OHIO PARENTS: CAGES WERE NECESARY

What is up with this? If you can't handle children, quit ADOPTING them.

You don't put them in cages because you don't know how to be a parent. And another thing...where is the private adoption agency in this? What is their responsibility? "Glowing reports" my ass..

CLEVELAND — The parents under investigation for having some of their 11 adopted children sleep in cages defended their actions, saying the homemade "enclosures" were meant to protect youngsters who set fires and injured each other.

Michael and Sharen Gravelle (search), of Wakeman, have denied abusing or neglecting the children, who are ages 1 to 14 and have conditions that include autism (search) and fetal alcohol syndrome (search). No charges have been filed, and the children, whose situation was discovered last week, now are in foster care.

The couple authorized their attorney to issue a statement Wednesday evening explaining their actions.

"The children have been out of control and have caused serious harm to themselves and each other," said attorney David Sherman, adding that Michael Gravelle built the enclosures to provide the children with a secure space while their parents slept at night.

"The Gravelles love and miss their children and are devastated and brokenhearted with worry, since their children have been ripped away from them," Sherman said. "Their motives and intentions were good. They would never harm a child."

The Gravelles received "glowing reports" from private agencies that reviewed them for the adoption of one of the children, said Jim McCafferty, director of the Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services (search), which placed the boy with the couple.