BONYA ISRAEL - 3 yo - North Cincinnati OH

Hamilton County Job and Family Services has asked a judge for temporary
custody of a 3-year-old girl found alone in Wal-Mart Thursday night and
her nine siblings so the agency can investigate the children's living conditions.



This girl, who told police her name was Bonya,
was found wandering through Wal-Mart.


The mother of the children, Moriyyah Israel, 42, of Northside, has
been charged with one count of child endangering. She was arrested about
11:30 a.m. Friday.Once Israel is booked into the Hamilton County
jail, she will be sent to Hamilton County Juvenile Court for a custody
hearing, said Deputy Chief Magistrate Carla Guenthner.The father
of the 10 children, Michael Israel, is deceased, Guenthner said.
Officials think the father of an 11th child, whom they have not yet identified, is alive.
Brian Gregg, spokesman for the Department of Child and Family Services,
said the agency is scrambling to find relatives or foster homes for all of the children.
"Our first choice is relatives and we think we have identified some," he said.
According to a sworn statement by a social worker, the little girl was found in
the Westwood Wal-Mart. Police said she was found at 6:15 p.m. The social
worker said Wal-Mart security saw a woman, man and two young boys with
the little girl, who told police her name was Bonya.
After checking out, the group left the store without the child, telling store
staff Bonya was not their child. The store put out pages over
loudspeakers four times at 10-minute intervals with no response. Police
publicized the incident Thursday night.
Police said Friday the woman in store surveillance video that shows the child entering with a
woman who later leaves alone is not the child’s mother. She is an
unrelated shopper whom the child followed, and she took the child back
into the store where she alerted employees to the situation.
Police said a Crimestoppers tip led them to Israel. The county social worker
said in her statement that Israel contacted family services Friday
morning and claimed she was the mother of the child. Her nine other
children are in her care.
This is not the first time the county has investigated the family, Gregg said.
None of the previous abuse or neglect complaints were substantiated, so the investigations were
closed. In some cases, services were provided to the family even though the complaints were unfounded.

Poster's Note: Conflicting reports on the actual name of the girl who was found

Police charged a Northside woman with endangering children after she
left her 3-year-old in a Walmart store Thursday night and didn’t realize
the girl was missing until Friday morning, when a relative told her she
had seen the child on the news, according to the official complaint
filed Friday in Hamilton County court.
The little girl, who told authorities her name is Binah, apparently
followed several shoppers around the store on Ferguson Road in Westwood
after being left there. At one point she followed a man, woman and two
boys to the checkout area. Walmart security got involved when the group
left the store without her, according to a sworn statement by a social
worker. The group told security they didn’t know Binah.Security
made a series of announcements over the loudspeaker before calling
police around 7 p.m.Binah’s mother, who authorities say has 15
children, is 43-year-old Moriyyah Israel.
Hamilton County Job
and Family Services was granted temporary custody of the little girl and
her 10 minor siblings Friday.
Their mother was arrested Friday,
charged with one count of child endangering.
Several of Israel’s
family members attended her custody hearing Friday. They told the local
media that Israel’s husband, Michael Israel, died in 2008, leaving his
wife to care for all the children.
According to court documents
Israel was served an eviction notice less than two weeks ago.
Brian
Gregg, spokesman for the Department of Job and Family Services, said
two children were placed with an adult sibling, and three aunts took
three children each.
Police said a Crime Stoppers tip led them to
Israel. The county social worker said in her statement that Israel
contacted family services Friday morning and claimed she was the mother
of the child.
This is not the first time the county has
investigated the family, Gregg said; however, none of the previous abuse
or neglect complaints were substantiated, so the investigations were
closed.
Israel will be arraigned on the first-degree misdemeanor
charge of endangering children at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Hamilton County
Justice Center.

This woman should never have had 15 children....They should sterilize woman like this....Who paid for all the expenses for the hospital while she's spitting out kids...Who's paying for their food and clothing, probably Welfare...If these woman are on welfare after their 3 child, it should be mandatory sterilization....JMO TKU

It is unfortunate that so many people pass judgement and make wrong assumptions about others they do not know anything about. I happen to know Morriyah and knew her husband of 21 years or more, Michael. Except for the first child, Moriyyah Israel and Michael Israel's children were delivered at home by Mr. Israel and later with help from the trained older sisters, costing the State and City nothing. Maybe they did not use the best judgement while trying to live by their religious beliefs, not stopping to think that either of them would die so early, leaving the other mate alone. No one has helped this family like the United States has embraced the Duggars with 19 children, Jon and Kate Goselyn and the Octomom. Your comments are cruel and without merit, you know nothing about Moriyyah or the type of mother she has always tried to be. Yes, it is difficult to rear 15 children alone with meager finances. Let's hope tragedy never hits you or your family and you must be judged rather than helped by insensitive people.

