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N.J. starvation-case brothers thriving
More articles on this topic: Raymond and Vanessa JacksonA year ago, 19-year-old Bruce Jackson weighed 45 pounds. He stood 4 feet high.
Today, he weighs more than 100 pounds and is nearly a foot taller.
Each of his three younger brothers has grown about six inches and at least doubled his weight - all in the year since they were removed from their adoptive home in Collingswood.
“We’re never going to be able to lose the fact there were four years in which they were treated so terribly,” said Marcia Robinson Lowry, the executive director of Children’s Rights Inc. and the legal guardian of the three younger boys. “I’m heartened to see they have not been destroyed.”
Since the early morning a year ago today when Bruce was discovered by a neighbor foraging through trash cans for food, the case has attracted national attention and accelerated the overhaul of New Jersey’s child-welfare system.
The once-stunted boys, who authorities said subsisted on a diet of pancake batter and wallboard, continue to grow - now eating home-cooked meals. Once home-schooled, the three youngest now go to public school. A civil case brought on behalf of all four brothers against the state appears close to resolution, offering much-needed financial support.
Yet much remains unsettled.
The criminal case against their adoptive parents, Raymond and Vanessa Jackson, as well as a custody battle, continues in Superior Court in Camden.
The Division of Youth and Family Services, already in the midst of sweeping court-ordered changes, was turned on its head after it was learned that workers had visited the home dozens of times over several years without raising issue over the conditions of the boys, who appeared emaciated.
A criminal investigation of “the actions or lack of actions” by DYFS workers involved in the case is continuing, said Bill Shralow, spokesman for the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office. A law enforcement source said that officials are now considering offering immunity to DYFS workers, some of whom refused to testify before the grand jury without it.
Once ignored by the system, the Jackson brothers are now virtually lavished - getting extensive medical care and oversight from a caseworker who deals only with their family, officials said.
In a report released today, New Jersey’s independent Office of the Child Advocate reviewed the boys’ medical records and concluded that they are now getting the care they needed.
“The Jackson boys received all services, including ordinary and specialized care, timely and appropriately,” the review of the previous year concluded. “Their medical files evidence strong case management and coordination with consistent staff and medical providers.”
Prosecutors hope to contrast the medical records of the last year with records of previous years, which authorities say show that the four sons rarely saw a doctor or dentist.
The dramatic growth in one year confirms that the four sons suffered from psychosocial dwarfism, said Robert Blizzard, emeritus professor of pediatrics at the University of Virginia and among the first to document the phenomenon in the 1960s. Children who suffer from the syndrome often are emotionally deprived and psychologically abused for so long that their growth hormones shut down - stunting their height, preventing puberty, even retarding their intelligence, he said.
Blizzard said he discovered that “if you take the child out of the destructive environment, the child will turn on the growth hormone and grow.”
The adoptive parents, Raymond and Vanessa Jackson, remain free on $100,000 bond, each charged with 28 counts of aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of children. Eight counts accuse them of failing to properly feed and nourish their children. The remaining counts charge them with endangering their welfare by causing “unnecessary pain and suffering.”
They have pleaded not guilty, and the case against them has inched forward. No trial has been scheduled, as the defense is still reviewing the state’s evidence. An eating-disorder expert hired by the defense is working toward a Dec. 6 deadline to finish a review of medical files.
The state’s other evidence includes videotaped interviews with the brothers; a review of Medicaid records showing no doctor or dentist visits; and the condition of Bruce’s teeth, which all had to be pulled and replaced.
“Their teeth were rotted, their stomachs distended, and you can clearly see the outline of their ribs and shoulders,” Camden County Prosecutor Vincent Sarubbi said when the parents were arrested.
The Jacksons’ lawyers - Richard Josselson and Alan Dexter Bowman - were unavailable for comment. Previously, the lawyers have said that the Jacksons adopted four troubled boys with eating disorders and that they did their best to raise them. They have questioned statements the sons gave shortly after they were removed from the Collingswood home.
Except for brief comments to 60 Minutes II last year, Raymond and Vanessa Jackson have not spoken publicly. However, in a statement released while he was still in the Camden County Jail, Raymond Jackson said: “I feel like Daniel when he was thrown to the lions.”
He took exception to suggestions that he and his wife adopted a large family to reap welfare benefits. The family received about $30,000 annually.
“To have people say we did this for money is foolish and dead wrong.”
As part of their bail terms, the parents have not been permitted to see their adopted sons.
Lowry met with the three younger boys - Keith, Tyrone and Michael - last week and found them energetic and acting like children who are 10, 11 and 14.
“What is so dramatic with what happened to these children is it was like torture,” she said. “It was slow deprivation of basic nurturance.”
She said that, with the right support, the three younger brothers could go on to complete high school and go to college.
“These are youngsters with very serious potential,” Lowry said.
In interviews, Lowry and Human Services Commissioner James Davy both said they would like to see a quick negotiated conclusion to the civil lawsuit brought against the state, which seeks compensation to ensure that the brothers receive the care they need going forward.
“That may involve a lot of money, but they deserve it,” Davy said. “They’ve gone through some real difficult suffering.”
Lowry said she just got the boys’ files and wants to finish reviewing them so she can best advocate for them. Bruce has a different lawyer because he is an adult.
“We are concerned about Bruce,” Davy said. “We want to make sure he gets all the services that he needs, that he gets all the behavioral health services that he needs, and, given the fact that he went through a lot more for a longer period of time… in terms of compensation, I think he will come out with greater compensation than the other three boys.”
The Borough of Collingswood is pitching in, too.
Mayor Jim Maley said about $50,000 has been raised to support the brothers. “It was all different sizes of contributions - $3,000 checks and $5 bills dropped off at the bank,” Maley said.
He was about to distribute it a few weeks ago, Maley said, but every time their name gets brought up in the media, another flurry of checks comes in.
“The great thing is that they’re just kids, living regular lives,” the mayor said.
Two people who have visited with the three younger brothers - Davy and Lowry - agreed.
Michael, Keith and Tyrone all live together in a foster home in an undisclosed part of the state. Davy said they see Bruce weekly and also visit with their two sisters, who also were adopted by the Jacksons.
At a recent visit to the foster home, Davy said, the boys were wearing Eagles jerseys, riding bicycles, playing basketball, and doing somersaults in the front yard.
“They are very entertaining children,” Davy said. “They are not shy.”
He added: “They are smart. They are articulate.”
No other children live in the foster home, the house of a single woman whom Davy described as a “saint.” They have been together there for about nine months.
Keith gets regular visits from a “mentor” from a Big Brothers/Big Sisters-type program, who plays ball with him and helps with homework and the like, Davy said.
Their DYFS caseworker deals only with the three boys and their two sisters, Davy said. That is the DYFS worker’s sole assignment.
“It’s just a perfect situation,” the commissioner said.
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