Strong smell, small cages led Huron County sheriff deputies to remove kids
12/1/2006NORWALK, Ohio A strong smell of urine, small cages, and deplorable sanitation led the Huron County sheriff deputies to remove 11 adopted children from the home of Sharen and Michael Gravelle, Sheriff Richard Sutherland testified this morning.
The sheriff said the smell of urine in the home was overpowering when he and his deputies searched the Gravelle home in Sept. 2005.
He testified the size of the wood and wire cages did not appear to be large enough for some of the older children to sleep in.
The sheriff said he would not call the cages beds: That s where they slept.
The Gravelles are on trial in Huron County Common Pleas Court of 24 counts each of endangering their children and putting their safety at risk.
In my 37 years in law enforcement, I have never, ever seen anything that compares to this type of child neglect, child endangering, Sheriff Sutherland said.
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