Homeschool "foster parents" arrested for abuse

[mirele]

Per the Phoenix New Times:

A pair of Peoria parents (Johann and Kimery Jorg) are accused of keeping two of their adoptive daughters in a twisted home "prison," according to police.

Court documents obtained by New Times describe various treatments the 13- and 11-year-old girls faced: Being forced to sleep nude in the backyard, having their heads shaved, being forced to do barefoot running exercises, getting swatted with a paddle, and having to hand-write Bible verses for hours on end, among other things.

There's a whole lot of fucked up and crazy in this article. The Jorgs recited a pretty abusive regimen for punishment to the officers. The girls, for their part, said it was lots worse than that. And (just another quote from the article, the whole thing is nuts):

"Every wall and cabinet door (inside and out) in every room to include the kitchen, family room, office and bedrooms, was covered with pieces of paper outlining chore lists, house rules and consequences for breaking them. There were dozens of 'post-it' notes in the kitchen with messages about punishments that [the victims] still 'owed' to the parents."

Yeah, these kids were homeschooled, but the older girl complained of being behind because of all the running and Bible-verse writing.

There were four children in the home, two of whom were too young for the abusive discipline. They were removed with the two older girls. The Jorgs are being held on felony child abuse charges and their bail is $100,000 each.

Lots more disgusting details at the link: http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valley ... prison.php

[Want More Babies]

I hope they spend the rest of their miserable lives locked up in prison in solitary with just enough food to keep them alive and that is all.

I am so ANGRY!

[Want More Babies]

Now that I have calmed down a little, and can think, anyone else think of The Maxwell's and Managers of Their Homes? With all the scheduling that they did, I wonder if they got their ideas from Steve and Teri.

[momof2treasures]

This is pure evil! These people go beyond regimented into torture. It almost sounds like they enjoyed punishing these poor kids. Why adopt if you hate kids!why?

[ILoveJellybeans]

That is horrible. What evil people.

Those punishments seem too extreme even for the Pearls. One incident of bad behaviour gets at least 9 punishments on its own-more if they don't do it right.

I hope they go to jail for a long time, but seriously, jail isn't as bad as the conditions the "prison" they kept their kids in.

[GiGi_41]

While I don't agree with what they did, I wonder if the mom was becoming more and more mentally ill.

[Coco]

Thank God the kids were rescued. Every time I hear a horror story like this i shudder thinking about other kids that haven't been rescued yet.

i hope their physical recovery from the starvation goes well. So wrong.

[Full enough quiver]

I'm surprised they were allowed to homeschool. I was under the impression that foster parents weren't allowed to homeschool, probably for those exact reasons. I had to get permission to homeschool the boys. I had to show the worker samples of my daughters' work and a sample curriculum. They inspected my schoolroom and interviewed my daughters. The worker did give permission, I think because I was already homeschooling, it was a kinship placement, and they hadn't been in school in the first place. The worker also followed up two months in to check on their progress, and asked that I have them take state tests, and mail him the results. It was definitely a few extra hoops to jump through for their protection, but I was glad to comply.

[Mama Mia]

What I find most disturbing is that it sounds like they were still receiving monthly visits from some sort of case worker - how on earth could they let that level of abuse and neglect go un-noticed? I really hope the article was wrong and they were no longer under any kind of oversight.

[DGayle]

Yet you can be denied adopting or fostering for having diabetes, while people like that get multiple kids.

[dianapavelovna]

The article calls the kids their "adoptive daughters," so they weren't (currently) their foster parents. In general, foster parents aren't allowed to homeschool. The article also says that the couple "are foster parents," but it's not clear if that means they are still actively fostering/licensed.

I wonder how long ago the girls were adopted. That's a level of dysfunction I imagine it would be hard to hide completely. Plus, the parents far from denied it - they confirmed it. I also wonder if the two younger children in the home are adopted or bio kids. I'm glad they're all out of that home now.

[mirele]

The article calls the kids their "adoptive daughters," so they weren't (currently) their foster parents. In general, foster parents aren't allowed to homeschool. The article also says that the couple "are foster parents," but it's not clear if that means they are still actively fostering/licensed.

This is Arizona and Child Protective Services was so beyond fucked up that our Republican-dominated state legislature voted to abolish it in favor of a cabinet-level Department of Child Safety and threw an additional $63 million at the new department. It was *that* messed up. So I could see these guys falling through the cracks. For all we know, they may have been one of the 6,500 complaints to CPS which were never followed up on.

[Koala]

I hope they both rot in prison. Sick fucking monsters....

[Khan]

Yet I was denied foster parent status because Mr. Khan has diabetes. Our system is a hot mess.

