Ankeny Police Called to Troubled House 25 Times in 9 Months

Ankeny police records show officers made at least two dozen trips to the Paul and JoAnn Drake house since February to deal with two teens who allegedly abused their parents, a sibling, or had threatened to harm themselves.

The Des Moines Register tallied the number of police calls to 3016 S.W. Westwood St. since February, and found at least 25 times officers went to the house. Problems within the family escalated nearly two weeks ago when both parents were charged with two counts of neglect or abandonment of a dependent person and two counts of false imprisonment.

Police said the couple allegedly locked their adopted boy and girl, ages 14 and 13, in a basement room for a period of three to four weeks and fed them under the locked door, KCCI Channel 8 reported.

Court documents allege the couple locked the two teenagers in the basement for up to three days at a time with no way to escape, the newspaper reported. Windows to the basement had been boarded up and the door barricaded, according to court documents.

Friends and neighbors of the Drakes have told the media that the couple had been unable to find help from state agencies or the schools as the two teens acted out.

“It was a last resort that the parents were doing to try to create some kind of safety, some kind of order and semblance in the home,” friend and neighbor Maree Ulrich told the Register. “They were worried about the safety of the other kids and themselves.”

Ankeny Police Chief Gary Mikulec told the Register in one or two cases JoAnn Drake was assaulted by one of the children and his officers “worked feverishly to process the child into a diversion program. However, the mother would not agree to the terms and allow us to proceed, so we submitted the case to Juvenile Court.”

“The family already had counselors and life works assistants in place, and these professionals were conducting home visits and were regularly assisting the Drakes,” Mikulec said in the Register story. “The Drakes made direct contact with these counselors following these events, and our agency offered several intervention possibilities. However, the Drakes felt comfortable with the success of those case works and life coaches they had in place.”

After news of the Drakes' arrests, the biological mother of the 13-year-old girl in the case told the media she never mistreated her daughter, but charged the adoptive parents have.

June Simpson, 36, of Truro told the Des Moines Register that her daughter told Simpson and others four years ago that JoAnn Drake had physically abused the girl while she was living as a foster child in the Drake home. A judge was among those the girl told about the alleged abuse, Simpson told the Register.

Simpson told both the Register and KCCI her parental rights were terminated while she and her ex-husband were going through a divorce, but she never harmed her children.

Simpson told the Register this wasn't the first time her daughter was mistreated by the Drakes.

"Me and my ex-husband we definitely failed her, but DHS has failed her, the court system failed her. Everyone who is supposed to protect her has basically failed her," Simpson said in an interview with KCCI.

DHS officials told KCCI that due to child protection laws they cannot comment on a specific case, but if the daughter made that kind of accusation, they would have followed up on it. However, they told KCCI it's possible they could not substantiate the claim.