Cape couple accused of child abuse, molestation

CAPE CORAL, Fla. — A Cape Coral couple are facing multiple charges of aggravated child abuse amid gruesome allegations involving 10 adopted and foster children in their care.

Daniel Wayne Spurgeon, 47, is also facing a sexual assault charge for allegedly molesting some of the children. One of the adopted girls told WINK News that the sexual abuse persisted for nearly seven years.

He and Janise Rae Spurgeon, 52, are accused of choking and smacking the children, throwing them into walls, and of keeping them from medical and dental care, according to the Cape Coral Police Department. One child, a girl, was forced to sleep on a lanai with minimal bedding, authorities said.

They were treated differently from the biological children living in the home, as investigators from the Florida Department of Children and Families and the state Department of Health’s Child Protection Team detailed. The adopted and foster children were fed different meals, and none of the children interviewed in the investigation said the biological children were subject to the same abuse.

The investigation began Sunday night at the Kentucky Fried Chicken on Del Prado Boulevard, where police encountered three teenage children from the family, all of whom were extremely intoxicated and said their father had given them alcohol, according to the police report.

All the children in the home have been taken into protective custody, a DCF official said. The foster children are from Alabama, where the family lived before moving to Cape Coral, according to the official.

Janise Rae Spurgeon posted nearly $300,000 bond early Wednesday morning, while the father remains in Lee County jail on almost $500,000 bond.