Man Who Helped Save 11 Kids From Abusive Parents Shares His Story
Carlyle says when he went to meet Sharen and Michael Gravelle about helping them take care of their children on the weekends, he was shocked by what he saw at their home.
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“Sharen referred to all of the 11 children as monkeys. I thought that it was racist. I was appalled,” Carlyle claims. “Michael looked me right dead in the eyes and said, ‘I consider myself to be Moses leading these children to the promised land.’”
WATCH: ‘I Spent Most Of My Early Childhood Locked Up In A Cage’
Carlyle claims he heard Sharen tell one of the children to go upstairs and lock himself in his cage after he went to the bathroom in his pants, and that Michael told him the way he would know if the children were trying to escape from their cages is if their fingers were cut from the wire.
“I thought these children were being raised by monsters,” Carlye says. “Knowing how these children are being abused in this house, it was very hard for me to leave. I got in my car and I was driving away from those kids, and I had pulled to the side of the road and I literally sobbed for their welfare.”
WATCH: Teen Says She Asked Parents If She Could Sleep In A Cage: ‘I Wanted To Be Like The Rest Of My Siblings’
Carlyle says he reported what he saw to the company he worked for and social services interviewed him, but he claims they did nothing until three years later when he heard that the Gravelles had been arrested. The Gravelles were eventually convicted of four felony accounts of child endangering, two misdemeanor accounts of child endangering and five misdemeanor accounts of child abuse, and spent two years in prison.
“I wish that they had been put away for life,” Carlyle says. “I don’t personally know the kids and I don’t think they know who I am, but what I want them to know is I love each and every one of them.”
On Wednesday’s episode of Dr. Phil, see Carlyle’s emotional reunion with two of the children who lived in the home. Check here to see where you can watch.
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Teen Siblings Who Were Removed From Adoptive Parents Home Because Of Abuse Reunite After 10 Years