What kind of mother does not realize her 3 year old child is missing until a relative calls her in the morning to say the child was on the news? I might understand when first leaving the store and possibly even driving home...but what about once they got home, at dinner time and especially at bedtime. 3 year olds still need to be put to bed. What about in the morning...breakfast. How did a mother not notice?
Why would a couple with meager finances keep having children? I, for one, have not embraced Jon and Kate Goselyn or the Octomom. At least the Duggars are providing for their children on their own without a reality show.
Did the mother also have another child with another man after the death of her husband?
If this incident is an example of a normal day in the life of these children, they are much better off with the Department of Job and Family Services and/or Foster Care. IMHO, all minor children should be permanently removed from the house and this woman should no longer have the right to procreate.

FYI The Duggars not only had a Reality Show but Mr. Duggar received a government job, they received a house with most of their needs, including three washing machines and dryers. They are always in the news in a positive light. Everyone is keeping up with the number of children, seems to be with pride.

You may have some good points about Ms. Israel's thinking or lacking of it, but I think we without her stress may need to pray for her and her family. No one knows about her life or if she even had a choice about having the fourteen children. I cannot explain that last one, though. It would be great if people would help her, the children are here now and are all special, still needing help, their mom and each other. Before birth control, many people had several children, my grandmother was the 15th child in her family. Without her, well so many great people would not be here.

God needs more of us to let him use us to help others. If we can not help, at least get out of the way and say something nice.

My bad...I had no idea about the Duggars having a show. But, then again, I didn't know Jon and Kate had a show until the marriage got rocky and they were all over the news. I only knew about the Duggars on AOL and on the Today Show in the past year or so.
Birth control has been available in this country since long before Moriyyah Israel was of a child bearing age. She would have always had a choice about having children.
I will pray that these children get help and placed in loving homes where they are afforded the same chances as the rest of us to live the American dream.

All I can say is "The Pill" just celebrated it's 50th birthday....Just last week...I understand in the "Day" when there was no birth control and our grandparents didnt have a "choice"....today we all have "choices"....

Bosslady, it is imperative that we as a society pass judgement. By doing so it creates acceptable moral boundries in our society. In the latter years it seems that liberal thinking has taken a hold and it is not considered PC by some that we judge the behaviour of others. Consequently people feel no shame these days and anything goes and society has broken down in many areas. To have a live and let live ideology is irresponsible where childen's lives are concerned.

Live and help live, that is my platform; not live and let whatever happens happen. I never implied anything goes. What good does it do to simply put Moriyyah down now and not offer a helping hand to her family? The children did not make bad choices by being born. Do you really think foster homes and little one year old, three year old, four years old, five year and older African-American children will be happier in possibly a worse situation hoping someone will love and adopt them, leaving their siblings with other strangers or worse yet in an orphanage. It has not be proven that Ms. Israel was abusive, lazy or unloving. She looks pretty fit so it is obvious she does more than just have babies.

BossLady wrote:Live and help live, that is my platform; not live and let whatever happens happen. I never implied anything goes. What good does it do to simply put Moriyyah down now and not offer a helping hand to her family? The children did not make bad choices by being born. Do you really think foster homes and little one year old, three year old, four years old, five year and older African-American children will be happier in possibly a worse situation hoping someone will love and adopt them, leaving their siblings with other strangers or worse yet in an orphanage. It has not be proven that Ms. Israel was abusive, lazy or unloving. She looks pretty fit so it is obvious she does more than just have babies.

Under normal circumstances a helping hand would be ideal, but in this case I think the children are better off living elsewhere as Moriyyah has been neglectful and I also think the children may have been subjected to their parents delusional religious ideals and would continue to be. I hope that she will still be able to play a role in their lives though, but just not the sole caregiver.

Many pontificate on "we all have choices," while implying, as you just did (tears4caylee)"with the exception of..." which effectively contradicts the original premise. You're like one of those conversations where everybody wants to join in even if they have nothing to say-what did you just say? We all have choices? She made her choice to have her 14 children,while not a wise choice,perhaps,it was "her" choice,not mine, not yours,but "hers'" or is she the exception....