Cooper Harris (left) with his dad, Justin Ross Harris. On March 24, three weeks after the news first broke that state Rep. Justin Harris (R-West Fork) and his wife, Marsha, gave their two adopted daughters in 2013 to a family where one of them was later sexually assaulted, Rep. Harris returned to Twitter. In the last week alone, lawmakers have filed two bills seeking to outlaw the practice, according to KTHV. Despite the legal evidence, Harris at first refuse to confirm the link, then quoted a passage from the Bible. Arkansas State Rep Justin Harris and his wife Marsha adopted two girls in 2013, but eventually gave them up when the elder child became violent and threatening View gallery The Harris family. They were not allowed to be around each other because of the Harrises belief in demonic possession and telepathy, she said. But she was such a sweet little girl. But the Harrises were hell-bent on having it happen. So, sure, higher-ups will get into discussions about what is best and what is not., However, a source familiar with the workings of state-level DHS informed the Times that Blucker supposedly remarked in 2012 that Harris threatened to hold up the budget for the division if he didnt get to adopt those girls.. The reason: The Harrises believed the girls were possessed by demons and could communicate telepathically, Goldsborough said. Affani. About us - Harris Residential. They said she exerted pressure on people in the local DHS team on Harris behalf. While caring for the two girls, Eric Francis wasemployed briefly at Growing Gods Kingdom, the Christian day-care owned by Harris. It is an overall forecast for the net worth of Justin Harris. In November 2016, Justin Ross Harris was found guilty on all counts in his son's murder. On Wednesday, Arkansas Rep. Greg Leding introduced a bill to prevent rehoming. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Justin Harris and could vary in the range between $556.5K - $1.6M. Justin Ross Harris (born November 27, 1980, age: 41 years) is a web developer and a criminal from America. But we also know this for sure: There is nothing more traumatic for a child than losing their birth parents. — -- An adoption controversy in Fayetteville, Ark., has ignited a debate over the controversial practice of "re-homing" and caring for adopted children that have been abused. They kept up with the kids, he said, referring to the rehoming. Not surprisingly, Harris chose to stay quiet about his role in placing the victim in the Francis home until a reporter from the Arkansas Times connected the dots. On Tuesday, shortly before this story went to print, Harris sharpened his accusations, telling KTHV-TV, Channel 11, that Blucker the states top official for child welfare knew he gave the girls to another family and did not report it. Despite her reservations about the Harris adoption, Wallis thought things were going well with the Harrises and the two young sisters. This story of Arkansas state legislator Justin Harris' adoption debacle has been a classic, slow-moving trainwreck, as the Arkansas press discovers disturbing new details on a near-daily basis. Justin Todd Harris(born August 25, 1975)[1]is the owner and operator of Growing Gods Kingdom, a preschool in West Fork in Washington County in northwestern Arkansas. They genuinely had a commitment, I think, but it wasnt near as easy as they thought that it was going to be. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group. By Benjamin Hardy . Describing the child's fits of rage, Marsha Harris told 20/20, "It never stopped. Though no one can say for sure, child advocates believe that rehoming is relatively rare in the United States. Arkansas State Rep. Justin Harris and his wife held a press conference to address the fallout related to his adoption of three young girls. Sometimes the girl acted out violently. For about half of that time, from the end of 2012 to summer 2013, Goldsborough would babysit the Harris boys, Annie and, in an unconventional sense, Mary. "When the adoption/rehoming scandal broke, Harris held a press conference as reported by the Arkansas Times. Follow. We're at our wits' end. Please enter a search term. Sometimes you see kids put in a safe environment and all hell may break loose. And they knew [Mary] had been sexually assaulted, and she would have some anger issues. The former DHS employee the Times contacted for this story independently confirmed this account of the Valentines Day meeting. State Rep. Justin Harris, who gave his adopted daughters to a man who later admitted to sexually assaulting one of the girls won't seek re-election. They loved each other. -- an often misunderstood psychological condition that can develop when a child's basic needs for comfort and affection are not met. We've done all this counselin'. Arkansas state legislator Rep. Justin Harris gave his adopted daughters away because he and his wife thought they were possessed by demons, according to a report in the Arkansas Times. While the Harts were aware that the sisters had come from a troubled and sexually abusive background, the couple didn't notice any extremely alarming behaviors from the girls during the year and a half they spent in their home in Fayetteville, Ark. Those adoptive parents who do it, advocates say, are gambling with the well-being of at-risk children whose entire life experienceshave been characterized by abandonment, separation, grief and often abuse. Justin Harris told 20/20 that "We're not sleepin'. The two younger sisters have been adopted and are thriving and flourishing in their new home. The girls had been taken into DHS custody in early 2011 after suffering through a staggering sequence of chaos and abuse. The girls were at one point placed in the care of methamphetamine users,according to the Times. This "was not the type of home we were lookin' for it wasn't appropriate for these girls to be in a home with three boys," Wallis told 20/20. Our daughters are a precious gift from God and truly a blessing to each one of our lives and our extended family and friends. While Harris slings barbs at DHS, Republican Gov. JUSTIN@HARRISRESIDENTIAL.CO.UK. ), Craig Hart also raised the issue of faith when addressing Justin Harris comments about the girls. The