Parents deny abusing 11 adoptees; investigation continues
By Carl Chancellor and Dennis J. Willard
Beacon Journal staff writers
WAKEMAN - It immediately becomes clear from walking the grounds of the rural compound of Michael Gravelle, 56, and his wife Sharen, 57, that the Huron County couple worked to create the image of an idyllic child-friendly environment.
On a recent day, a half-dozen brown and white ducks swam lazily in a man-made pond, with water falling from a shelf of rocks topped with a rough-hewed wooden cross draped with purple cloth.
On another part of the property, which has two outbuildings, the main house and an abundance of plastic play equipment, there is a small arbor-like area carpeted with leafy, green ground cover, arranged with wood furniture and over-arched by the low-hanging branches of pine trees.
Nearby is another stand of rocks that forms the base for a second wooden cross that sits directly in front of a large ply-wood skateboard ramp.
A license plate on a van, one of several vehicles scattered about the St. John Road property, reads simply: Celebrate Kids.
If recent allegations are true, however, there was nothing idyllic about the lives of the 11 children the Gravelles adopted.
The children, who have special needs and range in age from 1 to 14, were taken from the home last week by Huron County sheriff's deputies, who discovered some of the children locked in homemade cages. Some children told deputies they slept in the cramped, wooden cages built into bunk beds.
The cages, which had no blankets or pillows, were rigged with alarms. Heavy furniture blocked some doors.
The Gravelles deny they have abused their adopted children, who have a variety of conditions including autism and fetal-alcohol syndrome. The Gravelles, who have not been charged, said through their lawyer that the ``enclosures'' were meant to protect the children, who were prone to injuring themselves and others.
David Sherman, their attorney, said the couple was being painted wrongly. He said a psychiatrist recommended to them that the children sleep in the cages.
``The Gravelles love and miss their children and are devastated and brokenhearted with worry since their children have been ripped away from them,'' Sherman said. ``Their motives and intentions were good. They would never harm a child. The children love their parents and want to come home.''
Huron County Prosecutor Russell Leffler filed 11 complaints with the county's juvenile court against the Gravelles, charging abuse and child neglect. The complaints led to the children being placed in foster care.
A hearing has been set for Oct. 27 to decide whether the children should be removed permanently from the home or returned to the Gravelles.
``We are conducting a very thorough investigation... possible witnesses as well as the children are being interviewed,'' said Leffler, who will determine whether criminal charges will be filed. He said he will meet with law enforcement officials Monday to discuss the investigation.
Complaints filed
Laurie Oney, a former friend of the couple, said the Gravelles used to spank their children with a broomstick and that Sharen Gravelle once ridiculed a child as a ``pig'' and ``bed-wetter.''
In 2001 and again in 2002, Oney filed child-abuse complaints with the Huron County Department of Job and Family Services.
The agency has said it had not heard about the parents until last week.
Oney, who lives about a mile from the Gravelles, said she hasn't had much contact with the family in several years.
Although the Gravelles have lived in Huron County for 12 years -- having purchased the house in 1993 for $60,000 -- the children were adopted through other counties and states.
At least three of the children -- siblings -- were adopted in 2000 from Stark County.
Mike Vaccaro, counsel for Stark County's Department of Job and Family Services, said ``all the procedures were followed'' in placing the children with the Gravelles. He said a home study was done and all statutory requirements were met.
``What was required under the law in 2000 was met,'' Vaccaro said.
A year after adopting the Stark County siblings, Sharen Gravelle filed for a legal separation from her husband.
In documents filed in 2001 in Huron County Common Pleas Court, she said she had ``grave concerns'' for her children and accused her husband of being a danger to the family. At the time, the couple had eight adopted children.
Gravelle, who listed her occupation as a nurse's aide, alleged ``extreme cruelty and gross neglect of duty'' against her husband, who listed his occupation as a laborer.
Sharen Gravelle contended in a March 2001 document that ``the defendant left the home, leaving his wife and eight children to fend for themselves.''
Adoption benefits
The Gravelles were receiving $4,265 a month in adoption subsidies and Social Security disability benefits for the children, according to separation records.
Parents who adopt children with special needs receive financial support from two basic sources, said Rhonda Abban of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. The majority -- about 94 percent -- receive a basic adoption assistance subsidy that is a combination of federal and state dollars.
Parents like the Gravelles receive a minimum of $250 a month for each child from this source, but the reimbursement rates are tied to county rates for foster care and vary from county to county.
The couple reconciled by May 2001 and eventually adopted three more children. It's not known whether the agencies that placed those children reviewed the abuse allegations.
It is also not known whether the various adoption agencies knew that Michael Gravelle's biological daughter, now 31, was removed from his home after abuse allegations nearly 20 years ago.
According to the daughter, who did not wish to be named, she was taken from the home in 1987, shortly after her the death of her mother, Judith. She wrote, ``I have not had a relationship with my father and his wife in many years.''
Michael and Sharen Gravelle, who were married in 1987, joined a 1999 lawsuit against Hamilton County complaining aboutpublic-agency resistance to allowing white couples to adopt black children. The Gravelles are white; their 11 adopted children are black.
According to the lawsuit, the Gravelles adopted two children in Hamilton County. The lawsuit contended one defendant in the case, an adoption supervisor, objected to giving the youngsters names that weren't Afrocentric.
The Gravelles were dropped from the lawsuit in 2002 because they weren't cooperating and no one could reach them, according to documents in the case.
Those poor children, they have to wonder what they did to deserve to be put in a cage. What's ironic is they are well behaved, well fed and well dressed. 
