------. I was made by ---------------- to give you faith, love, hope, joy and comfort during this special time.
It's hard to believe, but the Giving Dolls are already enjoying far-reaching distribution.
"We sent 30 by a man I met to a handicapped children's orphanage in Romania," Householder said.
Others have gone to an orphanage in Honduras and to children in Pass Christian, Miss., whose lives were upended by Hurricane Katrina. Householder's husband, Mark -- who regularly goes down to the Mississippi town with a contingency from The Chapel to build Habitat houses -- takes dolls with him.
Apart from the obvious, the beauty of the Giving Doll project is that it has roped in doll makers from all walks of life -- from the elderly to young children, members of organized sewing circles and individuals, to true beginners.
Clearly, the Giving Doll project is hard not to love.
Householder learned that firsthand when her father, a lung-cancer patient, was under the care of Akron oncologist Esther Rhemus. "While my mom (Mary Lue Bower of Barberton) would wait for him (to complete his three-hour chemotherapy treatments) she would make the hair for the dolls," Householder said.
Rhemus became so enamored with the Giving Dolls that she requested 25 for children of her patients.
"Now she's called the 'doll doctor,' " Householder said.
Buddy Ross -- a neighbor of Householder's and a nurse at Metro Health in Cleveland -- likewise saw the healing power in the dolls and asked for 26.
Such is the power of the Giving Doll, which gets snatched up for clients at Summit County Children Services Board and various police departments, and for children whose parents are off to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Another newly added, child-friendly element of the Giving Doll project is a coloring book to help ease the children's stress.
Householder recruited Akron author and recently retired Wadsworth High School English teacher Ann McClain Roher to come up with just the right words for the book.
Although happy to be involved, Roher was quick to acknowledge that the writing exercise proved quite a challenge.
"I've always been a serious writer," Roher said.
What she discovered in researching books for little children "is that they always rhyme." - NO, THEY DON'T
With notes Householder had given her, Roher took her cue:
I am called "The Giving Doll."
I am special and brand new.
My name is --------------.
And I'm very glad to meet you.
(I hope you like me, too!) . . .
We Giving Dolls are different.
No two of us are the same
And just like all of you
We all have a special name . . .
Illustrations for the coloring book were handled by Wadsworth High School art student Betsy Bauer.
"I'm so proud of Jan and what she's chosen to do," Roher said. "I felt blessed to be asked to write it."
By the way, each doll -- which is packaged with a coloring book -- gets a crayon in its pocket.
Because there are always children who could use a special doll to hug or to hold, the need for doll-makers is ongoing.
Recent recruits include Wadsworth Center for Older adults, The Chapel at Fir Hill apartment tenants, and Ellet Women's Club. To her credit, Householder has done everything to make it easy to get involved.
"I've assembled (doll-making) kits and put them in zip-lock bags. So, people have no excuses," she said.
Several of those kits have gone to The Chapel where the Householders are members.
Interested in learning more about the Giving Doll or in volunteering ? Please call Jan Householder at 330-336-7246.
And doll-making team provides love they need
Cardwell, Jewel. Akron Beacon Journal, Feb. 20, 2007, pg. E1.
She's not a doctor or a nurse.Yet, Jan Householder has found a way to make a difference in the lives of seriously ill children or those wounded by life itself.
It's a simple concept: a doll.
A very special doll.
Householder's special outreach is aptly called "The Giving Doll."
Householder -- who retired from Wadsworth City Schools with 30 years of service as a family consumer science teacher -- designed the soft, cuddly doll to give to children in hospitals, shelters, foster care or those facing other difficulties.
The cloth dolls are as different as the boys and girls receiving them: a variety of complexions, hair and eye colors. Some even have physical disabilities like the children receiving them.
Householder soon realized the demand for the dolls was more than her skilled hands could handle. So she began recruiting others to help her.
And the beauty of it is that she's happy to train you.
Right now Householder has a dedicated coterie of 20 women -- who come from Apple Creek, Wooster, Barberton, Alliance and Rittman -- making Giving Dolls.
"Construction of the dolls requires basic sewing skills using a copyrighted pattern that is provided for those involved in the project," Householder said.
"This is an ongoing project with no deadline for completion. You make the dolls during your spare time, anytime."
Householder's first Giving Doll went late last year to Katherine McVey when she was at St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Nashville, Tenn.
The 12-year-old Stow girl -- who is battling a rare brain-stem tumor -- was at St. Jude undergoing an aggressive medical protocol. Katherine is the daughter of Householder's friend and fellow teacher Paula McVey.
Katherine was so pleased with her doll that she requested others for St. Jude patients.
"She even placed a prayer in the pocket of each doll," Householder said.
"Because many of the patients were going through chemotherapy and had lost their hair, we made the dolls without hair," Householder continued. "We made them with little scarves instead."
Each Giving Doll is personalized with a tag that reads: My name is --------------. I was made by ---------------- to give you faith, love, hope, joy and comfort during this special time.
It's hard to believe, but the Giving Dolls are already enjoying far-reaching distribution.
"We sent 30 by a man I met to a handicapped children's orphanage in Romania," Householder said.
Others have gone to an orphanage in Honduras and to children in Pass Christian, Miss., whose lives were upended by Hurricane Katrina. Householder's husband, Mark -- who regularly goes down to the Mississippi town with a contingency from The Chapel to build Habitat houses -- takes dolls with him.
Apart from the obvious, the beauty of the Giving Doll project is that it has roped in doll makers from all walks of life -- from the elderly to young children, members of organized sewing circles and individuals, to true beginners.
Clearly, the Giving Doll project is hard not to love.
