Concerns – “The National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study” & Understanding Child Abuse

Concerns – “The National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study” & Understanding Child Abuse

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Popular press reports of the findings of the NLLFS (National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study) in 2010 stated:

• “Families headed by two lesbian women had a zero-percent rate of child abuse.”

•  “The researchers, who interviewed a group of 17-year-olds, suspected that such family situations were more peaceful because no male tempers are involved.”

The validity of the study has been challenged on the scientific quality of its method.

Following is a sample of case histories of lesbian involved child abuse. This collection of cases may be useful to researchers who wish to look deeper into the questions raised by this controversial study.

The study is important for the reason that it was designed to give a foundation for public policy. The study’s authors not that their project and its claims have “implications for healthcare professionals, policymakers, social service agencies, and child protection experts who seek family models in which violence does not occur.” Thus it is necessary to look into the question of whether the family model studied is in actuality a family model “in which violence does not occur.”

Governmental social engineering initiatives based on faulty premises – often as the result of inaccurate “advocacy” scholarship often makes the problems it claims to address worse than before government intervened for the sake of “progress.”

This post does not make an effort to promote any conclusion, but rather seeks to promote further research and to assist in avoiding superficial interpretations and unjustified or misleading claims that frequently appear in the press. In particular the stated notion (a postulated conclusion from the study) that “male tempers” are more likely to result in physical abuse than “female tempers” deserves serious detailed exploration.

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NO “MALE TEMPERS” INVOLVED – A selection of (18) cases of child abuse perpetrated in lesbian households:

1961 – Jeannace Freeman & Gertrude May (Nunez) Jackson – Jeannace dominated Gertrude Jackson, and used to fly into a rage if rage wanted to make love to her and the [Jackson] came in. On the morning of 10^th May [1961], they had driven to the cliff above Crooked River Cayon. Jeannace told Mrs. Jackson to take a walk. Then she strangled the boy Larry, [beat him with a tire iron], undressed him, and mutilated his genitals – possibly to make it look like sexual assault. Mrs. Jackson came back, and helped Jeannace to undress her four-year-old daughter. They then mutilated her genitals, and tossed her, still alive, off the cliff. The prosecutor asked Mrs. Jackson, “Didn’t you feel anything?” “No, I didn’t feel anything.” After both children had been thrown over, Mrs. Jackson pointed to some blood on Jeannace’s hand; Jeannace said “Yum yum,” and licked it off. Then they hugged and kissed in the car. [Colin Wilson, A Casebook of Murder, Cowles Book Co., N. Y., 1969] (lesbian couple)

1984 – Georganna Lagen (M) & Paula Martineau – Las Vegas, Nevada – Michelle King (27 mo.), died. (Jul. 19) – Both women Air force officers. Child beaten, skull fracture, massive hemorrhage.

1990 – Ana Cardona, 30 (M) & Olivia Gonzalez – Miami, Florida – Lazaro Figueroa, 3, died. –  (Oct. 31) – “Lazaro was often tied to the bed, locked in a closet, or left in the bathtub with extremely cold or hot water.  When his body was found, it was covered in bruises and bedsores, and the child weighed only 18 pounds. On 10/31/90, Cardona split Lazaro’s head open with a baseball bat, and when the child would not stop screaming, she beat him to death. Cardona and Gonzalez-Mendoza dumped the body in a Miami Beach neighborhood, fled to Orlando and were eventually apprehended in St. Cloud.”

1992 – Tivia Strother, 22 (M) & Lisa (Kevin) Smith, 24 – Los Angeles, Ca. – Tivia Smith, 18-mo., died (Apr. 7) – “the toddler was emaciated like ‘a concentration camp victim’ from being starved, and had been forced to stand in a corner for eight hours at a time. Prosecutors contended that the women would dunk the child's legs in icy water afterward to make them stronger, so she would be able to stand for longer periods of time. The youngster also was forced to eat only oatmeal or grits, and autopsy reports showed the girl's mouth was damaged from being force-fed with a metal spoon.”

