The incident happened while his wife was away for two weeks on a trip to Pennsylvania. While Annie would be allowed to roam the house and interact with other family members, Mary was often confined to her room, Goldsborough said. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. The story of an Arkansas politician who gave away his adopted child, and the tragedy that followed, So far, Trumps rollback of regulations cant be blamed for Ohio train wreck, The Buttigieg-Rubio grudge match over rail safety, Lawmakers cite fishy poll to suggest laptop tale would have swayed vote, A series of stories by the Arkansas Times, vociferous defender of his Christian faith, prominent figurein the states Republican Party. Justin Leroy Harris, 48. Basically, they havent had their emotional needs met, or theyve been taken away, Jensen said. And they knew [Mary] had been sexually assaulted, and she would have some anger issues. The former DHS employee the Times contacted for this story independently confirmed this account of the Valentines Day meeting. For the most part, Harris peers in the legislature are keeping quiet about the controversy, but the public at large is paying attention to the story. She was often confined for hours to her room, where she was monitored by a video camera. It is a good step, advocates say, that could help protect some of the most vulnerable children and underscore the importance of preparing families for the challenges of foster children before adoption. They had adopted three international children of their own -- one whom had RAD -- and Eric Francis was also an early childhood educator. Justin Harris was born on 1975, is a Preschool owner and operator. We do not do exorcism. "We met a bunch of different families, and we found the parents we absolutely loved," Justin, who came out as gay to his family before his junior . [The biological] mom wanted to have control of what happened to the children and Marsha and I said we didnt want to go through DHS because of some issues wed had with them in the past. (Roughly around this time, in late 2011, the Harrises were feuding with DHS over an investigation involving Growing Gods Kingdom that found the school included overtly Christian instruction despite receiving public money. Sex crimes: Eric Francis (above) is now serving 40 years in prison for rape, Blame game: In a press conference on Friday Rep. Harris blamed what happened on theArkansas Department of Human Services. They kept up with the kids, he said, referring to the rehoming. 'This is a continuation of an alarming pattern that continues with several Arkansas legislators. When news of the rape came out in April 2014 and Harris was questioned about his former employee, he told the Times hed fired Francis for a poor work record. We were threatened with possible abandonment charges and potentially losing our own boys as well if we returned the girls to DHS custody. We've been battling powerful forces for 48 years through our tough, determined, and feisty journalism. The Harrises categorically denied all of Goldsborough's claims. Now imagine that happening three different times. Kyra Guthrie, a Fayetteville resident and friend of the Harts, sometimes provided respite care for the foster family. Though Rep. Harris is talking about this adoption, by law we cannot do so and are concerned about the very sensitive and protected information that has been released about vulnerable children. The adoption involves three little girls, who ranged in age from 9 months to 4 years old when it started. According to the Arkansas Times, the girls were adopted through the Arkansas Department of Human Services. Justin and Marsha Harris both hold degrees in child development and run a Christian day care center called, Growing God's Kingdom. The story first . He began working at the Times in 2014. Before he made that decision, Harris voted in support of a new Arkansas law, which went into effect in April, making "re-homing" of adopted children a felony. True, they looked to older children here in America who were in need of a stable and safe home; but the children were old enough to not want a new "forever family" as decreed by the courts. So in early 2011. when a mother of three reached out to the devout couple about adopting her three young daughters who were about to be permanently taken away by DHS, the family decided they wanted to make these siblings members of their family. The Harts did know that the two little girls had a 5-and-a-half-year-old sister who had been sexually abused. The Times reported that Cecile Blucker, the head of DHS' Division of Children and Family Services, "exerted pressure on the Washington County DHS office on behalf of Justin Harris to . While caring for the two girls, Eric Francis wasemployed briefly at Growing Gods Kingdom, the Christian day-care owned by Harris. Following the publication of the story, he and his wife, who have three biological sons, released a statement through their lawyer. Adoptive parents dont believe us. Period. But recently,Wisconsin, Colorado, Florida and Louisiana havepassed laws addressing the practice. At some point before he was arrested and after his firing, Francis and his wife gave the two girls away to another family, where they are now living. We believe that if Arkansas families were aware of this; they would be as appalled as well. And the Harts said they weren't the only ones who opposed the adoption. It really repulses us what he said. An emotional Rep. Justin Harris (R-West Fork), his wife at his side, told reporters at a press conference last week that he sent his two adopted daughters to live with another family, where one of them was later sexually abused, because he would have faced abandonment charges by the state. Rep. Harris confirmed this in his press conference, saying he and his wife had been cleared of all charges. We care deeply for the girls but we were failed by DHS, Harris said at his press conference. In fact, because of the repeated sexual abuse she had suffered at such a young age, she had begun to exhibit predatory behaviors. That is when they decided to give the girls to the Francis family, and at that point began sending all stipends they received to them. Justin Todd Harris(born August 25, 1975)[1]is the owner and operator of Growing Gods Kingdom, a preschool in West Fork in Washington County in northwestern Arkansas. They genuinely had a commitment, I think, but it wasnt near as easy as they thought that it was going to be. We love them deeply and are committed to do everything we can to help them live healthy, happy lives. They initially took in the third. Asa Hutchinson has ordered a review of the agencys practices regarding adoption. They came in to one of the church lunches and had me go to the bank with them to have it notarized and all that stuff to take it back to their lawyer. Gods going to solve this. There are lots of children you could adopt you dont need to take the most traumatized ones out of the system. Its evil, he told the Times. Democratic Party Chair Vince Insalaco has called for Rep. Harris' resignation. Male adoptee born on Aug 17, 1982 in Orlando, Florida Adoption record added Today at 12:55pm Female adoptee born on Jan 3, 1983 in Yakima, Washington Adoption record added Today at 9:41am Male adoptee born on Jan 1988 in Tulsa, Oklahoma Adoption record added Today at 9:31am The former DHS employee confirmed this account. The mother in that household, who asked that her name not be used in this story, still refers to the girl as my daughter and describes her as simultaneously one of the most disturbing casualties of sexual abuse shes ever encountered and a remarkable, resilient child who she grew to love as deeply as her own biological son. Webb did offer this statement after Harris press conference, however: Though Rep. Harris is talking about this adoption, by law we cannot do so and are concerned about the very sensitive and protected information that has been released about vulnerable children. 