and another.. Parents Get Custody in Starved Kids Case

[buttrfli]

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - A couple accused of starving their two adopted children were awarded custody by a Family Court judge Wednesday, the parents' attorney said. John and Connie Oliver's children were taken into state custody Sept. 23 after police found the 12-year-old girl and her then-10-year-old brother unattended at a church playground.

The girl weighed just 40 pounds at the time, and her brother weighed 45 pounds.

The two children had been adopted from an Estonian orphanage and suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Oliver attorney Doug Brannon argued during a hearing this week. He said the youngsters had gained only a few pounds during their nearly three months in state custody.

The children are to be returned next week to the Olivers in Jonesville, about 80 miles north of Columbia, Brannon said.

"The Department of Social Services had no evidence," he said. "The only thing that they could prove was that Connie Oliver went to a store without the 12-year-old and 10-year-old and that inadvertently the door was locked."

A phone message seeking comment from the social services agency was not immediately returned Wednesday.

The Olivers still face criminal charges. Connie Oliver is charged with felony unlawful neglect, and her husband faces a misdemeanor charge of cruelty to children. Brannon said he expects those charges to be dropped or reduced.

"We're just happy we're getting the kids back," John Oliver told The Union Daily Times.

On Tuesday, a former Union County sheriff's sergeant testified when she found the children they looked like they hadn't "been fed in months."

"They stated to me that they had been beat on by the mother," former Sgt. Lisa Hyder said.

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[gmyers]

I really hope they keep a close eye on them and if they don't gain weight or if they say they've been abused they take them away from them. How could a judge rule that way? I'll never understand that.

[killbarney]

If they haven't gained much weight in the months they've been in other people's care through the state, then it's entirely possible that the children have other problems stemming from the FAS and other unidentified problems.

It's also possible that there might be a language problem when the detective questioned them. Not sure how long they've been here and what their native language, etc. was and HOW any questions were asked.

In when to leave kids alone, I've been searching after learning about some friends who leave their kids alone. Not sure about the laws there, but there are a lot of areas that have no age defined. You can leave them alone at 10 and certainly alone at 12. I look at my 11yo and sure don't see that happening anytime soon, but know several of his friends who get left home alone and it's not illegal.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - He said the youngsters had gained only a few pounds during their nearly three months in state custody.

[morgansmom]

This happened here where I live. I have seen these people before. They say the mom is very harsh spoken when talking to these kids. They were adopted by them when they where 2 and 4 years old. They alos have a dughter that is their's biologically. She took this child with her when she went shopping but locked the doors so the other 2 kids couldn't get in the house. This is just awful. I don't even believe they really wanted the kids back. They just wanted the charges dropped.