Mr. Leonard,

April 23, 2005

I am asking you to please post my own horror story from Florida CPS to the AFRA website.  My children have not yet been taken by the State, but we are on their hit list.  Time is against us and I don't know how long I have to keep my kids.  Here is who we are and what happened.

My Wife and I have been married for 16 years.  Our oldest daughter is 15, my son is 13, and our youngest two are 10 and 8.  I am a proud Father who takes great pride in raising his children with a high sense or morals and values, and they are all well behaved.

My two youngest however, have a medical issue and are considered disabled.  My 8 year old was mostly affected, is non verbal and diagnosed with hypotonia (low muscle tone) and autisim.  My 10 year old has mild hypotonia and has learning problems, but is verbal.  My 8 year old doesn't answer to her own name, and can't be potty trained as such, though she does get up and play with toys, loves to be hugged and smiles a lot, but she can't dress herself.  The doctors have noted that and the psychologist agrees her problems may get better, but not quickly.  Could take decades.  

I have held steady employment and had great insurance coverage.  Recently I have been unemployed due to Degenerative Disk Disease, which is new to me, but my Wife works.  We love all four of our children very much.

There is no history of domestic violence in our lives.  We have no ex spouses.  Me and my wife been devoted to each other for 16 years and not one single problem.  We love each other passionately and devote our time and energy to making sure our kids get the best we can afford for them.  None of us have a single criminal violation.  Not even a parking ticket.

My 8 year old has a hormone problem as well, and she started puberty at 7.  This led to many complications, one of them was a very bad yeast infection, which we got her seen by the Doctor and a prescription cream that had to be applied 4 times a day.  I put the Doctor's diagnosis and cream in her book bag for the School RN to apply when they changed her diaper.  They are a school designed to take care and help disabled children.  They are not a daycare.  They are state staffed and a county handicapped schoolbus picks my daughter up every schoolday.  So you understand, something like this, a developed issue with her disability was something they are used to helping take care of.  

Well, the school RN decided the Doctor's orders were not properly written or some such thing, and all week, had not been putting the cream on her at school.  They said NOTHING to us about it.  Near the end of the week, my Wife and I were concerned, the yeast infection had not gotten worse, but it had not gotten better.  We decided to call the Doc the next morning since the office was all ready closed for the day.  

The next day at school, they called saying our daughter couldn't sit down and we had to come get her.  This is when I asked if the RN noticed her getting worse when applying the cream.  A few minutes later, I was totally shocked to learn the RN had NEVER put the cream on her all during the week!  I went to the Doctor's office, and they faxed a letter to the special school with another set of the Doctor's orders to apply the cream.  They said they would.  And they did.  Her infection cleared up 4 days later.

You would think that was the end of it.  A week after that mess, we got a knock on our door.  It was a smiling, kind lady from CPS who politely asked if she could come in and talk with us.  Not knowing of the horrors of CPS and what they can actually do, not knowing about or Constitutional Rights, without hesitation, I let her in, sat her down on the couch, and asked what I could do to help her and what was this about?  Someone had reported our youngest daughter wasn't getting medical help for her infection.  Again, I was shocked.  I told her it wasn't true. I got my daughter's prescription cream and showed it to her.  

Then I told her how it was the school who has messed up and what their stupid reasons were.  She wanted to talk to my kids.  I told her go ahead, (I had no idea what I was getting into, thinking this nice lady was actually trying to help, when she was setting me up for horror) but also warned her my youngest didn't talk and why.   She talked with my kids, my two oldest and my 10 year old.  She thanked me for my time, said it was going to be listed as unfounded, and left.  I was happy that whatever problems there were,  was finally over.  Oh how stupid I was to think that!

They waited 4 months to come to my door again.  This was while all my children were in school, and I was bleaching the kitchen floor.  Because of the fumes, I had all the windows open and the front door open.  I also decided to get some of the old junk out of the closet, and I was packing it up for a trip to the dump.  You know, old clothes, broken toys, etc.  

This CPS woman actually walked into my house without announcing herself.  When she cleared her throat, I was startled, turned fast, and thinking she was lost or something, asked her who she was.  She didn't tell me right away, but asked sternly if I had four children.   I said yes, and what was it to her?  

