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CNN Saturday Morning News
More Charges Filed in New Jersey Abuse Case
Aired January 11, 2003 - 09:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the child abuse case in New Jersey. More charges have been filed in the case of the three brothers who were starved, tortured, and kept in the basement of a Newark home. One of the boys was found dead.
Reporter Jamie Colby joining us from New York with the latest on this sad, tawdry tale -- Jamie.
JAMIE COLBY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, New Jersey police have arrested the teenage son of go-go dancer Sherry Murphy in the case of those New Jersey brothers found locked and starved in a basement.
Police have charged Murphy's 16-year-old son with two counts of child endangerment and one count of aggravated assault against one of the boys, Fahim Williams (ph). The 7-year-old's body was found stuffed in a plastic bin by police on Sunday, a day after they rescued his two brothers from Sherry Murphy's basement. Authorities had been looking for the teenager for six days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR SHARPE JAMES, NEWARK, NEW JERSEY: The reason the juvenile suspect was arrested is, the details he provided in connection with the death of 7-year-old Fahin William (ph) led to him being charged.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLBY: Sherry Murphy is charged with three counts of child endangerment, and her bail has been revoked for probation violation. Murphy is a cousin of the boy's mother. She had been asked to care for the boys while their mother was in jail on unrelated child abuse charges.
New Jersey's Governor Jim McGreevey calling for a complete overhaul of the state's child welfare system.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JIM MCGREEVEY (D), NEW JERSEY: I have requested literally DYFS to track every single child, to identify where that child is, working with police departments, working with school systems, and working with the courts. And we will locate every single child.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLBY: New Jersey's Division of Youth and Family's Services had lost track of the Williams boys after years of DYFS' supervision and open child abuse allegations noted in their file. An investigation ordered by the governor identified 280 other children alleged to have been abused with whom child welfare authorities have lost contract. A hundred and seventy of them have been found, but 110 remain unaccounted for -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you very much for that update, appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 11, 2003 - 09:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the child abuse case in New Jersey. More charges have been filed in the case of the three brothers who were starved, tortured, and kept in the basement of a Newark home. One of the boys was found dead.
Reporter Jamie Colby joining us from New York with the latest on this sad, tawdry tale -- Jamie.
JAMIE COLBY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, New Jersey police have arrested the teenage son of go-go dancer Sherry Murphy in the case of those New Jersey brothers found locked and starved in a basement.
Police have charged Murphy's 16-year-old son with two counts of child endangerment and one count of aggravated assault against one of the boys, Fahim Williams (ph). The 7-year-old's body was found stuffed in a plastic bin by police on Sunday, a day after they rescued his two brothers from Sherry Murphy's basement. Authorities had been looking for the teenager for six days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR SHARPE JAMES, NEWARK, NEW JERSEY: The reason the juvenile suspect was arrested is, the details he provided in connection with the death of 7-year-old Fahin William (ph) led to him being charged.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLBY: Sherry Murphy is charged with three counts of child endangerment, and her bail has been revoked for probation violation. Murphy is a cousin of the boy's mother. She had been asked to care for the boys while their mother was in jail on unrelated child abuse charges.
New Jersey's Governor Jim McGreevey calling for a complete overhaul of the state's child welfare system.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JIM MCGREEVEY (D), NEW JERSEY: I have requested literally DYFS to track every single child, to identify where that child is, working with police departments, working with school systems, and working with the courts. And we will locate every single child.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLBY: New Jersey's Division of Youth and Family's Services had lost track of the Williams boys after years of DYFS' supervision and open child abuse allegations noted in their file. An investigation ordered by the governor identified 280 other children alleged to have been abused with whom child welfare authorities have lost contract. A hundred and seventy of them have been found, but 110 remain unaccounted for -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you very much for that update, appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
