The Binary Circumstance

The Kitsap Sun [reg. req.] which is local to Kitsap County has reported more details about the alleged abuse of Christopher Forder by his adoptive mother, Kimberly Forder. The father, Robert Forder appears to have also been involved from this report, however, he has not been arrested or charged probably because he’s still in Africa.

As 8-year-old Christopher Forder lay on his bedroom floor, stricken with pneumonia, heavily bruised and nearing death, his father called a family meeting.

Inside the family’s Seabeck-area home, the father, Robert, told his seven children they had a choice: They could bury their brother in the backyard, or call 911 and risk having the state snatch all of the children away because of Christopher’s obvious bruising.

Later that night, Nov. 24, 2002, the parents tried unsuccessfully to revive Christopher with CPR, and a son called 911.

The account of Christopher’s last moments is contained in court documents alleging that his mother, 44-year-old Kimberly Forder, abused and neglected her son to the point of death, never seeking outside medical help as his pneumonia grew worse.

It is ironic that Kimberly Forder was arrested when she returned from Africa to seek medical treatment. She apparently wouldn’t even go a short distance to get medical care for Christopher.

[Kimberly] Forder is in Kitsap County jail, with her bail set at $1 million. She is charged in Kitsap County Superior Court with homicide by abuse and first-degree manslaughter. While court records reveal a disturbing pattern of abuse and a family suspicious of outside authority, the Forder Web site portrays a happy, religious family that moved to Africa to pursue Christian missionary work.

[…]

Kitsap County Sheriff Steve Boyer likened Christopher’s abuse to the pain suffered by prisoners of war.

“A young boy died at the hands of those whom society had entrusted with his care,” Boyer said. “It went beyond abuse; it was torture.”

During a Monday afternoon press conference, Boyer noted that there were some things authorities couldn’t address yet.

When asked if more charges could be coming, Boyer said it was “highly possible.”

“The investigation continues as to other suspects,” he said.

[…]

The Forders have adopted eight children, including Christopher, and have three now-grown biological children.

The break in the case came after police began an investigation against one of their biological children.

Their son, Michael V. Forder, 23, is also in Kitsap County jail, charged with second-degree rape of an adult family member.

During the investigation of that case, detectives learned that the Forder parents had moved to Africa, though they don’t believe it was in order to flee prosecution.

Shortly thereafter, the sheriff’s office received a report from Children Protective Services in Oregon outlining allegations of abuse that preceded Christopher’s 2002 death. The allegations came from one of the family members. It’s the only known CPS report filed about the family.

Detectives then started interviewing some of the children.

Court documents outline conversations detectives had with three children that detail a pattern of abuse against the family, especially Christopher.

One child told detectives that Christopher was beaten an average of six times a day. It was alleged Kimberly Forder was the primary disciplinarian.

If he didn’t chew his food correctly, his mother would take away his food, sometimes for days at a time, documents allege.

The boy resorted to stealing scraps from a compost heap, and eating dog food.

If the boy soiled himself, he was forced to wear the dirty diaper, sometimes on his head.

If he didn’t wash his clothes correctly in a 5-gallon bucket, his parents were accused of dunking his head in the dirty water “until he stopped struggling,” court documents said.

Christopher had been with the Forder family four years after his adoption. Daily beatings were the norm, family members alleged in court documents.

Michael Forder told detectives that his parents started treating the children better after Christopher’s death.

The alleged pattern of abuse comes in stark contrast to the cheerful, healthy picture of the family on the Forders’ Web log.

Many of the posts document the months before the family’s July 11 departure to serve as missionaries in Liberia. The couple sold their home, packed their belongings and moved with the seven youngest children to Liberia.

Children are smiling in the photographs, and the couple writes often about blessings from God.

“We hope to have a home, with a farm for children, and a school with a small medical clinic,” they wrote.

I do find it troubling that the allegations are coming from their son who is charged with rape and other “children.” People facing jail time can be coerced into telling investigators what they want to hear and children can be persuaded to give statements tailor-made for the prosecution as was seen in the Bernard Baran case.

Bruises on Christopher Forder’s body were noted by detectives and the coroner at the time of his death, however.

The night Christopher died, Detective Lori Blankenship walked into his bedroom where she saw a bruised and battered little boy partially covered with a blanket lying on the floor.

“It appeared to be a case of abuse,” she said. “This is a case that has stuck with me all these years.”

Dr. Emanuel Lacsina, the Kitsap County Coroner’s Office pathologist, determined that Christopher died of severe pneumonia, but he ruled the manner, which explains whether the death was natural or not, was “undetermined,” leaving the case open.

It sounds like we’ll be hearing a lot more about this very sad family.

Kimberly Forder wrote this post about adopting Liberian triplets on a blog belonging to another woman, who also suffers from religious delusions and is the mother of 10 children.

In our journey as Christians, my husband’s and my desire has been to have a deeper, more intimate relationship with Christ. Over the last couple of years this hunger has grown, and we have been asking questions about our purpose, why we are here, and wondering how He wants us to serve Him.

Early last year, we received an e-mail asking for people to be praying for a set of triplets in Liberia. We felt such a quickening in our spirits that I e-mailed back saying that we were willing to be their family if the Lord was willing. This was June 22. Whew!! By the next morning, I had four e-mails in my in-box! The West African Children Support Network (WACSN) had, upon receiving our message, gone out to the village where the babies were living, and found them in a cubby hole in the ground with no food and very little clothing. They had already brought them back into the orphanage and started our paperwork! Our adoption was final in Liberia on July 23, but through a series of events, our babies’ homecoming was divinely delayed. During this time, the Lord was at work in my husband’s heart, drawing both our hearts to the people of Liberia. It wasn’t too long before Bob shared that he was traveling to Liberia to pick up our children — and to see how we could serve the Lord over there!

They felt “such a quickening in their hearts?” Is that because they could get three children at once to abuse? Oh, praise Jesus for the excitement of it all!

Religious fanatics like pedophiles just can’t seem to get enough of children. Both demonstrate a pathological attraction to children that they perceive to be for the benefit of the child, but which is entirely self-serving and emotionally gratifying only to the adult abusers.

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