Texas Pair Arrested for Child Abuse; Mom Shot and Killed While Putting Kids to Bed
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HLN HOST: Seven kids with special needs and adopted discovered imprisoned in a filthy Texas home, malnourished and packed into a locked closet. All this as their so-called mother was pulling in near $5,000 a month in government checks! An anonymous caller has warned people in LA and close to Universal Studios they better watch out just weeks before Christmas. Just how seriously should we take tips about a terror attack? A pre-school teaching assistant starts a neighborhood watch to make things safer and then ends up fatally shot while at home putting her babies to bed. A mom of two on her way home after a charity fund-raiser vanishes without a trace. And this may not be kangaroo court, but a little justice was served up with a right hook.</s>BANFIELD: Hi, everybody. I`m Ashleigh Banfield. Tonight, a prayer that seven adopted children who lived through hell on earth feel a little bit safer tonight after being rescued from what can barely be described as a home. The children, ranging in age from 13 to 16, had been locked in this tiny filthy room upstairs from a cringeworthy adult group home. There was just one single blow-up mattress and a toddler bed for all seven of them to sleep. The kids had never been to school, were malnourished and suffered injuries from a wooden paddle. One of the adult residents who lived downstairs talked about the mysterious faces he would sometimes see peering down from above.</s>DAVID WILLARD, RESIDENT: I started seeing the children once in a while. They would come out to the railing and look down and around, looking for signs of life. And I was never introduced to the children, never told anything about the children and it was none of my business. I was told not to speak to them.</s>BANFIELD: Two adults have been arrested in this tragic mess, Paula Sinclair, the woman who adopted the children but didn`t even live with them, and Allen Richardson, a 78-year-old man who did live in that house. And to make matters worse, Paula Richardson (sic) has been collecting government money to look after these kids. All seven of them were handicapped. Detective Juli Johnson is with the Fort Bend sheriff`s office crimes against children and elderly division. Detective, thanks so much for joining us. What did the police find when they showed up there?</s>DET. JULI JOHNSON, FT. BEND CO. SHERIFF`S OFFICE: Well, Ashleigh, when we ran the search warrant on the house, we entered and went upstairs to where the children had been locked. The initial odor that confronted us was feces and urine. When we stepped into the room, there were soiled sheets, soiled clothing, clothing packed in bags. The carpet was pulled up, the metal tacks exposed. There was black mold on the air vents in the ceilings. The windows were boarded up. It was a mess.</s>BANFIELD: And did it appear as though those children were truly prisoners in that one room, in that filthy squalor?</s>JOHNSON: Yes, it did. Normally, where your doorknob would be on the main door, it had been removed and there was a deadbolt key lock that was only accessed with a key on that door, the closet door and the adjoining bathroom door.</s>BANFIELD: So they had no way of gripping any kind of door handle from the inside to get out. They virtually had no escape from that room.</s>JOHNSON: No, they did not.</s>BANFIELD: And is it true that they were locked in an even smaller confine within the pictures that we`re seeing on the screen, an actual closet within the room, when any of the adults left the home?</s>JOHNSON: That is true.</s>BANFIELD: And what was the circumstance? Like, what did -- what was that -- that closet like, and could it possibly have fit seven bodies?</s>JOHNSON: Seven bodies that would probably have to have been, basically, one on top of the other because the closet was extremely crowded and overflowing with boxes and clothes. So the space was even smaller than what a normal closet would be.</s>BANFIELD: It`s so remarkable. There is a report that the children would be left in that closet for periods of time that were long enough for them to not be able to hold their bladders and that they would soil themselves because they just physically could not hold on any longer.</s>JOHNSON: That`s true. The children were unable to give a determination on how long they were in the closet, just for extended period of time. Like I said, it was hard for them to tell time, day or night, because most of the windows were boarded up.</s>BANFIELD: Is all of the information you`re going on, Detective, from the kids? Because it seems like the neighbors really had no contact with them.</s>JOHNSON: The neighbors didn`t know that the Sinclairs -- or Ms. Sinclair or Mr. Richardson even had children in the house. So basically, all of our information has come specifically from the children and from some outside sources.</s>BANFIELD: So there is a -- there was this "Houston Chronicle" article that was written back in 2007, which it will probably make people`s blood boil to read the interview that was given by this woman, who is the adoptive mother who has been receiving all of these checks, who is now under arrest. And this is what she told them in a glowing article about all these adoptions. She said, "I just couldn`t see these children doing well in foster care system because they were so badly injured and had so many special needs. I feel like this is what God called me to do, to take care of these babies. I wanted to get these children out of the CPS system because I saw it fail some of these types of children. I do what I do because it is a gift that God has given me. Each second, a child is being abused somewhere, and I am here to help them have a life." I want to introduce Dr. Charles Sophy. He`s the medical director for the Los Angeles County department of children and family services. Dr. Sophy, I can only assume in the basically that you do, the line of work that you`re in, you might not be surprised by an article and an interview given like that, that this is something you may have seen before. Is it?