Ohio Man, Kenneth Brandt. Accused Of Hurting Children He Adopted From Texas/Update: Adoptive Father Gets 60 Years To Life In Prisoin For Rape

By Jack Douglas Jr., CBS 11 News Investigative Producer
March 8, 2012 9:34 PM

TROY, Ohio (CBSDFW.COM) – On any given day, as most of us go home to our families, an average of 6,000 state foster children in Texas wait – and hope –they can one day do the exact same thing.

They smile for the camera, their pictures posted on the Internet, so that people can shop for that special child they may want to adopt.

And then come the array of interviews, the background checks, home visits … the rigorous efforts to make absolutely certain a prospective adoptive parent is worthy to be just that, especially for a child who needs to be saved from a broken home.

But despite all of those safety measures, authorities now say Kenneth Brandt of Ohio may have slipped through.

Brandt is charged in his home state with rape and compelling prostitution. His victims, police say, are four children he adopted, or was in the process of adopting, from the state of Texas.

The children, all believed to have come from North Texas, were placed with Brandt through a cooperative effort by child welfare workers in both Texas and in Ohio, and by ACTION Inc., an Ohio-based adoption service.

Officials in both states said they did everything by the book. ACTION sent CBS 11 News a statement that said, in part, that it “follows and complies with the rules and regulations in cases that it is involved with,” and “is cooperating and in contact with all appropriate parties” involved in the ongoing investigation of Brandt.

CBS 11 News has learned that the state of Texas paid ACTION $33,750 to help place the four Texas children with the man now accused of being their assailant.

Since implementing a contract with ACTION in December 2004, Texas paid the Ohio adoption agency a total of $286,750 to place 28 adopted children in that state, according to records obtained by CBS 11. There have been no problems with any of the other adoptions, authorities say.

The Brandt case, however, has since shockwaves through the ranks of child welfare workers and adoption agencies – even those that had no involvement with Brandt being approved as an adoptive parent.

“These are tragic … one story like this can really rattle our world about whether we’re doing the right thing,” said Wayne Carson, CEO of ACH Child and Family Services, a non-profit organization in Fort Worth that works to protect children and place them in safe home.

Carson, whose organization had nothing to do with Brandt’s adoptions, said there can be breakdowns, with hurtful consequences, even when all of the rules and regulations are closely followed in vetting a prospective adoptive parent. “There are thousands of kids in Texas that are benefiting from finding a forever family … but unfortunately there are bad guys that slip through,” he said.

The Brandt case, Carson said, should make everyone take a second look at how to ensure that foster children do not land in the wrong hands.

“Definitely, somebody needs to get to the bottom of what happened … that’s the saddest part of this,” said Carson, adding, “We owe it to these children to give them a better experience than they’ve had.”

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Must see video at above link.

June 11, 2012

A Troy father accused of raping his own children was denied in his effort for a different court-appointed attorney.

Kenneth H. Brandt, 40, was told Monday by Miami County Common Pleas Court Judge Robert J. Lindeman that he could only “fire” an attorney that he had hired. Lindeman also noted that defense attorney Stephen W. King likely has more experience than anyone else in the county who would accept such a case.

Instead, Lindeman granted a continuance of Brandt’s trial. No exact date was set, but the judge said Brandt’s original June 26 trial date would get pushed back to late July or August.

Brandt faces 31 counts of felony rape against three boys in his custody — two of whom he adopted and the third whose adoption was stopped — in Miami County and seven related felonies in Montgomery County.

With his hands bound and wearing an orange jail outfit, Brandt mentioned two reasons why he sought new counsel.

“I have a public defender in Montgomery County who has done a lot of things that has not been done in this county,” Brandt told Lindeman. “At least (King) can do as much as has been in Montgomery County.”

Brandt’s second reason was that news media “went haywire” when he was first charged and he was concerned about the “media battle.”

Lindeman said in his two decades in Miami County, there hasn’t been any real issue seating jurors who said they could be impartial in high-profile cases. Lindeman said neither argument was a reason for Brandt to change counsel.

In his motion to withdraw as counsel of record, King wrote: “The Defendant has contacted counsel, indicating that counsel is fired, indicating there is a lack of ‘faith and trust.’

“It appears that the ingredients necessary for an attorney-client relationship have deteriorated to the point that current counsel can no longer effectively represent the defendant. Therefore counsel requests permission to withdraw as counsel of record.”

