Collingswood Boys

The Jacksons were arrested in October 2003 and indicted by a grand jury on 8 counts of aggravated assault and 20 counts of endangerment for failing to provide adequate nutrition, medical and dental care, and a clean environment for the four boys, who ranged in age from 10 to 19 as of May 2004.

[1] The case came to public attention after a neighbor found the Jacksons' 19-year-old adoptive son, Bruce, rummaging through their garbage cans for food at three o'clock in the morning on October 10, 2003, and called 911.

The Collingswood Police Department responded to the call and found Bruce, who weighed approximately 45 pounds (20 kg) at the time and stood only 4 feet (1.2 m) tall; he was disoriented, shoeless, covered in bruises, cold, and extremely malnourished, and the police believed him to be about seven years old.

The adoptive father, Raymond Jackson, 51, died of complications from a stroke on November 14, 2004, before the case went to trial.

[2][3] Until the 911 call, no one had reported concerns about the children, although they were often seen in public, including at the Come Alive New Testament Church in Medford, New Jersey, where Raymond and Vanessa Jackson and their adoptive and foster children, including the four boys, always sat in the front row for services.