Arkansas Republican dodges blame for giving adopted daughters to rapist: I’m a victim here
The Arkansas Republican state representative who “re-homed” his adopted daughters to a man who raped one of them claims that he and his wife are also victims in this situation and that they only did what they did to avoid being charged with abandonment by the state Department of Human Services.
According to David Badash at the New Civil Rights Movement, Rep. Justin Harris of West Fork, Arkansas released a statement Thursday through his attorneys that claimed that he and his wife Marsha are the victims of “a severe injustice.”
“Rep. and Mrs. Harris have suffered a severe injustice. Due to threats of possible abandonment charges, they were unable to reach out to DHS for help with children who presented a serious risk of harm to other children in their home. Upon the advice of both a psychiatrist and a pediatrician, they were forced to move the children to the home of trusted friends, who had a lot of experience with children with reactive attachment disorder. Rep. and Mrs. Harris are devastated about the outcome of that decision, but faced with no good option, they did the best that they knew how,” said the statement.
In the fall of 2012, Marsha and Justin Harris took in two sisters from the state foster care system. In March of 2013, the couple formally adopted the two girls. Within six months, the Harrises handed the two girls over to Eric and Stacey Francis, without ever consulting the DHS or any other state agency.
Eric Francis raped the elder of the two girls — she was 6 years old at the time — in January of 2014. The Francis family then gave the two girls two a third family, which was where the DHS finally found the children when they attempted to locate them in 2014.
more:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/arkansas-republican-dodges-blame-for-giving-adopted-daughters-to-rapist-im-a-victim-here/
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Here's the background article:
Arkansas horror story: Republican lawmaker gave up adopted 6-year-old to man who then raped her
An Arkansas Republican state representative is facing serious scrutiny after he apparently “rehomed” his adopted daughters to a household where one of the girls, age 6, was raped by the father. Furthermore, Rep. Justin Harris is accused of continuing to take state funds intended for the girls’ care even after his family had given them away.
Wonkette reported on an Arkansas Times exposé about Harris and the Christian pre-school he runs with his wife, a school that employed the sexual predator who raped the 6-year-old girl.
When the Times asked Harris why he handed over his adopted daughter to a sexual predator without ever consulting state authorities or the foster care system, the legislator quoted the Christian Bible’s Book of Isaiah, saying, “No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.”
He then said, “You don’t know what we’ve been through this past year. You have no idea what my family has been through. I don’t care what the people of Arkansas think about me. I don’t care if I lose my position. I care what my wife thinks about me, and I care what my three sons think about me.”
more
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/arkansas-horror-story-republican-lawmaker-gave-up-adopted-6-year-old-to-man-who-then-raped-her/
= new reply since forum marked as read
What where adopted as campaign props?
