By: Trvlace on 2/5/09
I'd like to hear his side of this story before I make any judgement on this man. He might have taken the kids for good reason. No matter what the parents say, you think if they were screwing up they'd tell anyone? No...

By: stardust on 2/5/09
Keep in mind that the Baskins were cleared of all the allegations made against them by the Maples, and a judge returned custody to them, but they were not able to take it before the Maples took them away. If the Maples were so concerned about those children being abused, why did they just leave the youngest there to continue being abused?? Also, why did they start making wild accusations about everyone who did not agree with their made up stories? Oh, a social worker doesn't believe the children are abused?? Then suddenly according to them, that person was also abusing their children. Look, if Marvin Maple and his wife were so concerned with the truth coming out they sure went about it in a weird way, hiding out for years and ruining several lives in the process. Breaking the law is not the way to remedy any situation.

By: reservingjudgment on 2/5/09
I want to hear what Jennifer and Jonathan have to say before I condemn the grandfather or the bio parents. Keep in mind, though, that child abuse is difficult to prove and children are not good witnesses. Just because the authorities couldn't confirm the abuse or didn't believe it, doesn't mean it did not happen. Also, the fact that the bio father is a minister doesn't mean he is innocent. I find it strange that the bio parents sent these two children to live with the grandparents for so long. Again, that doesn't mean they are guilty of abuse. If the grandparents saved these children from a childhood filled with abuse, then the grandfather should be freed. And celebrated. I hope/pray the truth comes out.

By: TheLostOne on 2/5/09
I just find it funny they you would run, hide, and change your name if you are SO sure about you are telling the truth. Why Hide.

By: TheLostOne on 2/5/09
QUESTION - If they ran off with he 2 kids. Why would the parents keep looking for them? So they can abuse their 28 and 27 year old kids...yeah right. Point is the Maples run and hide then truth. The Baskins run and seek for the truth.

By: CELKEE on 2/6/09
I think we ought to hear Christi and Bobby's side of things. I've read that the oldest one is hesitant to believe that the man that she's called "daddy" for the past 20 years is being accused of kidnapping her and her younger brother.
Who even knows what the Maples told Christi and Bobby about their parents that got them so warped?

By: CELKEE on 2/6/09
In their missing children's profiles on many websites it states that the Maples would rather "kill their grandchildren before seeing them returned to their parents." What the hell kind of "protective parent" tells someone that?

By: lduke on 2/6/09
I know I will get get blasted for this but... anyone who has had to watch the cartoon Spongebob Squarepants with their kids knows that this grandfather looks just like the character Mermaid Man.

By: eagle50 on 2/6/09
lduke--you are right! That means we're watching too much Spongebob with our kids!!LOL

By: bambam812 on 2/6/09
I find it hard to accept that ome people would expect a person to believe that a medical examiner, a psychologist, a District attorney, A judge, a caseworker and God only knows how many other PROFESSIONAL< COLLEGE educated people who's job is to ferret out child abuser's are ALL WRONG and the poor grandfather is being picked on. Sure there's always 3 sides to the truth your's-mine- and the truth. Here's some food for thought. The Grandparent's are the molester's they tried to set up the parent's to gain full custody and continue their abuse free from prying eye's. If you believe that an injustice has been committed on your loved one you will do what the Majority of mankind does. YOU WILL STAND AND FIGHT. not rrun and hide ......unless you have something to hide. Citizen Ohio.

By: Sameera on 2/7/09
To Bambam812,

I have sided with the Baskins ever since I watched their story on Unsolved Mysteries - but I do not think that the grandfather or grandmother molested the children either.

I shall be looking forward to reading what Marvin Maple has to say in his defence at his trial. Get the other side of the story, as other people on the newspaper forums have said. But more to the point - which side is the correct one? We will be in a better position to decide when Marvin explains himself at the trial. Especially when he has to explain this: if he believed the his two grandchildren were being abused by their parents, why did he and his wife leave their third grandchild behind with the allegedly abusive parents?

By: PCLady on 2/7/09
the maples family has maintained that the reason sandra and marvin didn't try to rescue little michael was due to him being in another state with his parents at the time of the abduction. that story just does not wash. marvin and sandra left on the day they were supposed to relinquish custody of the baskin children back to their parents, mark and debbie. does anyone seriously believe that on the day they were to get christi and bobby, they, instead of being in murfreesboro to get them, were in kentucky??? we've heard that nonsense for 20 years. the transparency is obvious.
the truth is that sandra maples was a manipulator and had serious control issues. she tried to control debbie's life and when she found she couldn't, she lost it. the reason the maples had christi and bobby was, they were in school when debbie and mark went to kentucky and were only to remain with their grandparents until mark and debbie got settled. sandra knew she was never going to let debbie "get away" with this. sandra was banking on debbie not being able to live without her controlling mother. when debbie proved her wrong sandra got her back and got her good. taking those children was an act of spite and revenge on debbie. marvin, i believe was equally manipulated by his dominating wife. and i believe they, both marvin and the children, are still under sandra maples control, even from the grave.
this is not only the statistically most common reason for non-custodial abduction in america but is also a very common personality type in many families. i know, i grew up in and had to raise my own children in a similar family. i lived in fear of having my children stripped from me if i didn't remain compliant. they were held over my head like pawns.

By: SOUTHSIDECA on 2/7/09
I believe you are wrong. Are you sure you aren't mistaking "control" for "strong"?

