Kimberly Ann Forder called 911 after her 8 year old underweight adopted son, Christopher Forder, died on the bedroom floor of untreated pneumonia in circumstances that a local sheriff called “sheer torture.” The boy’s body was found to be covered with bruises. The family, which homeschooled and home-churched, claimed to be practicing faith healing, that their religious beliefs did not allow modern medicine, and said Christopher had reactive attachment disorder and the bruises were from him scratching himself and throwing himself into walls. Kimberly Ann filed one letter of intent to homeschool in 2003, a year after Christopher’s death, but did not file letters in previous or subsequent years, as required by Washington state. Social workers reported that the family was socially isolated and that after Christopher’s death they found that no one in the home would speak to investigators about it. The Forders had 3 biological adult children and four adopted children in addition to Christopher. After Christopher’s death, the Forders had four months of daily monitoring visits by social workers but did not have the remaining children removed from home due to a legal technicality.
In the four years after Christopher’s death, the Forders adopted a set of Liberian triplets, moved to Liberia to work as missionaries, and took their 7 living adopted children with them. A break in Christopher’s case came when police conducted interviews with the Forders’ eldest adult biological son, 23 year old Michael V. Forder, who was charged with raping another adult biological sibling. Michael V. Forder agreed to testify about Christopher’s death in exchange for a reduced sentence in his own case. Although he later recanted his testimony and was given a full 8.5 year sentence for rape, charges were filed in Christopher’s death. Kimberly Ann Forder was in the United States at the time, receiving medical treatment, and a warrant was issued for her arrest. Back in Liberia, Robert Forder dropped off the 7 living adopted children at a WACSN orphanage, which then turned them over to the State Department. The State Department brought the children back to the United States and put them in foster care in Washington state. Robert Forder was not charged with any crimes and remained in Liberia, in poor health. Kimberly Ann was charged with Christopher’s death and arrested, tried, sentenced to 27 months in prison, and was reported to be trying to get her remaining adopted children back upon release.
Date: November 22, 2002
Location: Seabeck, Washington Read More
Posted: July 16, 2013 by rachel
Molly Holt
10 year old Molly Holt died in a house fire while her parents and two siblings escaped. When firefighters found her charred body under debris, they found that she had been chained to her bed by her ankles. Molly’s mother, Teresa Dick, was convicted of manslaughter and false imprisonment. Molly’s father, Lloyd Lee Holt, denied knowing that his daughter was chained and said that he had heard her screaming and had tried to get to her but was prevented by the smoke. Teresa claimed that Molly was chained in bed at night because she threatened to hurt her siblings while they slept, and that Molly had tried to harm her siblings in the past. Teresa said she had tried drugging the child with sleeping medicine but that had proven ineffective. When questioned, Teresa admitted that she had never been advised to restrain her child in this way by a professional counselor or educator. Molly’s former special education teacher testified that Molly had behavioral problems and was prone to outbursts of anger, and that she had urged Molly’s parents to have her tested and to look into professional help for her, but that they had refused. Molly had not attended school since kindergarten; instead, her parents were homeschooling her.
Date: November 9, 2003
Location: Johnson County, Arkansas
Read More
Posted: July 16, 2013 by rachel
Child of Robert Hohn and Shannon Watterson
A 12-year-old boy was locked in a bare room for three months by his father, Robert Hohn, and his stepmother, Shannon Watterson. The windows were screwed shut, the door handle was installed backward, and the boy was only let out for small meals and brief bathroom visits. The abuse came to light when the boy managed to escape, ran barefoot for help, and was discovered by a neighbor a mile away. The boy was 20 pounds underweight, extremely malnourished, and had bruises on his face. He had previously gone to school with the neighbor’s son, but Hohn and Watterson had withdrawn him from school three months earlier to homeschool him. Three other children were living in the Hohn/Watterson household, aged 9, 10, and 14, but only the one child was homeschooled. Hohn and Watterman’s defense was that the boy was a troubled child who would beat his head against the floor and urinate in the closet. Hohn was sentenced to 6 years in prison and Watterson was sentenced to 5 years in prison.
