I'm Deanna. I'm a Mom. I'm a warrior. I think differently than a lot of other people do. I am awake. I am lonely. Here's why:
At approximately 8:15pm on March 4, 2015 the rug was pulled completely out from under me.
I was at my parents' home in a small town that's about an hour northeast of Dallas, called Quinlan. Population is 1001. It was unusually cold for March in Texas, freezing cold, in fact. There was a storm going on - it brought sleet, ice and some snow. It was very dark.
My then 18 month old, first born son, was with me. Both of my elderly parents were there as well. I was 9 months pregnant.
I had been staying with my parents for a couple of days after having had a substantial fight with my husband in our home. After the fight, I made the decision to leave my home and seek a violence free environment for myself, my son and my unborn baby.
In light of this, I was expecting to meet with a single CPS investigator at 8:30pm. He had called me earlier in the day and identified himself over the phone as Jay Borton. He assured me that he simply needed to interview me and "put eyes on" the 18 month old. When I got the phone call I was visiting some friends about an hours drive from my parents house, I agreed to the meeting and loaded the baby into my vehicle for the hour (plus) drive in the dark, sleet/rain/snow mix falling quickly, reducing visibility.
At 8:15pm there was a banging on the door that sounded like what I imagine the Gestapo might have sounded like. I opened it to see a large Hunt County Sheriffs Officer on the porch steps, there were 2 more officers behind him. He asked "Are you Deanna?" I said yes I am. He asked if I was the mother of (my 18 month old son's name - which was horribly mispronounced) I said yes I am. He said "we are here to remove your son". I replied "nobody is touching my child without a court order or a warrant...."
He reached behind him and one of the other officers handed him a solid, opaque pocket folder. He opened the folder, revealing approximately the top 1/3 of a sheet of white paper with writing on it. Then quickly closed the folder again and passed it back behind him. I asked to examine the document. He responded "that's not gonna happen", so I attempted to close the door again.
Before I could get it closed, the officer stuck his boot in the door and then shoved it open, in the process shoving me backward several steps into the kitchen. My son was standing behind me and a little to my left. All 3 officers had entered the kitchen by that point. The first officer yelled "there's the kid, somebody grab him...."
I began screaming and trying to block his access to my child. The officer was reaching for me, I screamed "Don't touch me!" NO FEWER THAN 15 times over the next 2 minutes, I screamed: "show me that fucking warrant!" The officer immediately grabbed me, spun me around and then two of the officers shoved me into the corner and forcefully pinned me there, slamming my knees, legs, thighs into the lower cabinets, slamming my abdomen into the kitchen counter and even pinning my head down onto the counter initially. I was handcuffed at that point. My parents quickly came to see what the commotion was and my mother grabbed my son to remove him from the middle of the physical aggression being perpetrated by 3 giant men with deadly weapons.
Only after I had been handcuffed did the CPS investigators even bother to enter the house. There were two of them; neither one even bothered to seek the necessary verbal consent from a homeowner to enter private property. Needless to say, neither did their counterparts in blue, with the shiny badges and big guns.
I was personally familiar with the second investigator, Michelle Hughes. She was well aware of my condition and the advanced stage of my pregnancy. At 38+ weeks pregnant, my appearance makes it quite obvious as well. When I noticed Michelle, I began screaming out for her to intervene or at least to verify/remind the Sheriffs Officer that I was pregnant. She remained silent, did not intervene in any way and in fact, turned her head aside when I called out to her.
One of the officers then says "hey, somebody shut her up...." In the next few seconds I began to feel excruciating pain in my lower left back. I was being punched, with a closed fist in the kidneys. I received 5 or 6 blows before the assault stopped.
I could hear my terrified baby crying and screaming out for me.
The video speaks for itself here. Near the end of the clip the officer who is standing aside can be heard to say "somebody shut her up".
Ultimately I was taken to the Hunt County Detention Facility and my son was taken from the arms and the safety of his maternal grandparents' home, despite their protests, willingness, ability and repeated requests to retain physical custody of him. The paperwork and forms that CPS left behind were all marked "REFUSED NONCOMPLIANT" on the parent signature line, even though I obviously never even saw any of the forms, much less refused to sign them.