By: 2sides2everystory on 2/7/09
PCLady,
The Maples had access to the older 2 children. They had been handed over to them. Those children lived with their grandparents for close to an entire year before the court/custody battle even began. I am not saying that what the Maples did was right, but for whatever reason they seemed to feel it was necessary at the time. To be fair, there are holes in both sides of the story. Christi and Bobby were not left behind because they were in school. They were originally left over the summer, when they were not even in school. By the time the Maples took off with them, Bobby and Christi had already been with them almost 2 years and probably thought of them as their parents already, by that point. That was not the case with little Michael. Perhaps the grandparents thought that when officials saw how truly concerned they were about the well being of the kids-concerned enough to leave their whole lives behind and start over-that the authorities would take another look at the case and that Michael would be made "safe", too. I am not saying the kids were NOT safe with their parents, but I am convinced that the Maples thought they were not.

By: Sameera on 2/7/09
We can go on speculating and wrangling as to whether Marvin Maple is a hero, a villain, or he sincerely believed but was entirely mistaken.

However, the proof of the pudding will be how well Marvin Maple presents himself at the trial, how he fares against the prosecutor, and how his defence goes down with the court. Even then, there will always be people who believe one thing or another about him, his daughter and his son-in-law.

Anyway, I shall be very interested to read what Marvin Maple has to say for himself at the trial.

By: PCLady on 2/7/09
2sides2everystory~
all apologies but your information is incorrect. the children were staying with the maples temporarily. the reason they stayed with them as long as they did was because an investigation was being conducted which the maples managed to drag out for months, thus the children were not returned to their rightful parents while the maples accused the baskin family of being members of a satanic cult. i know the baskin family very well. my husband and children are related to the baskin family, to mark baskin. our son is bobby's age. when you are family with children of the same age you tend to kind of pay attention to what's going on. i was here in murfreesboro when all this happened. i've followed this case from the beginning, very closely. your information is incorrect.

By: SOUTHSIDECA on 2/8/09
So what is up with the post that says that Mark filed charges against his own father for sexual abuse 21.5 yerars ago? Someone said look it up, it's public record. Please explain that one.
Maybe that is who was abusing them.
And we will see how Marvin fares at the trial because his grandkids are getting him legal counsel so he won't be without representation.

By: eagle50 on 2/10/09
PCLady
I read on the San Jose web site that a friend said Michael had special needs. I thought I had read 20 years ago he had some health issues and that is why the parents didn't leave him with the grandparents. If you can confirm the special needs, that explains alot. I'm praying for Christie and Bobby to listen to their family. If not the parents, then I hope they will talk to the aunts and uncles and their cousins.

Isn't if fraud to continue using the fake names and SSN's? Could someone answer that question?

By: PCLady on 2/10/09
eagle50~michael suffers from autism.

By: eagle50 on 2/11/09
Being a parent of a special needs child, I understand alot now. Thanks PCLADY.

By: SOUTHSIDECA on 2/11/09
DID MARK FILE CHARGES AGAINST HIS OWN FATHER FOR ABUSING BOBBY OR NOT?

By: SanJose_Charlie on 2/11/09
IF... he did, would that not show he is protecting his son?

Some say it was about cruelty to a cat but who really knows.

By: PCLady on 2/13/09
you know, i called my mother-in-law about this. she lives in another state now but she worked in records at the courthouse during that time and does not remember that ever happening. since the baskin family are her former in-law's family, she would have surely remembered it. she could be wrong, of course. i don't remember hearing about it either. but i have to ask the question, why would mark have filed charges against his father and draw attention to the children being abused, if he himself was a satan worshiping child molester? it doesn't make sense.

By: Sameera on 2/14/09
To PCLady and several others,

There seem to be several different versions of what some people are asking about Baskin Snr:

There is the one where Mark Baskin filed charges against Baskin Snr for molesting Bobby prior to the trouble with the Maples, but the charges were dropped when evidence mysteriously disappeared.

In another version, the same thing happens, but then Mark and his father molest Bobby together in the motel room Mark and Debbie Baskin were living in at the time.

And in another, Mark and his father simply molested Bobby at the motel. Debbie was not being accused of being a child molester, but Mark and his father.

And in another, same as above, but a cat is somehow involved in what Mark and his father did with Bobby at the motel.

And no doubt there are other versions....

By: motherof4 on 2/14/09
I read that after the parents were cleared of any wrong doing that the grandparents then accused the officials that investigated the alledged abuse of being involved. Does anyone know if that's true?if this is true then I think the grandparents had serious mental problems or maybe they just hated their daughter that much which is also really sad. it is going to be interesting to find out what exactly the kids were told about their parents. I guess it will all come out in court. My guess is that it will be a big circus. I feel sorry for all involved.

By: PCLady on 2/14/09
it is true, motherof4. some of the maple supporters here are still suggesting that.

By: Sameera on 2/14/09
To Motherof4,

Yes, I have read in several news reports that the grandparents accused not only the parents but also social workers, mental health workers and attorneys.

To PCLady,

Thank you for taking the time to ask your mother-in-law about these charges Mark Baskin was supposed to have made his father. I doubt your mother-in-law has got it wrong about never hearing anything about this officially.

By: SOUTHSIDECA on 2/15/09
Where did you read these news reports AND have you seen the actual court documents? How about notes from these social workers and mental health workers, and attorneys?
If I were going to make bold statements and then use words like officially I would make sure I had the right tools in order to do so first.

By: PCLady on 2/15/09
some of it we have read recently from members of the maple family right here on the post and again, as i stated earlier, my mother-in-law worked at the courthouse here. official public documents are very easy to read if you are interested in the case.

By: SOUTHSIDECA on 2/17/09
Wow, more "hearsay" taken lightly regarding child abuse. Unbelievable.