Child of Andrew and Carolyn Mayer
Andrew and Carolyn Mayer sent two of their children off to church alone one Sunday so that they could be alone with their 16 year old daughter. Carolyn watched as Andrew, the girl’s stepfather, raped the girl and successfully impregnated her. Carolyn, a mother of three, was unable to conceive and the couple devised a […]
Child of Peter and Deedra Mitchell
Peter and Deedra Mitchell withheld food from their six year old adopted son, locked him in a basement, forced him to sleep on a rubber mat, handcuffed him, and hung him upside down in a garage, spinning him until he vomited. The boy was severely malnourished when he was discovered by a social worker responding […]
Child of Matthew and Amy Sweeney
An 8 year old adopted son of Matthew and Amy Sweeney ran away from home after yet another beating and sought help from a neighbor. The child had deep bruising across his arms and back that indicated that he received frequent brutal beatings, but was otherwise healthy. The neighbor reported the abuse and he was […]
Adam Herrman
Doug and Valerie Herrman are accused of abusing their adopted son, Adam, and of not reporting he was missing after his 1999 disappearance at age 11 or 12. The couple continued to collected adoption subsidy payments until what would have been Adam’s 18th birthday, but told family that Adam had returned to state custody. The […]
Children of Tom and Debra Schmitz
All 18 of the children living with Tom and Debra Schmitz, some adopted and some biological, were removed from their home after a nurse in their employ reported abuse and neglect. Many of the children had been placed with them illegally, but the Schmitzes insisted that they felt called by God to care for needy […]
3 Children of Mark and Susan Hooper
Mark Hooper, 42, and his wife, Susan Hooper, 20, have been charged with starving their 9, 10, and 11 year old adopted children. Mark is the pastor of a local Baptist church and Susan homeschooled the children. In February of 2013 the 9 year old girl ran away to seek help. The girl was taken […]
Jeanette Marie Maples
Jeannette Marie Maples was 16 when paramedics arrived at her home to find her dead. A Department of Human Services worker described the girl’s death as “horrific” and her mother, Angela Darlene McAnulty, and stepfather, Richard Anthony, were both subsequently charged with aggravated murder. Jeannette had attended school until she graduated from 8th grade in June 2008. Her […]
Raijon Daniels
8 year old Raijon Daniels was unresponsive in his bedroom when police and paramedics reached him, his body covered with chemical and rope burns, sores, and other injuries. The vomit around his mouth suggested that he may have died from swallowing household cleaner or another poison. Raijon’s school had become suspicious when his mother, Teresa […]
Child of Kathryn and Kenneth Kreier
Kathryn Kreier punished her 14 year old adopted daughter by depriving her of food, forcing her to sleep outside naked, and fracturing her fingers. Her husband Kenneth Kreier, the girl’s biological father, did nothing to stop the abuse. The abuse took place between September 2007 and December 2008, during which the girl’s weight fell from […]
2 Children of Keith and Susan Ludwig
Investigators responding to an anonymous tip in 1997 found that Keith and Susan Ludwig forced their two daughters, aged 13 and 15, to sleep in make-shift cages with a brick-and-string alarm system and whipped them with leather straps, sticks, and rubber hoses. Authorities had investigated the Florida couple for child abuse in 1993, but while […]