Date: November 28, 2012
Location: Newark, Delaware
Read More
Posted: July 16, 2013 by rachel
Child of Samuel and Diana Franklin
Diana and Samuel Franklin confined their 15 year old adopted daughter to a chicken coop, required her to wear a shock collar, and restricted her food and water. The girl was adopted in 2007, five years before the abuse was discovered, and was homeschooled. She reported that her long stints in the chicken coop (up to six straight days) and other outbuildings (including a small outhouse) were punishments for not completing her schoolwork or for not doing her chores properly, and that jolts of electricity from the shock collar were likewise a form of punishment administered by her parents. Diana told a neighbor that she was just “doing what the Bible says” when administering such punishments. The girl was also required to perform extensive manual labor.
In November 2015, Diana was found guilty of 28 counts of child abuse. Her lawyer based his defense on the argument that Diana was merely trying to raise her daughter in accordance with her religious beliefs. Samuel’s trial will take place in December 2015.
Date: May 30, 2012
Location: Butler, Georgia
Read More
Posted: July 16, 2013 by rachel
Child of Steven and Mikelann Renwick
A year and a half after Steven and Mikelann Renwick adopted their 6 year old son, he was admitted to the hospital with severe injuries to his head, legs, and body. The boy had been only allowed in the house for meals. He was forced to sleep in the laundry room with the dogs and was locked in the family’s garage the remainder of the day. The child was also beaten regularly, sometimes until he bled. The family homeschooled. Mikelann Renwick served as a pastor at a Holiness church.
Date: August 18, 2010
Location: Tavares, Florida
Read More
Posted: July 16, 2013 by rachel
Child of Tai-Ling Gigliotti
Tai-Ling Gigliotti, an accomplished musician who was employed in a local orchestra, adopted her biological nephew from Taiwan when he was four years old. In 2007, she removed him from school, telling school officials she planned to homeschool him. Whether she followed this with the proper paperwork for her state is unclear. Two years later, at age 16, the boy ran away from home and told of horrifying abuse at the hands of his adoptive mother. Gigliotti had regularly stripped the teen naked and beat him brutally with a board and a hose; she locked him in a bathroom at night and during the day when she went to work. When he ran away the boy was covered with bruises and lacerations and had a broken arm. Gigliotti claimed that the teen was rebellious and that she only acted in self defense. Despite these claims, she was sentenced to fifteen years in prison.
Date: February 11, 2009
Location: Spring Hill, Florida
Read More
Posted: June 5, 2013 by rachel
Dominick J. (Andrew) Diehl
Dominick Diehl, who also went by Andrew, was 13 when he was beaten to death by his adoptive parents, Michael and Karen Diehl. He was regularly tied to the floor of the family’s bus and beaten with rods and a homemade whip as a form of punishment. The couple homeschooled their brood of 17, including 4 biological children and 13 adopted special needs children. Two years before Andrew’s death, the family left their home in Post Falls, Idaho, and went on a road trip that was originally only supposed to last for a couple of months. During these years they lived in their school bus, parking at camp sites across the country. While the family of 19 was on a 2 year school bus trip they had become heavily involved in a fundamentalist Christian faith community in Virginia. The couple was sentenced to a collective seventy years in prison for the beating death of their adopted son.
Date: October 29, 1986
Location: Virginia Beach, Virginia
Read More
Posted: June 5, 2013 by rachel
Joseph Beebe
8 year old Joseph Beebe was beaten to death with a bamboo rod by his adoptive mother, Edith Beebe. Joseph was one of six special needs children adopted by Edith and her husband Brian; all were homeschooled. The Beebes were deeply religious and believed that they must discipline their children with what they called a “holy rod.” All of the children were beaten with the rod, and were on occasion locked in a room without food or water and dragged about by their hair. When Joseph died, his body was covered with severe bruises. Edith Beebe was convicted and sentenced to 75 years in prison.
