Throwaway Kids

The reports detailed the documented abuse, neglect, and preventable deaths among children, the aged, and those with mental illness who were in the care and custody of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.

In turn, the state received per diem federal funds for each child in its custody, but it failed to provide appropriate services for the children with the revenue.

[1] Burnes and Lichtenstein were part of a team of reporters who collaborated on the investigation, which included ABC's Sylvia Chase, Pulitzer Prize-winners John Hanchette and Carlton Sherwood of Gannett News Service, and the investigative team including Terri Watkins, Bill Gallagher and Skip Nicholson from local TV station KOCO, which was an ABC affiliate and was owned by Gannett.

Those practices included the use of solitary confinement against minors and mentally unfit, use of metal or material restraint as punishment or relief, barred access to legal counsel, and neglect of health services.

Rader was accused of misappropriating state funds to hire private detectives to follow and harass reporters investigating the Department of Human Services.

The investigative team also uncovered what Rader referred to as his 130-page "legislative control file", containing the favors and patronage he had given to leading representatives in the state, up through Gov.