Two couples indicted on child abuse charges in alleged scheme to adopt kids for financial gain
Two Michigan couples have been arrested in an alleged scheme to adopt dozens of children for “financial gain” — and then secretly subjecting several of them to “systemic mental and physical abuse,” officials said.
DeWitt couples Joel Brown, 54, and Tammy Brown, 53, and Jerry Flore, 58, and Tamal Flore, 56, were indicted Monday on 36 charges of child abuse, the Detroit News reported, citing state Attorney General Dana Nessel.
The charges, filed in Clinton County, were leveled against the four suspects after evidence was obtained relating to the “abuse against eight of the dozens of children adopted through their homes since 2007,” the AG’s office said.
The couples “easily manipulate(d)” the adoption and fostering subsidy system to collect “more than $1 million tax-free,” said Nessel, adding that they had either adopted or fostered about 30 children who had been in abusive homes.
“These children were subjected to prolonged, routine and systemic mental and physical abuse under the guise of discipline, and all for personal financial gain,” Nessel alleged, WLNS reported.
“The allegations in this matter are heinous and egregious,” she added. “Children who end up in our foster care or adoption systems are often already coming from unbelievably vulnerable situations and deserve our utmost care.”
Joel Brown is a former child advocate with the Children’s Service Agency at the Department of Health and Human Services.
“We believe Joel Brown used his decades of experience as a CPS employee to skillfully and successfully hide the abuse happening within his home and to help the Flores hide the abuse in their home, as well,” Nessel said, according to the outlet.
He faces charges of second- and third-degree child abuse, second-degree conspiracy to commit child abuse, failure to report child abuse and interfering with a crime report, officials said.
Tammy Brown faces charges of first- and third-degree child abuse and second-degree conspiracy to commit child abuse.
Jerry Flore faces 11 counts including first-degree child abuse, first-degree child abuse committed in the presence of another child, conspiracy to commit second-degree child abuse, second-degree child abuse and interfering with a crime report.
Tamal Flore faces 17 counts including first-degree child abuse, first-degree child abuse committed in the presence of another child, conspiracy to commit second-degree child abuse, second-degree child abuse, third-degree child abuse and interfering with a crime report.
The couples were previously charged for alleged abuse in Clinton County.
Nessel said the case was initially referred to the Clinton County Sheriff’s Department by Child Protective Services after it received a complaint about alleged child abuse.
But after a preliminary exam, the charges against Joel and Tammy Brown were dismissed and the charges against the Flores were reduced.
Circuit Court Judge Michael Clarizio dismissed the Browns’ case in June 2022 after he determined there wasn’t enough evidence for the case to proceed to trial, according to the paper.
They were accused of sending their then-7-year-old adopted daughter to live with the Flores, knowing she was spanked and restrained with them, the outlet reported.
Both the Browns and Flores have denied any abuse or knowledge of abuse.
“We cannot deny that the initial investigation needed more work and the initial CPS investigation could have had better documentation and more accurate notes,” Nessel said.
“Those CPS summaries of early interviews were copied into the police reports, making those reports not completely factually accurate, as well,” the Detroit News reported.
The Attorney General’s Office took over the investigation to conduct additional interviews and review more evidence, Nessel said, adding that her office came to some of the same conclusions as the initial probe led by Clinton County.
She said the case highlights changes the state needs to make concerning child abuse laws, including a longer statute of limitations, an appropriate charge for someone trying to tamper with child witnesses in a child abuse probe and regulations surrounding homeschooling.
David Carter, an attorney for the Flores, slammed the new charges against his clients.
“I think it’s a witch hunt. They’re taking a second bite of the apple and trying to resurrect a case that never should’ve been brought,” he told the paper.
Meanwhile, one of the couple’s adopted daughters defended them and said she was never abused during her time in their home dating back to 2005, WILX reported.
“It’s really been crazy hearing the accusations just because, I mean, if I’m being totally frank, my mom is my best friend,” Shamber Brown told the outlet.
“They were like the one safe family I feel like that, us kids, we got to be with. I mean, I married one of their sons,” she said, adding that her husband said he had never experienced child abuse under the care of the Browns.
“My husband definitely supports my parents. He supports his parents — has nothing but love. Definitely agrees with everything that I’m saying that, yeah, they’re being falsely accused,” she told the outlet.
