Soul of Adoption

Rapist preyed on foster kids

By ANTHONY FRANCE
Crime Reporter

Published: 15 Apr 2008

A RUTHLESS rapist found victims by getting a job as a care worker and trawling a council’s database for vulnerable young girls.

Simeon Kellman, 43, used computer records to identify teenagers who had just come out of the foster care system.

Then he forced his way into their homes and attacked them. Kellman has just been jailed for eight years for the vicious **** of an 18-year-old, who was blindfolded and bound.

But police fear he preyed on up to 20 girls. And yesterday they urged other victims to come forward.

Father-of-two Kellman began his vile campaign after landing a care worker job with Greenwich Council in South East London. Cops say he made a “substantial” number of computer searches on profiles of former foster children.

A police source said: “He must have been like a kid in a sweet shop.

“The lack of security at the council was breathtaking. Kellman was able to log on and cherry-pick kids coming out of the care system.

“He got their new home addresses and went round pretending to be a friend, then attacked them.”

Woolwich Crown Court heard last week how Kellman bundled the 18-year-old into a cupboard after he **** her at her flat.

He told her: “Don’t tell anyone or I’ll come back and you will be in trouble.”

He cunningly changed his clothes between arriving and leaving to make CCTV identification difficult.

The hysterical girl eventually freed herself and alerted her ex-foster mum.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/justice/article1041125.ece

Interview with John McCain

Senator John McCain waged a vigorous high-profile campaign for the Republican Presidential nomination. Among many compelling facts, we were interested to learn that one of his children is adopted. We asked Morgan Strong, a veteran interviewer and consultant to CBS' Sixty Minutes and The Early Show, to get some details. Strong talked to McCain shortly after the Senator's recent trip to Vietnam


Dadmag: What are the up and downs of fatherhood?

McCain: There are too many joys to name the ups. The only sad part about it is that children grow up. I watch my daughter turn fifteen and my son turn fourteen and I see them getting ready to leave the nest, and I see their interest in me diminishing rather dramatically. (Laughs).

Dadmag: Your youngest daughter Bridget is adopted. Why did you decide to adopt Bridget?

McCain: Well it was primarily my wife's Cindy's idea. She was in Bangladesh and she and some of the medical personnel visited Mother Theresa's orphanage to try and help the children there. There were two little baby girls there. One had a heart problem the other a severe cleft palate. Cindy was very concerned about their ability to survive and their need for medical treatment, so she decided to bring them here for medical treatment. She fell in love with both of them. We decided to adopt Bridget. Two close friends of ours, adopted Mickey, the other child.

Dadmag: You knew about your wife's decision before hand?

McCain: (laughs) No. She arrived and said "Say hello to your new little daughter."

Dadmag: A bit of a shock?

McCain: Yes indeed.

Dadmag: And how has it worked out? Are you happy with the decision to adopt Bridget?

McCain: Oh yes! She has enriched our lives. She's a wonderful child, a complete part of our family and we love her.

Dadmag: Your other children accepted her well?

McCain: Oh yeah sure. She's the toughest of the four. The youngest always has to be the toughest.

Dadmag: During your campaign for the Republican Presidential nomination Bridget became something of an issue in South Carolina didn't she?

McCain: Yeah. There were some pretty vile and hurtful things said during the South Carolina primary. It's a really nasty side of politics. We tried to ignore it and I think we shielded her from it. It's just unfortunate that that sort of thing still exists As you know she's Bengali, and very dark skinned. A lot of phone calls were made by people who said we should be very ashamed about her, about the color of her skin. Thousands and thousands of calls from people to voters saying "You know the McCains have a black baby" I believe that there is a special place in hell for people like those.

Dadmag: That must have made you pretty angry?

McCain: Yes, except that you have to consider the kind of people who do it. Getting angry doesn't serve any useful purpose. But the calls increased my zeal for winning. (laughs)

Dadmag: There are an awful lot of African American children who could be adopted, but there are those who object, including African American organizations which have a policy against interracial adoption.

McCain: I see that barrier more and more breaking down. I think we are making great progress. We just need to make a lot more progress.

Dadmag: You had to go through an extraordinary process to adopt Bridget. A very intrusive process by the bureaucrats. They came to your home and rifled through your drawers. According to what I've read, adoption agency officials even asked about your sex life.

McCain: They were very intrusive. Unfortunately it is a disincentive to some parents because it's so much easier to go overseas. And that leaves us, in this country, with thousands of children who want parents and thousands of parents who want children. One of the goals I've had for a long time is to try to encourage a much less convoluted process in order for parents to adopt a child.

Dadmag: Is this necessary or is it just the bureaucracy gone a little mad?

McCain: A little of both. They want to make sure that those who want to adopt are fit to do so. I think sometimes bureaucrats stretch it out for fear of getting in trouble or getting something wrong. And I also think that there are state laws, probably the result of some bad things having taken place, that are legislative overreactions. I just wish that every state would review their laws concerning the process of adoption, to expedite it but at the same time protect the child.

Dadmag: Would the abortion issue be made less troublesome if the adoption process were made easier.

McCain: Absolutely. Since our own story has been publicized we hear a lot from many many parents who have experienced the same frustrations.


Dadmag: You have co-sponsored legislation in the Senate to streamline the process.