Householder learned that firsthand when her father, a lung-cancer patient, was under the care of Akron oncologist Esther Rhemus. "While my mom (Mary Lue Bower of Barberton) would wait for him (to complete his three-hour chemotherapy treatments) she would make the hair for the dolls," Householder said.
Rhemus became so enamored with the Giving Dolls that she requested 25 for children of her patients.
"Now she's called the 'doll doctor,' " Householder said.
Buddy Ross -- a neighbor of Householder's and a nurse at Metro Health in Cleveland -- likewise saw the healing power in the dolls and asked for 26.
Such is the power of the Giving Doll, which gets snatched up for clients at Summit County Children Services Board and various police departments, and for children whose parents are off to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Another newly added, child-friendly element of the Giving Doll project is a coloring book to help ease the children's stress.
Householder recruited Akron author and recently retired Wadsworth High School English teacher Ann McClain Roher to come up with just the right words for the book.
Although happy to be involved, Roher was quick to acknowledge that the writing exercise proved quite a challenge.
"I've always been a serious writer," Roher said.
What she discovered in researching books for little children "is that they always rhyme." - NO, THEY DON'T
With notes Householder had given her, Roher took her cue:
I am called "The Giving Doll."
I am special and brand new.
My name is --------------.
And I'm very glad to meet you.
(I hope you like me, too!) . . .
We Giving Dolls are different.
No two of us are the same
And just like all of you
We all have a special name . . .
Illustrations for the coloring book were handled by Wadsworth High School art student Betsy Bauer.
"I'm so proud of Jan and what she's chosen to do," Roher said. "I felt blessed to be asked to write it."
By the way, each doll -- which is packaged with a coloring book -- gets a crayon in its pocket.
Because there are always children who could use a special doll to hug or to hold, the need for doll-makers is ongoing.
Recent recruits include Wadsworth Center for Older adults, The Chapel at Fir Hill apartment tenants, and Ellet Women's Club. To her credit, Householder has done everything to make it easy to get involved.
"I've assembled (doll-making) kits and put them in zip-lock bags. So, people have no excuses," she said.
Several of those kits have gone to The Chapel where the Householders are members.
Interested in learning more about the Giving Doll or in volunteering ? Please call Jan Householder at 330-336-7246.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Retaining current foster parents is easier than recruiting new ones
Organization seeks to aid foster children and foster parents.
Press release, Feb. 19, 2007.
FINDLAY, OHIO – Ohio’s foster children would be better served if good, experienced foster parents remained doing foster care instead of leaving a system that is inundated with problems and in need of repair. The retention of these experienced foster parents would also reduce the cost to taxpayers to recruit, train and replace those who leave due to issues that center around the lack of respect for the foster parents themselves.
Foster Parents United for Change, a non-profit organization being formed in Ohio, is working toward a better foster care system. One of the first ways they want to help improve the foster care system is by gaining support from foster parents themselves and helping them retain their job as foster parents.
Foster Parents United for Change plans to see changes made to the current laws that are responsible for foster parents leaving the system. Their purpose is to help acquire more respect, rights and protection for foster parents. This in itself will help eliminate the turnover of quality experienced foster parents. They believe the reason many of these experienced and qualified foster parents leave the system is due to the abuse they receive from biased agencies. These agencies can completely destroy foster parents, their families and other foster children who reside with them when allegations are false and not investigated properly.
Foster Parents United for Change seeks to empower, inspire, motivate and educate foster parents, as well as create positive change in the legal system in favor of foster care – for the foster children and foster parents.
Foster Parents United for Change is a dedicated resource providing foster parent training and an opportunity for foster parents to voice their concerns, complaints and problems with the system. Foster Parents United for Change can be contacted at 1-877-424-1418 or online at http://www.fosterparentsunited.com
For more information please contact:
Matthew Theis at 1-877-424-1418 or online at help@fosterparentsunited.com
P.O. Box 434 • Findlay, Ohio 45839 Phone: 1.877.424.1418 Fax: 419.424.1418
www.fosterparentsunited.com
Press release, Feb. 19, 2007.
FINDLAY, OHIO – Ohio’s foster children would be better served if good, experienced foster parents remained doing foster care instead of leaving a system that is inundated with problems and in need of repair. The retention of these experienced foster parents would also reduce the cost to taxpayers to recruit, train and replace those who leave due to issues that center around the lack of respect for the foster parents themselves.
Foster Parents United for Change, a non-profit organization being formed in Ohio, is working toward a better foster care system. One of the first ways they want to help improve the foster care system is by gaining support from foster parents themselves and helping them retain their job as foster parents.
Foster Parents United for Change plans to see changes made to the current laws that are responsible for foster parents leaving the system. Their purpose is to help acquire more respect, rights and protection for foster parents. This in itself will help eliminate the turnover of quality experienced foster parents. They believe the reason many of these experienced and qualified foster parents leave the system is due to the abuse they receive from biased agencies. These agencies can completely destroy foster parents, their families and other foster children who reside with them when allegations are false and not investigated properly.
Foster Parents United for Change seeks to empower, inspire, motivate and educate foster parents, as well as create positive change in the legal system in favor of foster care – for the foster children and foster parents.
Foster Parents United for Change is a dedicated resource providing foster parent training and an opportunity for foster parents to voice their concerns, complaints and problems with the system. Foster Parents United for Change can be contacted at 1-877-424-1418 or online at http://www.fosterparentsunited.com
For more information please contact:
Matthew Theis at 1-877-424-1418 or online at help@fosterparentsunited.com
P.O. Box 434 • Findlay, Ohio 45839 Phone: 1.877.424.1418 Fax: 419.424.1418
www.fosterparentsunited.com
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