FORT MORGAN -- Two [adopters] awaiting trial continue to collect thousands in government subsidies for the children they're accused of abusing.

Roberto "Butch" and Carroll Acosta's four adopted children haven't lived with them since February.

That's when police found the oldest boy -- a 9-year-old -- malnourished and handcuffed in a basement. He was rushed to a hospital, where his temperature measured 88 degrees.

Two younger children, siblings ages 3 and 5, told of being beaten with boards and curtain rods, and deprived of food. The fourth adopted child apparently escaped abuse.

All four are in foster homes.

But federal rules prevent the state from stopping monthly adoption-subsidy payments to the Brush couple, according to county and state social services officials.

"The subsidy agreement says that even if the child is out of the home, the subsidy continues," said Sharon Ford, the adoption administrator at the Colorado Department of Human Services.

. . . shocked that the money kept coming after the abuse charges were filed.

"It's just overwhelming to me," Marie Reeder said. "Isn't there something wrong when you can adopt someone, abuse them and then collect money?"

The federal government pays subsidies to make it easier for people to adopt certain children . . .

There are 4,434 subsidized adoptions in Colorado.

Subsidies range from $350 per month for a troubled child to $1,100 for an extremely sick one, Ford said.

No one from the state or county will say how much the Acostas are receiving . . .

Arapahoe County oversaw the adoption . . . The Acostas live in Morgan County in eastern Colorado.

Confidentiality rules prevent either county from talking about the case. Officials will only talk about general rules governing such cases.

"Probably, in that case you're referring to, that subsidy has to continue until termination . . ." said Joe Miller, an adoption administrator in the Arapahoe County Department of Social Services.

The Acostas have not been convicted of any crime, and the state has not terminated their . . . rights to the children. That process usually takes more than a year. So, legally the children are still theirs, and they could be returned to their home.

Ford defended the continuing subsidy.

"Just because the child is in foster care doesn't mean the family doesn't have care and responsibility for the child," she said.

For example, the Acostas could still buy clothing for the children and travel to visit them. Ford wouldn't say if the Acostas had been doing so.

It hasn't always been this way.

Until 1997, Colorado stopped subsidy payments to adoptive families once a child was out of the home 30 days for any reason, Ford said.

But federal officials found out.

"We got our little slap on the hand, and we changed our rules," Ford said.

Counties can get some of the money back, however.

Whenever children are placed in foster care because of suspected abuse in the home, counties can ask the courts to charge the parents [and now adopters too] a monthly foster-care fee.

The fee, based on a family's income and the number of children in foster care, would never exceed the adoption subsidy, state officials said.

"Once the order is set, it becomes legally enforceable using all the remedies available in child support," said Darius Sams, a policy chief in the Division of Child Support Enforcement.

"It's my understanding that counties do not always establish these orders; they have some discretion," Sams said.

Even if an order is in place, it doesn't mean the family is paying the fee. Only 47 percent of the child support owed in Colorado is paid, Sams said.

Child support orders are confidential, so it's impossible to find out if the Acostas are paying fees.

Butch Acosta, 49, and Carroll, 46, got out of jail on bail -- $25,000 each -- a few days after their Feb. 20 arrest. The case has not been set for trial.

A preliminary hearing Sept. 22 revealed grim details about the alleged abuse.

When Morgan County social worker Shauna Mincks first interviewed D.J., he could hardly sit up in bed.

He told her, "I don't know what I have, but I'm cold and I can hardly walk, and yesterday when I went to the bathroom I fell on my face, and I'm really hungry,' " Mincks said.

The younger children told her D.J. was often handcuffed to the railing in the house's cold, unfinished basement. He wore only underwear. When his [adopters] caught him sitting, they'd squirt cold water on him with a water gun, Mincks testified in court.

D.J. told her he was sent to the basement "because I get hungry and I steal food in the night because I miss my supper," she said.

"He had a TV tray that he did his work on. He said it was really hard to learn his math when he was hungry, and so it took a long time and that made him miss another meal," Minck said.

Later that night at the hospital in Fort Morgan, D.J.'s temperature registered 88 degrees. Doctors thought the thermometer was broken and took it again with different thermometers. Still 88 degrees, Mincks said.

Carroll Acosta told Mincks that D.J. and the other children had the flu, causing their weakened conditions.

D.J. spent more than a week recovering at Denver's Children's Hospital.

His first night away from home, emergency room doctors asked him if he needed anything. He wanted a pizza.

D.J. asked Mincks to stay with him.

He told her both [adopters] told him, "They didn't love him and they didn't want him in their home," she said.

Before he went to sleep, D.J. told her: "Thank you for staying with me. Don't ever take me back to the basement."

The Acostas adopted D.J. more than four years ago. The first year went well, according to Butch Acosta's attorney, Jess Perez.

However, D.J. had serious behavioral problems and was failing in school. He became disruptive in class and was kicked out of a private school, Perez said.

The Acostas decided to home-school D.J., which led to the need for more discipline.

"Part of this process was to get D.J. to do his homework and behave," Perez said.

The Reeders, who are willing to adopt two of the children, think the children continue to suffer because of the Acostas.

"Unfortunately for the kids, this is linked to a criminal case for the adults and the adults have rights," David Reeder said. "You're caught on this double-edged sword of protecting the [adopter's] rights while squashing the kids."