Prosecutors are looking to file four additional charges against an Indiana couple accused of abandoning their adopted daughter. Michael and Kristine Barnett, who were charged in September with two counts of neglect of a dependent, now possibly face six to 20 years in prison if convicted.
The parents of four children who were all adjudicated as children in need of services have lost their appeal of the CHINS determinations, with the Indiana Court of Appeals dismissing arguments claiming error on the part of the trial court and the Department of Child Services.
Despite the attention the Statehouse has given to the Indiana Department of Child Services in the past two years – hiring outside consultants to review the agency and passing numerous laws regarding policies and practices within the department – an arrest of a former caseworker on neglect charges is bringing another call for more changes.
A caseworker for Indiana’s child welfare agency faces criminal charges stemming from the alleged neglect of a 4-year-old boy under his supervision. An arrest warrant was issued Monday for 26-year-old Spencer Day Osborn after prosecutors charged him with four felony counts of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury on the recommendation of a Madison County grand jury.
A Fort Wayne woman whose 5-month-old son died after she brought him to a hospital with bruising and head trauma has been charged with neglect of a dependent. The child was pronounced dead at Parkview Randallia Hospital minutes after Jasmine M. Johnson brought him to the emergency room.
The father of a 2-year-old Fort Wayne boy fatally beaten in 2017 is suing the child’s mother and her former boyfriend over his son’s death.
Prosecutors in Lafayette want to know whether a former couple accused of abandoning their adopted daughter were paid for interviews given to national television shows and tabloids about the case.
A judge has expanded a gag order in the case of a couple accused of abandoning their adopted daughter in Indiana and moving to Canada.
A Chesterfield mother who pleaded guilty to neglect of a dependent resulting in the death of her 23-month old daughter has lost an appeal of her 40-year sentence.
A judge in Lafayette has issued a gag order in the case of a couple accused of abandoning their adopted daughter in Indiana and moving to Canada.
A former northwestern Indiana school bus driver who authorities say allowed children as young as 11 years old drive a bus has been sentenced to probation. Joandrea McAtee, Portage, was sentenced Monday to nearly two years of probation.
Police say a toddler found his mother’s unsecured gun while she was out of the room and accidentally shot himself to death in a house outside Mooresville.
Numerous felony referrals have been filed against the mother of a 14-year-old boy who shot his way into a Richmond, Indiana middle school last December then killed himself after exchanging gunfire with officers inside.
An eastern Indiana woman has been sentenced to 41 years in prison for a highway crash that killed her 6-year-old daughter. A Delaware County judge sentenced 30-year-old Jessica Skeens on Monday.
A couple accused of abandoning their adopted daughter in an Indiana apartment and moving to Canada have made their first court appearance. A Tippecanoe County judge entered not guilty pleas Friday on behalf 43-year-old Michael Barnett and 45-year-old Kristine Barnett.
A northwestern Indiana woman who admitted injecting fecal matter into her son’s IV tube while he was hospitalized for leukemia has been convicted of neglect and six counts of aggravated battery. Tiffany Alberts, 44, Wolcott, was found not guilty of attempted murder during a Marion County bench trial that ended Thursday.
A former northwestern Indiana school bus driver who authorities say allowed children as young as 11 years old to drive a bus has pleaded guilty in an agreement with prosecutors. Joandrea McAtee, of Portage, who was charged with a felony count of neglect of a dependent, entered the agreement Monday.
Indiana prosecutors have charged a couple with abandoning their adopted daughter in 2013 and moving to Canada, renting an apartment in Lafayette for the then-11-year-old girl but otherwise leaving her to fend for herself. Prosecutors in Tippecanoe County filed neglect charges Wednesday against 45-year-old Kristine Elizabeth Barnett and 43-year-old Michael Barnett.
An Evansville woman has been arrested for allegedly stealing money intended for the burial plot and headstone of a 3-year-old boy who died in a hot car.
A Marion woman charged in the strangulation death of her 10-year-old stepdaughter has waived her right to an attorney and says she will represent herself in court.