Michael and Sharen Gravelle: Ohio’s “Caged Kids” Case

The Michael and Sharen Gravelle caged kids case was an Ohio child-abuse prosecution in which a Huron County couple who had adopted eleven special-needs children were convicted in December 2006 of child endangering and abuse after authorities found the children being forced to sleep in homemade wood-and-wire cages. Both were sentenced to two years in prison. The children later collected roughly seven civil settlements from the counties, agencies, and professionals that had placed and monitored them in the home, including publicly disclosed payouts of $1.2 million from Huron County and $2 million tied to Stark County.¹²

What Investigators Found in the Home

The Gravelles lived near Wakeman in Huron County and began adopting in 1996. By the time the children were removed in September 2005, there were eleven of them, ranging in age from one to fourteen, many diagnosed with conditions including fetal alcohol syndrome, pica, autism, and Down syndrome.³⁴

Michael Gravelle had built small wooden enclosures reinforced with chicken wire and fitted with door alarms. An investigator described them as cages “piled one on top of another,” comparing the scene to a kennel.³ The enclosures were urine-stained and had no mattresses or pillows. Children were forced to sleep curled up inside them.⁵

Testimony described a pattern of severe physical punishment alongside the confinement. Children who wet their beds or drank toilet water had their heads shoved into toilets and flushed. Children who soiled their cages were hosed down outside in winter.⁴ One boy was confined to his cage around the clock for thirty days for taking food, then locked in a bathroom for eighty-one consecutive days, sleeping in a bathtub and let out only when other children needed the room.⁵ Another child was confined until he copied the book of Deuteronomy from the Bible by hand as punishment for taking peanut butter. Children were also beaten with sticks and boards and, according to testimony, shoved against walls until they bled.³

The Gravelles maintained throughout the case that the structures were “enclosed beds with alarms” meant to keep children with dangerous behaviors from wandering or harming themselves and each other. Their attorney said the parents’ “motives and intentions were good.”⁶

How the Children Ended Up There

A state review of Huron County Jobs and Family Services later found a string of oversight failures stretching back years. Children were placed in the Gravelle home in 1999, before the couple had even been certified as a foster home. The agency conducted abuse and neglect assessments in November 2000, March 2001, and August 2005, and state reviewers found them flawed by incomplete investigatory work and slow initial responses. A complaint filed in August 2005 did not result in the children’s removal until September. An Ohio official called the findings “serious enough” to require immediate corrective action, and the agency’s director acknowledged “failures and inappropriate” actions.⁷

Public records showed that Michael Gravelle had a history of sexually abusing his own daughter, and the couple had reportedly met in sexual-abuse counseling.⁵⁸ The Adopt America Network, which facilitated some placements, was later accused in the civil complaint of a “woefully inadequate and grossly negligent” home study. Elaine Thompson, a private social worker the Gravelles had hired, documented the cages but did not report them. She called them a “desperate but needed parenting tool” and testified at a custody hearing that the children’s behavior had improved with their use.⁹

The Criminal Case

On February 14, 2006, a Huron County grand jury indicted the Gravelles on sixteen felony counts and eight misdemeanor counts of child endangering.¹⁰ The three-week trial in the Huron County Court of Common Pleas began November 28, 2006.¹¹ The defense called a psychologist and a therapist who framed the enclosures as the “least restrictive alternative” for managing severe behavioral disorders, including reactive attachment disorder.

In December 2006, the jury convicted both defendants on four felony counts of child endangering, two misdemeanor counts of child endangering, and five misdemeanor counts of child abuse. They were acquitted on thirteen other charges, including four additional felony counts.¹¹

On February 15, 2007, the judge sentenced each of them to two years in prison, with all counts running concurrently. The potential maximum had been twenty years. Both were allowed to remain free on bond during appeals.¹²¹³ Ohio’s Sixth District Court of Appeals affirmed the convictions on March 31, 2009, rejecting claims of prosecutorial misconduct in closing argument.¹⁰ On August 27, 2009, the Ohio Supreme Court declined further review, finding no “substantial constitutional question.”¹⁴ The Gravelles began serving their sentences that year.⁵

The Social Worker’s Conviction

Elaine Thompson was charged by the Huron County prosecutor with aiding the Gravelles. In February 2007 she pleaded guilty to three counts of failing to report a crime.¹⁵ Two months later, a judge gave her a suspended three-month jail term and five years of probation, and barred her from practicing as a social worker during probation.⁹

Civil Settlements

The children’s attorney, Jack Landskroner, filed a series of civil lawsuits against the counties, agencies, and professionals responsible for the placements and their monitoring. Seven settlements were reached in all. Two figures were disclosed publicly:

Huron County settled for $1.2 million in March 2010.¹
A $2 million settlement tied to Stark County was finalized in late February 2014. Stark County itself paid $100,000, with insurance covering the rest.²

The Stark County settlement was the last of the seven and effectively closed the civil litigation. Terms of the remaining five were kept confidential.¹⁶ Settlement funds were designated for the children’s financial needs, including college expenses.² Separate suits also named psychologist Collin Myers and Fairhaven Counseling of Cuyahoga Falls, accused of approving the adoptions despite records identifying Michael Gravelle as an admitted child molester.⁸

After Prison

Sharen Gravelle was released from the Hocking Correctional Facility on March 16, 2011; Michael Gravelle followed on March 21, 2011. Each was required to serve three years of probation.¹⁷¹⁸ Officials noted that a common condition of such supervision is a prohibition on contact with the victims.¹⁹ Sharen Gravelle later divorced Michael Gravelle and legally changed her name to Sharen Curtis-Timperman.²⁰

1
The Toledo Blade. Huron County Settles for $1.2 Million in Caged Kids Case
2
Fox 8 Cleveland. Caged Kids Reach $2 Million Settlement With Stark County Insurers
3
NBC News. Ohio Couple Defends Keeping Kids in Cages
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NPR. $2 Million Settlement Closes Ohio’s Caged Kids Case
5
Courthouse News Service. Foster Parents Allegedly Kept Kids in Cages
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CBS News. Caged Kids Parents Defend Actions
7
Morning Journal. State Stings Agency’s Handling of Caged Kids Case
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The Columbus Dispatch. 2 Caged Kids Sue Those Who Placed Them
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Cleveland Scene. Social Worker in Caged Kids Case Gets Probation
10
Justia. State v. Gravelle, 2009-Ohio-1533
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Orange County Register. Parents Convicted in Caged Kids Case
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WIS-TV. Couple Sentenced in Ohio Caged Children Case
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NBC News. Ohio Couple in Caged Kids Case Sentenced
14
Morning Journal. Ohio Supreme Court Refuses to Consider Gravelles’ Latest Appeal
15
Lawton Constitution (SWOK News). Ohio Social Worker in Caged Case Avoids Jail
16
NPR. $2 Million Settlement Closes Ohio’s Caged Kids Case
17
Victoria Advocate. Ohio’s Caged Kids Mom Out of Prison, Dad Next
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The Columbus Dispatch. Husband in Ohio Caged Kids Case Released
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Morning Journal. Caged Kids Mom Released, Husband’s Release Next Week
20
Sandusky Register. Gravelle Changes Name, Fights for Guardianship of Elderly Relative