Michael and Sharen Gravelle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Michael and Sharen Gravelle are known for having adopted eleven special needs children in Clarksfield Township, Ohio, United States. In 2003 they were indicted for child abuse for, among other things, keeping the children in cage-like enclosures. The Gravelles claimed the cages were made to protect the children from each other.

Their trial motivated legislators in Ohio to pass laws to prevent people from adopting so many children without a great deal of oversight by the state.[1] They used parenting methods similar to those used in attachment therapy which involves very strict control of children using isolation, food deprivation, and other disciplinary measures that many people consider excessive. The trial gained international attention and brought many inadequacies of the adoption services systems in Ohio to the fore.

They were sentenced in 2005 to two years in prison for their crimes. [2] According to Advocates for Children in Therapy and newspaper reports their therapist, Elaine Thompson, a Social Worker practising as an attachment therapist, advised on parenting techniques and had undertaken counselling or therapy including 'holding therapy' with some of the Gravelle children. Elaine Thompson was also indicted but pleaded guilty to misdemeanours in a plea bargain.