N.J. Starved-Kids Couple Indicted

Grand Jury Cites Adoptive Parents For Assault, Child Endangerment

(AP)  A couple accused of starving their four adopted sons was indicted Wednesday by a grand jury, a prosecutor said.

Raymond and Vanessa Jackson were each indicted on 28 counts of aggravated assault and child endangerment in a case that inspired widespread outrage and was a touchstone for efforts to reform New Jersey's child welfare system.

The couple was charged in October with aggravated assault and child endangerment after a 19-year-old adopted son was found foraging through a neighbor's trash for food. Bruce Jackson was just 4 feet tall and weighed only 45 pounds.

Authorities found three younger adopted boys in the family's home who were undersized.

By the end of February, the boys, who were placed with other families, had gained between 15 and 33 pounds and grown in height between 1.5 and 6.5 inches, authorities said.

The Jacksons have said the boys had eating disorders that predated their placement with the family. Their defenders said they took in troubled children no one else would take.

But officials said the boys were locked out of the Jackson family's kitchen, were fed uncooked pancake batter and resorted to eating wallboard.

Three girls in the home — two adopted and one a foster child — were of normal size. All seven children were taken from the Jacksons by the state child welfare agency.

A report issued in February by Kevin Ryand, New Jersey's independent child advocate, said state workers consistently failed to carry out state policies in the case. Ryand recommended sweeping changes for the state's Division of Youth and Family Services.