Raysate Knight
Raysate Chain Knight, age 6, was starved, imprisoned, and beaten to death by her stepfather, Raymond Jefferson, and her mother Connie Knight. Knight had four other children, girls ages 16, 13, and 8 and a 4-year-old boy. Raysate was homeschooled. Raysate was born addicted to cocaine and removed from her mother’s custody. She lived with […]
13 children of Winnfred Wright
Thirteen children—ranging in age from 8 months to 15 years—were starved, imprisoned, beaten, and medically neglected by their father, Winnfred Wright (left), and his four wives (from left to right) Carol Bremner, Deirdre Wilson, Mary Campbell, and Kali Polk-Matthews. Wright’s fifth wife, Susan Weber, who had left Wright’s cultlike home around 1990, had two additional […]
4 Children of Sylvia and Michael Wenger
Four children—Richard Felsch (right), b. 1988; his twin sisters, b. 1987; and an unrelated boy, b. 1995—were imprisoned and physically and sexually abused by Sylvia and Michael Wenger (left), their adoptive parents. The children were homeschooled. It is unknown whether the Wengers’ biological children were also abused. Three of the children were placed with the […]
7 children of JoAnn and Michael McGuckin
Seven children—Erina (age 19, right), Kathryn (16), Benjamin (14), Mary (13), James (11), Frederick (9), and Jane (8)—were starved and neglected by their parents, Michael and JoAnn McGuckin (center). All were homeschooled. Both Michael and JoAnn suffered from mental illness, and the family lived in poverty completely off the grid. The children subsisted mainly on […]
15 children of Bill and Debbie Rettew
Fifteen children with disabilities were physically abused, medically neglected, and starved by their adoptive parents, Bill and Debbie Rettew. The Rettews had adopted at least nine other disabled children over the years in addition to their biological daughter Deborah Autumn Rettew (age 24) and Debbie’s biological son from an earlier marriage, Wilbur Beddingfield (age 32). […]
10 children of Jack and Kathy Stratton
Jack and Kathy Stratton’s ten children–Spencer (17), Isaiah (15), Solomon (11), Tanna (10), Rachel (8), Simon (6), Michelle (5), Maria (4), Stephanie (3), and Leah (1)–were removed from their home by social services due to neglect. The children lacked adequate food and medical care–the Strattons practiced homebirth and never took their children to see a […]
Korresha Crawford, and 4 siblings
Korresha Crawford, age 11, was beaten to death by her 17-year-old sister Cylena, who also assaulted their 13-year-old brother Michael. Two other siblings, ages 11 and 9, were unharmed. The children’s father, Lawrence Crawford, was home at the time. Crawford, a Pentecostal minister, homeschooled the children while his wife Sylvia worked two jobs. However, Cylena […]
Lauren Kavanaugh, and 5 siblings
Lauren Kavanaugh, also known as Lauren Calhoun, was freed at age 8 from a six-year imprisonment in a closet where she was systematically tortured, raped, and starved by her mother and stepfather, Barbara and Kenneth Atkinson. The Atkinsons’ other children, who ranged in age from 22 months to 10 years, were also neglected; they did […]
Amanda Bates
Amanda Bates, age 13, died from medical neglect. She had diabetic ketoacidosis, as well as an infection that had turned gangrenous in her genitals and buttocks. Amanda and her 12 siblings were homeschooled. Her parents, Colleen and Randy Bates, did not graduate from high school. They belong to the General Assembly Church of the First […]
Bradley Warren and 2 siblings
Bradley Warren, age 13, was shot to death by his 14-year-old brother, Brandon Keith Warren. Brandon also shot and killed their 19-year-old stepsister Marnie Rose Warren and then shot himself. Both Bradley and Brandon were homeschooled, and Marnie and their older brother Ellis (age 21) had also been homeschooled. The mobile home where they lived was […]
