Foster Couple 'Abused Boys With Wire Brushes' / Andrew & Jenny Hemara Arrested

[Hellsbells]

A New Zealand foster couple and their daughter are facing charges of child abuse after allegedly scrubbing the bodies and teeth of boys in their care with wire brushes, making them run around a racecourse until they vomited, chaining them together and forcing them to sleep outside without blankets.

Andrew John Hemara, 53, Jenny-Lee Hemara, 49, and daughter Tamara Lee Hemara, 21, together face 38 charges relating to the abuse of four children between the ages of seven and 14, the New Zealand Herald reports.

The alleged abuse spanned nearly seven years until last year.

The Wellsford caregivers, approved by the New Zealand government’s Child, Youth and Family service since 2001, were routinely checked by social workers, but the alleged abuse came to light only when one of the boys spoke up last September.

Andrew Hemara, a youth worker, is facing 17 charges of assault and five of wilful ill-treatment

He allegedly ripped an earring from one boy's ear and forced his hand into a fire until it burned, and bent another boy's neck backwards over the metal pole of a bunk bed, the NZ Herald reports.

Yesterday, he said he planned to defend the charges.

Jenny-Lee Hemara is facing 10 assault and three wilful ill-treatment charges after she allegedly threw a metal stool at a 12-year-old boy and stabbed him in the hand with a pen.

CYF northern regional director Grant Bennett said the young boys were unable to alert authorities of what was allegedly happening to them, despite the regular check-ups

The boys are now in the custody of new caregivers.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/...-boys-together

[AngelFire]

This is disgusting. They take kids in that have issues already, some with trust issues and these animals think this is how you treat them. It's only a business to some people. Some Foster parents are not there for the kids, just for the extra income.

[Momof4Ts]

Fuck that shit, if you are going to be a foster/adoptive family you do it for the reasons of love and understandng, not for extra income. How the hell do these people past all the tests to be able to foster and adopt?

[Obsolete]

It seems to me that if the abuse was as significant as the article states then the caseworkers checking in on them would have seen something. I mean, wire brushes on skin and stab wounds on hands are hard to hide. Either the caseworkers ignored the abuse or the boys are spinning webs.

I'm curious if the boys had any scars or injuries when they were taken into custody. I actually hope the boys are lying, I would hate to know that they endured that type of abuse at the hands of the people who were meant to love and protect them.

[Hellsbells]

King Country Connection Camps , They were both camp leaders there http://www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=5866150469

I dont have a Bebo account and Iam not about to sign up , anyway Jenny has a Bebo Account its the last picture on the left hand side at the bottom , If you have a Bebo account check it out and see what you can find out

[Marv]

I wonder, did they only foster boys (and if that is the case did they only foster boys because they WANTED boys to abuse), or did they foster both sexes but only abuse the boys?

[princessgrandma]

Why do people do stuff like this? There would have to be evidence, right? In order to bring charges against them, there must have been something beyond the word of the boys, I would think.

I think there ought to be some psychological testing done before people are allowed to foster children, and I think it should be a universal standard, applying to all countries.

[Obsolete]

Why do people do stuff like this? There would have to be evidence, right? In order to bring charges against them, there must have been something beyond the word of the boys, I would think.

I think there ought to be some psychological testing done before people are allowed to foster children, and I think it should be a universal standard, applying to all countries.

Actually there doesn't have to be any evidence to remove the kids and launch an investigation.