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Abused adoptees How safe is the pre-screened adoptive home?
Child trafficking How factual are an adoptee's documents?
Re-homing How permanent is the forever-home?
Adoption system Whose interest is adoption actually serving?
Inspired by stories shared by birth parents, adoptive parents, and adult adoptees, PPL explores
the dark side of adoption, and the consequences illegal and unethical actions have on future
family-life and the well-being of those affected by adoption.
Too many children are placed for the benefit of agencies and based on the demands of
prospective adoptive parents.
Too many children are placed in inappropriate homes because the business interests of adoption
agencies have higher priority than the safety of children.
PPL documents and archives cases where the child placement system did not work in the best
interest of the child and we offer a platform for those who want to express their thoughts and
feelings about the dark side of child adoption.
Case news
Most recent articles added to the case archives
Wife told police husband beat foster child
Date: 2005-03-11
Couple charged in death of Hayward 2-year-old
Ben Aguirre Jr.,
Inside Bay Area
FREMONT - After 2-year-old Dylan George refused to eat his dinner, Terry Corder became so
upset with the toddler that he forced food into his mouth, slapped his face and made him walk in
circles while he punched him in the head, his wife told police.
He then kicked the toddler several times, including a blow to the head that caused Dylan's
motionless body to move two inches, Sherrie Corder told investigators, a detective testified
Thursday during a preliminary hearing to determine if there is enough evidence for the Corders
to stand trial for murder.
Terry Corder had kicked their own children, his wife told police, but "she'd never seen him kick
any of their children with as much force as he used to kick Dylan," Fremont police Detective
Michael Tegner testified.
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692 reads
Lawyers' stall tactics drain funds of Baby Tamia's family
Date: 2005-03-10
Mary Mitchell
The Chicago Sun-Times
I sat in Judge Michael Murphy's courtroom at the Daley Center on Wednesday and witnessed
why so many poor and working-class people don't get justice. They can't afford it. They may be
able to file a complaint, even hire a lawyer.
BUT THE ONGOING LEGAL BATTLE BEING WAGED BY MARIA MCDONALD TO
GET HER GRANDDAUGHTER BACK FROM A UTAH ADOPTION AGENCY IS A CASE
STUDY OF HOW THE JUSTICE SYSTEM FAILS POOR AND WORKING-CLASS
AMERICANS.
AS YOU MAY KNOW, MCDONALD'S DAUGHTER, CARMEN MCDONALD, FLEW TO
UTAH IN DECEMBER ON A PLANE TICKET PAID FOR BY A CHERISHED CHILD
ADOPTION AGENCY, AND SURRENDERED HER PARENTAL RIGHTS TO INFANT
DAUGHTER TAMIA.
SINCE UTAH IS A STATE WHERE THE SURRENDER IS IMMEDIATE, CARMEN
MCDONALD, WHO IS SAID TO HAVE SUFFERED FROM POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION,
WAS SENT BACK TO CHICAGO IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS AFTER SHE TURNED
OVER TAMIA. ACCORDING TO A LAWSUIT SHE AND HER MOTHER FILED IN THIS
CASE, A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ADOPTION AGENCY THREATENED TO LEAVE
CARMEN STRANDED IN UTAH WHEN SHE TRIED TO BACK OUT OF THE
ADOPTION.
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1135 reads
Baby Tamia : Judge orders a halt
Date: 2005-03-10
Utah authorities have finl say on delaying adoption
Jonathan Lipman
Daily Southtown (Chicago, IL)
A Cook County judge tried Wednesday to halt a Utah adoption in its tracks as Harvey mother
Carmen McDonald continued her fight to reclaim her baby from an adoption agency her lawyers
say coerced her into giving up her infant.
Cook County Presiding Judge Michael Murphy ordered the Utah adoption of McDonald's
daughter Tamia revoked pending the outcome of the case. The child will remain with the
unnamed adoptive parents in Utah, but Murphy wants the six-month legal process of adoption to
stop.
"We'll see if the judge in Utah takes my suggestions," Murphy said.
