Source: Freedom and Justice for the Shoars Family Facebook page.
Posted on 07/11/2015 9:47:36 AM PDT by Altariel
abitha and Jeff Shoars have just received word that a judge has allegedly approved a request for 2 of their children in Arizona DCF custody to travel to a dangerous are of Mexico for a week with their foster parents – a request that the Shoars did NOT approve. They are terrified for their children.
The Shoars were placed under a gag order in January so that they cannot speak publicly about the actions of DCS in taking custody of their children. Since that time, they have stayed out of the limelight and remained silent about their case, where a tragedy took the life of one of their children. Arizona DCS immediately seized the other 7 children, placing them in several different foster homes. Their story has drawn the compassion of tens of thousands of people.
Original story here:
No charges have been filed against Jeff or Tabitha, but their children remain in state custody.
They have chosen to cooperate with the restriction of their freedom of speech, which is seen as unconstitutional according to some of the top legal authorities in the United States. They have done so in the hopes that justice would eventually be served and their children would be returned to them.
The Shoars realize that DCS will not be happy with them speaking up, but the threat of what could happen to their children if they go to Mexico is too great for them to remain silent.
The U.S. State Department has recently issued travel warnings for the region where the foster parents are planning to take the children, and these warnings are “terrifying” to the Shoars:
“Sonora is a key region in the international drug and human trafficking trades and can be extremely dangerous for travelers. Travelers throughout Sonora are encouraged to limit travel to main roads during daylight hours. The region west of Nogales, east of Sonoyta, and from Caborca north, including the towns of Saric, Tubutama, and Altar, and the eastern edge of Sonora bordering Chihuahua, are known centers of illegal activity, and non-essential travel between these cities should be avoided. Travelers should also defer non-essential travel to the eastern edge of the state of Sonora, which borders the state of Chihuahua (all points along that border east of the northern city of Agua Prieta and the southern town of Alamos), and defer non-essential travel within the city of Ciudad Obregon and south of the city of Navojoa. You should exercise caution while transiting Vicam in southern Sonora due to roadblocks that can be instituted ad hoc by local indigenous and environmental groups. U.S. citizens visiting Puerto Peñasco should use the Lukeville, Arizona/Sonoyta, Sonora border crossing, and limit driving to daylight hours.”
Tabitha is reportedly terrified for her children, wondering what possible valid reason the foster parents could have for wanting to take her children into such a dangerous region, where human trafficking and drug cartels are rampant, and drivers are cautioned to drive only in certain areas, and then only in the daylight.
The children do not have passports, and the foster parents assumedly only have copies of their birth certificates, not the originals or certified copies that would be required for re-entry into the United States.
Tabitha Shoars is asking:
“What if they don’t come back? What if they are kidnapped. Or worse?”
“Can we call the FBI?”
When the foster parents first made the request, Tabitha and Jeff reportedly denied the request, as is their parental right, which they legally still retain. They learned on Friday that the foster parents petitioned the judge for the unusual request, and he approved it. Allegedly, judges tend to universally deny such requests.
The Shoars state that the law mandates that there must be a conference or a hearing in such cases, for the parents to voice their concerns to the judge. This never happened. There is a hearing scheduled, but it will not happen until after the children are scheduled to be across the Mexican border.
Their court-ordered visitation will not be able to happen during the time that the children are to be in Mexico with the foster parents.
A supporter posted on the Freedom and Justice for the Shoars Family Facebook page posted this statement:
“Under 18 USC 1204 and 18 USC 241, this is considered kidnapping! Please also note that this is 18 years in prison per child.”
How much risk to a child does a parent have to see before the DCS authorities intervene? Or is intervention by child protective services only applicable when the children are with their biological parents? Why does the system remove children from their family of origin, only to place them in situations where they can be in more danger than they ever were at home? Why would a judge rule that people can take children who do not belong to them to a place known for human trafficking? These are some of the questions that supporters of the Shoars family are asking.
Phone calls may be made to Arizona Governor Doug Ducey at 602 542 4331 or 520 628 6580, asking him to intervene and stop the Shoars children from being transported out of the country to Mexico. Governor Ducey may also be reached here. His Facebook Page is here.
Greg McKay is the Director of Arizona Department of Child Safety. 602 255 2500 is the phone number for the DCS office, and the office may be contacted here. Director Greg McKay is also on Twitter.
More info.
Why are the parents deemed unacceptable?
See original story at the link above.
The very concept of a judicial gag order is a first amendment civil right violation.
From my understanding, foster parents can’t take a foster child out of state without prior permission. I sure as heck don’t think foster parents should be able to take foster kids to another country. They aren’t their kids.. they know this going into the system of becoming a foster parent.
These gag orders are becoming entirely too common. Will EPA assaults be accompanied by gag orders in the future? EPA has assumed judicial and legislative powers. Surely gag orders go with that.
These folks should be trying to get The Donald involved. He is in their neighborhood today....
It’s obviously time for massive and widespread resistance.
The family that is fighting the 135K fine for not making a lesbians’ wedding cake also have a gag order.
