MIAMI - A foster child whose unsolved disappearance rocked Florida's child welfare agency two years ago was caged and tied up before she vanished, authorities said Wednesday in announcing abuse charges against her two caregivers.
Geralyn Graham faces charges of kidnapping and three counts of aggravated child abuse causing great bodily harm for actions in the months leading up to the 2001 disappearance of Rilya Wilson, then 4. Graham, 58, is already serving a three-year sentence imposed last year for fraud.
Her roommate, Pamela Graham, faces charges of child abuse causing no great harm and child neglect.
Officials said the investigation and new charges leave them with little hope that Rilya, who would now be 7, is alive.
"We would hope that Rilya Wilson is alive," Miami-Dade police director Robert Parker said. "But in actuality, we fear that actually she's not alive."
State Sen. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami, who has championed public preschool and recruitment of foster and adoptive parents since Rilya's disappearance became known, attended the news conference announcing the arrests.
She said she asked the police officer who notified her of the new charges, "did they still think she was alive. They said, "No.' " In the last five months of 2000, police said, Geralyn Graham punished Rilya by locking her in an animal cage, tying her to her bed and confining her in a laundry room. She could get a life sentence if convicted of the charges.
Pamela Graham, 39, who is cooperating with investigators, is accused of failing to protect the girl from the abuse. She could get 10 years.
The state Department of Children and Families discovered in April 2002 that Rilya was missing and that its caseworkers had not made required visits to check on her for at least 15 months.
Rilya was an infant when she was taken by the state from her homeless, crack-addicted mother.
Pamela Graham had custody of the girl and was receiving state aid as her caregiver, while Geralyn Graham claimed to be her grandmother.
The Grahams have said the girl was taken from their home by a DCF worker in January 2001.
"This was really a lie, and I emphasize it was a fabrication and a concoction," Parker said Wednesday.
Brian Tannebaum, Geralyn Graham's attorney, said he stood by what "my client says and I don't have any evidence to the contrary."
Pamela Graham's attorney, Martin Beguiristain, said he was not authorized by his client to talk to the media and declined comment.
Geralyn Graham was arrested in jail on the day she was due in court for a report on her medical condition. She is brought into court in a wheelchair and is debilitated by chronic illness. Pamela Graham was arrested at the prosecutors' office.
Geralyn Graham was sentenced to three years in jail last year on charges that included accepting welfare payments for the girl long after she disappeared. Pamela Graham was sentenced to two years' probation.
No criminal charges have been filed relating directly to Rilya's disappearance.
The state's handling of Rilya's care led to a blue-ribbon committee investigation of a series of mishandled DCF cases and the resignation of Secretary Kathleen Kearney.
Rilya's last assigned social worker, DeBorah Muskelly, was placed on probation for official misconduct and agreed to repay the state $2,736 for filing false time sheets.
