foster mom’s parenting skills focus at trial in tot’s fatal beating: “There’s a lot of love being passed around in that house,”
 

foster mom’s parenting skills focus at trial in tot’s fatal beating

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...04032/0/NEWS01

June 4, 2007

By RUBY L. BAILEY

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

A Wayne County Circuit Court jury today heard conflicting portrayals of
the former Detroit foster mother charged in connection with the fatal
beating and burning of 2-year-old Isaac Lethbridge, who was killed in
her home on Aug. 16, 2006.

Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Lisa Lindsey said Charlsie
Adams-Rogers, 60, failed to protect the boy and his 4-year-old sister,
who was with him in foster care, from being abused in her home.


“Being a parent is more than a matter of simple biology,” Lindsey said.
“If you do it right, the child will survive and thrive. If you do it
wrong, the consequences could be fatal. Defendant Rogers did it wrong.”

But defense attorney Warren Harris said Adams-Rogers, who retired from
Chrysler after 30 years, had been a model foster parent who cared for
dozens of children who came into her home from sometimes-abusive
circumstances since the mid-1990s.


“There’s a lot of love being passed around in that house,” Harris said.


Police still have not charged anyone with directly causing the boy’s
death. Adams-Rogers is charged with involuntary manslaughter, accused of
failing to protect the child while he was in her care. She also is
charged with two child abuse counts involving the boy and his sister. If
convicted, she could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison on the
manslaughter charge and up to 4 years on the most serious child abuse count.


Adams-Rogers has blamed her then-12-year-old adopted daughter with
causing the boy’s death, and Harris reiterated that claim today in
court. No one else has been charged in the case.

Isaac and his sister were removed from their parents’ home in Westland
on neglect charges in September 2005. According to a Free Press
investigation published in January, the two children were placed in
three troubled foster homes by the Lula Belle Stewart Center of Detroit.
The state suspended the center’s foster care license after Isaac’s death.


Fourteen jurors, four men and 10 women, were seated from a pool of 48.
Judge Vera Massey Jones is hearing the case.


Isaac’s parents, Matt and Jennifer Lethbridge, sat quietly in the
courtroom today. All 10 of their children have been placed in foster
care, including a baby born this spring.





Contact RUBY L. BAILEY at 313-222-6651 or







CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A
DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NATIONAL
SECURITY AGENCY/CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WIRETAPPING PROGRAM....

CPS Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of Child Protective Services.

every parent should read this .pdf from
connecticut dcf watch...

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com/8x11.pdf

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com

Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US
These numbers come from The National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS

*Perpetrators of Maltreatment*

Physical Abuse CPS 160, Parents 59
Sexual Abuse CPS 112, Parents 13
Neglect CPS 410, Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS 14 Parents 12
Fatalities CPS 6.4, Parents 1.5

Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that
are supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per
100,000 children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse
and kills more children then parents in the United States. If the
citizens of this country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold
parents too. No judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY
government agency because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and
death than any human being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more
human rights violations and deaths of children then the homes from which
they were removed. When are the judges going to wake up and see that
they are sending children to their death and a life of abuse when
children are removed from safe homes based on the mere opinion of a
bunch of social workers.

BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF
REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES
TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY
ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...