This seems to be a new weapon in the fight to suppress the opposition - so that they can’t get the word out and raise money for help.
Yup, yup and yup.
I don’t know all the details of this, but the thug judge’s gag order suggests to me that Child Protective Services is in the wrong. As usual. Gag orders are appropriate when dealing with classified material in court. Otherwise, they are a clearly unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment. [I know - how quaint that I think the Constitution should matter.]
An agency can take a legal action against anyone and get the judge to impose a gag order. There is no reason gag orders can’t be used in traffic ticket cases, and no reason that EPA or FEC or any other federal agency with quasi judicial powers can[t impose them. What bothers me is that everyone who receives one goes along with it. No one shouts the info gagged in the public arena. Everyone should, regardless of the consequences.
Here are some of the highlights:
Khloe has been described a “bubbly, bouncy, giggly” little girl who was a huge blessing to her family. Jeff says that this is “way too soon for her to be out of our lives.”
Khloe’s life began under very difficult circumstances. Her mother Tabitha was sexually assaulted by two men when the family lived in Minnesota. The men went to prison, but Tabitha found that she had become pregnant from the attack. She says that abortion was never an option for her, and together she and Jeff made the choice to give life to the baby that had been conceived.
Tiny Khloe only weighed a pound and a half when she was born prematurely, at just 27 1/2 weeks. She had a brain hemorrhage at birth, and she was in very serious condition at the same time that her mother suffered a placental abruption. While the doctors fought to save Tabitha’s life, Jeff, who has always been terrified of needles, never hesitated when the baby needed a blood transfusion, promptly volunteering to donate blood for Khloe...
Khloe captured the hearts of her family from the very beginning. Even though she was conceived from assault, Jeff says that he “always considered her mine,” and he vowed to always protect her. According to Tabitha, “she came from a bad situation, but she is our blessing.”
When the Shoars learned Tabitha’s attackers were about to be released from prison, they decided to move cross-country in March 2014, settling in Avondale, Arizona, a city just outside of Phoenix. Leaving the fears for their safety behind, they found that life was going well for the big family with lots of kids, until that one horrible night in August.
These are the pieces that Tabitha and Jeff have been able to put together of the events that occurred...
July 11, 2015
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Arizona CPS Takes 7 Children Away from Parents after Accident
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shoars-family-with-grandparents
Shoars Family. Image from Facebook.
UPDATE 1/16/2015
The judge issued a gag order on the parents forbidding them to talk about the case. Story here:
Arizona Court Issues Gag Order on Family of 7, Detective Wants to Subpoena Interview on Radio
by Terri LaPoint
Health Impact News
The unthinkable happened to a family in Arizona. Their three-year-old daughter mysteriously collapsed while her parents were away from home, and she died shortly after. As horrible as that tragedy was, Khloe’s death was only the beginning of the devastation to the Shoars family. Child Protective Services immediately came in and took away all seven of their other children, placing them in various foster home settings around the area.
The children now don’t have their parents, or even each other, as they try to grasp what has happened to their sister. None of the children, ranging in age from 2 to 9 years old, have been placed with family or friends, and they cry to come home. They don’t understand what has happened, and neither do their parents, Jeff and Tabitha Shoars.
“It’s like a bad nightmare you can’t wake up from,” says Jeff.
No charges have been filed against anyone, yet the state of Arizona has already begun the TPR process, Termination of Parental Rights.
Khloe’s Story: Beautiful Daughter Born in Troubled Circumstances
Khloe has been described a “bubbly, bouncy, giggly” little girl who was a huge blessing to her family. Jeff says that this is “way too soon for her to be out of our lives.”
Khloe’s life began under very difficult circumstances. Her mother Tabitha was sexually assaulted by two men when the family lived in Minnesota. The men went to prison, but Tabitha found that she had become pregnant from the attack. She says that abortion was never an option for her, and together she and Jeff made the choice to give life to the baby that had been conceived.
Tiny Khloe only weighed a pound and a half when she was born prematurely, at just 27 1/2 weeks. She had a brain hemorrhage at birth, and she was in very serious condition at the same time that her mother suffered a placental abruption. While the doctors fought to save Tabitha’s life, Jeff, who has always been terrified of needles, never hesitated when the baby needed a blood transfusion, promptly volunteering to donate blood for Khloe.
The doctors allegedly told the Shoars that she would grow out of the brain hemorrhage condition, and despite Tabitha’s requests, no further testing was ever done on Khloe to monitor the situation. Like the rest of the Shoars children, Khloe was fully vaccinated, and always got the annual flu shot.
Shoars Daddy Vows To Protect Khloe Always
Jeff Shoar vowed to always protect Khloe
A Family that Loved Her
Khloe captured the hearts of her family from the very beginning. Even though she was conceived from assault, Jeff says that he “always considered her mine,” and he vowed to always protect her. According to Tabitha, “she came from a bad situation, but she is our blessing.”
When the Shoars learned Tabitha’s attackers were about to be released from prison, they decided to move cross-country in March 2014, settling in Avondale, Arizona, a city just outside of Phoenix. Leaving the fears for their safety behind, they found that life was going well for the big family with lots of kids, until that one horrible night in August.