Date: March 17, 2000
Location: Tarkington Prairie, Texas Read More
Posted: June 5, 2013 by rachel
Christopher Forder
Kimberly Ann Forder called 911 after her 8 year old underweight adopted son, Christopher Forder, died on the bedroom floor of untreated pneumonia in circumstances that a local sheriff called “sheer torture.” The boy’s body was found to be covered with bruises. The family, which homeschooled and home-churched, claimed to be practicing faith healing, that their religious beliefs did not allow modern medicine, and said Christopher had reactive attachment disorder and the bruises were from him scratching himself and throwing himself into walls. Kimberly Ann filed one letter of intent to homeschool in 2003, a year after Christopher’s death, but did not file letters in previous or subsequent years, as required by Washington state. Social workers reported that the family was socially isolated and that after Christopher’s death they found that no one in the home would speak to investigators about it. The Forders had 3 biological adult children and four adopted children in addition to Christopher. After Christopher’s death, the Forders had four months of daily monitoring visits by social workers but did not have the remaining children removed from home due to a legal technicality.
In the four years after Christopher’s death, the Forders adopted a set of Liberian triplets, moved to Liberia to work as missionaries, and took their 7 living adopted children with them. A break in Christopher’s case came when police conducted interviews with the Forders’ eldest adult biological son, 23 year old Michael V. Forder, who was charged with raping another adult biological sibling. Michael V. Forder agreed to testify about Christopher’s death in exchange for a reduced sentence in his own case. Although he later recanted his testimony and was given a full 8.5 year sentence for rape, charges were filed in Christopher’s death. Kimberly Ann Forder was in the United States at the time, receiving medical treatment, and a warrant was issued for her arrest. Back in Liberia, Robert Forder dropped off the 7 living adopted children at a WACSN orphanage, which then turned them over to the State Department. The State Department brought the children back to the United States and put them in foster care in Washington state. Robert Forder was not charged with any crimes and remained in Liberia, in poor health. Kimberly Ann was charged with Christopher’s death and arrested, tried, sentenced to 27 months in prison, and was reported to be trying to get her remaining adopted children back upon release.
Date: November 22, 2002
Location: Seabeck, Washington Read More
Posted: June 4, 2013 by rachel
Lucas Ciambrone
7 year old Lucas Ciambrone was forced to sleep in a bathroom with neither towels, toilet paper, or light bulbs. He was fed via a bucket, was thrown to the floor, kicked in the genitals, punched, and had his head held under water. His ears were nearly torn from his body. According to a medical examiner, the blow that ended the boy’s life came at least four hours before his adoptive parents, Heather and Joe Ciambrone, drove him to the hospital. In spite of being 7 years old, he weighed only 32 pounds. Lucas was homeschooled and may have had Reactive Attachment Disorder. The Ciambrones were convicted and are serving life sentences.
Date: May 13, 1995
Location: Rubonia, Florida Read More
Posted: June 4, 2013 by rachel
Viktor Alexander Matthey
Viktor Matthey was only 6 years old when he died of cardiac arrest due to hypothermia after adoptive parents Robert and Brenda Matthey locked him overnight in a damp unheated pump room. Viktor was also severely beaten by his adoptive father. The Matthey’s attended a Pentacostal church and homeschooled their four biological children; beginning in September 2000 they sent their four biological children to a church school so that they could focus on their three adopted children. The Mattheys had adopted Victor and his younger twin brothers, aged 4, because they believed that God had called them to do so in an effort to alleviate an international orphan crisis. Both Robert and Brenda were sentenced to 10 years in prison for confining Viktor to a pump room, 10 years for excessive corporal punishment, and 7 years for failing to provide medical care. The sentences run concurrently. Viktor, along with his biological twin brothers, was adopted from Blagoschevensk, Amur, Russia, only 10 months before his death. The twins were later adopted by Robert’s mother, who has disavowed her son. Both Mattheys were released from jail in Fall of 2008.
Date: October 31, 2000
Location: Union Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey
Read More
Recent Posts
Archives
Categories
Website Menu
Post Categories