The legal custody of the baby would remain with the adoption agency, A Cherished Child,
during the proceedings, but the Utah court may choose not to follow Murphy's order.
Murphy also indicated Wednesday he already believed that state law was broken when
Cherished Child flew McDonald, 20, from Chicago to Utah on Dec. 2, had her sign away her
parental rights and flew her back within 24 hours.
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Judge makes it clear that Baby Tamia's fate lies with court
Date: 2005-03-10
Shia Kapos
The Salt Lake Tribune
CHICAGO -- Attorneys for the natural mother of Baby Tamia urged a circuit court judge
Wednesday to give the toddler back to the Utah adoption agency that placed her while the
interstate custody battle continues in court.
Cook County Presiding Judge Michael Murphy revoked the placement of Tamia "without
prejudice," which means Midvale-based Cherished Child Adoption Agency may file to reinstate
Tamia with the Utah couple seeking her adoption, known as "John and Jane Doe," and Tamia
would remain for now in their custody. Recognizing the Does still have Tamia in their home,
Murphy said his order puts the couple on notice that the child's future rests with him.
Robert Fioretti, attorney for 20-year-old Carmen McDonald, Tamia's natural mother who is
trying to get the baby back, said there is concern that the Does are proceeding with the adoption
in Utah even though Utah and Illinois have acknowledged that the transfer of the baby violated
the federal Interstate Compact Act, which sets rules for how interstate adoptions take place.
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434 reads
Police, Ministry in showdown over horror orphanage
Date: 2005-03-09
Oluwatoyosi Ogunseye
Daily Sun
The stage was set for a showdown over the Lagos horror orphanage Tuesday, as the State
Commissioner for Youths, Sports and Social Development, Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele refused to
allow officials of his ministry to be quizzed by the police.
Bamidele also failed to keep his promise that he would hand over to the police suspected human
bones, which he claimed to have found when he stormed the orphanage with members of the
Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC).
The police were turned back when they went to the State Government Secretariat, Alausa, asking
for a top female official of the ministry who was said to have been dishing out questionable
adoption papers.
One of the investigators told Daily Sun: "Our investigations revealed that the orphanage worked
hand in hand with the ministry. We discovered that the ministry was sending women, who were
looking for children to the orphanage. The women would pretend to be pregnant by packing their
stomachs with clothes. Then they would register at a particular hospital with the consent of the
ministry and the orphanage.
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638 reads
Police: Parents Forced Malnourished Teen To Sleep In
Locked Cage
Date: 2005-03-09
Police: Parents Forced Malnourished Teen To Sleep In Locked Cage
POSTED: 12:10 pm EST March 9, 2005
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A lawyer for the adoptive parents of a 17-year-old boy who weighed
49 pounds when child welfare workers found him in an East Arlington home in January says the
couple is not necessarily responsible.
Wilson and Brenda Sullivan were each ordered held on $200,003 bond after being formally
charged of felony child neglect Wednesday morning.
"Just because a child is alleged to have a certain condition doesn't mean his parents are
responsible for it," said Lee Lockett, the parents' attorney, said the hearing. "We don't have all
the facts yet. My clients are adamantly denying all the allegations at this point."
The police report said the boy suffered from starvation and psychosocial dwarfism -- a lack of
physical and emotional growth caused by abuse.
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844 reads
Neighbors Shocked By Reports Of Neglect
Date: 2005-03-09
Neighbors Shocked By Reports Of Neglect
POSTED: 3:53 pm EST March 9, 2005
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Neighbors on the quiet street where Wilson and Brenda Sullivan live
thought of the couple as friendly, the kind of people who would wave when they saw you in the
yard or bring over cookies.
They were shocked to learn that the Sullivans had been arrested after their 17-year-old adopted
son was discovered in the house weighing 49 pounds and standing 4-foot, 6-inches tall. Officials
say he was forced to sleep in a cage-like bed and that he suffers from psychosocial dwarfism -- a
lack of physical and emotional growth caused by abuse.
Like several other neighbors interviewed Wednesday, Summer Howell doesn't remember seeing
the boy. She has lived next door to the Sullivans since they moved to the neighborhood in
October.
