Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

niyad

(113,278 posts)
Mon Mar 9, 2015, 12:33 PM Mar 2015

Kid-Dumper AR Rep Justin Harris So SO Sorry … That DHS Screwed Him And His Family (Video)

(warning: only read this if you have a truly strong stomach)

Kid-Dumper AR Rep Justin Harris So SO Sorry … That DHS Screwed Him And His Family (Video)



After the older of his two adopted daughters — at the mature age of six — was raped by the man to whom he had “rehomed” her, Arkansas state Rep. Justin Harris (R – “God’s Kingdom”) gave a press conference today to attempt to justify it. (He did not attempt to justify the rape, by family friend Eric Francis, to whom he had turned over his two adopted daughters in late 2013; he merely attempted to justify the rest of it.) Harris started by “clarifying” that “the victims here are the children,” since the country and the Internet did not take well to his sad claim yesterday that it was he and his wife who had “suffered a severe injustice.” While the girls were “the real victims,” he back-pedaled, he and his wife had been “failed” by the Department of Human Services, which is really to blame.

In this afternoon’s press conference (see video above), he began by thanking the reporters in attendance for their “support,” which was probably not their intention in attending. His voice soon breaking, he claimed that he and his wife, Marsha, had rehomed the 6- and 3-year-old — and more on the number of daughters in his custody in a moment — to Eric and Stacey Francis only after an unbroken streak of terror by the girls, who had been abused in their birth family, and for whom no kind of therapy, he said, was working. He claimed that he attempted to talk to DHS — the agency that had arranged and confirmed the Harrises’ adoption of the girls — about returning the girls “multiple times” but was met with “nothing with hostility.” If he attempted to return the girls, Harris says an unnamed worker at DHS told him, he would be charged with child abandonment, and his three birth sons could be taken away as well.


A statement to Wonkette from DHS’s communications director, Amy Webb, regarding Harris’s charge of threats by DHS to his family should he attempt to return the girls said, “I am prohibited by law from discussing specific cases, including that allegation. Here’s all I can say … We understand that in rare cases, a successful adoption is impossible to achieve. In those situations, there is always an option.”

Asked by reporters present who the unnamed DHS worker was, Harris declined to say. He was not as reticent in detailing the girls’ mental health issues, though — and said that DHS had not informed his family they were getting girls who were disturbed by the trauma of their upbringing in their birth family.

. . . . .

Read more at http://wonkette.com/578793/kid-dumper-ar-rep-justin-harris-so-sorry-that-dhs-screwed-him-and-his-family-video#oJQ3vB3UjHGOYWx4.99

4 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Kid-Dumper AR Rep Justin Harris So SO Sorry … That DHS Screwed Him And His Family (Video) (Original Post) niyad Mar 2015 OP
This story is going to get worse and worse the more it's investigated. Arkansas Granny Mar 2015 #1
this story smells from start to whatever the finish will be (every day, it gets worse) niyad Mar 2015 #2
It stinks to high heaven. Gormy Cuss Mar 2015 #3
time to start making poppets again. niyad Mar 2015 #4

Arkansas Granny

(31,515 posts)
1. This story is going to get worse and worse the more it's investigated.
Mon Mar 9, 2015, 12:43 PM
Mar 2015

The Arkansas Times has done some good reporting on this.

Friday afternoon, Rep. Justin Harris and his wife Marsha held a press conference at the state Capitol to address the revelations in this week's Arkansas Times cover story about their failed adoption, which ended in the "rehoming" of two girls in a household where one of them was sexually abused. As Max Brantley wrote yesterday, it was an emotional statement. But extensive reporting we've done these past few days casts doubt upon crucial points in the narrative Justin Harris delivered Friday.

An experienced foster family that housed the two younger girls for a year and a half prior to their adoption by the Harrises has approached the Times with their story. Craig and Cheryl Hart say, among other things, the adoption was allowed to proceed over the objections of the foster parents and local DHS staff only because the head of the the Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS), Cecile Blucker, exerted pressure on behalf of Justin Harris. DCFS is the arm of DHS responsible for child welfare.

More here: http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2015/03/07/foster-family-disputes-key-staments-from-justin-harris

niyad

(113,278 posts)
2. this story smells from start to whatever the finish will be (every day, it gets worse)
Mon Mar 9, 2015, 12:47 PM
Mar 2015

"And at the hearing, the ad litem attorney — you know, the one who is representing only the interests of the children — said, 'When we met less than a couple of days ago, everyone's recommendation was for these kids to not go to this home. Now, what has happened in the last 24 hours that everyone's recommendation has changed?'"

"Harris' face was getting all red," Cheryl said. "And the ad litem asked him, 'Did you make calls?' And he finally said, 'I did what I had to do to get these girls.' I expected the judge would [stop the adoption] but she gave them the oldest girl." The younger two soon followed.
Latest Discussions»Alliance Forums»Women's Rights & Issues»Kid-Dumper AR Rep Justin ...