No, really, they had an exorcism.

If you haven't heard by now, Arkansas State Senator Justin Harris (Republican, of course) and his wife Marsha are attempting to fight off a huge scandal. They fostered and adopted two little girls, aged 3 and 6. The 6-year-old had been sexually abused before she came into the Harris home and the Harrises knew of the childrens' emotional disturbances. There were originally three sisters taken into the Harris house but they sent the oldest back to the state before formalizing the adoption. She was too disturbed for them to care for her, even though they had been warned in advance that she had some severe problems.

In fact, county DHS workers warned the Harrises not to foster and adopt any of them, because they weren't a good match for these little girls. But the Harrises pulled strings, got the head of DHS to overrule them, and got the girls anyway. It lasted 14 months, at the most.

Harris and his wife "re-homed" the other two girls a little over a year after taking them into their home to a family whose father later raped the oldest girl. The man was an employee of the Harris' Christian-based daycare facility. The man was fired from the daycare facility in the middle of the "re-homing", ostensibly for excessive absenteeism. That didn't cause the Harrises to take the little girls back. At the time the arrest came to light Justin Harris went on public record as being sickened that such a thing had happened, but assured the public that none of the children at his daycare were harmed. What he didn't say was that the little girl who was raped was his own adopted daughter that he had given away to the rapist.

The Arkansas Times is all over this story. Every couple of days some new information comes to light that directly contradicts the Harrises. The latest article quotes the Harris family's babysitter, now a college student, previous foster parents of the girls, the children's biological mother, and unnamed sources. This here is the kicker:



"The first night I was over there, I just broke down and cried with this little girl because I just felt so bad for her," Goldsborough said. According to Goldsborough, the two girls were kept in separate rooms that were outfitted with locks, alarms and video cameras. They were not allowed to be around each other because of the Harrises' belief in demonic possession and telepathy, she said. While Annie would be allowed to roam the house and interact with other family members, Mary was often confined to her room, Goldsborough said. "We couldn't ever take [Mary] out. I'd watch her from a camera. I think it's crazy. They were adopted, so they're going to want TLC." Goldsborough said the "exorcism" was performed by specialists from Alabama who came to the house to orchestrate the event. Other sources confirmed to the Times that Marsha Harris told them at least one "exorcism" was performed on the girls. http://www.arktimes.com/...

The babysitter states very clearly that the 6 year old girl was kept isolated from the family. Previous articles suggest the bedroom in which she was kept was "sanitized" of any books or toys. They kept her isolated in a bedroom with only a surveillance camera for company.

The Harris family believed both girls were demon-possessed and could communicate telepathically. So they scheduled an exorcism. An exorcism was performed on little girls aged 3 and 6. Let that sink in for a minute.

Of course the Harrises deny such things occurred, and blame DHS for...pretty much everything. No doubt there is some questionable behavior in at least one DHS employee, but that doesn't excuse Justin and Marsha Harris for the things they have done to two vulnerable little girls.