Then she pulled out her CPS plastic ID which she had in her pocket.  She told me she had an anonymous report of four children at 11pm at night, running up and down the street making a racket.  Then they were supposedly running through the woods, making more of a racket.  

Then she got visibly hostile and demanded to know why I let my kids run up and down the road at 11pm.  I told her calmly, two of my kids have low muscle tone and can't run.  In fact, they can't even go out without supervision.  They have a bedtime well before 11pm at night, and they were never out alone.  Then she demanded to see them as she wanted to take their pictures, to prove they were alive to a judge.  

Then she noticed the cleaning, and wanted to take pictures of it too, because I live in filth.  I was like, Oh My God, this can't be happening!  I refused to let her take pictures.  She went out to her car to call her supervisor for what to do to me, and that is when I picked up the phone and called the Sheriff's office.  I told them that this woman entered my house without knocking, she was hostile, and could I have a car out here to remove her from the property as she was trespassing.  

You would think I would have gotten help.  In fact, it happened just the opposite.  The deputy defended the CPS woman.  Then the CPS woman openly lied, said I was hostile when I never raised my voice even though she had, that she never stepped into my house and I invited her in, and that the house was hazardous.  I stood there with my mouth open, shocked to the core.  They believed HER and gave bad looks at me.  In fact, she was nice as ever when the deputy showed up.  It was like I was making it up.  I was thunderstruck.  How could she get away with this?

She even put in her report my windows were all busted out.  When it was later proven that my windows were not busted out, and she was making things up, they all left.  A different CPS woman showed up, asking to see my windows and house to see if it was really hazardous.  I was thinking, yes, I finished cleaning the house and the windows aren't busted, and she saw that and she left.  I again thought it was all over.  I was so stupid in thinking it was.

5 months later, I was out of the state of Florida and in Missouri looking for work, as some shots into my spine helped restore some of my movement without pain.  When I called home to check up on my Wife and Kids, I got another shock.  CPS had come again and this time with a deputy in tow.  My wife politely asked for a warrant when they wanted into the house, she was told no, and they forced their way in and told my wife if she stood in their way, the deputy was going to arrest her. 

To prove their point, the deputy dangled the cuffs at her.  

They forced their way into my home, took pictures, and as it was 3:30pm and only two kids were home, the CPS woman demanded, didn't ask, but demanded harshly where were the two older kids.  By that time, my Mother had come over as she lives next door, and she is 71, told the rude CPS woman they were still in School.  This CPS woman faced my 71 year old Mother, and said in a hostile tone, "What did you DO with them!"  My mother was visibly shaken and about to cry, she loves her grandchildren dearly and never thought anyone would accuse her of hurting them.  Then the deputy did confirm that middle and high school didn't let out until later in the afternoon.  She then faced my wife and said, "Then I'll get to them in school."  And she did just that.  The allegations were against ME, their father, another made up piece of garbage about sexual abuse, domestic violence, and oh my God the things there were shocking.

I was in a little efficiency in Missouri on the phone when I heard all of this.  I has been there about 3 weeks.  I was given the CPS worker's number and was told I needed to call her.  I knew then I would have to go home to Florida.  I didn't even give my Wife the good news that I had in Missouri.  I had been hired and was going to make 42K a year at a hospital in Kansas City.  I called the hospital first, told them what happened, and asked if I could come back for orientation in one month so I could wrap up this mess in Florida.  I was kindly told that no, if I left, they would give the position to another applicant. Family comes first.  I gave up a seriously good paying job, and I never even had the heart to tell my wife that to this day.  I called the CPS worker, just let me say I got nowhere and denied it all, and when I got back to Florida, I went through Hell again proving all the so called allegations were false.

Now it's April 23, 2005, and they are not done with me.   My family is on their hit list.  Me and my Wife are trying to save enough money to leave Florida.  The third case against my family is now closed, but even when the postman pulls up with a package, we all jump and get a worried look on our faces.  Is this the true American Dream for a loving, solid family with no criminal history?   To live in fear?  To have your heartbeat raise severely when someone knocks on your door?  To try and figure out where you can live in safety from the State?  Why does this sound like old communist Russia?

Good God, if the nightmare can happen to us, it can happen to anyone And while you read this and finish my story, remember, my nightmare is still happening.  Pray for us, cause prayer is all we have left.

Sincerely,
Daniel Roberts