[SunnyAndrsn]

Yet I was denied foster parent status because Mr. Khan has diabetes. Our system is a hot mess.

What state are you in? We had no trouble getting licensed, my husband has type I diabetes.

[Just Not Good]

This is Arizona and Child Protective Services was so beyond fucked up that our Republican-dominated state legislature voted to abolish it in favor of a cabinet-level Department of Child Safety and threw an additional $63 million at the new department. It was *that* messed up. So I could see these guys falling through the cracks. For all we know, they may have been one of the 6,500 complaints to CPS which were never followed up on.

They weren't in the Not Investigated group- those were cleared out of the system a few months back.

I've worked in child welfare in Arizona for years and this is absolutely the worst I've seen; colleagues say this is the worst they can remember, going back 30 years. Renaming the agency and putting the former head of juvenile corrections in charge is not going to help things. Already, Flanagan has come out with some insane quotes that indicate that he has absolutely no idea what matters in child welfare. When we slashed funding during the recession, we did our state's children irreparable harm for many years to come. If this is what is flying under the radar in the urban counties, can you even imagine what's going on out in the rural counties? (For example- Graham and Greenlee counties have about 5 CPS workers between them, and a rural, off the grid population. Can you even imagine?)

Also, anecdotally, I see a lot of excuses made for good Christian homes. As a terrible atheist, and someone who cares deeply about children's well being, this pisses me off.

[Mama Mia]

They weren't in the Not Investigated group- those were cleared out of the system a few months back.

I've worked in child welfare in Arizona for years and this is absolutely the worst I've seen; colleagues say this is the worst they can remember, going back 30 years. Renaming the agency and putting the former head of juvenile corrections in charge is not going to help things. Already, Flanagan has come out with some insane quotes that indicate that he has absolutely no idea what matters in child welfare. When we slashed funding during the recession, we did our state's children irreparable harm for many years to come. If this is what is flying under the radar in the urban counties, can you even imagine what's going on out in the rural counties? (For example- Graham and Greenlee counties have about 5 CPS workers between them, and a rural, off the grid population. Can you even imagine?)

Also, anecdotally, I see a lot of excuses made for good Christian homes. As a terrible atheist, and someone who cares deeply about children's well being, this pisses me off.

Perhaps you know, since you work in that system, why it took so long for CPS to become involved. In the article it states that the girls had been in the home for at least several years, and that they had been seeing the same health care workers regularly during that time. Do you know if the health care workers were slow to report? Or was nothing done? I understand you may not know or be able to comment on specifics, but that's what I found most troubling, that these kids had been in regular contact with professionals all during their abuse.

[Just Not Good]

Perhaps you know, since you work in that system, why it took so long for CPS to become involved. In the article it states that the girls had been in the home for at least several years, and that they had been seeing the same health care workers regularly during that time. Do you know if the health care workers were slow to report? Or was nothing done? I understand you may not know or be able to comment on specifics, but that's what I found most troubling, that these kids had been in regular contact with professionals all during their abuse.

Sadly, Arizona is proof that contact with professionals does not guarantee investigations into suspected child abuse or neglect; there have been a number of high-profile child deaths, where the families were involved with CPS and theoretically had eyes on them, in recent years, and the numbers are trending upward. I have no idea what happened in this particular case, but I have worked CPS cases in which the prior reports are numerous, heinous, and did not result in removals or substantiation. It's a deeply flawed system. I hope these children, and their siblings, find themselves in safe, appropriate, loving families, and that the trauma they have endured does not prevent them from living decent lives.

[Coco]

I hope these children, and their siblings, find themselves in safe, appropriate, loving families, and that the trauma they have endured does not prevent them from living decent lives.

amen.

[Jana814]

What a sad story. I also hope the parents rot in jail.

[Knight of Ni]

My husband works for CPS and I'm quickly learning not to be surprised at anything. He deals mostly with sexual abuse cases. I am seeing a whole different side of society. Some people are truly evil. I can't understand why people have kids and then treat them like they do. It's awful. The system is definitely flawed. It seems to be a combination of a restricted budget, wording in policies, and lazy workers. Just look up a recent news story in South Carolina about CPS that resulted in a child's death.

[momof2treasures]

I read that their was a 21 year old daughter also living in the home! What is the law regarding her responsibility to report? I can't believe that she wasn't aware of some of this stuff!

[Burpies]

So fucked up. They put the girls in 'prison', but in real prison you at least get a bed and three square meals a day. Geez.

Also, they put the oldest in the hospital b/c they were worried about refeeding syndrome?? I don't have any words.