Georgia Supreme Court has overturned the 2016 murder conviction of Justin Ross Harris, who had been found guilty of intentionally . According to the Arkansas Times, the girls were adopted through the Arkansas Department of Human Services. Thats why we have supervisors and area managers because you want as many eyes as you can to help make sure we make the best, most appropriate decisions for those kids. I hold DHS accountable And Im not sorry for doing it, he declared. Justin Harris, a Republican who sits in the state's House of Representatives, legally adopted the two girls in March 2013 - but handed them over after just six months to a man who would go on to rape the eldest. They were very delightful, fun, energetic never an ounce of threat from them. Count 3: Felony Murder. Our whole staff does and understands that it just isnt always going to work out. In fact, a past DHS employee at the time came to us and confirmed that the plan at DHS was to seek abandonment charges if we returned the girls.". She told the Times that she wanted to get the girls into a permanent home and to keep the three of them together, above all else in large part because of her own unhappy childhood spent in foster care in Minnesota. The source said demons were an obsession with Marsha Harris. The ones that are good, that is their life. Others, she said, dont care. But the Harrises explained that they were both early childhood educators, ran and operated a preschool and had experience working in therapeutic daycare centers. So it came as a great shock to Wallis when Marsha Harris called her, nearly a year later, for dinner. It is for this reason that rehoming is such a scary practice according to Amy Webb, a spokesperson for theDepartment of Human Services. Arkansas State Rep. Justin Harris and his wife, Marsha, had always been eager to expand their family of three young sons. The Times reported that Cecile Blucker, the head of DHS' Division of Children and Family Services, "exerted pressure on the Washington County DHS office on behalf of Justin Harris to . Goldsborough said the exorcism was performed by specialists from Alabama who came to the house to orchestrate the event. Unless he gave them guns, they werent dangerous., He felt especially offended at Harris statement in the press conference thatthey had to medicate the middle child to prevent her from hurting her sister. He said Mary displayed only affection and kindness toward her younger sister. 'They knew, suddenly knew, that this was their forever home, and they were no longer ever going back to Mom's house. They said the whole time in court they wanted all three, and thats why they were chosen [to adopt] They fell on their knees when they were told they could take her., As for the transfer itself, Craig Hart said, It was not the process normally followed when we had kids go into an adoption situation the court said there should be a transitioning period between us and them, and we saw them only once after they moved in [with the Harrises]. There are times when families are unable to cope with the challenges of caring for children adopted through the foster system. It is her opinion the Harrises called Cecile Blucker to expedite things.. But parents cannot use normal parenting. DHS ultimately placed the child into a hospital after just a few months of living with the family, and the Harrises did not proceed with the planned adoption. Harris, however, has been engulfed in scandal this week - as it only just emerged that he had legally adopted the girls - a fact he neglected to mention when publicly commenting on the rape when it first came to light. It may be in the report you have, but just in case the minors identities are known, we dont want to be specific for their own protection.. When it was just me and her one night, I took her on a walk down the street to hang out and took her to the playground., When asked whether either of the girls displayed any signs of violence, Goldsborough said, Yeah theyd throw a fit sometimes if I made them eat their broccoli. An emotional Rep. Justin Harris (R-West Fork), his wife at his side, told reporters at a press conference last week that he sent his two adopted daughters to live with another family, where one of them was later sexually abused, because he would have faced abandonment charges by the state. He presented himself and his family . Francis lost his job at the school while in custody of the girls due to performance issues, but Rep. Harris and his wife did not take the girls back at that point. But I knew they had talked about it, they were going to rehome them, she said. They get desperate. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. The middle girl came maybe two months later she had a potential adoptive family that for some reason changed their minds very suddenly and said she had to be out right away, so we took her, too.. Now ages 7 and 5, the girls' adoptive parents tell "20/20" that after a year of adjusting the sisters are excelling in their studies, taking swim lessons and enjoying ballet and gymnastics classes. 'We're just one radio call away from having the biggest aviation disaster in history': After ANOTHER almost catastrophic near miss at a US airport, just how can Americans trust their plane journey will be safe? So, they decided to place the child for adoption. 'I think everyone in our caucus was dismayed to learn that rehoming is allowable in Arkansas, and a bill has already been filed to address this tragic gap in the law so that our children can be protected.'