Posted on 02/12/2003 3:20:25 AM PST by Pat Bateman
Greeley mom reportedly touring Italy
By Coleman Cornelius
Denver Post Northern Colorado Bureau
Thursday, February 13, 2003 - GREELEY - A Greeley woman who has twice pleaded guilty to child abuse left her six children - ages 6 to 14 - home alone while she traveled to Italy for a two-week trip with her boyfriend, authorities said Wednesday.
Jennifer Aillese Farrell, 33, left her 14-year-old daughter with five younger siblings on Feb. 3. She has not been charged with a crime but is under investigation for child neglect.
The mother, who has not returned, left the children with three gallons of milk, three loaves of bread, $7 and a credit card for buying more food, said Greeley police Sgt. John Gates. She also left a document authorizing medical care if the children needed it during her vacation abroad, Gates said.
"We think it's unreasonable for six children ages 6 to 14 to be left home alone for two weeks without adult supervision," Gates said, calling it the biggest case of apparent abandonment that Greeley police have investigated. "In today's society, this is a pretty intolerable scenario."
The day after the mother left, police got an anonymous tip from someone worried about the welfare of the five girls and one boy, Gates said. As officers checked on the children, the 14-year-old girl's boyfriend and another male friend arrived, the sergeant said.
Weld County Social Services quickly took custody of the children, placing the four youngest with an aunt in Thornton and the two oldest in a foster home.
"It was very upsetting," Rosalee Brackeen, the custodial aunt, said of her reaction when she learned the youngsters were home alone. "There would have been plenty of family to take care of them. To leave that responsibility on a 14-year-old is appalling."
Brackeen said the children now are living with her and attending a new school and are "doing quite well."
Farrell pleaded guilty to child abuse in Aurora in 1995, according to court records. She also pleaded guilty to child abuse in Adams County in 1991, records show. Authorities, citing confidentiality laws, would not provide details about those cases.
When she went to Italy, Farrell did not leave her children with an itinerary. Police do not know exactly where she is or when she is expected back in Greeley, Gates said. She told the children she would be gone two weeks, he said.
The mother told her children that she would be in touch by e-mail during her vacation, but police do not know whether she has tried to contact the youngsters that way, Gates said.
Police have not tried to locate her.
"We want to interview her to conclude our investigation," he said. Police then will turn over the case to the Weld County district attorney for possible criminal charges, Gates said.
The social services agency will conduct an investigation, which will become part of court and custody proceedings, officials said.
Officers found the family's home, a modest gray house on 17th Avenue in south Greeley, to be in livable condition, Gates said. The children showed no outward signs of poor health, he said.
Weld County District Attorney Al Dominguez said a charge of child abuse must be supported by evidence of injury or evidence that a suspect put a child in a situation that posed the threat of injury.
"We don't know until we see all the facts," he said of whether such a charge would be appropriate. "It's a fairly high bar for child abuse."
Colorado law favors reuniting parents and children involved in abuse and neglect cases, said Bruce Barker, a Weld County attorney.
Barker said he could not predict whether the six children would be returned to Farrell.
"It depends on what the investigation reveals," he said. "The goal is to reunite the family in all of these cases. Sometimes that's possible, and sometimes it's not."
In 2000, Farrell and her former husband, Steven Farrell of Thornton, divorced after nine years of marriage, according to court records. Steven Farrell did not return a call seeking comment.
District Court Judge Roger Klein gave Jennifer Farrell custody of the couple's children and ordered that Steven Farrell see the children only when supervised because his former wife accused the father of verbally, emotionally and physically abusing the children.
Steven Farrell said in court papers that those claims were unfounded and tried to persuade the judge to overturn a restraining order against him and reconsider custody plans.
The former husband claimed in court documents that Jennifer Farrell's lack of supervision led to a half-brother sexually molesting the couple's son and two daughters. "The half brother ... has been in a treatment center and has been out of the home immediately after the situation was disclosed," Jennifer Farrell said in a responding court document.
Infantilization of America continues apace.
My parents left me alone for over a week when I was 13 with a 9 year old sister. Friends would stop by every day to make sure we were OK, but it was not difficult for me to take care of myself and my sister. It was kind of fun actually.
I sure am glad there wasn't some sh** for brains 'do-gooder' to call the damn oh-so-loving STATE to seperate me and my sister from our parents.
Upon learning that the Greeley police were involved, the French offered their conditional surrender to the city of Greeley. The condition of their surrender is that the French will not be beaten to a pulp by another high school music department.
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