Tennessee Parents’ Second Christmas Severed from their Children

        This will be our second Christmas without our two oldest children, Rilyne who is 4 and Brayden who is 16 months, and our first without our 4 month old Carson. Every day without our children is heartbreaking to say the least, but the holidays are truly traumatic. Seeing our friends and family rejoicing and celebrating lifelong memories with their children rips our hearts out over and over each and every second of every day. We haven't decorated at all, no tree, no lights, no presents, nothing....just an empty, silent home. It isn't Christmas at our house, just another day that we wake up. Everyone is always asking us "Have you put your tree up yet?" We just bow our heads and try not to fall apart.

       We are without our children because my oldest son Brayden has a medical condition known as Infantile Rickets of Prematurity which causes his bones to be incredibly fragile. He was born 2 months early after my water was broken for 2 months. At 3 months of age, fractures were discovered throughout his tiny body; he was taken and we were accused of abusing him. We have been devastated since that day, December 15, 2014. We just wish we had a fast forward button so both our hearts and our family could be mended..

This testimony was provided by the mother, Keshia Turner. Unfortunately, after the state takes custody away from a parent, any children birthed afterwards are immediately seized (a modern form of sterilization), which explains why the youngest child was later taken. 

Indiana Mother's first Christmas Separated from her Daughter

     This is my first Christmas without my youngest daughter. Without my girls, the holidays feel so empty and meaningless. Everyone is busy shopping and decorating, and I just don't care to join in.

       Everything changed when we took our youngest daughter to the doctor because we noticed two bruises. The next day, both of my girls were taken (one 3 weeks old and one 2 1/2 years old). They said my youngest had a tibia fracture in her right leg. They forced my oldest to do full body scans, only to find nothing. The expert said my youngest child had been abused and my kids were given to their aunt. Later, after receiving advice from my own expert, the CPS expert changed her story and said there never was a fracture; instead she had a developmental deformity. Yet, they are still using the two bruises against us to hold onto my two girls. We are also facing criminal charges. We just want our babies back home. We miss and love them so much.

          Keep fighting together baby girls. We love you!    

This testimony was provided by the mother, who requested anonymity. Anonymity is not unusual in these situations due to attorney recommendations, gag orders and/or potential retaliation. Accordingly, Pediatric Justice Association will not release her identity. 

Washington state Dad will spend 2nd Christmas without his Son

           On February 3, 2014, I was called to meet a

colleague down at his office at 1pm. I tried to ask what the meeting was about but he wouldn't say, but stated I should come there to meet with him because it was very important. This person's office was an adoption agency and my colleague had in front of me papers to sign my parental rights away because a person who I had dated the previous spring/summer was in labor and she had named me the father of the child. A month later, I was granted custody of my son and tried to begin my life as a single father. From birth, I noticed my son didn't seem medically sound; he would gaze away and clinch his arm and leg on his right side. The mother turned 21 during her pregnancy and did admit to drinking and smoking marijuana. She also did not see a doctor and claims she did not realize she was pregnant until her 7th month. On April 16, 2014, I was home alone with my son when he had an episode where he was thrashing around in my arms, and went unconscious.  I called 911. When they arrived, my son was acting like a normal 2 month old with low vitals. The EMT's took him to the ER and I followed closely. In the ER, my son's vitals and actions were of a normal baby. Minutes before we were to be discharged, he had another episode and the doctors and nurses went to work. They did a CT scan and found a small subdural hematoma. They intubated him, which took several tries, and transported him to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Washington.  On April 22, 2014, after being heavily interrogated by the police and CPS, I was arrested and charged with Assault of a Child in the 1st Degree. Twelve days later, I was bailed out by my family on a $100,000 bond and have been awaiting trial for almost 2 years.

 

         The holidays are so very hard because I have yet to spend one Thanksgiving, Christmas, 4th of July, Father's Day or Birthday with my son. The current holidays hurt the most because my son is with the mother and family who wanted to give him up for adoption. They did not have any other plans for him and were very upset when I pursued custody. I have been an Uncle to two wonderful nieces, the oldest being 4 years old. I do my best to stay happy and cheerful for them and not show them my pain of not having my son with us. This whole ordeal has taken a huge emotional toll on my family. Not one of us has seen him since the day I was arrested and we all deal with our pain in different ways. Being 30 years old, many of my friends have little ones of their own and I live in fear for them, even though I know that all of them took their pregnancy seriously and had very health children. It's sometimes hard to see the videos and pictures of their happy families together with Santa or around the tree. Recently, my trial was pushed back from January 2016 to April 2016. We have gathered as many medical records as we can for the expert and are awaiting their reports.

         

 

This testimony was provided to the Pediatric Justice Association by Andrew Sprint, the father.

New Holiday Blogs Arriving Soon

We will be posting new blogs soon. We are in the process of collecting blogs from parents who will not be with their children during the holidays, due to false reports to Child Protective Services because of their child's medical condition. If you would like to participate, please e-mail the Pediatric Justice Association. Please watch this video by Three Stolen Angels which communicates our message so well.