August 1, 2007
Woman Adopted (and Abused) NYC Children For $$$
Florida police believe that Judith Leekin adopted 11 foster children, many of them special needs children, while she lived in Queens, collecting millions as she neglected them. After discovering one 18-year-old at a supermarket, police found other children in Leekin's Port St. Lucie home: They were malnourished, had scars on their hands from being handcuffed, left without access to a bathroom and were never schooled.
The city's Administration for Children's Services is cooperating with Florida authorities and is trying to understand how Leekin was able to adopt so many children from four different agencies. Leekin allegedly used aliases and hid children during agency visits. ACS pays more in subsidies for special needs children; the NY Times reports "the [daily] subsidy for a child classified as 'normal' is $22.59; for a child labeled 'special' it is $36.33; and for a child designated as 'exceptional' it is $55.07." It's unclear how Leekin's adopted children fit the categories, but right now, Florida authorities suspect she's taken at least $1.2 million over the past three decades. The Port St. Lucie police say, "We know she received an awful lot of money, and the figure is still rising."
Leekin, held on $4 million bail, is charged with child abuse and abuse of a disabled person. This case is reminiscent of the horrifying Collingwood, NJ incident, where police discovered a 19-year-old man who weighed 45 pounds rooting through a neighbor's garbage; he was among four children adopted and ignored by a couple.
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The city's Administration for Children's Services is cooperating with Florida authorities and it trying to understand how Leekin was able to adopt so many children from four different agencies.
"IS," Jen ------ the word is "IS"
Does this shite happen anywhere else in the world? I think not. Blame society. It's all about making a buck how ever you can. If there wasn't so much glorification of money and the envy and jealousy that comes with it we wouldn;t have sick fuggers out there doing whatever they can to have a few nice things in life.
Everyday I read about another sick fugger and have to wonder is it just coincidence that there are a lot of sick fuggers out there or is it a sign that this society is slowly going down the toilet. I believe it's the latter because this shite don't happen anywhere else.
Peace.
Burn the witch!
holy shit this is so sad. 3 decades?!
Reality Czech, are you joking when you say this doesn't happen anywhere else in the world? Ok, maybe not THIS exactly, but children are abused for money all over the world. The US has problems, but we do not have a monopoly on this.
What about girls being sold into sex tourism in Thailand? Babies being mutilated in India to facilitate begging?
y'all grammar police (aka "guests") lay the f*ck off Jen, already. Or just go away. Please. Just go the hell away. No one cares except you and your entourage of guests.
Seriously, it's so damned tiring.
fucking horrible. can you imagine being a kid in her home, watching her collect her hundreds of thousands a year while you were chained to the furniture without food or a bathroom? the foster system is so fucked up.
3 said it the best.
If there ever was a reason for the death penalty, this is it.
There is probably a special place in Hell, if it exists, for this lady.
Sad. All these kids probably ever wanted was a real family.
Why do they have these over-the-top euphemisms for these kids - "special", "exceptional" etc. It just sounds absurd.
This boggles the mind. How was she able to adopt so many children from NYC Children's Services while living in Florida?
I thought that it was mandatory for Children's Services to make periodic visits to adoptive homes to ensure that children were receiving proper care.
2 - it happens everywhere, just in different ways. Child labor, prostitutes, soldiers, arranged marriages. It's probably safe to say that benefiting from children has been part of every nation's history. It's goddamn awful, but exploiting the weak is cheap and easy.
There's something about these foster parents who take in sooooooo many disadvantaged children.
something ain't right in their head, why so many?
for the money?
I'm sure there are loving people who actually want to help lots of foster kids, but these high-profile cases are going to make the agencies scrutinize potentials even more. Kids waiting for homes versus possibility of abuse: no one wins. The fuck-ups ruin it for everyone.
You can not compare the UNited States, the leader of the free world, and a first world nation with places like Thailand and India which are borderline first world nations.
Avarice is exclusively American? I had no idea. Thanks, Reality Czech!
you believe child abuse is only an American thing? that's probably the stupidest thing i have ever read here, on gothamist.
this woman deserves nothing more than a bullet to the head—it'll only cost the tax payers 32¢.
That's a woman?
All this while Madonna and Anglina Jolie adopt foreign children.
I think the town in NJ was "Collingswood".