A Clinton County jury has found two DeWitt adoptive parents guilty of a combined 12 criminal child abuse felonies after a six-week trial, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced on October 30, 2026. Tamal Flore, 59, and Jerry Flore, 61, both of DeWitt in Clinton County, near Lansing, were convicted in the 29th Circuit Court. They were remanded to the Clinton County jail and will next appear in the 29th Circuit Court for sentencing on January 11.
Source: Michigan Attorney General's Office
What the jury convicted them of
Tamal Flore was convicted of five counts of first-degree child abuse, a potential life-sentence felony; one count of first-degree child abuse committed in the presence of another child, also a potential life-sentence felony; two counts of second-degree child abuse, a 10-year felony; and three counts of third-degree child abuse, a 2-year felony. Jerry Flore was convicted on one count of second-degree child abuse, a 10-year felony. The Attorney General's Office said the Flores, dating back to 2007, adopted children for financial gain and subjected the children to abuse under the guise of discipline.
Source: Michigan Attorney General's Office
'Tamal and Jerry Flore subjected their foster and adopted children to prolonged, routine and systemic mental and physical abuse all for personal financial gain,' Attorney General Nessel said. 'Children who become wards of the state are some of the most vulnerable and they must be protected. Today's conviction ensures that no other children will be subjected to the Flores' abuse again.'
Clinton County Sheriff Sean Dush thanked the Attorney General's Office and his own staff, saying: 'I am very thankful that we were able to bring justice and closure to the many child victims in this case. Holding these abusers accountable was a priority of mine, the staff at the Clinton County Sheriff's Office, and the Attorney General's Office. This has been a long and in-depth investigation.' He publicly acknowledged Assistant Attorneys General Melissa Palepu, Caitlyn Kirby and Monica Wilson, and Victim Advocate Johanna Delp. This article does not name or identify any of the children involved, in line with the site's minor-safety rule.
Source: Michigan Attorney General's Office
A case that began in 2023 — and narrowed before trial
The Flores were charged by the Department of Attorney General in December 2023. At that time, the Attorney General announced 36 criminal charges against two DeWitt couples — Joel and Tammy Brown and Jerry and Tamal Flore — accusing both families of adopting children for financial gain and subjecting them to abuse under the guise of discipline. The charges arose from evidence of abuse against eight of the dozens of children adopted through their homes since 2007, and the announcement said nearly 30 children had been adopted or fostered through the Brown and Flore homes.
Source: Michigan Attorney General's Office (2023 charges announcement)
In September 2024, Jerry and Tamal Flore were bound over to stand trial in the 29th Circuit Court on a combined 26 criminal child abuse felonies, WILX reported from the Attorney General's announcement. The Browns were not bound over on the child abuse offences with which they were charged; Joel Brown still faced one count of interfering with a crime report and one count of failure to report child abuse, both misdemeanours. The jury's October 2026 verdict — 12 felonies in total — is the outcome of the Flores' case alone, and it should not be read as a verdict against the Browns.
Source: WILX (2024 bind-over reporting)
Why this verdict matters for Michigan families
DeWitt is a small community in Clinton County, just north of Lansing, and the case has hung over it for years — from the first charges in December 2023, through the bind-over in September 2024, to a six-week trial in 2026. For foster and adoptive families across Michigan, the verdict is a reminder of how the system is supposed to work when it fails a child: a county sheriff's investigation, taken over and assisted by the Attorney General's Office, tested in open court, and decided by a jury. It is also a reminder of how long such accountability can take — almost three years from charge to conviction — and how much of that time is spent away from public view, in preliminary examinations and trial preparation.
Source: Michigan Attorney General's Office
The Attorney General framed the case in exactly those terms: children who become wards of the state are among the most vulnerable people in Michigan, because they have already been removed from one home and placed in the care of strangers the state has approved. When that approval is abused, Nessel said, the harm is not only to the individual children but to trust in the whole foster and adoption system — the system other Michigan families rely on when they open their homes. That is why, she said, the conviction matters beyond DeWitt: 'no other children will be subjected to the Flores' abuse again.'
Source: Michigan Attorney General's Office
What happens next
Both defendants were remanded to the Clinton County jail immediately after the verdict. Their next court appearance is for sentencing on January 11 in the 29th Circuit Court, where the judge will decide the actual prison terms within the ranges the convictions carry — up to life for the first-degree counts, up to 10 years for the second-degree count, and up to two years for each third-degree count. Until sentencing, the Attorney General's Office has announced no further detail about the children's placement or any related proceedings, and this site will not publish identifying details about them.
Source: Michigan Attorney General's Office
For readers in Michigan's Punjabi community — including families in the Lansing area and across the state who foster, adopt, or work with children — the practical takeaway is simple: foster and adoption placements are overseen by the state, and concerns about a child's safety in any placement can be reported to the county sheriff or to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. A conviction like this one does not change the rules for ordinary families, but it shows what happens when the state acts on a report and follows it through a full trial.