Arrest in Abuse Case<p>Women Admit Most of Claims, Police Say

Akron Beacon-Journal ^ | May 3, 2003 | Phil Trexler

[onehipdad]

An Akron mother and her lover accused of locking five boys in a dark closet for weeks at a time were arrested Friday on felony abuse charges.

Mary Rowles, 30, the biological mother of the boys, and her partner, Alice Jenkins, were each charged with five felony counts of child endangering.

Jenkins, 27, faces two additional charges of felonious assault.

``There were some things the kids were forced to do that are not considered normal among us,'' said Akron police Detective Crystal Bowen-Carter.

``This is the worst case I've ever come in contact with. I've never seen anything like this.... and I never suspected something like this would happen. It's something from medieval days.''

The Summit County Children Services Board has come under fire for ignoring allegations for years that the boys had been abused.

Police said the women have largely admitted the children's allegations and have offered reasons for what they call their form of discipline. The women are accused of mistreating Rowles' five boys, but her 12-year-old daughter appeared to be well-nourished and never was placed in the closet, police said.

Police issued arrest warrants for the women after detectives interviewed the boys for more than 12 hours over five days.

In the interviews, detectives said, they heard horrid details of abuse alleged against the couple.

Two of the boys, ages 10 and 8, told police they had been locked in a 3-by-5-foot bedroom closet since mid-February. The three other boys served various terms in the closet. It was secured by a dresser blocking the door.

The bedroom was locked. The boys told detectives they were permitted to leave the room three times a day, to eat and use the bathroom.

Their diet included a small bowl of dry cereal for breakfast and half a peanut butter sandwich for lunch and again for dinner. The boys were forced to kneel while eating, Bowen-Carter said.

The closet has no windows and had only two blankets. The only light was what came through the bottom of the door, police said.

The boys say they had been hit with a hammer, whipped with a belt, kicked in the groin and forced to eat animal feces, police said.

Bowen-Carter said the boys were generally reprimanded for stealing food late at night, and the closet was used as a punishment tool. She said the boys' accounts of abuse are consistent, and are mostly undisputed by Rowles and Jenkins, who cooperated with investigators until their arrest.

Police became aware of the case Monday when three of the boys escaped from the closet and their home. A citizen who saw the children wandering before sunrise contacted police.

The boys were treated at Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron, and two were hospitalized. All the children, including the daughter, are now in area foster homes.

When police took custody of the boys, the 6-year-old weighed 29 pounds, the 8-year-old 28 pounds, the 10-year-old 40 pounds, the 13-year-old 60 pounds and the 14-year-old 75 pounds.

Detectives said they called the two women and asked them to come to the downtown police station and surrender. The Akron women turned themselves in about 5 p.m. Friday and were being held in the Summit County Jail.

Police Lt. Sylvia Trundle said detectives needed to investigate the case all week before making any arrests. ``There needs to be an investigation to substantiate the children's allegations and make sure we take a thorough look at the case,'' she said.

The Kenmore couple are to appear in Akron Municipal Court this morning for arraignment and consideration of bond.

Rowles and Jenkins have been together for about seven years. Rowles stayed at home during the day while Jenkins worked at an auto parts store.

The boys told police they were removed from school and were to be taught at home. ``They claimed they were not learning anything,'' Bowen-Carter said.

Police said Jenkins assumed the role of disciplinarian, while Rowles played a more passive role in raising the children.

``For some unknown reason, she allowed this to happen to her children,'' Bowen-Carter said. ``It's something no mother, you'd think, would ever put her kids through.''

Police said good behavior allowed some of the children to receive a reprieve from the closet. ``They were let out when Alice felt they had served -- I don't want to say `enough time' -- but when she felt the punishment was over,'' Bowen-Carter said.

``Once they were let out of the closet, they had to stay on Alice's good side. They said they tried to... hope she had a good day at work.''

The boys, police said, had mixed feelings about the arrest of their mother and the woman they were told to call ``dad.''

``They appear to be really forgiving kids,'' Bowen-Carter said. ``Some of them still love their mom, but don't like what she did. One boy particularly says they're still his mom and dad.''

[onehipdad]

This is a continuation of a story that broke and was posted at FR last Thursday. I have also sent it to Greta because it deserves national attention not just for the dispicable behavior of these women but also for the dereliction and ineptitude of the local social services in allowing this to go on for years. There is a compilation of all related articles as well as a message board at the newspaper's website.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

``They appear to be really forgiving kids,'' Bowen-Carter said. ``Some of them still love their mom, but don't like what she did. One boy particularly says they're still his mom and dad.''