McCain: Yes, but it is largely a state responsibility. We have tried to encourage the states to review their adoption procedures. We can not do much at the federal level.

Dadmag: You have children from a previous marriage?

McCain: Yes, and grandchildren.

Dadmag: How has that worked out? Do the children think of themselves as one family?

McCain: I had three children by a previous marriage. My first wife had two children from a previous marriage and I adopted them. We had a child together, a girl. The two boys are married and have children. We're all very close. We get together once a year at least.

Dadmag: Political life at any level exposes the children to any number of potential calamities. As a candidate for President the scrutiny and curiosity is even more oppressive. Was it hard to protect them?

McCain: That's one of the reasons we decided to raise our children in Arizona. Because we felt it would be a much healthier life style for them. And that's been the case.

Dadmag: Do you have any regrets about political life keeping you away form your children?

McCain: As a senator I come back every weekend, and we have a week off every five weeks. Up until the Presidential campaign I was with them as much as most fathers are. My one regret about the Presidential campaign was that it took me away from my children. That was the only regret I had.

Dadmag: Any final words?

McCain: There is nothing in life like a child that you can nurture and love. The reciprocation of that love and nurturing is a thousand times more beneficial to you than it is to the child.

http://www.dadmag.com/archive/060400jmccain.php

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7313284.stm

Adoption offer for Sumani orphans

The son and daughter of Ama Sumani, the Ghanaian woman who died of cancer after being removed from the UK, have been offered adoption by a Welsh family.
The offer, from an unnamed couple in north Wales, has been discussed with Ms Sumani's family in Ghana, and a lawyer is looking into how it might work.

Friend Janet Symmons said she hoped the children, aged 16 and seven, would start school in Wales in September.

She said a Cardiff benefit concert for the youngsters had been a success.

The children were orphaned when their widowed mother died last week in Accra, the Ghanaian capital, after being removed from Cardiff's University Hospital of Wales in January.

Ms Sumani, 39, who was suffering from malignant myeloma, had been receiving dialysis treatment at the hospital but was flown back to her home country by immigration officers because she was working, in breach of her visa regulations.

More than £70,000 was raised from public donations to help her have treatment in Ghana but the drug she needed to prolong her life - thalidomide - is not available in the country.

The money raised is going to help her children, Mary, 16 and seven-year-old Samede.

Mrs Symmons, who led the campaigning on behalf of her late friend, returned from Ghana on Sunday.

She said the youngsters, particularly Mary, had taken the news of their mother's death "very badly".

Mary, who attends a boarding school and was sitting her exams, did not learn of her mother's death until Good Friday.

Mrs Symmons said: "She came home for the Easter break and to see her mother and that's when they told her."

She added that she had used her visit to discuss with Ms Sumani's brother the offer she had received from a couple in north Wales to adopt the brother and sister and bring them to the UK.

She said: "I have got it in writing that a couple are willing to adopt to the children.

"We've even been to see a solicitor and we've checked to see if they will be accepted here if it's done by law in Ghana.

"I'm delighted. If it goes through, they [Mary and Samede] would move to north Wales.

"The woman has spoken to the daughter and explained to her that she is not trying to take her mother's place, that she's trying to protect and provide for them."

Funeral

She added: "They would have preferred to have their own mother. At the moment they are vulnerable, especially the girl."

Mrs Symmons, who runs the Xquisite Africa shop on City Road in Cardiff, added a post mortem examination on Ms Sumani was due on Friday and her friend's funeral was planned for 25 April.

She said: "I was going to go back this week to bring her back. It's very sad, just when everything was coming together."

She said a fundraising concert at Cardiff's Clwb Ifor Bach on Sunday had been a sell out, raising around £500 for the children's benefit.

http://www.fassitforums.com

Fassit Forums was set up for parents whose children have been removed by social services to give and receive support from each other. It is an organisation independent of Local Authority Social Services Departments.

The aim is to point parents in the right direction to get practical help and legal advice. To try and protect all children where massive legal resources and support can be better used on keeping children at home with their families and not completely wasted on unnecessary court proceedings.

Fassit Forums does not condone any action by any individual that threatens the safety, wellbeing or emotional development of a child.

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Depression is an umbrella term that encompasses many different forms of emotional disorder. All of them share certain characteristics, but they affect each sufferer's life differently.

Understanding the different types of depression can help you find the help that you need.

Types of depression include, Major Depression, Dysthymia, Bipolar Depression, Atypical Depression, Psychotic Depression, Seasonal Affective Disorder, Post Natal Depression (also known as Post Partum Depression), and (recently acknowledged) Post Traumatic Stress Disorder(P.T.S.D.).

Depression also affects the people closest to the person suffering from it, so support is important.

Life is full of challenges, sometimes circumstances are beyond our control, and sometimes we create our own challenges! It isn't always easy to face things alone. Sometimes we just need somebody  to understand us, sometimes we just need a friend. Here you will find people who will listen, and more importantly, people who will care.

The Depression Forum is not a substitute for professional help. However, you may find that sharing your experience and connecting with others makes you feel better. Our members come from many different countries and are many different ages, each with different circumstances. As alone as you may feel, chances are that somebody else at the Depression Forum can identify with whatever you are going through.