WAKEMAN, Ohio – The 11 children removed from a house where authorities say some of them slept in homemade cages are polite, well-behaved, 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 range in age from 1 to 14 and have conditions that include autism and fetal alcohol syndrome.
No charges had been filed as of Tuesday afternoon.
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.
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 Jim Power, who lives across the street.
At night, authorities say, eight of the children were confined in 31/2-foot-tall wooden cages stacked in bedrooms on the second floor. The cages were painted in bright colors, with some rigged with alarms when a cage door was opened. One cage had a dresser in front of it, county sheriff’s Lt. Randy Sommers said Tuesday.
“The sheriff and I stood there for a few minutes and just kind of stared at what we were seeing. We were speechless,” Sommers said.
The children have been placed with foster families and are doing well, said Erich Dumbeck, director of the Huron County Department of Job and Family Services.
“We’re still trying to figure out what happened in that home. We don’t have any indication at this point that there was any abuse,” Dumbeck said.
Sommers said a social worker investigating a complaint contacted authorities. Dumbeck would not discuss the complaint.
According to the search warrant, the cages had mats in them, and the house smelled of urine. One boy said he slept in a cage for three years, Sommers said. A baby slept in a small bed, and two girls used mattresses
Deputies said they were called to the home last year when a 12-year-old boy ran away. He was found not far away.
Although the family has lived in Huron County for 10 years, the children were adopted through other counties and states, Dumbeck said. “I don’t believe there were any caseworkers checking in with this family,” he said.
Reviews are ordered only when there is a complaint.
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