--- Children have such a strong emotional bond with their mothers... those who are severely abused still love their mother, and desperately need their mother's love. It is heartbreaking, to hear of the depth of their love... only because these women don't deserve that. They didn't love these children, and have caused terrible damage. May God bless these poor children.

[Temple Drake]

these "women" are evil and should be hanged. Where is the father of these boys?

[annyokie]

I am glad that they are alive. There was a couple in PA a few years ago who starved one of thier daughters to death and then dumped her body in Ohio. Their other children were wellfed and healthy.

What possesses people to do these evil things?

[opticoax]

Something tells me this will get the Jesse Dirkhising treatment from the national media.

[Temple Drake]

ya think?

[Reagan is King]

What a pathetic woman. They can't give enough punishment to child abusers to satisfy me.

[sticker]

I wonder when the National Organization of Witches when come to their defense.

[netmilsmom]

Love comes in all forms. The love of a child for his mother is the strongest, even when he is abused (mentally or physically) by that mother.
It breaks my heart.

[wimpycat]

According to another article here on FR on the same subject, the boys have fathers...which is par for the course. One of the fathers is no better than the mother; apparently locked up for some sex offense.

I swear, some kids just don't have a chance in life. And these two women appear to be the ultimate man-haters. They're lesbians, and they "punished" the boys, but not the girl. Why have them in the first place, if you don't want them? Babies don't just "happen".

[CFW]

According to police and court records, Rowles was 17 when she had her first child in September 1989. The boy's father, Darrell Shaffer Jr., 32, is also the father of a son born to Rowles in July 1998.

Rowles had two sons by Ronnie Curtis Stuart, 42, the only man she married. Their children were born in December 1994 and September 1996. They separated that month and were divorced in 1999. Rowles regained her maiden name. Stuart has no visitation rights. He was convicted in 1996 of gross sexual imposition and sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Rowles' only daughter was born in April 1991. In 1997, she and the father, Brady Postlethwaite, 33, reached an agreement to share custody in which he had the girl during the week and Rowles had her on weekends.

In court documents, Rowles said she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and was afraid she would be physically unable to get the child to school.

But in subsequent years, they had custody and other court battles claiming one party did not allow the other to see the girl. Rowles was granted custody in 2001. Police said the girl was not mistreated.

Rowles' other son was born in March 1993. No name was given for the father.

[wimpycat]

Yep, that's what I read. Thanks for posting it here.

Reading it again just reinforces how sad it is that some kids just don't have a decent chance in life.

[Dan Wiz]

Sounds like the boys were punished for having penises

[netmilsmom]

Oh no! You can't say that just because the boys were male and punished, and the girl was female and not punished that it was that way just because the women were gay!!!
Don't you know that a gay family is better than no family at all. /sarcasm off/

And the funny thing is that if anyone puts two and two together and comes up with four in this case, the media will claim homophobia.

[CFW]

If the children are placed in a normal, loving environment, they may have a chance to recover from this horror. Those two witches do not need access to any children again...ever.

And I'm not to impressed by the fathers either.

[Laurie S]

Hate to burst your bubble, but lot's of evil woman-hating men abuse their kids.. every day. They are heterosexual men. Does that make men evil or heterosexuality evil? Sorry, but neither the gender, nor the sexual orientation of the offenders in this case is the cause of the evil done to these children. Some people are just bad seeds.. and they should choose not to procreate (IMHO).

[netmilsmom]

Hate to burst your bubble, but lot's of evil woman-hating men abuse their kids.. every day.

---

What makes you think that you are bursting my bubble?
I am not stupid and know that there are many men that abuse children. However in this particular case, a lesbian women abused boys and left a girl alone while the lesbian mother allowed it. What does that say? Will the media say that it is obvious that the lesbian woman who was the lifemate of the mother did not like men. I think not. Not PC.

[Boot Hill]

Laurie S says:   "...neither the gender, nor the sexual orientation of the offenders in this case is the cause of the evil done to these children."

When you accept one perversion, other perversions will follow closely behind, and this case is a perfect example of that. It is a commonly parroted misconception that what happens in the privacy of your bedroom is nobody's business but your own. But this case puts the lie to that popular falsehood. One perversion breeds another and it never stays behind closed doors.

--Boot Hill

[cynicom]

My goodness, so many people on FR cannot spell or say lesbians. Get a clue, the daughter was in good shape.

[valkyrieanne]

Wonder if these lesbians just hated the boys because they were boys?