2000 – Mozelle Brown (M), 36 & Terry Stockley, 38; Maywood, Il. – daughter (11 mo.), survived (Dec. 20, arrested) –  “A Maywood mother and her female partner have been charged with abusing the woman's 11-month-old daughter, police said. . . . The baby girl remained in critical condition at Loyola Medical Center in Maywood with burns covering her torso and genitalia, two broken arms, several broken ribs, and a broken leg, authorities said. The mother, Mozelle Brown, 36, and her partner, Terry Stockley, 38, allegedly abused the girl between August and December, police said.”

2003 – Hanelie Botha, 31 (M) & Engeline de Nysschen, 33 – Vereeniging, South Africa – Jandre Botha, 4, died (June 12) – “De Nysschen had viciously assaulted Jandre while demanding that he must call her ‘daddy.’ Both testified that while Jandre was assaulted, his mother failed to intervene or protect him. Evidence showed he had sustained horrific injuries, including a fractured skull and brain damage, as well as broken legs, collarbone, hands and pelvis.”

2003 – Mary Rowles (M), & Alice Jenkins – Akron, Ohio – Darrell Shaffer, (14), 2 other sons, severe abuse, survived (Apr. 28, escaped) – “[On Apr. 28, 2003], shortly before dawn, Akron police picked up Mary Rowles' firstborn, now 14, wandering barefoot through the city's streets with two brothers -- one 10, the other 8. They told police they had pried open a nailed-shut window at their 30-year-old mother's home on Florida Avenue in Kenmore where she and her partner of seven years had kept them locked in a closet since Valentine's Day. The youngsters claimed the closet was hot, dark, reeked of excrement, and that they were allowed out only once a day to eat. … Their grotesque story of punishment and torture included them getting sick after their mother's partner, 27-year-old Alice Jenkins, forced them to eat dog and cat feces, they said. In another incident, according to the youngsters, they were forced to hold down the 10-year-old while Jenkins kicked him in the groin with steel-toed boots.”

2004 – Marcella Williams (M), 25 & Lisa Ann Coleman – Fort Worth, Texas – Davontae Williams (9), died (July 26) –“Davontae, 9, of Arlington, was found starved two years ago at the apartment he shared with Ms. Coleman and his mother, Marcella Williams. Ms. Williams, 25, is awaiting trial on a capital murder charge. Prosecutors said Davontae had a busted lip and 250 scars or wounds, and had been forced to live in an empty pantry while no one else in the house went hungry. Davontae weighed 35 pounds when paramedics were called to the family's apartment on July 26, 2004.”

2004 – Zahira Matos (M), 20 & Carmen Molina, 32 – New York, N. Y. – Yovany Tellez Jr. (2), died (Sep. 19) – “When Yovany died, he had a lacerated liver, broken ribs and a broken leg, and he was covered in feces, prosecutors said during trial. More than 40 bruises covered his body, they said.”

2008 – Starkeisha Brown, 24 (M) & Krystal Matthews, 21 – Los Angeles, Ca. – boy, 5, tortured, survived (Jun. 9 rescued) – “Officials say the child has countless cigarette burns all over his body, including his genitals, and can’t open his hands because he was forced to put them flat on a hot stove. The boy was also repeatedly beaten and forced to sit in his own urine, police said.”

2009 – Erica Mae Butts, 25, (godmother), Shanita Latrice Cunningham (best friend of victim’s mother, Butts’ partner), 25 – Summerville, South Carolina – Serenity Richardson (3), died. (Nov. 3) – “Doctors and nurses at the hospital saw cuts and bruises on Serenity's chest, abdomen, legs, arms, feet and back. The police report said there was a golf-ball sized bruise on her head and a large burn mark on her right leg. An autopsy by a Medical University of South Carolina forensic pathologist determined that the cause of death was ‘full body blunt force trauma.’”

