This story out of Arkansas is as convoluted as it is heartbreaking.
Three sisters were removed from their family home due to alleged sexual abuse. They were adopted by a state legislator and his wife, who run a day care called Growing God’s Kingdom Preschool. Things do not go well in the new home.
The adoptive parents reportedly came to think the two younger girls were possessed, a claim the parents now deny. An exorcism was allegedly performed. Ultimately the lawmaker and his wife could not handle the girls any longer and wanted to give them back up for adoption. They placed the girls with a former employee of their day care. He allegedly raped the middle sister.
The case became public in part last April, but the extent of the involvement of Arkansas Rep. Justin Harris (R) did not come to light until last week. A pair of deeply reported stories in the Arkansas Times, the alt weekly in Little Rock, exposed the troubling allegations and forced Harris to call a press conference to respond.
As reported by the Arkansas Times, Harris and his wife, Marsha, “rehomed” the two younger girls six months after adopting them in 2012. The man they placed them with, Eric Francis (pictured below), was arrested last April for the rape of the 6-year-old girl. Although the incident of sexual abuse was reported publicly at the time, Harris did not disclose then that his adopted daughter was the victim — just that Francis had worked at Growing God’s Kingdom Preschool, which is owned by Harris. The Arkansas Times uncovered the “rehoming” while looking through court documents.
“Rehoming,” or giving an adopted child back up for adoption, is not illegal in Arkansas, but it is frowned upon by the Arkansas Department of Human Services. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) has initiated a review of the state’s adoption policy, and lawmakers have introduced legislation that would ban “rehoming.”
The full story of Harris’ adoption of the three sisters and exactly what occurred inside the family’s home remains murky.
The lawmaker claims he only wanted to adopt the younger two girls, and not the oldest, who was apparently more challenging to interact with than the younger two. He says that the DHS pressured him to adopt the oldest daughter as well, so that all three sisters would stay together. But the girls’ biological mother says she asked Harris and his wife to adopt the three girls herself, and that the couple agreed to care for all three sisters right off the bat.
It also seems as though Harris’ position as a state lawmaker came into play early in the process. The Arkansas Times reported that Harris used a connection of his at DHS to speed up the adoption process. The Times reported that Cecile Blucker, the head of DHS’ Division of Children and Family Services, “exerted pressure on the Washington County DHS office on behalf of Justin Harris to facilitate the adoption.” And Harris may have used his position as a lawmaker to push Blucker to advocate on his behalf, a source told the paper.
Apparently, numerous individuals warned the Harris family against adopting the three girls because the Harrises were not prepared for the challenges involved, and the adoption may have only proceeded due to Blucker’s sway, according to the paper. The two oldest girls had been allegedly sexually abused while living with their biological mother. The Harrises decided to adopt the daughters despite the warnings, though DHS ended up placing the oldest in a hospital before the adoption process was completed. The younger two, however, stayed with the Harrises and their three biological sons.
Once the two daughters moved into the Harris home, things took a bizarre turn. The Harrises claimed that the two girls were “dangerous” and a threat to their sons. But they also thought that they were possessed by demons. They reportedly brought in specialists to perform an exorcism. The Harrises have denied that they thought the girls were possessed and said that they were told by a therapist take away the middle sister’s toys. They also reportedly isolated the middle sister in her room.
Harris claims that after a few months with the girls in his home, he approached DHS about the challenge the two girls presented to the family. But he said that DHS threatened him with abandonment charges when he asked about giving the girls up for adoption again. He worried that he would lose his biological sons as well. Harris claimed at one point that DHS treated him this way due to his political beliefs.
DHS could not comment to the Arkansas Times on whether they threatened Harris with abandonment charges or knew about his decision to move the girls on his own. So it’s unclear how much blame lies on DHS for Harris’ decision to “rehome” the two girls with Francis. Harris admitted that he fired Francis for poor attendance at work, but that he was unaware of any other issues.
The youngest two daughters left Francis’ home in early 2014 and have now been adopted by a new family.
