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Jul 31, 2007 6:34 pm US/Eastern
Foster Hell: Woman Accused Of Holding Kids Captive
Cops Say Suspect Adopted Victims In N.Y., Moved To Florida Where She Tied Them Up & Starved Them
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (CBS) ―
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Judith Leekin is accused of holding her adopted children in deplorable conditions, tying them together and beating or burning them.
CBS
A former Queens woman was arrested in Florida after allegedly abusing her adopted children, holding them in a house of horrors while pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in state aid.
The outside of the home in the quiet Port St. Lucie, Fla. neighborhood looks manicured and orderly, but inside, investigators say they found a chaotic, disgusting house of horrors. There they found nine teenagers and young adults allegedly being held captive, handcuffed or tethered together with plastic ties.
Detectives say 62-year-old Judith Leekin is responsible for the abusive acts. Her nine adopted victims were described as horribly sick. Some were burned, others bruised, and all of them were starving.
Leekin lived in a neighborhood in the Laurelton section of Queens where investigators say she started a cruel scam, allegedly using the kids and New York's foster care and adoption system to line her own pockets.
"You hate to hear about them because kids are the most precious commodities we have," said Dwight Johnson, a Laurelton resident.
Neighbors recall she seemed to spoil her biological son while being harsh to her foster kids. They say there was nothing, however, to foreshadow the sickening abuse alleged by Florida police.
The adoptions appear to have taken place 1993 to 1996. Investigators say the adopted children now range in age from 15 to 27. Four are developmentally disabled.
Leekin allegedly had multiple aliases to repeatedly apply and become an adoptive parent. It appears the children provided the unemployed Leekin with as much as $180,000 a year from New York Child Welfare and other agencies.
Florida police say they want to know how the cases of these young victims fell through the cracks of the system.
"What were the circumstances that were presented to whoever turned them over to this lady?" asked Port St. Lucie Police Captain Scott Bartal.
John B. Mattingly, New York City's Commissioner of Child Services, released a statement about the discovery, saying: "This may have happened 10 to 15-years ago, but we now have to make sure it doesn't happen again."
The chilling discovery allegedly came to light after Leekin was said to have left or abandoned an 18-year-old girl in a grocery store. That girl then went to police and led them to the house where they found nine of Leekin's 11 adopted children living in the alleged deplorable conditions.
Stay with wcbstv.com and CBS 2 HD for more on this developing story.
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