http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/05/1368833/-Arkansas-Rep-Justin-Harris-gave-his-adopted-children-away-to-a-man-who-raped-one-of-them?detail=email
The Arkansas Times is out with an expose on Arkansas Rep. Justin Harris with shocking revelations that he and his wife gave their adopted 6-year-old and 3-year-old daughters to Eric Cameron Francis, a man who worked as a teacher at their Christian preschool and was fired after only three months on the job.
For reasons still unclear, the Harrises gave the girls away, first to Francis and his wife, and then to another unnamed family. But, not before Francis did the unthinkable:
"On the afternoon of March 28, 2014, the CID was asked by the commander of the Crimes Against Children Division to assist in determining where two minor age children might be, who had been adopted," said Bill Sadler, spokesman for the State Police. "By sometime late in the afternoon, CID had told CACD that the girls were accounted for — at the home of a family who appeared not to be the custodial parents of the girls." By the morning of Monday, March 31, the prosecutor documents indicate, the girls were interviewed by a CACD agent. During this interview, the 6-year-old disclosed the abuse by Francis, which Francis later told police occurred sometime in January 2014, while his wife was out of state.
Apparently the children weren't working out in the Harris home and they just gave them away. One of the surprises reporters Ben Harding and Leslie Peacock uncovered is that "rehoming" is far too common—and NOT illegal.
If some readers are startled to learn that it's legal for adoptive parents to give their children to another family, they're in good company. As the State Police investigation unfolded last spring, one person kept apprised of its progress was then-Gov. Mike Beebe. Matt DeCample, Beebe's former spokesperson, said the governor was surprised as anyone to hear about the practice of "rehoming," as it's called in the adoption world. (DeCample said it was common practice for the State Police to alert the governor's office whenever it discovered a state elected official had an ancillary connection to a criminal investigation.)
"As we were briefed on the State Police investigation into Mr. Francis and the circumstances around that case, none of us in the office, including the governor, had ever dealt with the rehousing of children who had been adopted through DHS," DeCample recalled. "It's not something that had ever come up before, and, frankly, we didn't know that it was something that could happen, or why it would ever happen.
One positive that may come from this is a change in the law that allows adoptive children to simply be given away without notification to the Department of Human Services. There is enough outrage around this particular case that it may bring about change sooner than later. The lengthy article at the the Arkansas Times is a highly recommended read.
Rep. Harris gave a brief comment to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette:
"When our adoption became final, we went to the court, the whole family, exchanged teddy bears and everything -- and it was like a light bulb suddenly flipped on for the girls. They knew, suddenly knew, that this was their forever home, and they were no longer ever going back to Mom's house," Harris said. "There was anger and an instant behavior change."
Harris said he sought help for the girls and took them to counseling, but their behavior did not improve.
this is beyond comprehension and it shows the wrong headed republican desire to give states the rights to be free of gov't regulations things like this, Ferguson, voter suppression all the threats to rights by those who oppose others having rights except them and their circle it creates and allow anarchy and tyranny to prosper and become the law of the land and after the disappointing conclusion of DOJ and Ferguson it's evident that state rights without over-site can easily turn into who has the most guns and money is the king or queen again like Ferguson remember Robin Hood and the unfair taxes at every turn sucking the life from hard working and using it to pay for their agenda and persecution of those same citizens.
why did they get the kids if they could just give them away at such a young age and not report the sexual assault. this sounds like Michelle Bachmann and her mate getting kids to get the allocations which i'm sure did not go to the kids more than it took to give the 3 meals a cot and a pair of shoes that sounds remarkably like prison and a privatized one at that.
and it was like a light bulb suddenly flipped on for the girls. They knew, suddenly knew, that this was their forever home, and they were no longer ever going back to Mom's house," Harris said.
and in the end it was like he and his wife took a bat and broke the light bulb of hope that has to be the coldest SOB in his block because other republicans have shown themselves to be even colder.
