How people raised on TV raise their kids

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Foster Mother Arrested For Using Duct Tape On Kids
Three Children Have Been Placed With Other Families

LEVITTOWN, Pa. -- A Levittown, Pa., woman, honored last year for her work as a foster mother by a local organization, is now under arrest for allegedly wrapping up her foster children with duct tape.

Middletown Township police said Colleen Broe, 34, was charged Wednesday with felony counts of endangering the welfare of children and false imprisonment for restraining the children by using duct tape.

Her husband, Neil Broe, 41, was also charged with endangering the welfare of children by documenting his wife's activity for months without reporting it to authorities, police said.


Police said that digital photos of the children they obtained showed the children with their ankles, wrists, torsos and other areas taped, and some pictures dhahahahated the children so severely taped up that they look "mummified."

Police also said that a search of the couple's home Wednesday morning at 82 Cobalt Ridge Drive East revealed pieces of children's clothing and evidence of duct tape that matched the manner in which they were dhahahahated in the photographs.

A 2-year-old boy and a 1-year-old girl were allegedly taped up over the course of several months by Colleen Broe in order to keep them from taking their diapers off and crawling out of their cribs, police said.

Police said Broe's husband, Neil, took more than 30 pictures in order to document the abuse, after the couple started having marital difficulties.

Investigators said Neil Broe passed some of those photographs on to an acquaintance who then gave them to police.

Police said the couple's biological son, 5, told detectives he had been taped, as well.

A Feb. 15, 2002 article in the Bucks County Courier-Times reported that the Bucks County Children and Youth Social Services Agency based in Doylestown, Pa., had honored the couple for its efforts as foster parents.

The article quoted Roxanne Watkins-Hall, a placement resources supervisor for the agency, saying that, "The Broes were spotlighted because we wanted to recognize a couple who is fairly new to the program, and they've also proven to be very good foster parents." All children have been removed from the home for their safety, police said, and the girl still had small pieces of duct tape stuck to her ribs and back area when she was taken away.

All three children have been placed with other families, police said.

Colleen and Neil Broe were arraigned Wednesday before District Justice John Kelly and remanded to Bucks County Prison in lieu of $250,000 bail each.