"It does comes as a shock. I hope it turns out to be false. They seemed to be very nice," she said
Wednesday. "They even brought over cookies at Christmastime."
Duval County Judge Brent Shore ordered the Sullivans each held on $200,003 bond Wednesday
on a charge of felony child neglect.
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730 reads
Evidence on Dollars sought
Date: 2005-03-09
St. Petersburg Times
Prosecutors want John and Linda Dollar to provide saliva samples. During formal searches,
detectives have collected pliers and blood swabs from the Dollars' home and vehicle. The state is
trying to find matches between the saliva and the trace elements in those items, according to a
motion on file with the court. Circuit Judge Ric Howard is scheduled to consider the state's
request during a 4 p.m. hearing Tuesday. At that time, the judge also will hear the Dollars'
request for bail; they are being held without bail at the Citrus County jail. The Dollars both face
several counts of child abuse and torture. Authorities say they abused five of their children.
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481 reads
Death of boy in foster care probed in Hub
Date: 2005-03-08
Autopsy of 4-year-old slated; biological family claims abuse
Michael Kunzelman
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOSTON— Authorities are investigating the death of a 4-year-old boy who was living in a
foster home in the city’s Dorchester neighborhood.
Investigators were awaiting the results of an autopsy on Dontel Jeffers, who died Sunday
afternoon at Boston’s Carney Hospital. Homicide detectives were called to the hospital after the
boy went into cardiac arrest, police spokesman John Boyle said.
Department of Social Services Commissioner Harry Spence said his agency is investigating
whether an accident on Saturday caused the boy’s death, but he declined to give details, other
than to say an adult was supervising Jeffers at the time of the accident.
“What we’re going to be doing is assembling all the facts rather than dribbling out little bits and
pieces,” Spence said.
On Sunday, his foster mother noticed that Dontel was unresponsive and alerted authorities,
Spence said. The boy appeared to be “physically in good health” before the accident.
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334 reads
Nigerian government and police officials implicated in Lagos
orphanage child trafficking
Date: 2005-03-08
Lagos horror orphanage–Rev Gift John speaks
Bones found in my home, by proprietress of horror orphanage
Oluwatoyosi Ogunseye
Daily Sun
Investigations into allegations of criminal activities at an orphanage home in Lagos will move a
step further today as detectives handling the case have been told that the Lagos State
Commissioner for Youths, Sports and Culture, Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele will show up with the
bones recovered from the horror home.
But the proprietress of the home, Mrs. Gift John told Daily Sun in a full scale interview that what
the commissioner has are bones of cows and goats, unless he goes to a cemetry to dig up human
bones.
Mrs John in the interview revealed how she had been having dealings with the officials of the
Ministry and how things fell apart between her and the Ministry.
She said that a lawyer who was close to the commissioner had paid and collected a baby at the
home. But the lawyer returned the baby half dead and demanded for a replacement with another
child, or have a refund of her money.
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706 reads
Child's death in foster care probed
Date: 2005-03-08
John Ellement and Heather Allen,
Boston Globe
Just 10 days after the state Department Social Services placed him in a foster home, 4-year-old
Dontell Jeffers died, devastating relatives who had been fighting since last May to bring the child
back into their Dorchester home, where they said he had lived for most of his short life.
Boston police, the Suffolk district attorney, and DSS are investigating the death Dontell, who
was placed with a foster mother on Ballou Avenue in Dorchester on Feb. 24 and was rushed
Sunday to Carney Hospital, where he went into cardiac arrest and died.
"As we understand it, the child's heart had stopped; that was the immediate cause of death," DSS
Commissioner Harry Spence said during a press conference yesterday.
"The questions behind that are now, 'What led to that heart failure?' "
An autopsy is scheduled for today, said David Procopio, spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney
Daniel F. Conley. The case is now a death investigation; the results of the autopsy and other
information will determine whether it becomes a criminal investigation, Procopio said.