I was jailed for 6 days, charged with felony "Assaulting a Police Officer" and "Interference with Child Custody" while my family scrambled and borrowed to pay the bail bond. I am a decorated Veteran of the Iraq war; I have ZERO criminal history, no alcohol, drug or any other problems. I had never been arrested before this night.
During my incarceration I was kept in a holding/processing cell the entire time, and it was explained to me that this was because the facility lacked a medical area appropriate for a pregnant woman. The holding cells do not have beds (I slept on a thin mat on the concrete floor) and the fluorescent lights are left on 24 hours/day. Officers do checks on the holding cells every 15-30 minutes. Each time I encountered any medical personnel, I explained that I had been assaulted during my arrest and I asked to have my injuries documented (either on paper or with photographs). Each time (4 different encounters) I was denied with only the feeble explanation that I "could contact Internal Affairs if I wanted to pursue that kind of thing". Despite repeated requests, I was never provided with prenatal care, prenatal vitamins or my regular medications.
On the third day, Jay Borton(the CPS Investigator who is seen in the cideo) came to the jail to meet with me. I was taken to an interview room where Borton placed his business card on the desk between us and stated "I'm Jay Borton, I currently have custody of your son. I'd like to ask you a few questions."
I replied "I'd like to speak to an attorney, please sir."
Upon hearing that he snatched the business card back up off the desk, slammed his folio shut and stood up. He began to walk out of the room but instead he stopped in the doorway and said "well, let me ask you this...do you want your court subpoena sent to your home address or your parents' address?"
I replied "I'd like to speak to an attorney, please sir."
Borton began to sneer at me "you're a fool, you must WANT the State to make decisions about your kids" and then he left the room.
Once I was released on bond, I made an urgent appointment with my OB/GYN and finally had my injuries examined & documented and had the status of the baby evaluated.
As a side note, I was actually inducted into the Quinlan ISD Hall of Fame in 2008 in association with an incident that happened during my deployment to Iraq in 2004. Subsequently I have been removed from the Hall of Fame, citing my arrest as the reason for removal.
My 18 month old was put into foster care for over six weeks!!!! I was not allowed to know where he was, and despite a court order signed on March 13th that he be transferred expediently to the custody of my parents - he remained in foster care for almost 3 more weeks. I was only allowed to "visit" my son for an hour 3 times between the arrest and his return to my parents. Each time I was allowed to see him he was sick; with visible dark, runny snot, wheezing, sneezing, coughing and breathing difficulties. He was otherwise perfectly healthy when he was removed. I had been adamantly insisting he get medical care and was ignored then accused of harassing the foster mother. Eventually was told that I could not attend his medical appointments nor was I allowed to know the name of the provider/pediatrician who would be treating him. When he was finally returned to the care of my parents, he had TWO wart lesions above his anus. HE WAS 18 MONTHS OLD!
My family and I had put in 3 separate requests to be able to have visitation with them for the Easter Holiday. The first request was verbal (in person but tape recorded), the second & third were in writing (email). They were all ignored. No reply or acknowledgement from CPS whatsoever.
The only reason that I am able to tell this story and have anyone believe in me at all........is because it was accidentally captured on a home surveillance video. It was mounted inside the adjacent room on a wall. The system, apparently, was programmed to record for 30 second intervals and then shift to the next camera (I'm speculating here, based on what I was told. I didn't install or have any personal knowledge of the camera or system).
The strong activist community of the DFW area rallied around me and have continued to be supportive through this entire ordeal. Many of them have become close personal friends and I love them like family.
I am writing this as both of my sweet, kind, thoughtful little boys are napping next to me on my bed. After thousands and thousands of dollars lost on bail bond, attorney's fees, frequent travel back & forth between the courthouse....I have lost all of my money and most of my "friends" who aren't capable of even beginning to fathom what I have been through or how radically my life, AND MY BELIEFS have changed. The three of us will continue to depend on each other as we take one step at a time into our new future.
Please feel free to ask any questions ~ I hope to spend the rest of my life raising my babies and doing all that I can to fight the evil empire that is CPS; as well as advocating for and working toward peaceful anarchy for every single divine being on this planet.