. Rep. Justin Harris, R-West Fork, asks a question Friday in the House Committee on Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs. See who the key figures are in this strange story. Help us provide deeper and broader coverage of Arkansass child welfare system by contributing to our crowdfunding campaign. elitefts staff 2 hours, 15 minutes, 19 seconds January 20, 2022 Education, Exercise Index, Video & Workouts & Programs WATCH: Back Training with Justin Harris "Dumbbell rows are bodybuilding burpees." The suburban Atlanta man charged with murder after his 22-month-old son died from being left in a hot car for seven . Chilling 911 dispatch describes how 'overmedicated' midwife mom Lindsay Clancy cut her own wrists before jumping from top window of her home in suicide attempt after strangling her three children, Biden STILL refuses to accept responsibility for classified documents debacle: President says 'the answer is no' when asked if takes blame for sensitive files found at multiple properties, Inside Jim Carrey's secret 'sanctuary': Comedian lists LA estate of 30 YEARS (complete with infrared sauna and tennis court) for a whopping $28.9M after announcing plan to retire from acting at 61, World-first pill for postpartum depression could be rolled out in US by AUGUST, High blood pressure? She called Justin and Marsha Harris to take her daughters. Kyra Guthrie, a Fayetteville resident and friend of the Harts, sometimes provided respite care for the foster family. While Annie would be allowed to roam the house and interact with other family members, Mary was often confined to her room, Goldsborough said. Kimberly A. Warren: 'Mr. In October 2013, Justin Harris dropped off his two young daughters to begin their new life with the Francises. In 1998, when Craig and Cheryl Hart's biological sons were 11 and 14 years old, they decided it was time for their family to give back to the community and become a foster family for children in need. See Photos. He said DHS threat to charge him with abandonment could have cost him custody of his three biological sons (and, though he did not say so, could have cost him his business as well, Growing Gods Kingdom preschool). 100g carbs. We see this happening in orphanages and kids moved into foster care at a young age. One day that same month, with Stacey Francis out of town, Eric Francis acted. After just four months in the Harris home, the oldest girl was placed in an inpatient facility and her adoption by the Harrises was never finalized. An Arkansas politician claims he gave away his two adopted daughters, aged three and six, to a rapist because they were threatening to kill his family, and had already crushed a family pet to death. Justin Harris. The girls had regular counseling at Childrens House in Springdale, a center specializing in mental health treatment for young victims of abuse. I had a big dog outside, and I caught her trying to stick a stick up the dogs nose. See Photos. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Donna Ames On March 5, Benjamin Hardy of the Arkansas Times published an explosive investigation about how State Representative Justin Harris . In most cases, custody of an adopted child can be transferred simply by both sets of parents signing a document, and child protective services will only step in if they suspect the child is not being properly treated, which can be near impossible for them to judge at times. Its evil, he told the Times. They had even put an addition onto their house in anticipation of one day adopting. I knew the two girls for over a year and spent many hours with them, Guthrie told theTimes. After one of the two younger girls crushed a family pet to death, Harris said, he and his wife were advised by a therapist, a psychiatrist and a pediatrician to remove the children from the Harris home. Because Im about ready to lose them to DHS. . The Harts did know that the two little girls had a 5-and-a-half-year-old sister who had been sexually abused. Harris put a 6-year-old girl he adopted in the. About Justin Harris. The lawyer had not responded to a long list of other questions from the Times by midday Tuesday. And Im shocked, because they did work with these children at Childrens House, and they saw how difficult foster parents have it with little kids who have mental issues. As she points out, these families are not vetted in the same way an agency would vet other potential parents. Although they still decline to share the full circumstances of their adoption, the parents said they felt compelled to respond to the statements Justin Harris has made this past week that portray the girls as dangerous and violent. Learn How rich is He in this year and how He spends money? Asa Hutchinson has ordered a review of the agencys practices regarding adoption. I'm appalled. How exactly things could go so wrong for the girlsonce they were placed in the care of the Harris family is a study in failure at all levels. We still are in contact with a lot of our former fosters who have been adopted. In reality, when they are doing it in these illegal ways, whatit is is child abandonment and neglect, Lestino said. LITTLE ROCK, Ark. And there were no tears. After Fridays press conference, Justin Harris gave a lengthy interview to a KARK-TV, Channel 4, reporter in which he told a similar story about how his troubled adoption began. Cheryl Hart also vividly remembers the roundtable meeting described by Harris, which she said occurred on Valentines Day 2012. There are far too few foster parents, and children often end up having to stay at the DHS overnight with a worker, sometimes for several days on end because there are no placement options. Justin Ross Harris: Wiki, Biography, Wife, Age, Kids, Net worth, Parents, Family, Case & More. I don't care if I lose my position. They played with my adopted son in my home.. They were not a challenge compared to a lot of kids weve had, but we were familiar with their kinds of behaviors, Cheryl Hart said. A series of stories by the Arkansas Times revealedthat Harris a day-care owner, a vociferous defender of his Christian faith and a prominent figurein the states Republican Party put two young girls he adopted in the care of a man who later sexually abused one of them. Finding the truth behind political rhetoric, reviewing claims to see whats accurate and whats misleading. Just screamin'. (Other sources claim Young waited for days to turn the husband over to the police.) Benji Hardy is a contributing editor to the Arkansas Times and a reporter for the Arkansas Nonprofit News Network. Eventually she also testified in court against the Harris adoption. The Arkansas Times piece, written by Benjamin Hardy, also points out that in that state there is no law that prohibits parents from leaving their child in another individual's care. They are precious, precious, amazing girls, and we are so blessed to have them.'. 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