Submitted by Donna

This was left on the LK Submission Form
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I live in Texas. My daughter was legally kidnapped by the state. After she was taken she was physically, emotionally and sexually abused. I was prevented from protecting her. I was never even accused of harming her. They destroyed her future. They permanently damaged her relationship with her family. The trust that a child has for their parent has been destroyed and the child/parent bond intentionally damaged.

My daughter was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder and adhd at age ten. I sought treatment for her. I left my husband when he physically abused her. We went to counciling individually and as a family. My daughter was on medication perscribed by a phsychiatrist. For several years we coped with her disorder. Then suddenly she began trying to commit suicide, she became very violent and her self destructive behavoir sky rocketed. While she was hospitialized for attempted suicide she told councilors that her father had raped her. I immediately called authorities. I reported him to the police and was referred to child protective services. I made the complaint against him. The CPS investigator seemed helpful and understanding. My daughter's behavior was out of control. I was in fear for her life. I was a single parent and had very little money. My entire family was very concerned for my daughter. The CPS investigator suggested that when my daughter "acted out" to call the police and have her arrested. She said it would be a benefit in finding her help if there was a "paper trail" documenting her behavior. So that is what we did. My daughter attacked my sister and we called the police. It broke our hearts to see her at the age of 13 taken away in handcuffs. We sincerely believed we were doing what was best for her.

The juvenile center was a cruel place. Several times I wished we had not followed the CPS workers advice. However, I was reassured by her Attorney ad lidem that it was for her own safety and wellbeing. I was told by court personel and social workers that soon she would be in a more theraputic environment. For 3 long months she was at the juvinile center.

Then our hearing came. In the hearing we were able to describe to the judge the fact that she had been abused. We told the judge about how intelligent and sweet she was normally. We told the judge of how we still had so much hope for my daughter and how she desperately needed help. The judge ordered her to a Residential treatment center (RTC) for children for 9 months.

We had been through so much, how were we to know the true nightmare was still to come. The day my daughter was moved to the RTC I wanted to go with her, but was told by her probation officer that for my daughters benefit I would not be allowed any contact with her for a month. I was informed it was the policy of the RTC. I questioned the reason for the policy, and was told that it was vital to her treatment's success that in the early stages she come to rely on the staff. I was upset and sad that I wouldn't see my child for a month but wanted to do whatever was necessary for her to succeed. I believed that it was a matter of her survival.

They lied. They told my child the reason I neither called nor visited was because I threw her away. One of the staff memebers told her that she could call her 'mommy' since her real mother did not want her anymore. My daughter believed them. She was so hurt. My first phonecall with her, she asked me to place her up for adoption. No matter how I tried to explain, she couldn't see past the pain to the truth. I didn't expect her to. I didn't know that the staff were telling her that I didn't want her.
I kept in regular contact with her probation officer, cps caseworker and councilors. I did everything within my power to do everything they asked.

I was informed that my daughter had told caseworkers that her brother had raped her. I thought that they had the wrong case. They were always mistaking my case for other cases and I was constantly having to remind them of the facts and that I still had custody of my child. They informed me that it was not a mistake. They told me that my daughter had made allegations and that they were considering bringing charges against my son. They refused to tell me which son or give me any details about the allegations.

Ofcourse I was upset and confused. I was told that it would be inappropraite to question my daughter about it. So I confronted my sons. At the time my sons were 17 and 15. My eldest son was angry. My youngest son was frightened and seemed mystified. Then my youngest suddenly brightened. He seemed very pleased wiht himself when he suggested that they take a polygraph test to prove their innocence. My eldest son immedaitely relaxed and although still angry at being accused of such a thing was much calmer. The entire family was relieved by the idea that it could be so simply resolved. However, when I suggested it to the cps worker the idea was dismissed. She said the test was too unreliable.

My daughter was allowed to come home for a visit. The deal was that my sons would not be there. We decorated the living room for christmas even though it was july. We decorated the dinning room for her birthday party even though her birthday was in January. We celebrated all the holidays we had missed together that year. I did not know it would be the last time I'd be allowed to speak to her unsupervised for years.

