Cops Find 9 Adopted Kids Handcuffed, Starved

[RamboLiberal]

Source: ABC News

Nine adults and teenagers were held captive, abused and starved by their adoptive Florida mother for as long as 15 years, authorities tell ABC News.

Judith Leekin, 62, allegedly duped four different New York City adoption agencies into allowing her to adopt 11 children, all of whom authorities believe she later abused. Leekin is also thought to have kept all of the state-issued funds intended for the children, spending it on her own personal expenses.

While 10 of the 11 adopted Leekin children have been found, one still remains unaccounted for. The 10th child, who was not found in the home at the time of the police investigation, is a 19-year-old male who authorities tell ABC News was found within the last day in the state of Florida.

The Port St. Lucie Police Department was led to Leekin's home after locating an abandoned 18-year-old woman who told officers that her mother, now known to be Leekin, kept all of her children tied up in various parts of her Florida home.

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"The home was a beautiful, well-maintained home in a very nice neighborhood," said Robert Vega, a spokesman for the Port St. Lucie Police Department. "The landscaping is probably the nicest in the entire neighborhood." After further investigation and being granted entrance by Leekin, however, authorities were shocked to find eight people being held hostage in one of the home's bedrooms.


Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3431945&page=1

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Horrid!

[Ian David]

1. Than god Florida doesn't let gays adopt kids! Otherwise, how would people like THIS get kids? n/t

[redwitch]

2. No shit, my very first thought!

Unbelievable!

[Faygo Kid]

11. Yep, me too. Thank God they had a better experience than with gay parents.

I for one am amazed at the America we live in. The election of 2000 was as big or bigger than 1860. But that one had a good result.

[Kutjara]

3. A new kind of Fagin for the New Dikensian Era.

Human heartless is a constant source of amazement to me.

[RockaFowler]

4. This isn't really late breaking news

This happened 2 weeks ago.
I know because this story has been going on down here for that long . . .
This woman made over $2 Million and used so many false names/aliases that the state of New York couldn't keep in touch with her. Oh yeah, and this can't all be blamed on Florida. She adopted all these kids in New York. They didn't do a very good background check on her . . .

[yardwork]

18. It just hit ABC News yesterday, though.

Good. I hope that it gets some mainstream attention.

[downindixie]

5. Cops Find 9 Adopted Kids Handcuffed, Starved

God let this happen!

[rodeodance]

6. the neighbors saw them-------

.....One of Leekin's neighbors said that up until a few weeks ago, he would see the children playing outside. One boy, who the neighhor suspects may be autistic, would spend the day picking weeds on the front lawn.

"It's a very quiet neighborhood and all the children would wave nicely and get out of the way of the cars," said Gary Howard, one of Leekin's neighbors. "They were good children."

All of the adoptees found by police in the home are currently under the care of the Department of Children and Families in Florida.

"At this point in time, the department is conducting assessments to make sure are being taken are of and we are taking every measure to make sure they are healthy – mentally and physically – and are on their way to full recovery," said Erin Geraghty, spokesperson for the DCF. "This is a tragic situation and we're doing all we can so that the children and adults are happy and healthy and know they're taken care of."

[Auntie Bush]

9. Jeb's welfare department is at it again! Another black notch in his record. n/t

[LostinVA]

20. Not Florida -- New York

As much as it pains me to say it, JEB can't be blamed for this one.

[beyurslf]

7. FL has the death penalty, right?

[WindRavenX]

8. is it sad before I opened this thread I thought "Florida"?

seriously...wtf???

[Lydia Leftcoast]

10. Adopting huge numbers of chldren should be a red flag

Not all people who adopt multitudes of children are like that, but remember the "celebration family," which adopted 21 children and turned out to be abusive?

False names or not, I thought a person had to undergo a rigorous background check and home study before being allowed to adopt.

[barb162]

14. You'd think the states would do unannounced checks.

[David__77]

16. There should be a limit.

One family unit can only reasonable care for so many dependents. I would think that more than six would be very problematic. There should be a stricter monitoring regime in these cases, at a minimum.

[bleedingheart]

21. there are folks out there who find having one child problematic

while I agree that they should monitor people who try and adopt enough kids to fill a sports team...

I think that it is always funding and staffing issues that will be the problem catching these folks.

Building and feeding a war machine always takes precedence.

[Occulus]

12. I really wish adoptive parents who emotionally abuse their kids got the same treatment n/t

[aquart]

13. You get state money if you adopt?

I thought you only got that for fostering? Straighten me out on this, someone.

[Beausoir]

17. We sure don't. We got a tax credit when we adopted but we're not getting any money.

Perhaps it was the tax credit money? Up to $10K I believe.

[LadyAziz]

15. These people are giving good adopting parents a bad name

They should be locked away for a very long time. :grr:

[yardwork]

19. Yes, and Florida blocks gay families from adopting

so that creeps like this can adopt! Makes me angry.

[RockaFowler]

22. There is an update . . .

Adoptive mom in abuse case investigated in 1999

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/tcoast/epaper/2007/08/03/0803SLleekin.html

PORT ST. LUCIE — The woman accused of abusing and neglecting her 11 adopted children over nearly two decades while pocketing millions in child welfare was first investigated in 1999 for similar allegations involving the same children.

But the children whom investigators made contact with then - it is unclear how many - spoke of being well-cared for and showed no signs of abuse, records from that 1999 Port St. Lucie Police investigation show.

SNIP

The 1999 investigation documents show that Department and Children and Families investigators dropped their investigation of Leekin, citing four reasons:

- "No prior reports or incidents of abuse"

- "All children in the home are fine and not in foster care"

- "There were no indicators of abuse cuts/punctures/bites, excess corporal punishment, confinement or bizarre punishment"

- "There are no records of Leeken (sic) as a foster parent in the states of NY, NJ or FL"

Investigators apparently visited Leekin's home six times between February and April 1999 and drove by 15 times, the reports show.

Despite these attempts, police never made any further contact with Leekin or saw any children or adults. Recent court documents say she fled the area to avoid further investigation.


So, what had happened was that she was using alias after alias. She lied to the authorities and more than likely made her kids lie about their conditions.

[shenmue]

23. Unbelievable

Very sick and sad. I hope they get some help for those kids.