2013 – Polly Chowdhury (M), 35 & Kiki Muddar, 43 – Chadwell Heath, east London, England – Ayesha Ali (8), tortured, died (Aug. 29) – “Ayesha Ali's body had more than 40 injuries, including a bite mark and she had earlier written heart-rending letter asking what she had done wrong.” “She died of a head injury but had suffered more than 40 injuries including carpet burns and a bite mark.”

2014 – Eraca Craig (M), 31 & Christian Deanda, 44 – Salinas, Ca. – abused; son, 3; 3; adopted boy, 5; adopted girl, 8 (Mar. 24) – “The doctors also noted the girl had bruising and marks up and down her body, including bite marks on her arm. Jane Doe told authorities Deanda and Craig would chain her ankle to the wall and force her to sleep chained by the front door, prosecutors said. She also described an incident where Deanda told the girls two younger brothers, known in court as John Does 1 and 2, to urinate on her. The girl also said Deanda beat her with a belt, hosed her down with cold water and forced her head under an open faucet. The two boys supported Jane Doe’s statements, stating that they were forced to urinate on Jane Doe and belt her at the command of Deanda, prosecutors said. Both boys also stated that they saw Deanda and Craig chain Jane Doe up at the front of the house. During a search of the defendants’ home, photos and videos were found of Jane Doe with visible injuries, prosecutors said.”

2014 – Rachel (Trelfa) Fee (M), 31 & Nyomi Fee, 29 – Glenrothes, Fife, Scotland  – Liam Johnson, extreme tortures, died (Mar. 22) – “After Liam had died, they allegedly grabbed the hand of the seven-year-old and forced it into the dead boy’s mouth before police and paramedics arrived at their home near Glenrothes in Fife. The couple are also said to have deprived all three boys of food, refused to let them go to the toilet at night and forced them to stand naked and shivering under a cold shower if they wet the bed. The Fees told the older boys that their penises would be cut off with a saw and said to one of them that they had killed his dad with a saw, prosecutors claim in a court indictment. They allegedly made a cage out of a metal fireguard and piece of wood and imprisoned one of the youngsters in it with his arms and legs bound to the structure for prolonged periods of time. The couple are also said to have forced the same youngster to eat his own excrement and dog excrement, put soap in his mouth and shut him in a darkened drawer to sleep. The other seven-year-old child was allegedly compelled to eat his own vomit and had his face rubbed in underwear soiled with urine and faeces. One of the seven-year-olds allegedly had a cage of rats put on his head and the other was tied naked in a room were rats and snakes were kept and told a boa constrictor there ‘ate naughty boys’. Both women are charged with assaulting Liam, who was also known as Liam Fee, by repeatedly inflicting blunt force trauma to his head and body between January 2012 and March 2014.”

2014 – Crystal Jean Hostetter (M), 24, & Sarah Elizabeth McClain, 30 – Douglasville, Georgia; boy (6), survived. (Apr. 26, arrested) – They “forced the boy into a small pet crate, and covering his hands and feet with syrup and cat litter. They also forced him to hold a brick over his head for 15 minutes and refused to give him prescribed medications. While the abuse was happening, neighbors could hear the boy screaming “Don’t kill me!” and “Don’t you love me?” according to police. Hostetter said that the abuse was her way of punishing her son, and she told police that the reason she poured the syrup on him is because she knows he doesn’t like it.”

2014 – Kimberly Lucas (killer) & Elliana Lucas-Jamason (M, innocent) – Jupiter, Florida –Elliana Lucas-Jamason (2), died; Ethan (10), survived; (May 25) – “Lucas reportedly gave unidentified pills to both the boy and Elliana Lucas-Jamason, according to a probable cause affidavit. Lucas reportedly told the boy that the pill would make him grow faster and gave it to him in a cup of coffee, the report said. She also allegedly tried to give half a pill to Lucas-Jamason in a glass of water, but the toddler didn’t like the taste and refused to drink it. Lucas-Jamason was found dead in a bathtub by police. The 10-year-old reportedly tried to save the girl and called 911 during the alleged incident, police said.”

