By MIKE FLETCHER
Tribune staff writer
May 07, 2008 10:59 pm
—
With two Kokomo mothers behind bars in what police are calling one of the area’s worst cases of child abuse in decades, officials are now focused on the children’s futures.
The two 4-year-old abuse victims found in a Home Avenue residence Monday with open wounds and broken bones were still receiving treatment Wednesday evening at St. Joseph Hospital.
But it’s the emotional wounds — many of which won’t manifest until much later in life — that will take the most time to heal, said Bob McClurg, a Kokomo child clinical psychologist who works with abused and neglected children.
“The general rule is the younger the child and the less extensive the abuse, the less long-term impact it’s going to have on them,” McClurg said. “Obviously, it depends on the severity, physical injury and emotional trauma.”
McClurg also said the effects on the children depend largely on how long the abuse occurred.
“The length of the abuse and severity is directly proportional for the degree of problems later,” he said.
He also said children typically are unaware that what’s happening to them is wrong.
“If they have never known anything but that, there’s no contrast for them. Their trauma may come afterwards when they get older and see how people really treat people. That’s when they could have problems — once they realized what happened.”
Kokomo detectives are still trying to piece together why the abuse occurred inside the house at 1100 S. Home Ave., including how long it went on.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that these kids would not have survived this much longer,” said Lt. Don Whitehead of the Kokomo Police Department’s criminal investigations unit.
Police say the children were regularly tortured. They had been beaten, at times with a makeshift weapon fashioned from four wooden spoons glued together. They were bound by “zip ties” or towels ripped into strips to objects in the home — door knobs, a fan and a laundry basket.
They were forced to stand in corners overnight and were kept in a closet, with the girl locked in and bound for three weeks at a time, Whitehead said.
They were deprived of food and water for extended periods of time.
Kokomo police happened upon the abuse Monday when responding to a complaint of a mother being denied access to her daughter.
Now, four people face charges based on what officers say they found waiting inside the house.
The mothers of the children, Melissa Chandler, 30, and Jennifer Leonard, 36, both face Class B felony charges of neglect of a dependent, and aiding, inducing or causing battery.
They appeared in Howard Circuit Court Wednesday for a Children in Need of Services (CHINS) hearing.
“It’s a formality to determine if the removal was justified and determine placement for the children,” Whitehead said.
Details of the hearing, though, were not available since hearings involving juveniles are not open to the public.
The mothers remain behind bars and the children, once released from the hospital, will be placed in the custody of Department of Child Services.
Aaron Deakyne, of Anderson, the father of the abused girl, called police Tuesday after hearing the news of his daughter.
“He didn’t find out about it until people he knew told him they saw it on TV,” Whitehead said.
Deakyne was interviewed by KPD and also attended Wednesday’s hearing.
Afterward, Deakyne was taken into custody after officials learned he was wanted on a juvenile paternity warrant in Howard Circuit Court. He was released Wednesday after posting bail.
The warrant was issued April 21, court records showed.
Whitehead said he’s not sure of the location of the abused boy’s father.
“He hasn’t been around at all in the child’s life,” he said.
The sisters lived in the house with two friends, Donald Hawk, 33, and Madeline Hawk, 42.
The Hawks have been charged with neglect of a dependent, with Madeline also facing a B felony battery charge.
All four adults charged in the case remain jailed without bail pending initial court appearances.
If convicted, they could face up to 20 years in prison on each charge.
In the end, McClurg said given the opportunity and treatment, most kids go on to have a normal life.
“They have youth on their side,” he said. “With good support and good treatment, they can overcome it.”
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