"Oklahoma neglect case ends in mistrial" Associated Press, October 31, 2012
POTEAU, Okla. — A judge has declared a mistrial in the case of a 62-year-old man who was charged with child neglect and sexual abuse after his nine children were found living in squalid, bug-infested conditions in eastern Oklahoma.
The children — who investigators say were unable to count to 20 or recite the alphabet — were ages 3 to 17 years when the state Department of Human Services raided their property and took them into emergency custody in October 2011.
A petition to terminate the man’s parental rights says one of his daughters told authorities he impregnated her and buried the baby’s body near a goat pen. Investigators have searched the rural property but have been unable to find the remains. One daughter said he had sexually abused her and a younger sibling.
The Southwest Times Record reported that LeFlore County District Judge Jon Sullivan granted defense attorney Gary Buckles’s motion for mistrial, saying too many potential jurors had already formed opinions on the case.
A petition to terminate the parental rights of the man and the children’s 40-year-old mother filed in November of last year alleged ‘‘shocking and heinous abuse and neglect.’’
The children and their parents were found living in a small camper ‘‘because their home was too filthy and filled with bugs,’’ according to a court decision terminating the man’s parental rights....
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The children — who investigators say were unable to count to 20 or recite the alphabet — were ages 3 to 17 years when the state Department of Human Services raided their property and took them into emergency custody in October 2011.
A petition to terminate the man’s parental rights says one of his daughters told authorities he impregnated her and buried the baby’s body near a goat pen. Investigators have searched the rural property but have been unable to find the remains. One daughter said he had sexually abused her and a younger sibling.
The Southwest Times Record reported that LeFlore County District Judge Jon Sullivan granted defense attorney Gary Buckles’s motion for mistrial, saying too many potential jurors had already formed opinions on the case.
A petition to terminate the parental rights of the man and the children’s 40-year-old mother filed in November of last year alleged ‘‘shocking and heinous abuse and neglect.’’
The children and their parents were found living in a small camper ‘‘because their home was too filthy and filled with bugs,’’ according to a court decision terminating the man’s parental rights....
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"Dad accused of child neglect ordered to jail" by Justin Juozapavicius | Associated Press, March 01, 2013
TULSA, Okla. — A Tulsa man accused of locking his toddler in a metal cage was sent to jail by a judge on Thursday. The order revoked the man’s probation on a previous drug conviction.
The father was arrested in November on the felony neglect charge....
The father received a two-year suspended sentence in August after pleading no contest to possessing a precursor to manufacture methamphetamine.
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In November, authorities said, police found the man’s 22-month-old daughter locked in the animal crate, a 3-year-old child wandering around naked outside, and another 3-year-old naked and unsupervised.
Records show the man was responsible for caring for all three children, but he was passed out in the house.
Probably high on meth.
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Also see:
Mother, 4 children die in Okla. fire
Okla. man pleads guilty in deaths of woman, 4 kids