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Family Says DSS Child Abused, Death Not Accident
Date: 2005-03-08
Romney Says System Failed Boy, Family
BOSTON -- The family of a 4-year-old boy who died while in Department of Social Services
custody said they are convinced the child was abused prior to his death and was not the victim of
an accident.
NewsCenter 5's Janet Wu reported that the results of Dontel Jeffers' autopsy were not released
Tuesday.
Dontel died of heart failure Sunday after his foster mother brought him to Caritas Carney
Hospital.
The family went to the medial examiner's office Tuesday and demanded to see the boy's body.
"Seeing a lot of bruises on Dontel's face, and his face was swollen with a lot of different bruises
on the face. I seen a lot of bruises, and that is what I seen," said Dontel's uncle, Vincent James.
Dontel had lived with his father and grandmother until his father's incarceration and deportation.
He stayed with his mother until she entered a drug rehabilitation program. DSS took custody of
the boy in December and placed him in a group home run by St. Mary's Church. Then, for
reasons unknown to the family, Dontel was taken out of that group home and placed in a private
foster home in Dorchester.
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Police probe death of 4-year-old boy in foster care
Date: 2005-03-08
BOSTON (AP) -- Authorities are investigating the death of a 4-year-old boy who was living in a
foster home in the city's Dorchester neighborhood.
Investigators were awaiting the results of an autopsy on Dontel Jeffers, who died Sunday
afternoon at Boston's Carney Hospital. Homicide detectives were called to the hospital after the
boy went into cardiac arrest, police spokesman John Boyle said.
Department of Social Services Commissioner Harry Spence said his agency is investigating
whether an accident on Saturday caused the boy's death, but he declined to give details, other
than to say an adult was supervising Jeffers at the time of the accident.
"What we're going to be doing is assembling all the facts rather than dribbling out little bits and
pieces," Spence said.
On Sunday, his foster mother noticed that Dontel was unresponsive and alerted authorities,
Spence said. The boy appeared to be "physically in good health" before the accident.
"This is not a case where we're looking to see if a pre-existing medical condition was a cause of
the death," Spence said.
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Relatives Angry Over Death Of Boy, 4
Date: 2005-03-08
Child Died Of Heart Failure Over Weekend
BOSTON -- Investigators are hoping an autopsy Tuesday will reveal what exactly killed a 4year-old boy who was in the custody of the Department of Social Services. In the meantime, the
boy's parents are upset about the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death.
Dontel Jeffers died of heart failure over the weekend after his foster mother brought him to the
hospital.
NewsCenter 5's Gail Huff reported that DSS took custody of the boy in December and placed
him in a group home run by St. Mary's Church. Then, for reasons unknown to the family, Dontel
was taken out of that group home and placed in a private foster home in Dorchester.
Armed with a search warrant Monday, police combed the foster home at 5 Ballou Ave. in
Dorchester Monday, looking for evidence of possible abuse. Dontel was placed there more than a
week ago on Feb. 24. The Boston Herald, citing unnamed sources, reported that appeared the
boy was tied up and beaten to death. He died of cardiac arrest at Caritas Carney Hospital about
1:30 Sunday afternoon.
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285 reads
Police: 17-Year-Old Foster Child Weighing 49 Pounds
Found In 'Cage'
Date: 2005-03-08
Police: 17-Year-Old Foster Child Weighing 49 Pounds Found In 'Cage'
DCF 'Disgusted, Outraged' By Alleged Neglect
POSTED: 5:02 pm EST March 8, 2005
UPDATED: 10:13 am EST March 9, 2005
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Police Tuesday arrested adoptive parents on charges of child neglect
after a six-week investigation into the treatment of a 17-year-old boy who officals say was
grotesquely underweight and kept locked up.
The investigation into Brenda Sullivan, 48, and Wilson Sullivan, 55, began Jan. 10 after the
Department of Children and Families hot line received an anonymous tip.
Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Chief Steve Weintraub said the teen weighed only 49 pounds and
was kept in an enclosed crib "similar to a cage" that had a chain and padlock.
Police said the Sullivans have only told investigators they kept the teen inside the locked crib
because he was gorging himself on food at night.
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