During her visit she became upset. She again accused me of throwing her away. I begged her to understand and tried to convince her of how much I loved her. In that argument, she told me that the reason she accused her brother of raping her was so that they would have to experience jail like she had to experience it. She said she was going to punish me for throwing her away by having the children that I did love taken away. She went on about how once she was taken from me that she would be adopted by parents that truely loved her and that (unlike me,) they would be able to provide her with everything she ever wanted. I was so hurt by what she was saying I didn't at the time question why she was so convinced that I had abandoned her.

I told the caseworker about what my daughter had said. The caseworker asked me if there were any other witnesses. And there were. My mother, sister and other daughter were all present during the arguement. The caseworker seemed more interested in the fact that there was an argument and lots less interested in the fact that my daughter admitted to lying about her brothers. I was assured it would be 'looked into'.

The next week they removed my daughter from my custody. The judge specifically asked if I believed my daughter's statement against her brothers. I correctly informed the judge that I had heard no statement from my daughter ever accusing her brothers of anything and had in fact heard the opposite. I told the judge that my daughter had admitted to me that she had lied. The judge then asked the CPS caseworker if the child had ever retracted the statement. The CPS caseworker said no. The judge asked her " no she has not or you do not know" the CPS worker made the statement that my daugher had never changed her statement and had never told anyone that her statement was not true. Later I discovered that this was one of many times the CPS told an out right lie in court under oath.

They took my daughter, and restricted my visitation with her. They moved her such a distance away that I was rarely even able to attempt the trip to visit her. Then the visits were always monitored.

Once in the middle of a phonecall my daugther began to tell me about an incident that involoved the abuse of another child and the staff worker came onto the phone and warned her not to talk about it. once a staff worker ended a call with my daughter because my daughter was describing how a man had thrown her to the ground and knelt his wieght onto her neck until she thought she was going to choke to death. Sometimes during calls she would just cry and beg to come home in whispers.

I'd inform whatever case worker she had that week only to be told that she was too afraid to come home because she didnt want to be sexually abused anymore.

A therapist called my home during group therapy once and demanded that I tell my daughter that I had signed custody of her over to the state willingly. I could hear my child sobbing hysterically in the background. The therapist said it was in her records. I denied it. I told her that I loved her and would die before I gave her up willingly. She started to scream " i love you too mommy" The therapist was annoyed and ended the call by calling me a lair.

I hadnt been allowed to see her for over a year when she finally escaped. When she was 15 years old, She ran away and called me. I rushed to get her. My heart filled with joy at the prospect of seeing her again. I didnt recognize her. When they took her away she was healthy. When I went to see her, She was so thin she looked like a walking skeleton. Her eyes looked receeded into her skull, the shape of her face was angular and her cheekbones were overly pronounced. Her shoulders were stooped. She looked surreal. She reminded me of a marionette. I worked in a nursing home for five years and I had never seen a human being so starved. I had called the police before I left my house because I didn't want to get arrested for kidnapping my own child. So our visit was a short one. During that short time she told me of the horror of her living condition. She said they withheld food as a form of punishment. They left her restrained to a bed for days without food or water with only an iv drip. She had a sore on her hip from being left laying in her own feces and urine. She was so starved her hair had started falling out and she had stopped having a monthly cycle. She claimed she ran away to get food. I was suprised she had found the stregnth. she told me they beat her and I noticed brusing on her arms. Then she showed me the bruises to her torso and back. They were range of colors: Some fading into green, some purple, some stark red. She seemed unconcerned about them. As if they were normal. She was so happy to see me. She started crying but she was so depleted that she didnt have any tears. Not only did they take her without any evidence of any wrongdoing but they then abused her past human limitations. She was reduced to an almost animalistic state. The police soon came and took her back.

I immediately began to lodge complaints. She was moved to a home closer to me. This home was a much better environment but my daughter didnt just want food, water, and shelter. She didnt just want to be free from abuse. She wanted to be loved. So she continued to run home. She never ran away. She always ran toward safety and love. She explained to me that long ago almost immediately after making the tape against her brothers that she told the CPS workers that it was all based on something that happened when she was 4 years old and her brother was 6 years old. She told them that instead of him forcing sex on her it was a case of two small children being curious. For over a year my daughter did not understand why she was still in CPS custody. She thought I was mad at her for lying and would beg me to bring her home. She was told I could come and get her anytime I wanted too. She didn't know I had no choice.