Arizona Foster Father Who Adopted 18 Kids with His Husband Will not Face Charges in Death of 4-Month-Old Baby Left in Hot Car
Foster parents Roger and Steve Ham. Photo by Michael Chow of The Arizona Republic. Source.
by Brian Shilhavy
Editor, Health Impact News
This past August we covered the tragic story of 4-month-old Samora Lesley Cousin who died when one of her foster dads allegedly left her in a hot car for hours. See:
4-Month-Old Arizona Baby Dies After Being Taken from Mother and Put into Home with Two Foster Dads Who Adopted 18 Kids
Roger Ham, the foster parent who left the 4-month-old baby in his car, was not arrested at the time.
ABC 12 News in Phoenix is reporting that the Maricopa County District Attorney’s Office will not move forward with criminal charges against Mr. Ham (who is not named in the article.)
The foster father of a 4-month-old baby girl who died in a hot car near 39th Avenue and Cactus Road in October will not face charges at this time.
The Maricopa County District Attorney’s Office confirmed Tuesday it will not move forward with criminal charges after meeting with the family. (Source.)
The current, newly appointed Maricopa County DA is Allister Adel, the former general counsel for the Arizona Department of Child Safety (CPS), the agency responsible for putting children into foster care.
The Arizona Republic has published multiple articles about foster dads Steve and Roger Ham over the past several years, portraying them as wonderful parents who have adopted 18 kids.
Reporter Karina Bland even published an article just after 4-month-old Samora Lesley Cousin died, casting the foster parents in a positive light.
Samora Lesley Cousin with her mother, Jennifer Haley. Image source.
The baby was taken away from her mother Jennifer Haley due to her mother allegedly testing positive for drugs, something that Jennifer Haley denies.
“They take our kids because they say we’re unfit, and when they take our kids a lot of bad things happen,” Haley said. “I want CPS to look at this, remember my daughter, and realize nobody is perfect and bad things happen.” (Source.)
So while baby Samora’s mother and father had to mourn the loss of their baby girl twice, once when the State of Arizona took her away from them, and then again when she died a few months later, the Hams are allowed to continue as foster parents.
This tragic situation just further highlights the disparity between how the State treats biological parents as opposed to foster and adoptive parents, and the apparent double standard.
Of course understanding that the foster care system is a huge business of child trafficking that brings in BILLIONS of dollars of taxpayer funds when a child is removed from the home while there is very little assistance available to help disadvantaged parents keep their children is the first step to solving this problem.
