Collingswood Boys

Last updated
Picture taken at the Come Alive New Testament Church of Medford, New Jersey. Raymond and Vanessa Jackson and the adopted and foster children in their care. Bruce Jackson, aged 19 years and weighing 45 pounds (20 kg), is standing next to Vanessa Jackson; the other three boys being starved are standing together Raymond Vanessa Jackson Collingswood Boys Child Abuse.jpg
Picture taken at the Come Alive New Testament Church of Medford, New Jersey. Raymond and Vanessa Jackson and the adopted and foster children in their care. Bruce Jackson, aged 19 years and weighing 45 pounds (20 kg), is standing next to Vanessa Jackson; the other three boys being starved are standing together

The Collingswood Boys are four boys who were starved by their adoptive parents, Raymond and Vanessa Jackson, while living in Collingswood, New Jersey. The Jacksons were arrested in October 2003 and indicted by a grand jury on 8 counts of aggravated assault and 20 counts of endangerment for failing to provide adequate nutrition, medical and dental care, and a clean environment for the four boys, who ranged in age from 10 to 19 as of May 2004. [1]

The case came to public attention after a neighbor found the Jacksons' 19-year-old adoptive son, Bruce, rummaging through their garbage cans for food at three o'clock in the morning on October 10, 2003, and called 911. The Collingswood Police Department responded to the call and found Bruce, who weighed approximately 45 pounds (20 kg) at the time and stood only 4 feet (1.2 m) tall; he was disoriented, shoeless, covered in bruises, cold, and extremely malnourished, and the police believed him to be about seven years old. They then went to the Jackson home, where they found his adoptive brothers, who also appeared malnourished: Michael, age 9 and 23 pounds (10 kg); Terrell, age 10 and 28 pounds (13 kg); and Tre'Shawn, age 14 and 40 pounds (18 kg).

The adoptive father, Raymond Jackson, 51, died of complications from a stroke on November 14, 2004, before the case went to trial. In an interview with a New York magazine shortly before his death, Jackson claimed that 45-pound Bruce Jackson had often gorged himself on food and had lied about conditions in the home. [2] [3]

Until the 911 call, no one had reported concerns about the children, although they were often seen in public, including at the Come Alive New Testament Church in Medford, New Jersey, where Raymond and Vanessa Jackson and their adoptive and foster children, including the four boys, always sat in the front row for services. They also attended church picnics and the boys sang gospel on stage. The Jacksons blamed the emaciated conditions of the four boys on medical problems.

The Jacksons had six adopted children: Bruce; Tre'Shawn, 14; Terrell, 10; Michael, 9; Keziah, 12, and Jacee, 5. They also planned to adopt a 10-year-old foster child, Breanna. They received an annual subsidy of approximately $30,000 to care for their foster and adopted children.

Dozens of friends and acquaintances thought that the Jacksons were model parents who adopted troubled children with a host of medical problems – children no one else wanted. They believed that it was their duty and that Jesus would guide them.

Vanessa Jackson, the adoptive mother, eventually pleaded guilty and was sentenced to seven years in prison, but only served one year. Bruce gained 100 pounds (45 kg) within a year after his removal from the Jacksons' home. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adoption</span> Parenting a child in place of the original parents

Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from the biological parents to the adoptive parents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Collingswood, New Jersey</span> Borough in Camden County, New Jersey, US

Collingswood is a borough in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located 5 miles (8.0 km) east of Center City Philadelphia. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 14,186, an increase of 260 (+1.9%) from the 2010 census count of 13,926, which in turn reflected a decline of 400 (−2.8%) from the 14,326 counted in the 2000 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foster care</span> System of non-parental temporary child-care

Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home, or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent", or with a family member approved by the state. The placement of a "foster child" is normally arranged through the government or a social service agency. The institution, group home, or foster parent is compensated for expenses unless with a family member.

The international adoption of South Korean children started around 1953 as a measure to take care of the large number of mixed children that became orphaned during and after the Korean War. It quickly evolved to include orphaned Korean children. Religious organizations in the United States, Australia, and many Western European nations slowly developed the apparatus that sustained international adoption as a socially integrated system.

An animal rescue group or animal rescue organization is a group dedicated to pet adoption. These groups take abandoned, abused, or stray pets and attempt to find suitable homes for them. Many rescue groups are created by and run by volunteers, who take animals into their homes and care for them—including training, playing, handling medical issues, and solving behavior problems—until a suitable permanent home can be found.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adoption in California</span> Overview of adoption in the U.S. state of California

More adoptions occur in California each year than any other state. There is domestic adoption, international adoption, step parent adoption and adult adoption.

