By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
More details are emerging of the sad life of Adam Herrman, who disappeared 10 years ago at age 11.
A brother of Adam's adoptive mother now says he witnessed many acts of physical and emotional abuse in the years that Adam lived with Valerie and Doug Herrman.
Valerie, he said, beat the boy, locked him overnight in the bathroom and deprived him of food and affection, all the while treating other children in the house with kindness.
This is a very sad story, but one we have heard before. Abusive parents often zero in on one child.
Adam's uncle, Sam Bush, now says he regrets not reporting the abuse. He kept hoping it would get better. He believed his sister when she said Adam had returned to state custody. He had not, and no one has seen him since 1999.
It's a cautionary tale, folks. Protect the children. The adults can take care of themselves.
More in this story, from The Wichita Eagle.
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System is broken
Long sad story short--I had a neighbor who abused their foster kids. The kids and I hotlined them a few times and sometimes called the police when the children ran screaming to my door for help. End result....nothing. They asked me to rescue them by adopting them and I was considering it. I wasn't a spring chicken. I decided I would take the next steps and discovered they were taking steps to adopt them themselves. They each had diabilities and she told another neighbor that you got more money per month for disabled kids and assistance remained even after adoption.
They adopted them and moved away and I worry about the kids every day.
Such a sad story
If anyone is wondering why we need laws protecting children, refer to this story. These parents either killed this kid or he ran away. Either way, his life with these monsters was horrid.