After abuse reports were lodged by teachers, Nubia and Victor Barahona, twins who had been adopted by Jorge and Carmen Barahona, were withdrawn from their Florida school by their parents, who told officials that they were going to homeschool the children. In the months that followed, Jorge and Carmen systematically and horrifically tortured the children, sometimes tying them up and leaving them for days on end. Only ten years old, Nubia was found bludgeoned to death. Her brother Victor barely survived a chemical dousing.
Date: February 14, 2011
Location: West Palm Beach, Florida Read More
Posted: May 5, 2013 by rachel Leave a Comment
Child of Scott and Andrea Bass
A 14 year old homeschooled girl in Arizona was held captive for two months in a homemade dungeon by her father, Scott Bass, and stepmother, Andrea Bass, as punishment for stealing food. The dungeon was a bathroom without working plumbing, and the girl was fed sporadically and forced to exercise daily, under threat of being beaten with metal rods. The girl eventually escaped the prison by climbing into an attic crawlspace, finding a way out of the home, and then notifying police.
Date: January 2010
Location: Phoenix, Arizona Read More
Posted: May 5, 2013 by rachel Leave a Comment
Sean Paddock and 6 Siblings
Sean Paddock died of suffocation after his adoptive mother, Lynn Paddock, bound him tightly in blankets to keep him from getting out of his bed. Sean’s siblings, five of whom were also adopted, testified that they were frequently beaten with plastic rods and wooden spoons. Lynn Paddock was convicted of first degree murder and it was found that her husband Johnny Paddock had “aided and abetted” the crime. The family homeschooled and lived in North Carolina.
Date: February 26, 2006
Location: Johnston County, North Carolina Read More
Last Updated: July 3, 2021 by rachel Leave a Comment
Calista Springer
Calista Springer was sixteen when she died when a fire swept through her family’s Michigan house and she was unable to free herself from her collar. Removed from school to be homeschooled three years earlier after teachers had become to make child abuse reports, Calista, who was adopted, spent her days chained to her bed by a dog collar while her younger siblings were sent off to school. Click here for a graphic image of Calista’s remains.
Date: February 27, 2008
Location: Centreville, Michigan Read More
Posted: May 5, 2013 by rachel Leave a Comment
3 Children of John and Sonja Kluth
John Edward Kluth and Sonja Kay Kluth beat, choked, whipped, and burned their three adopted children, two boys aged 15 and 11, and a 9 year old girl. The Kluths also forced the children to eat pet food, kept the boys padlocked in a storm shelter with a bucket to urinate in each night for months, and locked the oldest in a dog crate for hours on end. The children were homeschooled and the family lived in Oklahoma. The children’s abuse was discovered when they ran away from home and were found sleeping in a box. All three children were illiterate. John and Sonja Kluth were sentenced to life in prison.
Date: February 23, 2011
Location: Yukon, Oklahoma Read More
Posted: May 5, 2013 by rachel Leave a Comment
Christina Glenn
Eight year old Christina Glenn died of severe food deprivation and medical neglect. At the end of her life, starvation left her bones as brittle as twigs. Christina ultimately died from lack of medical care after her femur shattered, likely on its own. After her death, her two siblings, aged 6 and 7, were taken into protective custody and hospitalized for broken bones and severe malnutrition. The children’s mother, Venette Ovilde, was part of a cult-like religious sect. The family lived in New Jersey.
Date: May 22, 2011
Location: Irvington, New Jersey Read More
Posted: May 5, 2013 by rachel Leave a Comment
11 Children of Michael and Sharon Gravelle
Michael and Sharon Gravelle forced their eleven adopted special needs children to sleep in stacked cages rigged with alarms. At night, the children were so afraid of setting off the alarms that they would urinate in their clothes rather than leave their cages to go to the bathroom. The children were also emotionally abused, spanked with boards, and sometimes had their heads held underwater in a toilet as punishment. The children were homeschooled through an online charter school program. The family lived in Ohio.
Date: September 2005
Location: Clarksfield, Ohio Read More
Posted: May 4, 2013 by rachel Leave a Comment
Makayla Norman
Makayla Norman had cerebral palsy and was unable to walk, talk, or care for herself. Her mother homeschooled her and occasionally hired a nurse to help with her care. Makayla’s condition at the time of her death at age 14 was described by the homicide detective as “horrific.” Makayla’s hair and eyebrows were infested with lice and her body was covered from head to toe in open bedsores. Her skin was caked with dirt and her hips were coated with feces. Makayla died of starvation, and her body was so thin it was skeletal. The family lived in Ohio.
Date: March 1, 2011
Location: Dayton, Ohio Read More
Posted: May 4, 2013 by rachel Leave a Comment
Hana Grace-Rose Williams
Hana Williams was adopted from Ethiopia in 2008; three years later, at 13 years old, she was dead at the hands of her parents. Hana was denied food by her adoptive parents as a punishment, leaving her too thin to retain sufficient body heat when her parents put her out of the house in the cold Washington state weather as yet another punishment. She was found unresponsive, naked, and face down in a puddle. Larry and Carri Williams’ seven biological children and one other adopted child were taken into protective custody after Hana’s death. The couple had been homeschooling all nine of their children.
Date: May 12, 2011
Location: Sedro Woolley, Washington Read More
Posted: May 4, 2013 by rachel Leave a Comment
Christian Choate
After abuse concerns were raised at his school, Christian Choate’s parents removed him from school and told neighbors that they were homeschooling him. He was kept inside a locked dog cage and was routinely kicked and beaten by his parents. Sometimes Christian’s parents chained his hands to the top of his cage. As his health deteriorated, he lost control of his bodily functions and was kept naked except for a diaper. Christian was 13 when he died due to his parents’ abuse. His parents buried him in a shallow grave and authorities did not learn of his death for two years. The family lived in Indiana.
Date: April 2009
Location: Lake County, Indiana Read More
Posted: May 4, 2013 by rachel Leave a Comment
Nubia and Victor Barahona
After abuse reports were lodged by teachers, Nubia and Victor Barahona, twins who had been adopted by Jorge and Carmen Barahona, were withdrawn from their Florida school by their parents, who told officials that they were going to homeschool the children. In the months that followed, Jorge and Carmen systematically and horrifically tortured the children, sometimes tying them up and leaving them for days on end. Only ten years old, Nubia was found bludgeoned to death. Her brother Victor barely survived a chemical dousing.
Date: February 14, 2011
Location: West Palm Beach, Florida Read More
Recent Posts
Archives
Categories
Website Menu
Post Categories