In the United States, adoption is the process of creating a legal parent–child relationship between a child and a parent who was not automatically recognized as the child's parent at birth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgia Tann</span> American child trafficker (1891–1950)

Beulah George "Georgia" Tann was an American social worker and child trafficker who operated the Tennessee Children's Home Society, an unlicensed adoption agency in Memphis, Tennessee. Tann used the home as a front for her black market baby adoption scheme from the 1920s to 1950. Young children were kidnapped and then sold to wealthy families, abused, or—in some instances—murdered. A state investigation into numerous cases of adoption fraud led to the institution's closure in 1950. Tann died of cancer before the investigation made its findings public.

Attachment therapy is a pseudoscientific child mental health intervention intended to treat attachment disorders. It is found primarily in the United States, and much of it is centered in about a dozen clinics in Evergreen, Colorado, where Foster Cline, one of the founders, established his clinic in the 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bucky Waters</span>

Raymond Chevalier "Bucky" Waters is an American basketball broadcaster with ESPN and Madison Square Garden Network and a retired basketball coach. He served as head basketball coach at West Virginia University from 1965 to 1969 and at Duke University from 1969 to 1973, compiling a career college basketball coaching record of record of 133–96.

<i>Hotel for Dogs</i> (film) 2009 film by Thor Freudenthal

Hotel for Dogs is a 2009 American family comedy film directed by Thor Freudenthal in his directorial debut, and based on the 1971 novel of the same name by Lois Duncan. Starring Jake T. Austin, Emma Roberts, Kyla Pratt, Lisa Kudrow, Kevin Dillon and Don Cheadle, the film tells the story of two orphaned siblings, who secretly take in stray dogs along with their family dog at a vacant hotel.

In re: Gill is a landmark Florida court case that in 2010 ended Florida's 33-year ban on adoptions by homosexuals. In 2007, Frank Martin Gill, an openly gay man, had petitioned the circuit court to adopt two boys that he and his partner had been raising as foster children since 2004. Gill was prohibited from adopting by a 1977 Florida law prohibiting adoption by gay men and lesbians in that state. After a four-day trial challenging the law, on November 25, 2008, Judge Cindy S. Lederman declared the ban violated the equal protection rights of the children and their prospective parents under the Florida Constitution, and granted Gill's adoption request.

The Division of Child Protection and Permanency is New Jersey's child protection agency. It is part of the Department of Children and Families. From 1996 through 2012, it was called Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS)[DYE-fuss]. Before 1996 It was called Child Protection Services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Ryan (charity executive)</span> American businessman (born 1967)

Kevin Ryan, was the president and CEO of Covenant House International, one of the largest charities in North and Central America serving homeless, trafficked and sexually exploited youth.

Child-selling is the practice of selling children, usually by parents, legal guardians, or subsequent custodians, including adoption agencies, orphanages and Mother and Baby Homes. Where the subsequent relationship with the child is essentially non-exploitative, it is usually the case that purpose of child-selling was to permit adoption.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to adoption:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foster care in the United States</span> System of non-parental care in America

Foster care is the term used for a system in which a minor who has been made a ward or a non-minor, typically aged 18–21, who volunteers for placement, is placed in a relative placement, a non-related extended family (NREFM) placement, a community family home, an institution, or a group home. Relative, NREFM, and community caregivers certified by the state are typically referred to as "foster parents," "kin caregivers," "resource parents," or other local terms. The placement of the child is usually arranged through state or county social services. The institution, group home, or caregiver is reimbursed for the expenses related to caring for the child. The state via the family court and child protection agency stand in loco parentis to the minor, making all legal decisions, while the caregiver is responsible for the day-to-day care of the minor. Even while their child is in Care, typically birth parents retain Education and Medical rights and the right to contact with their child unless parental rights are terminated by the Court.

Nathaniel Craver was a Russian-born boy adopted by a married U.S. couple whose death in their custody sparked a public outcry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adoption in the Philippines</span>

Adoption in the Philippines is a process of granting social, emotional and legal family and kinship membership to an individual from the Philippines, usually a child. It involves a transfer of parental rights and obligations and provides family membership. The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) defines adoption as a "socio-legal process of giving a permanent family to a child whose parents have voluntarily or involuntarily given up their parental rights."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turpin case</span> Child Abuse case in California

The Turpin case involved the abuse of children and dependent adults by their biological parents, David and Louise Turpin of Perris, California, U.S. The ages of the 13 victims ranged from 2 to 29 years old. On January 14, 2018, one of the daughters, then-17-year-old Jordan Turpin, escaped and called local police, who then raided the residence and discovered disturbing evidence. Given the number of dependents involved, the degree of abuse, and the protracted nature occurring over decades, the story garnered significant national and international news. Experts in family abuse considered the case to be extraordinary for many reasons.

References

  1. New York Times:BRIEFINGS: CHILD WELFARE; COUPLE CHARGED WITH STARVING BOYS
  2. New York Times:Father Charged With Starvation Dies After Stroke
  3. CBS News:Starved At Home?
  4. No parole in case of starved boys. Vanessa Jackson of Collingswood, jailed in 2005, can reapply for release in 2009.