Shelton Wants District Judge Removed From Office

Rep. Mike Shelton today called for the state attorney general to investigate Major County District Judge Vinson Barefoot in light of the judge’s decision to place four Liberian-born sisters with adoptive parents convicted of abuse.

Shelton said he believes the judge should be removed from office.

“It is very clear that these four girls are now in danger,” said Shelton, D-Oklahoma City. “Based on all the public evidence, I don’t know how anyone could justify placing children in a home with adults who are known violent abusers of children. This decision defies all common sense.”

The four girls were among five adopted from an orphanage in Liberia. The second-oldest sister (not among those ordered back to the home) has said she was abused both physically and sexually by the adoptive family.

The adoptive parents, Ardee Verlon Tyler and Penny Sue Tyler, were convicted of felony child abuse and received 10-year suspended prison sentences. One of the couple’s biological sons, 28-year-old Jeremy Tyler, has also claimed the couple is guilty of long-standing abuse.

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