2 Ohio kids forced to sleep in cages file lawsuit

11/15/2010

CLEVELAND — An attorney says two children who were forced to sleep in cages by their adoptive parents are suing a psychologist and the counseling center that approved the adoption.

Attorney Jack Landskroner said in a statement Monday that two children — who were not named — have filed a lawsuit in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court seeking unspecified damages for abuse endured from 1997 to 2005. The lawsuit alleges that Colin Myers and Fairhaven Counseling, Inc., approved the adoption despite records that showed parent Michael Gravelle was an "admitted child molester" and the couple had met in sexual abuse counseling.

Michael and Sharen Gravelle are serving two-year prison terms for abusing some of their 11 adopted and foster children who were forced to sleep in cages in their northwest Ohio home.

Messages were left seeking comment from Myers and Fairhaven Counseling.