Michael and Sharen Gravelle were the adoptive parents of eleven children in Clarksfield Township, Ohio, United States.
Their trial motivated legislators in Ohio to pass laws to prevent people from adopting a large number of children without significant oversight by the state.
[1] They used parenting methods similar to those used in attachment therapy, which involves very strict control of children using isolation, food deprivation, and other disciplinary measures that are widely considered to be unreasonably harsh, or even inhumane.
The trial gained international attention and brought many inadequacies of the adoption services systems in Ohio to the fore.
Elaine Thompson was indicted along with the Gravelles but pleaded guilty to misdemeanors in a plea bargain.