Anthony Otis Bars

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the age of three days old, Anthony Bars and his twin sister, Latoya, were taken by the state from their crack addicted mother and placed in the foster home of Florence Hurst. Where they thrived. Hurst was in the process of adopting the twins, but that changed abruptly when they were 15 months old. The state took Anthony and his sister from the only mother they had ever known and placed them in the home of Bars distant relatives of their mother through marriage.

 

Three and a half years after being placed with L.B. and Latricia Bars, four year old Anthony died weighing only 24 pounds, half of what a normal child his age should weigh. Anthony died from dehydration. Police interviews revealed Anthony was repeatedly beaten with a wooden paddle, metal spoon and belt. He was starved L.B. and Latricia put a padlock on the refrigerator. The day before he his adoptive family said he fell down a flight of stairs. They waited more than 24 hours to bring him to the emergency room. He was already dead, rigor mortis setting in. An autopsy report said Anthony appeared clearly emaciated and growth retarded.

 

The state failed, because two simple things were either not done or not done correctly by the agency that was supposed to protect Anthony Bars. Both are required procedure  a criminal background check on the Bars family and a check of the state's own records to make sure they had no history of abuse or neglect. In fact, father L.B. Bars did have such a history. He was found guilty of battery on one of his own daughters for tying her to an exercise bike and whipping her with an extension cord. But the caseworker overseeing the Bars' case, Denise Moore, claimed in an adoptive home study that she found no criminal records.

 

A judge convicted L.B. and Latricia Bars, on felony neglect charges. Their daughter, Hope, was convicted of battery. A tearful Latricia Bars told the court she didn't abuse the twins, that they were sick with the flu and had eating disorders. But Judge Cale Bradford ordered her to 13 years in jail. L.B. Bars, who pleaded guilty and testified against his wife and daughter, received eight years. Judge Bradford placed Hope Bars on probation. Denise Moore was convicted in 2005 after prosecutors alleged she lied about doing a background check on a couple that adopted Anthony Bars.

 

Anthony's sister Latoya who also suffered bruising, scarring and malnutrition while at the Bar’s home. She was placed back with the Hurst family. They said she gained weight and is doing better, but always missing her brother.