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Under withering cross-examination, the former Detroit foster mother charged in a 2-year-old’s death under her watch admitted Thursday that she had a legal duty to protect the boy.
Foster mother testifies she was responsible for Isaac's care
June 14, 2007 By JACK KRESNAK FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...70614022&imw=Y Under withering cross-examination, the former Detroit foster mother charged in a 2-year-old’s death under her watch admitted Thursday that she had a legal duty to protect the boy. But Charlsie Adams-Rogers said she had “no physical hands” on causing the blunt-force injuries and burns inflicted on Isaac Lethbridge before his death on Aug. 16, 2006, in her northwest side home. Adams-Rogers, 60, is on trial in Wayne County Circuit Court, charged with involuntary manslaughter and child abuse in Isaac’s death and a separate child abuse charge involving his sister, now 4. According to testimony, Isaac was beaten and burned, possibly with a iron; his sister also had burns, possibly from a cigarette, and bruises. The Free Press is not naming Isaac's sister because she is still in foster care. On Thursday, Adams-Rogers maintained that her home was supervised the day of Isaac’s death. “I didn’t delegate my duty to anybody else,” she said in response to questions from Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Lisa Lindsey. “I performed my duty.” However, Adams-Rogers could point to little direct supervision of the foster children, who were in an upstairs bedroom playing and watching television with her two younger adopted daughters while she was cooking in the kitchen. She said that about 2:30 p.m. that day, “I went to the top of the landing and I could see the bedroom.” She said she saw Isaac and that he had the same bruise on his forehead that had been there for weeks. But she admitted that she never told police in a written statement about seeing Isaac at that time or that she had given first aid to one of her sons that morning for a burn on his hand. Sometime between 2 and 4 p.m., when Isaac’s lifeless body was discovered under a blanket in the hot bedroom, Adams-Rogers said her then-12-year-old daughter came downstairs and told her the boy was taking a nap. Adams-Rogers said she did not go upstairs to see for herself. Adams-Rogers has said the girl, who is now 13, accidentally injured Isaac when tossing him playfully onto a mattress. In earlier testimony, Adams-Rogers said she did not consider the girl, who has emotional and other problems, dangerous to other children. But Thursday she admitted that she told the staff at Kingswood Hospital, a psychiatric facility, that the girl had “severe aggression to classmates and peers” and that she was uncooperative and disrespectful. Adams-Rogers also said she had made misleading statements in previous testimony about never having had a complaint of child abuse against her substantiated by Child Protective Services. She admitted Thursday that after Isaac’s death, a complaint was substantiated and her rights were terminated to her younger two adopted daughters. She also admitted that, even though she has said that no adult males were living in her home while she harbored the foster children, she claimed one of her adult sons as a dependent on her tax returns for the last three years and he would have had to live at least half a year in the home. Earlier Thursday, Adams-Rogers said Isaac and his sister arrived at her home last June dirty and with only the clothing on their backs. “They were nasty,” she said. She said the children were handed over to her in her driveway by their foster care worker with the Lula Belle Stewart Center in Detroit and she went to a drugstore to buy pull-up underpants for the children and to a dollar store to buy them clothing, paying for it with her own money. Countering testimony that her home was unkempt, Adams-Rogers blamed Detroit police who arrived in the wake of Isaac’s death for making “a shambles” of the bedroom where he was found. Photographs shown in court showed the room littered with clothing and objects that could pose hazards for small children. Adams-Rogers also said that her 12-year-old adopted daughter loved the boy and his sister and would often play with them in the yard. Adams-Rogers said she was in the process of getting therapy and medications for the girl, who had stopped therapy and taking prescribed drugs after Adams-Rogers adopted her in April 2006 because state payments for her care also ended. Only Adams-Rogers has been charged in connection with Isaac’s death. Asked by her attorney, Warren Harris, why she took in foster children with so many problems, she said that after taking in the 10 children of a relative several years ago, “I promised God that I would help children. It’s not about money. I only get $11 a day. It’s not meant for someone to get rich. I don’t think a child should be branded or not loved or not cared about.” She said she has never been paid for the weeks of care she gave Isaac and his sister. Cross-examination was to continue this afternoon before Wayne County Circuit Judge Vera Massey Jones. If convicted, Adams-Rogers could face up to 15 years in prison on the manslaughter charge and up to four years on the child abuse charges. Contact JACK KRESNAK at 313-223-4544 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... |
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