Wakeman, Ohio – The 11
children removed from a house
where authorities say some of
them slept in homemade cages
are polite, well-behaved and
well-dressed and appear to
have been well-fed, neighbors
and authorities said Tuesday.
Their adoptive parents, Michael
Gravelle, 56, and Sharen
Gravelle, 57, denied in a custody
hearing Monday that they
abused or neglected the children,
who are ages 1-14 and have
conditions that include autism
and fetal alcohol syndrome.
No charges had been filed as
of Tuesday afternoon, and messages
left with their lawyer
were not immediately returned.
The Gravelles have said a psychiatrist
recommended they
make the children sleep in the
cages, Huron County Prosecutor
Russell Leffler told the Norwalk
Reflector.
The parents said the children,
including some who had mental
disorders, needed to be protected
from each other, according
to a search warrant on file at
Norwalk Municipal Court.
Leffler refused to speak with
an Associated Press reporter
Tuesday at his office.
Neighbors said they often
saw or heard the children playing,
and the family yard was littered
with toys plastic cars,
tricycles, slides and an overturned
skateboard near a wooden
ramp. Seven bicycles were
piled in a storage shed.
“Those kids were dressed better
than some of the kids who
live in Cleveland.
They behaved
like any other kids when they
were outside playing,” said
neighbor Jim Power.
At night, authorities say, eight
of the children were confined in
3K-foot-tall wooden cages
stacked in bedrooms on the second
floor. The cageswere painted
in bright, primary colors,
with some rigged with door
alarms that would send a signal
downstairs. One cage had a
dresser in front of it, sheriff’s Lt.
Randy Sommers said Tuesday.
“The sheriff and I stood there
for a few minutes and just kind
of stared at whatwewere seeing.
We were speechless,” he said.
The children have been
placed with four foster families
and were doing well, said Erich
Dumbeck, director of the Huron
County Department of Job
and Family Services.
“We don’t have any indication
at this point that there was
any abuse,” Dumbeck said.
