compiled by Patrick H. Moore
NBC New York has just reported a new story in which a Connecticut couple has allegedly forced a 9-year-old girl in their care (possibly a foster child) to wear an electrified PetSafe barking dog collar. The couple reportedly forced the child to “bark” to trigger the “shock treatment”. The child’s caregivers — if you would call them that — were apparently upset because the child had received a poor progress report from her school. Very fortunately, the child had the wherewithal to report the abuse to one of her teachers at school who in turn contacted the authorities. Although the “parents” claimed it only happened once, the marks on the child’s neck suggest that it was more frequent than that. The “parents” have been arrested and charged with numerous child abuse related counts.
Bad as this incident is, it arguably pales in comparison to a similar — though far more aggravated — form of abuse foisted upon an adopted 15-year-old child in Butler, Georgia last year. In May of 2012, police were alerted by members of the community that a girl was being forced to live outside in a chicken coop. The girl was taken into state custody and her adoptive parents, Diana Franklin and Samuel Franklin, were arrested.
Diana was charged with 12 counts of cruelty to children and 4 counts of false imprisonment, while Samuel was charged with 8 counts of cruelty to children and 8 counts of false imprisonment.
When given the opportunity to explain her sad plight to the police, the girl stated that her “parents” had placed an electric dog collar around her neck, which enabled anyone in possession of a remote key fob to administer shocks. The “collar abuse” was just one of several punishments used on the girl for various so-called offenses.
“The child basically said that there were just a series of fairly severe, what can be described as punishments, for various things that the child allegedly did, some as simple as not doing homework and then others like taking food,” said GBI’s Wayne Smith.
The police were unable to find the collar the first time they searched the Franklin’s home, but they did find a proof-of-purchase receipt. Once the Franklins were arrested, the police returned to the home and this time they found the collar. It matched the girl’s description and was sent to the state crime lab for DNA testing.
After the police got involved, several neighbors came forward to report that they witnessed the girl being forced to perform various types of manual labor in the hot Georgia son.
“I’ve seen her out working in the gardens, digging ditches in the hot sun with two or three older boys watching her,” neighbor Steven Balis said. “I’ve seen her toting rocks up the road – she looked like she was in rough shape.”
Another neighbor, David Spillers, stated that he witnessed similar activity:
“I saw her when she was out in the yard working in that garden out there and I saw her around picking up trash in the yard,” Spillers said.
Yet another neighbor said that Diana admitted to feeding the girl bread and water for days as punishment for not doing chores and working the “right way.” She also said that Diana told her she was only doing ”what the Bible says.”
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Nothing aggravates me more than “bad religion” that (mis)uses the Bible verses of antiquity to justify the horrific mistreatment of children. If there is a god, I’m sure he/she/it is weeping.