Parents try to discipline teens after DCF *helped*

Subject: FL DCF's kind of *help* to wild teens inspires families
From: (Fern5827)
Date: 7/30/2003 2:44 PM Eastern Daylight Time
Message-id:

Central Florida Parents Who Chained Wild Teens Avoid Prosecution

POSTED: 7:10 a.m. EDT July 30, 2003
UPDATED: 9:02 a.m. EDT July 30, 2003
http://www.wftv.com/news/2368278/detail.html

BARTOW, Fla. -- A woman and ex-husband accused of chaining her teenage sons
to their beds in an effort to control their criminal behavior avoided
prosecution by agreeing to an 18-month intervention program Tuesday.
Previous Stories:
May 20, 2003: Mother Discusses Why She Chained Children To Bed
May 18, 2003: Lakeland Parents Charged With Chaining Their Sons To Beds


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Karen Abe, 35, and Allen Abe, 62, agreed to enter a program that will
require them to attend counseling and parenting classes and complete a
domestic violence assessment. They also will have to undergo psychological
evaluations and complete any required treatment.
If they successfully complete the program, prosecutors won't file formal
charges against them, said State Attorney Jerry Hill. He said the case
called for getting the family help.
"What you've got is kids who represent a small crime wave when not properly
supervised and a mama who was doing her best to keep them from breaking the
law," he told The Ledger of Lakeland. "This is a lady who, for any number of
reasons, was at the end of her rope."
Polk County sheriff's deputies arrested the Abes, of nearby Kathleen, on May
17 on charges of aggravated child abuse after learning the pair had chained
Karen Abe's two sons, ages 13 and 15, to their beds so they would not sneak
out of the house.
Karen Abe told investigators she had shackled the boys for two nights while
she went to work.

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"The children have a very serious lack of respect for her, and she was
attempting to make the right choices within her means," said Karen Abe's
attorney, Melissa Wilson-Ferrie.
Allen Abe is not the boys' biological father but was living with them. He
and Karen Abe, who divorced in 2001, also have a 7-year-old son. According
to arrest reports, he was home while they were shackled to their beds and
unchained the younger teen when he needed to go to the bathroom.
Allen Abe's attorney, William Allen, said his client didn't condone the way
the boys were handled.
"He did not approve of that form of discipline, but they were not his
children," Allen said. "At the very most, he simply acquiesced to what was
happening."
Karen Abe contacted the Department of Children & Families several times,
reporting that the teens were out of control and asking for help.


http://www.CPSWatch.com/fl/ Courts, DCF, child managements.

DESCRIPTORS: DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, DCF, FLORIDA,FOSTER CARE,
ASFA, PUNISHMENT, PARENTAL RIGHTS, FOURTH AMENDMENT, FIFTH AMENDMENT