</s>DR. CHARLES SOPHY, LA COUNTY DCFS: Absolutely. Many times, we have people who really bite off more than they can chew, for lack of better understanding. They think they`re going to save the world, they`re going to help these children. But at the end of the day, they don`t realize all the work that goes into it. And so they become more abusive than the system they were in.</s>BANFIELD: Well, that sounds fairly innocent. And I dare I say I`m not quite that Polyanna about this. I`m wondering if people actually treat this like a business.</s>SOPHY: Oh, absolutely. We do have people who do that, as well. They get paid per child. So the more children you have, the more money a month you get until you then adopt them and they`re basically like your family. So then you`ve got to take them on financially. And maybe that`s what started some of this, as well, to get it to this point.</s>BANFIELD: So at this particular point, I do want to put up the financials on this because this woman had adopted all seven of these children, in fact had adopted eight and one has since died. For each of the children, even after adoption because the were special needs, she did get government assistance at $545 per child per month. So if you add that up, that is $3,815 per month, and if you multiply that by 12, it`s a grand total of $45,780 per year to care for these children. But honestly, Charles Sophy, the conditions that you saw those children living in, it really looked as though they were barely getting a dime of that.</s>SOPHY: Absolutely. They were more abused in this woman`s home than they were in the foster care system, if that`s what she thought. But that`s why these children are in a system like ours because we need those catchpoints because these children need help and assistance, especially special needs kids.</s>BANFIELD: Detective Julie Johnson, the issue about them getting the money after the adoption -- from what we`ve been able to investigate, there are no check-ups. It`s not as though CPS has to keep going and making sure that everything is going well. It`s an adoption. This is now a mother. They don`t come to my house every day. So presumably, they`re not going to her house every day. And yet they still get the government assistance. Is there a disconnect that I`m finding here?</s>JOHNSON: Well, apparently, there is because they are not required, once they are legally adopted and these people are their mother and father, that there is no longer need. Of course, that -- you can look at the manpower issues and everything else that they get to have to handle and investigate, but that`s too much for one department`s plate. And unfortunately, the children are the ones that suffer. So once they are legally adopted, they are no longer wards of the state.</s>BANFIELD: And then, Detective, obviously, the foreboding question that is lingering here is that one of these children has since died. The adoption was actually eight of these children, all special needs. One is dead, apparently died back in 2011, I believe.</s>JOHNSON: Yes.</s>BANFIELD: Is this now something that might be re-opened? Is there a possibility that a child died because of the conditions we`re seeing the surviving seven living in?</s>JOHNSON: Well, it`s certainly a possibility. We`re in discussions with the district attorney on whether or not it`s something that we can re-open and look at. The issue that we have is at the time of the child`s death, the physician signed off on the death warrant (ph), and I don`t know what the cause of death actually was, but a physician did sign the death warrant. And so therefore, it was not investigated at the time.</s>BANFIELD: Very distressing on all levels. And I wish you and your department the best of luck as you continue to investigate this story. It need a thorough look and a prosecution, I dare say, as well. Thank you for being with us.</s>JOHNSON: Thank you.</s>BANFIELD: Got a couple of other stories I`m following for you, as well, tonight. Investigators in Oakland are almost finished their work at that Ghost Ship warehouse. And they say they don`t expect the death toll now to rise any higher, but they have reached 36. That means 36 people all died when the fire gutted that building on Friday night. And among the victims recovered was a group of people who were found hugging one another. The mother of one of the victims says that her daughter texted her at the time of the fire and said, quote, I`m going to die, Mom. The manager of the Ghost Ship spoke out this morning and apologized to the victims` families while defending himself.</s>DERICK ALMENA, OAKLAND WAREHOUSE MANAGER: I didn`t do anything ever in my life that would lead me up to this moment!</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I ask you if...</s>ALMENA: I`m an honorable man. I`m a proud man. No, I`m not going to answer these questions on this level!</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you worried that you would be charge?</s>ALMENA: I`d rather get on the floor and be trampled by the parents! I`d rather let them tear at my flesh than to answer these ridiculous questions!</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Almena...</s>ALMENA: I`m so sorry! I`m incredibly sorry! What do you want me to say? I`m not going to answer these questions!</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then we will -- we will call this...</s>ALMENA: I`m just going to say that I am sorry!</s>BANFIELD: He may be sorry, but it`s not clear yet if he`s going to face criminal charges for all of this. The Alameda County DA is trying to determine whether there is any criminal liability, and if so, who might be responsible. Tomorrow morning in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, residents will be allowed to move back to this, the community that was just devastated after last week`s wildfires. The authorities are warning evacuees to use caution if they go in and out of any of the burned-out areas. Fourteen people lost their lives. Hundreds of homes and businesses were destroyed. The city of Gatlinburg plans to reopen to the public on Friday. This was one ominous phone call, a terror plot simply called in like a tip to an actual tipline. And an entire city, one of the nation`s largest, leapt into action. What city, and why does this matter to you? Two words. It`s Christmas.