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Biological kids come to Jacksons' defense
Couple, children take case to '60 Minutes II'
By BARBARA LAKER
lakerb@phillynews.com

Raymond and Vanessa Jackson (center) surrounded by their biological and adopted children. The adopted boys are (clockwise from front center) Michael, 9; Keith, 14, and Tyrone, 10. Bruce, 19, who was found rummaging through a trash can on Oct. 10, is behind and to the right of Vanessa Jackson.

THE PATHETIC case of four adopted boys between the ages of 9 and 19 who each weighed no more than 45 pounds triggered public outrage, the firing of nine child-welfare workers and congressional hearings.

But tonight, the biological children of the Collingswood, N.J., couple charged with starving the brothers will tell "CBS News" anchor Dan Rather that the boys ate meals with them and were never denied food. The segment will be aired on "60 Minutes II" starting at 8.

"We would eat together. I mean, we would have, like, the same meals: we'd eat breakfast, lunch and dinner together and stuff together," said Raymond Jackson, Raymond and Vanessa's 19-year-old biological son.

The Jacksons were charged with aggravated assault and child endangerment last month after their oldest adopted son, Bruce, was found about 3 a.m. Oct 10 rummaging through a neighbor's trash looking for food.

At 19, Bruce was 4 feet tall and weighed 45 pounds. Another brother, Keith, was 14 and weighed 40 pounds. Tyrone, 10, weighed 28 pounds, and Michael, 9, weighed 23 pounds.

New Jersey child advocate Kevin Ryan told Rather they had lice and rotted teeth, and their bellies were distended.

"You could see their ribs. These were boys, really, on the verge of very serious medical problems," Ryan said.

The Jacksons initially agreed to tell their story to CBS, but canceled under the advice of their attorneys.

Instead, they met with Rather briefly in New Jersey. "I miss my kids a lot," Vanessa Jackson said. "We want our children back," added her husband.

Their biological daughter Renee Jackson, 29, said she made huge pots of beans and rice, and meat and casseroles.

"I love Italian food, so we would always have Italian dishes and Asian-influenced dishes, and I even remember, like, Bruce would be the one sitting next to me eating that, and he told me how much he even loved my casseroles, my tuna casseroles," Renee Jackson said.

Another biological child, LaRae Jackson, 22, told CBS that Bruce suffered from a complex eating disorder that caused him to eat garbage and chew wallboard.

She said her parents put an alarm on the family's refrigerator at night.

"Bruce would come down and, like, gorge on all the food," she said.

Despite Bruce's problems, Vernee Jackson, another daughter, says her parents cared for him.

"A lot of people said, 'Get rid of him, he's not worth it," she said. "My parents just stuck with him 'cause they said, 'If no one will take him, we will. If no one else is gonna love this boy, we will. If no one else is gonna give this boy a home and shelter for his head, we will.' "

But prosecutors and child advocates say the boys could have died because they were not being fed.

"The investigation by my office and Collingswood Police Department has from the outset been a careful, methodical and painstaking one," Camden County Prosecutor Vincent Sarubbi said in a statement.

"While the Jacksons were removed from the home on Oct. 10, the defendants were not charged until Oct. 24. In that time, we enlisted medical experts to evaluate the boys' condition, and these experts determined they were severely malnourished and denied adequate nourishment and medical care," he said.

"The defendants were charged only after these experts, including a geneticist, ruled out other potential medical causes for the boys' dramatic underdevelopment."

As of Nov. 3, Bruce weighed almost 65 pounds, and he remains hospitalized. The other boys have gained between nine and 16 pounds. They have been placed in foster homes.

Their weight gains have been achieved through a proper diet and vitamins only. No steroids, growth enhancements or other medication have been used.

"They're just being fed for the first time in a very long time," child-advocate Ryan said.

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