The LESTER Children - 13. 12 and 10 yo - Cleveland OH

Accused mom's sister: 'It's like the devil kicks in'


Updated: 12/20/2010 5:51:06 PM Posted: 12/20/2010 5:07:14 PM

CLEVELAND -- Family members of a woman accused of criminally
mistreating her three adopted children says Renee Chappell Lester seemed
to live a double life -- mom and child advocate in public, abusive
parent in private.

Lester was arrested Friday afternoon on charges of child
endangering and domestic violence. Three of her seven children told
school authorities they were denied food, not allowed to use the
bathroom, and forced to sleep without blankets in the attic or the
basement.
"She lives the spiritual role and then it's like the
devil kicks in and she abuses these children," Lester's sister, Miriam
Mills, remarked on Monday.
Mills said her sister publicly made a point of her
church attendance and her connections with local child advocacy organizations.

"It's like a puzzle missing somewhere," Mills said, from her
Cleveland home. "Like a piece of her brain come out from somewhere, and
that part of her brain made her do the things that she does."
"The piece that's missing is the part that could have saved all of
this and could have prevented all this from happening," Mills said.
The adopted children, ages 10, 12, and 13, had been in Lester's care
for several years, according to family members. They are the biological
children of another of Lester's sisters, who gave them up due to a drug problem.
On Friday, one of the three children told school officials at Marion
Seltzer School she would throw herself down the stairs and hurt herself
on purpose so she would be taken to the hospital and not have to go back to the abusive home.
Police intervened, examined the $385,000 home in an upscale
neighborhood on Edgewater Drive in Cleveland, interviewed the children,
and arrested Renee Chappell Lester.
She has not yet been charged and was released Monday evening, pending further investigation.

"I lived through it so I know what they're talking about," said
Teandre Chappell, 20, of Cleveland. "I lived with them and I was getting
the same mistreatment."
Teandre Chappell says she, too, was taken in by Lester with her
younger siblings but moved out when she was 18 because of the abusive
situation. She said she and her biological mother responded to nearly
daily phone calls from her siblings.

"Last time we were up at that house, me and my mom were sneaking over
to see my two brothers and two sisters, taking them food because they
said they were hungry and they needed something to eat," Chappell said.
She says they waited until Renee Lester went to work in the morning,
then sneaked the food to the children before they got on the school bus.
A Cleveland Police Department report says there were at least four
previous calls of suspected child abuse at the home, including
unexplained bruises and other marks on the children. Family members said
none were followed through because of Lester's connections.
The director of a local social service agency told WKYC that Lester,
who was known to them as Renee Chappell, was connected to local and
state childrens services agencies "at the highest level, to state level
decision makers."
The director says Chappell participated in training sessions and
programs with their agency in 2007 and that she had "every parental
support option" available to her.
The accused woman is listed as board member of The Upside of Downs, a
local agency which provides support and information about Down
Syndrome. One of Lester-Chappell's biological children has Down Syndrome.
A spokeswoman for Cuyahoga County Children and Family Services says
an internal review was started on Monday and resulted in two staff
members being placed on administrative leave. A statement from director
Deborah Forkas said:

Social Workers had to make difficult and immediate decisions based on limited
information but our main concern in this case, and all cases, was for
the safety of the children involved. As more
information became available, we were able to obtain custody and
immediately begin finding appropriate foster care for all seven children.

In July, Renee Lester Chappell's ex-husband, Orlando Chappell, was
sentenced to two years in prison for being what the Ohio Attorney
General's office called the "ringleader" of a Medicaid fraud scheme.
He was also ordered to make restitution of more than $230,000.

http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=165283

snipped.....

According to Rhonda, the children have been placed in the care of a family friend and are doing well.

A spokeswoman for the the Department of Children and Family Services told Fox 8 News an internal review would be conducted Monday. Staff members who had anything to do with the case will be present, DCFS said.
http://www.fox8.com/news/wjw-mother-of-abused-children-outraged-txt,0,47683.story