Ohio children forced to sleep in cages by adoptive parents will share $1.2M settlement
By APWednesday, March 10, 2010
$1.2M settlement reached in Ohio caged kids case
NORWALK, Ohio — Eleven adopted and foster children who were forced by an Ohio couple to sleep in cages have reached a $1.2 million settlement with the county where they once lived.
Lawyers for the children announced the settlement Wednesday. They say Huron County officials should have discovered what was happening sooner and removed the children more quickly.
The children suffered from problems such as fetal alcohol syndrome and ranged in age from 1 to 14 when authorities removed them from the home in 2005.
Michael and Sharen Gravelle are serving two-year prison terms for abusing some of the children.
Attorney Jack Landskroner says the county missed several red flags that could have alerted them to the problems. The county has denied blame.