Brandt is the adoptive father of two boys and a daughter, all between the ages of 9 and 12 years old. A third boy, whose adoption was not completed, was returned to Texas where he is in foster care.

Brandt is accused of allowing Patrick Rieder of Dayton and Jason M. Zwick of Beavercreek to have sex with one of the boys. Zwick’s Miami County trial on three counts of rape is scheduled for July 24.

Rieder’s Montgomery County case does not yet have a scheduled trial date. In Montgomery County, the grand jury approved three counts of rape of a child under 13 and four counts of complicity to commit rape against Brandt.

The three men were arrested in February as the result of an undercover investigation on Craigslist by an internet crimes task force. The investigation began in January.


[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Stories like this are making it scary to give up a loved child for adoption. WTH

The 10-year-old boy who was allegedly raped and pimped out by his adoptive father refused to talk to police because he was scared he would be separated from his new brothers and sister.
Police arrested a 39-year-old man from Ohio, who Mail Online is not naming to protect the children's identities, for raping three of his adopted children and prostituting one of them to two men.
The father, a local youth basketball coach, and two other men - Jason Zwick, 29, and Patrick Rieder, 31, both charged with raping the boy- have all been remanded in jail.
The boy shook when asked about being prostituted to two men, according to police, and refused to talk about it.
But when police asked him to help them protect his siblings , he broke down and told police he had sex - spelling out the word - with Rieder and Zwick, reports Radio Whio.
He said his adoptive father had sex with him two to three times a week since he had arrived at the home.
The children are currently in the custody of one of the man's relatives.
The man, who worked from home as insurance claims adjuster, had adopted three children and was in the process of adopting a fourth who lived with him – a nine-year-old girl and three boys, ages 9, 10 and 12, according to authorities.
The two other boys said their adoptive father had also raped them.
Troy police impounded the father's truck and seized four laptops, a video camera and two wooden paddles from the master bedroom at his home.


Patrick Rieder, 31, left and Jason Zwick, 29, right, are both accused of having sex with the adoptive father's 10-year-old son
School officials said the man had recently withdrawn the three adopted children from school, saying he would home school them.
'You don't know what goes on inside people's homes,' said neighbor Ed Rogers, who had lived across the street from the man the past five years.
'I'll never look at that house the same way again. I'll just look at it with sickness.'

Ohio children's services officials said they were also reviewing the adoptions, handled through a private agency certified in Texas.
An undercover detective, part of a state task force, talked online with the man, who said he would arrange sex with a 10-year-old boy, police said.
The adoptive dad is a longtime Troy resident who had been involved in a local youth basketball program. Police Capt. Chris Anderson said police so far haven't found any signs of any inappropriate behavior with other children, even as calls poured in from worried parents.

The adoptive father arranged to meet the undercover detective at a McDonald's in a nearby city, but police moved in two days before the meeting, according to records.
Federal and state prosecutors and investigators and police from three Ohio cities were meeting to discuss how to proceed. The FBI said it was pursuing federal sexual exploitation charges.
The adoptive father was being held on $800,000 bond.
Zwick of the Dayton suburb of Beavercreek was being held in Miami County on a rape charge and $500,000 bond. Rieder was charged with four counts of child rape and was held without bond.
New charges against the adoptive father include one count of child rape and four counts of complicity to commit child rape, based on an allegation of sexual assault in Rieder's Dayton home.


Read more: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Dec 17, 2012

An Ohio adoptive father who pleaded guilty to raping three boys in his care was sentenced Monday to 60 years to life in prison while still facing related charges in a nearby county.

Miami County Judge Robert Lindeman followed the terms of an earlier plea agreement for the 40-year-old man, who pleaded guilty to six rape counts and agreed to cooperate with authorities.

The man had been charged with 31 counts of felony rape in Miami County, where he had been caring for the three boys and a girl in his home. Authorities have said the man had adopted all of the children except for one of the boys, whom he was in the process of adopting. State records show the children were from Texas and were placed with him by a private Ohio adoption agency that is part of an interstate compact to help match children with adoptive parents.

The Associated Press isn't naming the man to protect the identities of the children, who were ages 9-12.

County prosecutors agreed last month to drop 25 counts and recommend the sentence of 60 years to life in prison in return for the guilty pleas.

"Weighing the recidivism and seriousness factors, the court would agree with the recommended sentence and order those sentences to run consecutively," the judge said.

Lindeman said the adoptive father will get credit for nearly 10 months already served. If he is released, he would have to register as a sex offender and keep law enforcement informed of his whereabouts.