2014 – Becky Truelove (aunt), 43 & Lisa Vanetten, 45 – Oklahoma City Ok. – 13, niece, abused (Oct. 1) – “Court documents did the talking, and in a probable cause affidavit just filed against Lisa Vanetten it stated Vanetten and her lesbian partner Becky Truelove sexually abused two girls who were in their care. The document stated for years the girls were assaulted and Vanetten and Truleove touched the girls private areas, made the girls go into their bedroom and undress and ‘forced to watch Truelove and Vanetten have sex.’ In another document filed against Truelove it described sex acts the couple would perform on the girls. It also stated the couple tried using a sex toy on one of the girls.”

2014 – Eraca Dwan Craig (31), Christian Jessica DeAnda (44) – Salinas, Ca. – Adopted children (boy, 3; boy, 5; girl, 8) found starving, girl (8) chained to the wall on Mar. 14, 2014. 13 charges of child abuse. “Monterey County Sheriff Scott Miller told the Monterey Herald: 'It was a particularly heinous case' and said the children had 'hardly eaten for months', they all showed signs of both physical and emotional abuse.”

2016 – Rachel Stevens (M), 28 & Kayla Jones, 25 – Muskogee, Oklahoma; boy (5); survived. (Jan. 14) – “the little boy and learned that the child had been tied up, had duct tape placed over his eyes and had been kept in a locked room, the document states. The toddler also claimed that his mother struck him on the hand with a hammer, and that both she and Jones hit him with a belt all over his body. According to police, the horrific abuse went on for several months. The little boy said on one occasion, his step-mother kicked him in the groin until he bled.”

2018 – Amanda R. Wright (29), Bestine Joseph (25) – Marble Springs, Md. – 3 children, aged 8, 9, 10. – “Maryland State Police say three children endured beatings and were reportedly forced to eat dog feces.” (Jan. 31, 2018)  “Amanda R. Wright and Besline Joseph reportedly threatened to kill the kids if they told anyone.”; The children, whose identities remain anonymous for protection, were reportedly beaten multiple times by both women since at least May 2017. The beatings were inflicted with hands, extension cords, belts, sticks, a stun gun and other objects, said Maryland State Police officials. "They were also starved, being fed a diet of only bread and water and some oatmeal from time to time again. Investigators learned they were forced to eat dog feces on occasion," Maj. Greg Shipley of Maryland State Police told reporters. Investigators said the children were reportedly locked in closets as well as the basement of the home. The women were said to have threatened the children with death if they reported their abusive conditions.” {BET, Feb. 6, 2018]

2018 – Jennifer Jean Hart (38) & Sarah Hart (38) (married couple) – Woodland, Wa. – Markis (19), Jeremiah (14), Abigail (14), Hannah (16), Devonte (15), Sierra (12). – Murder/Suicide: Mar. 26, 2018. –  Jennifer Hart drove SUV with 7 passengers off cliff into the sea, including 6 adopted children. All but two bodies recovered. The household had been reported for child abuse and investigators visited the home, but there was no answer at the door. Later that day the 5 bodies were found.

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The study:
[Nanette Gartrell, Henny Bos, US National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study: Psychological Adjustment of 17-Year-Old Adolescents, Pediatrics, May 2010]
Reporting:
[Todd Venezia, “Lesbian parents get high child-rearing marks,” New York Post (N. Y.),  Nov. 13, 2010]
Criticism:
[Robin Marty, “Do Lesbian Households Really Have No Child Abuse?” Care2, Nov. 12, 2010]
[Mark Regnerus, “Lesbian Mothers’ Children: Is it time to retire the National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study?,” National Review, Nov. 12, 2012]
[Janice Shaw Crouse, “Lesbian Mothers Think Their Children Are All Above Average,” American Thinker, Jun. 18, 2010]

[Peter Sprigg, “New Study On Homosexual Parents Tops All Previous Research,” Family Research Council, 2012]

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Popular press report of the NLLFS:

