What if Marcus Fiesel had not been taken from his mother?
November 14, 2006 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
Marcus Fiesel, the 3-year-old autistic boy who died in August while in the care of foster parents Liz and David Carroll, should never have been taken from his mother, Donna Trevino, according to Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform. Marcus’ burnt remains were found in a remote area after the Carrolls had claimed that he had wandered off in a park some days earlier. Marcus is alleged to have been left, bound in a blanket and tape, in a closet while his foster parents attended a family reunion for two days. Said Wexler as reported in today’s Cincinnati Enquirer:
“Donna Trevino had real problems. Doing nothing was not an option either. But in thousands of similar cases, children have been kept safely with their parents. In fact, the track record for safety for real family preservation programs is far better than foster care.”
Rev. Johnny Wade Sloan, the chairman of Butler County’s Children Services Board, objected to Wexler’s stating that “real family preservation programs” are better than foster care:
“The reality is Marcus Fiesel should have been removed, in my opinion, and he should have been placed in a foster home. It is tragic that the system allowed psychopaths and criminals like the Carrolls to be a part of the system. That’s the real tragedy.”
We can all agree that not enough was done until it was too, too late for Marcus’ sake.
Thanks for keeping this story in front of us where it belongs.
I live in the Cincinnati area and this story went non-stop for a couple weeks here.
I agree that kids should be kept with parents whenever possible. But from what I’ve seen and read about Donna Trevino, she was in no shape to be a mother to any child, not to mention an three year old autistic boy who may have been a “runner” and had other issues.
The government knows why autism is on the rise yet give parents of autistic children hell everyday of there lives. I too have a autistic son who is now 8 1/2. Imoved to get my son better education just to be accused of sexual abuse because he rubs his genitalia on furniture. My son is also a runner. I will run to a remote location first before I let any government agency in because I know that foster homes and institutions love to tie these kids up and drug them. I also know that if a biological parent does something wrong its investigated but the state never investigates there own.
We can’t forget Marcus, as we can’t forget so many other children, can’t forget Joseph Beaudoin—-I cannot believe how many accounts of autistic persons killed I have written about since starting this blog earlier this year. Is this anomaly—has this always been so……..?
Then I think of what I have been reading about in regard to “deformed children” in ancient Rome and I really do not know what to think.
I think Ralph Savarese’s book will add a lot to this.