The man could have faced life in prison without the possibility for parole. He still faces seven related charges including rape of a child under 13 and complicity to rape in nearby Montgomery County. A hearing is scheduled Thursday in Dayton on a possible plea in that case.

Dressed in an orange jail jump suit with his wrists and ankles shackled, the adoptive father was very quiet and showed little reaction Monday. He declined to make a statement in court.

His attorney, Nick Gounaris, says he was pleased the judge accepted the plea deal.

"The main reason was to insure that the children in this case wouldn't have to come in to court and testify, Gounaris said. "As it relates to this case, we've accomplished that goal."

The man told The Associated Press in a recent interview that he was sorry for hurting the children and hoped to spare them from having to testify.

Prosecutor Gary Nasal wouldn't comment, citing still pending cases, including the upcoming trial of Jason Zwick, who is charged with raping one of the boys.

"It's clear that one of his responsibilities is that (he's) going to testify in the Zwick trial for the state," Gounaris said of his client.

Zwick, 30, of Beaver Creek, is scheduled for trial Jan. 8 on three counts of raping a minor under 13.

Another man is awaiting trial in Montgomery County on rape charges which prosecutors say are related to the rape of a boy under the age of 13 in meetings arranged by the adoptive father.

Patrick Rieder, 32, of Dayton, was indicted on four counts of rape of a child under 13 and was later indicted on charges including more than 40 counts of pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor.


[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

February 26, 2013

A judge who called the crimes "despicable" sentenced an adoptive father Tuesday to 50 years to life in prison, the second lengthy sentence for the 40-year-old western Ohio man who admitted raping three boys in his care and allowing two other men to rape one of his adopted sons.

The sentence here will run at the same time with one of 60 years to life in another case, virtually ensuring that he will spend the rest of his life in prison. In both cases, he pleaded guilty after reaching agreements with prosecutors.

Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Mary Katherine Huffman followed the agreed-to sentence for his guilty plea to one count of child rape and one count of complicity to child rape. She told the man he had cooperated fully with investigators, but she called his crime "the despicable abuse of your own child, and you allowed others to do the same to this child.

"Your conduct demonstrated your willingness to violate the most important relationship that we possibly can have in life — between a parent and a child," she said, telling the man he destroyed the boy's trust him in. "His future and his life are irreparably damaged."

Asked if he wanted to make a statement in court, the man replied: "No, ma'am."

The sentencing wraps up child rape cases against the man and two other men he allegedly arranged to let rape an adopted son who was 10 at the time. A Dayton area man earlier pleaded guilty to child rape counts in Montgomery County; the other case was in the adoptive father's home county of Miami, where another man pleaded no contest to child rape. The adoptive father had agreed to testify against both men if their cases went to trial.

"He really wanted to make sure that these children didn't have to testify, and that was at the end of the day the most important thing," Nick Gounaris, attorney for the adoptive father, said after sentencing.

Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. said the state's hope and expectation with the deal is that "this individual will die in the penitentiary." He called the case "incredible and disturbing" and urged that people be vigilant against child abuse.

"I think it also points out how important it is, as a community, that we really work together to stop child abuse," Heck told reporters.

The adoptive father was arrested a year ago Sunday after an investigation that began with an undercover detective looking into an online posting about what was called "taboo" sex.

The adoptive father pleaded guilty Nov. 2 to six counts of raping the three young boys in his care in Miami County. If he were ever released from prison, he would have restrictions including registering with law enforcement and regularly reporting his whereabouts as a sex offender.

A longtime foster parent and former youth basketball coach, the man had adopted two boys and the sister of one of the boys, and had been in the process of adopting a fourth child, another boy. They had all been placed with him from Texas foster care through a private adoption agency. The children were put in the care of county children's services in the aftermath of his arrest.

The Associated Press isn't naming the adoptive father to protect the identities of the three boys and one girl in his care. The children were age 9-12 when he was arrested a year ago.

The man told The Associated Press in interviews late last year that he loved the children and was sorry for the pain he had caused, and that he wanted to spare them having to testify in a trial.

Patrick Rieder, 32, pleaded guilty in Dayton earlier this month to charges including rape of a child under 13. He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years. In Miami County, Jason Zwick, 30, of the Dayton suburb of Beavercreek, pleaded no contest Jan. 8 to one count of child rape in that case and was sentenced to 10 years to life in prison.


[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Thanks for the update, Nite.