State investigating adoption agency
Man accused of raping 3 boys, prostituting 1
3/4/2012CINCINNATI -- State officials are investigating a private adoption agency that helped place children with a man now accused of raping three boys in his care and prostituting one of them.
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said it has opened an investigation into ACTION Inc.
The investigation follows the recent arrest of a 39-year-old Troy man charged with three counts of rape and one count of compelling prostitution in Miami County. He also faces child rape charges in Montgomery County.
The man's name is being withheld by the Associated Press to protect the children's identities.
If Ohio officials find serious violations of procedure, they could revoke the private agency's license.
Ohio and Texas family services officials have been sharing details of the children's adoption from Texas. Texas authorities say the Troy man adopted three children -- one of them a 9-year-old girl -- in 2011 and was in the process of adopting the fourth.
Troy police said the man regularly raped the three boys at his home in a quiet residential neighborhood of ranch homes in this western Ohio city of about 25,000 people.
He's also accused of hiring out a 10-year-old boy for sex with other men.
Texas authorities didn't release details on the children but said the adoption was handled through ACTION Inc.
A Texas spokesman said it appeared that proper procedures had been followed, including background checks on the adoptive father. Troy police say they don't know of any past criminal activity.
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said the man was first certified as a foster parent in Miami County in 2005. ACTION has been certified by the state for more than a decade.
Department spokesman Ben Johnson said there had been three complaints involving the private agency in that time. He said in each of those cases, ACTION was asked to submit a corrective plan. He didn't release any other information.
Texas Department of Family and Protective Services spokesman Patrick Crimmins said Texas has worked with ACTION since 2004 without problems.
Meanwhile, the FBI said forensics experts will study laptop computers, files, a video camera, and other items seized from the adoptive father's home.
FBI Supervisory Special Agent Tim Ferguson of the Dayton office said the analysis will help them learn whether there are more suspects or victims in the case.
The FBI's computer forensics lab also will provide evidence to help local police and prosecutors develop their cases, he said.
The adoptive father remained jailed in Miami County on $800,000 bond.
Two other Ohio men -- Jason Zwick, 29, of Beavercreek and Patrick Rieder, 31, of Dayton -- have been jailed on related rape charges, based on the prostitution allegation.