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DYFS records show boy had eating disorder
AP | 11/13/03

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The oldest of four boys allegedly starved by their adoptive parents had developed a serious eating disorder long before he was placed in the custody of child welfare officials, according to confidential state records. The Division of Youth and Family Services reports show that by the age of 2, Bruce Jackson regularly gorged on food and vomited it. A few years later, he consumed an entire bottle of Scotch and his grandmother's blood pressure pills.

After he was taken from his family and placed with foster parents Vanessa and Raymond Jackson, he was examined by a psychiatrist who said he was a grunting "feral child" preoccupied with food and commenced weekly treatment.

The Jacksons, who are charged with aggravated assault and child endangerment, have claimed that the boys had eating disorders that left them underdeveloped. However, there is no record that Bruce Jackson's treatments continued after the couple adopted him in June 1996.

State officials have previously said the boys did not have eating disorders and were just not fed. The case outraged state officials and neighbors, and led to the firing of nine child welfare workers who were supposed to be supervising the children's care.

In an interview that aired Wednesday on the CBS television show "60 Minutes II," Vanessa and Raymond Jackson denied the charges against them and their biological children said the four boys were never denied food.

The comments came just days after Bruce Jackson's biological mother said she wanted to become part of her son's life again. He was less than a year old when he was taken from Principal because officials felt she lacked the parenting skills needed to raise him.

The boy was then turned over to Bruce Roy, his father and namesake, and Roy's mother. DYFS records indicate that Roy underfed the boy, but Roy denies those charges.

Meanwhile, a Camden County law firm said Wednesday that it would be representing Raymond Jackson.

Scott Liebling, a partner in the Cherry Hill firm of Liebling & Malamut, said the firm would notify the court on Thursday that they were handling the case pro bono. Vanessa Jackson reportedly also will be represented for free by another attorney, who has not been identified.