The Seven YORK Children - Father: JEFFREY YORK - Madison (NE of Cleveland) OH

Police were called to the home of Jeffrey York of Madison, Ohio, in
December about a sex offense. It was only then that they learned of the
years of abuse that York's wife and seven children suffered at his
hands, including emotional, physical, and sexual abuse.
Officers called to the home were asked to make an official report of
the crime, but also to help York's wife and the children leave.
Investigators say that in the months since, family members began telling
them of mental and physical abuse, and of being cut off from society.
They described living in an environment where they were afraid to do
anything about the abuse. These allegations led to an indictment of York
on charges including five instances of gross sexual imposition, two
instances of rape involving a female under the age of 13, six counts of
child endangering, five counts of domestic violence, and one count of aggravated menacing.
Police say that all of the children - aged three months to
nineteen-years-old, were home-schooled and had no real friends. York's
family said that he cut them off from contact with other relatives,
indicating that his intimidation kept them from defying him. According
to police, one of York's daughters was also forced to stay in a bedroom
no larger than a closet, a sort of room within a room. Detective Dan
Boerner said:

"Imagine an 8x10 bedroom being cut down into thirds with two-thirds
being storage, one-third being made available for living space. This
went on for a year where this child was locked in the room, periodically
let out to use the restroom, but in general, meals were brought to this
child, access to clothing, the restroom and everything was restricted by
Mr. York."

After leaving the house in December, York's wife and family were taken
to a women's shelter. Since then, investigators say that the children
have been attending traditional schools and are adjusting well to their new lives.


York was arrested on the secret indictment and was imprisoned on
Saturday with a $250,000 bond with conditions that he not have any
contact with any of the victims and would be subject to GPS monitoring.
He plead not guilty to all charges.
Detectives involved with the case say that it is one of the most
disturbing cases they have ever investigated, however, they refused to
answer many questions about the investigation.

Again, there needs to be thorough checks on children who are home schooled. Surely authorities are aware that abusers often say they are home schooling to isolate the children. They MUST be checked on regularly to not only ensure they are receiving appropriate education but to ensure they are not victims of abuse.

kiwimom wrote:Again, there needs to be thorough checks on children who are home schooled. Surely authorities are aware that abusers often say they are home schooling to isolate the children. They MUST be checked on regularly to not only ensure they are receiving appropriate education but to ensure they are not victims of abuse.

---You know Kiwi... I never even thought about this until you brought it up in another case a month or so ago. This is yet another case where you are absolutely correct. I would think that quarterly visits and interviews individually with the children, without their parents present, would be ideal in discovering what's really going on, if anything is heinous or not.

I'm all for home schooling Tom, but abusers use it to prevent being caught and the abuse is often very extreme and can go on for years and can involve multiple children in the family. Normally most kids go to the doctors for one thing or another fairly regularly, so a simple solution would be that all children should have to have an annual doctors check up if they have not required any doctors visits that year. This would capture all abused children in the scheme whether or not they go to public school.
This link provides a litany of horror with adopted and fostered children who were abused and they were all 'home schooled'. People who want to abuse children are very cunning and go to great lengths to get their victims and they are given the opportunity through unregulated home schooling to isolate them from the community.
http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/20821

im against home schooling for this reason and the fact that the children are isolated from friends and other adults such as teachers, counselors, etc. that might b able to spot abuse. children need to be around other ppl in order to learn proper social behavior. i think home schooling is a bad idea.