Ten-year sentence in adoption fraud; Abuse charges pending
July 16th, 2008
From the New York Times, AP/USA Today:
A woman from Trinidad who lied to adopt 11 disabled American children and collect $1.68 million in adoption benefits has been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for a scheme that a federal judge described as “diabolical.”
Judith Leekin (left) is also accused of treating the children like prisoners, subjecting them to beatings and handcuffs while keeping them in a locked room without food, depriving them of medical care and not allowing them to go to school. Prosecutors said she used money meant for the children’s care to support a lavish lifestyle.
Authorities said the children were so physically and emotionally abused they can never recover. One of the children, who had Down syndrome, autism and sickle cell anemia, is missing and presumed dead. Some of the children reported being told that he had been buried in the backyard.
If Leekin is convicted on the remaining 10 counts, including aggravated child abuse and aggravated abuse of disabled adults, she could face as many as 120 years in prison.
(Scripps photo in USA Today)
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July 17th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
I am appalled that the court system finds so little value in the lives of children with disabilities. This woman deserves a life sentence for the heinous abuse perpetrated against these children entrusted to her care. The courts should also be investigating the organization responsible for overseeing these adoptions. Surely there must have been signs of the abuse and her intent to use the children’s subsidies to support her lifestyle. Rigorous monitoring procedures should be in place for any adoptions of special needs children as they are an at risk population for abuse and neglect.
Society needs to realize that people with disabilities are people first and that discrimination, abuse and exclusion are inhumane. If abusers like this are continually given inadequate sentences, the courts are sending a clear message that all men ARE NOT created equal.
July 16th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
I just have to wonder how this woman made it through screenings and processes that would allow her to adopt one child, let alone 11!