FULL TEXT: Families headed by two lesbian women had a zero-percent rate of child abuse in a study released yesterday. Not a single one of the 78 children raised in lesbian households interviewed for the US National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study reported being hit, punched, sexually assaulted or otherwise mistreated. The researchers, who interviewed a group of 17-year-olds, suspected that such family situations were more peaceful because no male tempers are involved. "One possible explanation for the discrepancy," the authors concluded, "might be that most of the . . . adolescents grew up in households in which no adult males resided." They also noted that "corporal punishment [is] less commonly used by lesbian mothers as a disciplinary measure than by heterosexual fathers." The study also found that kids in lesbian-headed homes have their first sexual experience almost a year later than other children. [Todd Venezia, “Lesbian parents get high child-rearing marks,” New York Post (N. Y.),  Nov. 13, 2010]

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Inferences made by the authors of the study:

“[T]he absence of child abuse in lesbian mother families is particularly noteworthy, because victimization of children is pervasive and its consequences can be devastating. To the extent that our findings are replicated by other researchers, these reports from adolescents with lesbian mothers have implications for healthcare professionals, policymakers, social service agencies, and child protection experts who seek family models in which violence does not occur.” [Nanette Gartrell, Henny Bos, US National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study: Psychological Adjustment of 17-Year-Old Adolescents, Pediatrics, May 2010]

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Regarding the faulty method of the study:

1) The "research" consists of the mothers' opinions about their own children;

2) Only 77 lesbian couples participated in the "study," and they were not typical parents in other regards. An earlier NLLFS report described the sample population as Caucasian (93 percent), predominantly college-educated (67 percent), mostly middle- and upper-class (82 percent), professional or managers (85 percent), and earning a median household income of $85,000; and

3) the study did not consist of a random sample -- all the participants were volunteers recruited via posted announcements in women's bookstores, at lesbian events, and in lesbian newspapers in three major metropolitan areas (Boston, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco).

[Janice Shaw Crouse, “Lesbian Mothers Think Their Children Are All Above Average,” American Thinker, Jun. 18, 2010]

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THE REALITY THAT IS BEING COVERED UP

Wikipedia: “Domestic violence in lesbian relationships” –

EXCERPT: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey reports on the lifetime prevalence of rape, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner, focusing for the first time on victimization by sexual orientation. It finds a victimization prevalence of 43.8 percent for lesbians, making it the second most affected group after bisexual women (61.1 percent), ahead of bisexual men (37.3 percent), heterosexual women (35 percent), heterosexual men (29 percent) and homosexual men (26 percent).

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SOURCES for quotes:

1961 – Jeannance Freeman, 19 & Gertrude May (Nunez) Jackson (M), 33 – Jefferson County, Oregon – [Colin Wilson, A Casebook of Murder, Cowles Book Co., N. Y., 1969]

1984 – Georgiana Lagen (M) & Paula Martineau – [Tim Dahlberg (AP), “Dad won’t give up on solving child’s death; ex-wife to go on trial,” Spokesman Review (Spokane, Wa.), Apr. 20, 1987, p. C10]

1990 – Ana Cardona, 30 (M) & Olivia Gonzalez – [Court record: CARDONA, Ana Maria (H/F); Eleventh Judicial Circuit, Dade County, Case #90-48092; DC #162180; DOB: 11/26/61; Sentencing Judge: The Honorable David L. Tobin; Date of Offense: 10/31/90; Date of Sentence: 04/01/92]

1992 – Tivia Strother, 22 (M) & Lisa (Kevin) Smith, 24 – [“Lesbian Couple Charged in Fatal Beating of Toddler, Los Angeles Times (Ca.), Apr. 15, 1992]

2000 – Mozelle Brown (M), 36 & Terry Stockley, 38; Maywood, Il. – [Rick Hepp, “Women Charged With Abusing Infant,” Chicago Tribune (Il.), Jan. 3, 2001]