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Because adoption proceedings are so closed, it is nearly impossible for Blucker or DHS as a whole to refute Harris statements that the agency (or individuals within it) provided insufficient support, threatened him and ultimately turned a blind eye to the rehoming. DHS ultimately placed the child into a hospital after just a few months of living with the family, and the Harrises did not proceed with the planned adoption. Find your friends on Facebook. Follow. They said the whole time in court they wanted all three, and thats why they were chosen [to adopt] They fell on their knees when they were told they could take her., As for the transfer itself, Craig Hart said, It was not the process normally followed when we had kids go into an adoption situation the court said there should be a transitioning period between us and them, and we saw them only once after they moved in [with the Harrises]. She said that instead they used acontroversial book on therapeutic parenting to help deal with the adopted children. Rep. Justin Harris blames DHS for the fallout related to his adoption of three young girls, but sources familiar with the situation contradict his story and paint a troubling picture of the adoption process and the girls' time in the Harris household. Why would anyone go to the trouble of adopting a child and then give the child away?'. While the Harts were aware that the sisters had come from a troubled and sexually abusive background, the couple didn't notice any extremely alarming behaviors from the girls during the year and a half they spent in their home in Fayetteville, Ark. A series of stories by the Arkansas Times revealedthat Harris a day-care owner, a vociferous defender of his Christian faith and a prominent figurein the states Republican Party put two young girls he adopted in the care of a man who later sexually abused one of them. Justin Harris, a Republican who sits in the state's House of Representatives, legally adopted the two girls in March 2013 - but handed them over after just six months to a man who would go on to rape the eldest. Watch popular content from the following creators: Justine Harris(@_justinemariah), Justine Harris(@_justinemariah), Justine Harris(@_justinemariah), Justine Harris(@_justinemariah), Justin Harris(@tiktokfamousjustinharris) . Contact info Agent info Born in Hollywood FL, Justin R Harris, from a diversely mixed background of German with Jamaican influence; black American. An Arkansas politician claims he gave away his two adopted daughters, aged three and six, to a rapist because they were threatening to kill his family, and had already crushed a family pet to death. Therapeutic foster parents are trained to deal with the intense demands of traumatized children and nudge them toward healing and bonding with intentional, careful steps. As of Tuesday, a Change.org petition calling for Harris resignation had garnered 5,000 signatures. About 18 percent were said to have a history that included sexual or physical abuse. , Especially at risk are children described as troubled and lacking a consistent parental figure, says Eric Ostrov, a Chicago-based forensic psychologist who evaluates sex offenders. By then, the 4-year old girl Harris had adopted and then given away was 6. That summer, the adoption case went before 4th Circuit Juvenile Court Judge Stacy Zimmerman in Washington County. Jan Wallis is an adoption specialist at the Arkansas Department of Health Services (DHS). 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Holmes goes ring shopping! How exactly things could go so wrong for the girlsonce they were placed in the care of the Harris family is a study in failure at all levels. They say Blucker exerted pressure on the Washington County DHS office on behalf of Justin Harris to facilitate the adoption. You have no idea what my family has been through. Do not sell or share my personal information. We still are in contact with a lot of our former fosters who have been adopted. They thrived in our home, Cheryl Hart said. March 12, 2015 8:00 am. Stay up to date with our daily newsletter, Thousands Support Creation Of Child Abuse Registry In Michigan, Canada's Trudeau Denies Report That Liberals Told To Drop Candidate Over China Ties, After Italian Migrant Boat Wreck, Police Arrest Three Alleged Traffickers, 14 Chinese Military Aircraft Tracked Around Country, China's Annual Parliament To Implement Xi's Tightening Grip. They argued they were more than capable of raising these young girls. The two foster families themselves strongly objected to the Harris adoption, whether done privately or through the system. For one of those girls, however, Arkansas Rep. Justin Harriss house came to represent something very different: a temporary stopping point on the way to some place much, much worse. Please enter a search term. The sisters were supposed to be moving out of neglect and chaos and into the stability of their forever home. By Chris Spargo and Kieran Corcoran For Dailymail.com, Published: 18:20 EST, 6 March 2015 | Updated: 09:39 EST, 7 March 2015. Justin Harris and his wife adopted three girls and later 're-homed' them. Justin Ross Harris, who prosecutors said intentionally left his 22-month-old son strapped inside a hot car to die because he wanted to live a child-free life, sits in Cobb County Magistrate Court . Another pet, which was a hamster, was hurt but not killed by another child. 'There was anger and an instant behavior change.'. Arkansas House Speaker Jeremy Gillam meanwhile said that Rep. Harris will face no repercussions for rehoming the two young girls. Here bass player Justin Harris is seen live on stage. There are times when families are unable to cope with the challenges of caring for children adopted through the foster system. We had decided to add on to our house in order to expand the family, and we couldnt have any more children, so at that point we had decided we were going to adopt. Goldsborough said Mary and Annie were moved to the Francis home in Bella Vista months after she moved away for college. The former DHS employee confirmed this information as well. The legislator adopted three girls and turned them over to a man who abused one of them. The girls remained with the Francises until February or March of 2014 a month or two after Francis stopped working at the Harrises daycare. Id be pretty pissed off, too.. 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