These are the pieces that Tabitha and Jeff have been able to put together of the events that occurred.
A Terrible Accident
Shoars Khloe in parents arms 2
Khloe with parents.
On the afternoon of August 14, Jeff and Tabitha left together at about 3:30 pm, leaving their children in the care of a babysitter whom they trusted. The young man, in his twenties, has been described as being “like a big brother to the kids,” and he had a history of playing with and caring for the children, both with and without the parents’ supervision.
She didn’t have much of an appetite for dinner that night, although her family reports that she usually eats seconds. After dinner the kids were playing outside, and Khloe fell and hit her head on the ground. Her siblings and the babysitter found no mark or bump. She went to bed early, which her mother says is what she would do whenever she had a headache. Tabitha also reports that she had a headache a few days before, but they thought nothing of it, since it went away.
After Khloe went to sleep that night, she woke up with a high-pitched scream, then she was crying. The babysitter ran in to her to see what was wrong. He says that he thought at the time that she must have had a nightmare. He helped her get out the bed where she had been asleep with the younger children, and walked her to the kitchen for a drink of water. He reports that she was wobbly on her feet, but he thought that she was just sleepy. After she sipped some water, she collapsed in the hallway, with her eyes rolling back in her head and gasping. The babysitter called 911. Her lips were turning purple as he was trying to do CPR...
When the police arrived before the paramedics, the first officer on the scene moved him out of the way and squeezed her. She threw up, but remained unresponsive. Later, the medical reports would show kidney damage on the side of Khloe where she was squeezed.
Jeff and Tabitha were about 45 minutes away in a Phoenix suburb when they got word that their baby had collapsed. By the time the frantic parents got home, there was police tape surrounding their house. Tabitha was directed to go to the Phoenix Children’s Hospital, and Jeff stayed behind to check on the other kids and talk to the officials at their home.
What this mother found at the hospital was “every single parent’s worst nightmare.” The doctor told her that Khloe (who had been admitted as a Jane Doe) had bleeding and swelling of the brain and kidney damage, and that she was unresponsive. She was on life support...
When Jeff arrived at the hospital, he told his wife that CPS was taking the other kids for 72 hours, because it was “protocol for them to investigate.” At the time, they were fine with that because they needed to focus on Khloe. None of their family lived in Arizona, and Tabitha and Jeff didn’t question the actions of CPS, which seemed reasonable to them at the time...
They report that all of the doctors say there were no signs of abuse. A rape kit was done, and it came back negative. Tabitha says that she does not believe that the babysitter hurt Khloe, and the family’s thinking is that their little girl died from tragic natural causes.
Tabitha says that she is worried sick about her children and scared for their safety. She has heard horror stories about what happens to kids in foster care, and wants desperately to protect them from that. The Shoars are concerned because their children have reportedly been sick quite frequently since entering foster care.
“The CPS is traumatizing our kids.” They reportedly cry and beg their parents to let them come home, but their parents are powerless to do anything. “
#####
Mr. Charles Flanagan is the Director of DCS/CPS in Arizona. He may be reached at 1-602-542-5844. Concerned citizens might want to ask him how his agency can think that it is acceptable to attempt to terminate parents’ rights when no charges have been filed against them, and there are allegedly no signs of abuse.
- See more at: http://medicalkidnap.com/2015/01/13/arizona-cps-takes-7-children-away-from-parents-after-accident/#sthash.WQ569bnf.dpuf
As I look at the picture of the seven children, three of them look Hispanic and the baby looks like the rapist was black.
Looks like a white Christian family living their faith and adopting children who needed a home, and the Child Un-Protective Services is doing a vile thing against them.
God, please protect and care for this family and let them live in peace. Amen.
If there was any justice in this nation, the judge that approved the travel to Mexico would be drawn and quartered. Too many would-be tyrants in power these days. The tree of liberty is mighty dry.
Oh so now we are supposed to care about family court injustice? Not when record numbers of men are killing themselves. Not when states use child support kick backs from the feds to balance their budgets. Not when primary custodians can commit state felonies by denying court ordered access and counties refuse to uphold the law.
millions of people, mostly men but there are some women, are subject to debtors prisons, unfair rulings, and financial destitution due to the extreme corruption at play in the family courts. Both my brother and his current fiance are at the mercy of their ex spouses who have primary custody and use it as a weapon. Neither are allowed to see their children despite court orders. The state of Texas won’t uphold their own law but have no problem sucking their resources dry and will jail them immediately for non payment. 30 days is the amount of time by law for an emergency custody hearing. In my brothers case it’s been 1.5 years.
Conservatives want to bring more people into the tent? It’s time to actually champion for families, children, and put a stop to family court abuse. No more alimony, no more child support without access, shared parenting should be the starting point for custody arrangements, no more federal incentives for child support collection.
Agreed. It is very concerning for the fate of those kids-—why are the Foster Parents and the State so determined to take those kids into a dangerous area?
Lord, please restore the kids to their biological parents and heal that family. The Enemy seeks to devour them.
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