Sixteen Spurgeons: A Very Dysfunctional Family

Statistics vary from state to state, but for years the average U.S. family has produced around 2.2 children. Averages are just that and include the childless family as well as the parents who are part tribble. Obviously the tribbles are rare animals these days for a great many reasons.

Should a family choosing to adopt 11 children raise any flags? The Spurgeon family, formerly of Clanton, Athens, and Florence, seemingly didn’t raise any eyebrows among DHR workers. All 11 children, six of whom are already adopted, were placed by the Alabama Department of Human Resources.

We’re not going to post names or photos here, but social media show healthy and robust Caucasian children who were added to the Spurgeon household. In other words, there were no handicapped or minority children who might have found it difficult to secure a forever home. We’ve also heard over and over from friends just how hard it is to adopt such children if the family already has one or two children. How did the Spurgeons manage to accumulate a household of 14?

We’re also sure that both adoptive parents and children said what DHR wanted to hear. Yes, children need and want homes and are often willing to put up with at least some abuse in order to obtain one. Yet, how about that semi-nude kayaking on the canal photo on the Spurgeon’s Facebook page? By this time the family had migrated to Florida, but wasn’t this a red flag to social workers that family dynamics were at least a mite out of the norm?

The thread running through the children’s accounts of abuse is that Daddy Daniel liked his girls between the ages of 13 and 16. That required a constant stream of children populating the Spurgeon home. Would it have all been over in ten years or so? No, he probably would have then begun with his grandchildren…and it will never be over for the young girls whom he took into his home and systematically abused.

Alabamians need to demand more from DHR. If you suspect any kind of abuse, don’t hesitate to report it. The mantra should be “Better safe than sorry.”

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Yesterday we blogged on McKayla Slater who was missing from Franklin County. She was found late this morning. Given the reported circumstances of her disappearance, we're extremely grateful that she has been found. We do suggest she now be grounded until she's 36.

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From a reader:

In light of the most recent attack on law enforcement where another officer was murdered in cold blood, one MIGHT think that federal and state government buildings would make sure that their respective U. S. flags were indeed flying at 'half staff'. Well.....such is STILL not the case at the Lauderdale County Courthouse, nor is it, I'm sad to say, at the Sheffield Post Office.

The county commission is in charge of the courthouse flag. Any time the flag is not handled properly, it should be reported to them. Also, another reader has indicated the flag was indeed at half-staff at the Florence Municipal Building when a reader questioned it. We realize that errors occur when many are in charge of the flag at various days and times, but if you see any breach in flag etiquette, be sure to report it to the head of administration for that building.