2003 – Hanelie Botha, 31 (M) & Engeline de Nysschen, 33 – [Baldwin Ndaba, “Lesbian couple guilty of gruesome murder,” IOL (Cape Town, South Africa), Mar. 23, 2006]

2003 – Mary Rowles (M), & Alice Jenkins – [Steven Snyder, “Children Allegedly Locked In Closet, Fed Animal Feces,” Akron Beacon Journal (Oh.), May 2, 2003]
2004 – Marcella Williams (M), 25 & Lisa Ann Coleman – [“Fort Worth: 9-year-old's mother still awaiting trial on murder charge,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Tx.), Jul. 22, 2006]

2004 – Zahira Matos, 32 (M) & Carmen Molina, 20 – [Murray Weiss, “‘Monster Moms’ – Lesbians Killed Potty-Tot: Cops,” New York Post (N. Y.), Sep. 21, 2004]

2008 – Starkeisha Brown, 24 (M) & Krystal Matthews, 21 – [“Police arrest lesbians for 'torturing' boy, 5; Forced him to put his hands on hot stove, burned his body, genitals with cigarettes,” WND (World Net Daily), Jun. 15, 2008]

2009 – Erica Mae Butts, 25, (godmother), Shanita Latrice Cunningham (best friend of victim’s mother, Butts’ partner), 25 – [Laurie Whitwell, “Bizarre courtroom scene as lesbian lovers collapse and wail after hearing they will serve life for murdering three-year-old girl, “ Daily Mail (London, England), Nov. 7, 2011]

2013 – Polly Chowdhury (M), 35 & Kiki Muddar, 43 – [Emily Pennink, “Polly Chowdhury: 'Wicked' mum and her lover jailed for torturing daughter to death,” Mirror (London, England), Mar. 6, 2015]

2014 – Eraca Craig (M), 31 & Christian Deanda, 44 – [“Salinas women sentenced in torture, child abuse case,” The Californian (Salinas, Ca.), July 17, 2015]

2014 – Rachel (Trelfa) Fee (M), 31 & Nyomi Fee, 29 – [Mark Duell, “Mother and lesbian lover 'murdered two-year-old toddler and blamed the killing on a seven-year-old boy',” Daily Mail (London, England), Apr. 11, 2016]

2014 – Crystal Jean Hostetter (M), 24, & Sarah Elizabeth McClain, 30 – [MRC, “Lesbian Couple Locked Son In Cage, Tortured Him While He Cried For Help,” MrConservative.com, Apr. 27, 2014]
2014 – Kimberly Lucas (killer) & Elliana Lucas-Jamason (M, innocent) – [Matt Morgan, “Police: Jupiter woman facing murder charges tried to give kids pills,” Palm Beach Post (Fl.), May 27, 2014]
2014 – Becky Truelove (aunt), 43 & Lisa Vanetten, 45 – [Joleen Chaney, “New Details In Child Sex Abuse Allegations Against OKC Couple,” News 9 (Oklahoma City, Ok.), Feb. 20, 2015]

2016 – Rachel Stevens (M), 28 & Kayla Jones, 25 – [Byline “via Whoopie,” Cops: Lesbian Couple Tortured 5-Year-Old Boy, Blurrain, Jan. 14, 2016]

2018 – Jennifer Jean Hart (38) & Sarah Hart (38) (married couple) – [Eric Levenson, “Authorities now believe all 6 Hart children were in the SUV at the time of the fatal cliffside crash,” CNN, April 6, 2018]

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Advocacy science kills.

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Males should not be allowed to raise children. If you disagree, please read these 2 pieces, and “viralise” them:

Rachel & Nyomi Fee, Civil Partners – Sadistic Child Torturers who Murdered a Toddler – Scotland, 2014

http://unknownmisandry.blogspot.com/2016/10/rachel-nyomi-fee-civil-partners.html

&

Concerns – “The National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study” & Understanding Child Abuse

http://unknownmisandry.blogspot.com/2016/09/concerns-national-longitudinal-lesbian_24.html

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[1216-1/26/19]
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