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NY woman gets almost 11 years for adoption fraud
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-07-16 09:24 Prosecutors say the high school dropout from Trinidad lived lavishly while forcing the adopted children to sleep on the floor of a storage room next to a garage and banning them from entering the house except to use the bathroom or kitchen. Attorney Howard M. Talenfeld, speaking on behalf of 10 of the children, told the judge that none of the children could testify before him because they were too damaged by the abuse.
Talenfeld said one child was afraid to face Leekin again while five others who were capable of speaking were not brought before the court because social-services professionals advised that they would be further emotionally and psychologically damaged by the experience. Leekin's lawyer Diamond R. Litty noted that her client was cooperating and surrendering all her assets. She said many of the allegations are uncorroborated and at least six of the children have said they "miss their mother and still love her." Talenfeld said he was most troubled by the 2000 disappearance of a child who suffered from Down syndrome, autism and sickle cell anemia. He said some of his siblings were told the child, who would be 19 today, was taken to a hospital, while others were told he was buried in the back yard. The judge recommended that adoption programs use mandatory fingerprinting of prospective parents and a wider investigation of backgrounds before children are placed, and suggested surprise visits to adoptive parents and active monitoring by government agencies. Berman also noted that Leekin had been abused as a child. "Neglect leads to neglect," he said. "Adoption is a privilege, not a right." |
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