36
37

CPS is investigating over 'wizard' comment. (self.legaladvice)

ArchmageMordenkainen が 投稿

Some background, background is important...but shouldn't be. A month and a half ago my wife's friend was evicted from her apartment right before Christmas (no good reason...the new landlords were just looking to renovate and are cleaning out tenants every chance they get...they were late with rent twice). My wife and I offered they stay with us for a year or two as they had no other options. Her friend is married with 4 children aged 7,6,4 and 2 (I think). We have a big house so it's not been a problem. The move meant they had to change schools.

I have a 17 year old son, almost 18. Both myself and the children's' father are stay-at-home dads right now. Occasionally we have my son watch the kids while we do chores and house repairs. There is always an adult here.

We are gamers. I mean we play fantasy role-playing games (D&D) and go to SCA and similar events regularly. We also host pseudo-pagan feasts four times a year on our property. I even have an Alchemy display in the library. We are geeks. I even named my son after a wizard.

One of the girls (I'll call her Mary) likes to play make-believe a lot. She has imaginary friends and everything. She is always trying to get my son to play. She tries to get me too as well and really anyone.

When my son was much younger I use to play wizards. He had a book (we still have it) that was all about how to be a wizard for kids. We made wands, potions etc.

My son has baby sat his niece since she was 2-4 years old one of the games they played was...wizards. So...

Mary was overheard telling other children at school that my son was a wizard who showed her magic tricks and ....his wand (he does have a wand folks).

CPS is called as well as the Sheriff. An interview is conducted at school. Parents called. The officer and CPS didn't seem to think there was anything more to it after that interview with Mary and both the girls were sent home with the father (with CPS FOLLOWING). Then CPS came to the house and interviewed their father, interviewed a friend staying with us, looked at the sleeping arrangements and idk what else...I was sleeping at the time.

Apparently there is also going to be another interview in town with a social worker and Mary.

When the cps worker left our house she told her father "everything looks fine, but expect the worst".

WTF?

I know about leading children. They found nothing in their initial interview. We are all shitting bricks right now. My son is really upset. We are scared and angry (both our families). We can not afford a lawyer.

EDIT: Washington State.

全 32 件のコメント
並べ替え:
ベスト
トップ新着論争中古い順Q&A

[–]derspinyQuality Contributor 57 ポイント58 ポイント  (6子コメント)

You're the poster child for unconventional family structures, and someone reported that they suspected sexual abuse in your family. You're going to have a bad time - and locking down into maximum defence mode is only going to make it worse.

CPS has a legal obligation to investigate this claim. You know, and you hope we believe, that the claim is bogus - but they don't know that. Your home life has some worrying signs: unemployed parents to nearly-adult teenagers, for example. Your home life also has a fair bit of stuff going on that, dollars to donuts, CPS hasn't dealt with much. The political realities are that the subjective costs to CPS of investigating and missing sexual abuse are much, much larger than the subjective costs to CPS of dragging out an investigation into your home life to a degree you might find intrusive and unwelcome. You stand out, so you're going to get the third degree before they go away.

Your options, basically:

  • Clam up. CPS may give up, or they may come back with a court order for your children's removal from your home during investigation, and a temporary injunction keeping your son away from school. They can do that on reasonable suspicion; they don't need to fully prove their case to intervene far enough to really mess up your home life for a long time.

  • Get a lawyer. You've already ruled this out, so I'll leave it be.

  • Be the most cooperative and straightforward case your CPS caseworker has ever dealt with. Be up front with your answers, cooperative with interviews and home visits, and happy to help however you can - sincerely. (Experienced caseworkers can smell a fake smile. Trust me.) "Everything looks fine" is a great sign.

[–]ArchmageMordenkaine 17 ポイント18 ポイント  (5子コメント)

If I could get a lawyer would that be advisable at this juncture?

Her father would like to know if he can insist on being present during the interviews.

We do live in a very religious part of the county...our saving grace is CPS is located in a town that is more liberal.

worrying signs: unemployed parents to nearly-adult teenagers, for example

I'm self-employed at home (they know that) and the father is a student taking a break while they get settled to help with the kids. Both our wives work and go to school full time. And heaven forbid you have a teenager. idk. I didn't think these were grounds for suspicion.

Should we get a lawyer?

[–]derspinyQuality Contributor 17 ポイント18 ポイント  (1子コメント)

He can insist. They can insist on interviewing her without him present and may be suspicious of his reasons for wanting to be there. If it comes down to it, CPS can begin court proceedings and obtain an order for an interview without him present. At most he may be able to insist on his lawyer's presence, or that the interview be recorded (which it likely would be anyways).

The grounds for suspicion are that someone overheard a child say something that sounded a lot like show and tell about his son. The investigation into that is, almost by necessity, going to be unpleasantly thorough. Your family's unique flavour is just a compounding factor.

Getting a lawyers advice can't hurt but do remember that CPS will likely find out whatever they're investigating, whether your friend cooperates with them or fights them on it.

[–]ArchmageMordenkaine 5 ポイント6 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Getting a lawyers advice can't hurt but do remember that CPS will likely find out whatever they're investigating, whether your friend cooperates with them or fights them on it.

I guess I've heard too many stories of them getting what they want that wasn't true to feel comfortable. At first we laughed it off when we found out what it was about...then they just didn't stop and we see no end in sight and all they have is someone said they were a wizard. I'll never play make-believe with a child again. Might start voting libertarian. thanks for the advice.

[–]BUBBLYSTRING 9 ポイント10 ポイント  (1子コメント)

Do you mean to keep responding from a similarly named throwaway?

[–]grasshoppa1Quality Contributor 6 ポイント7 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Her father would like to know if he can insist on being present during the interviews.

I answered this in another comment. If CPS wants to interview the child alone, they will just go to her school or somewhere the father isn't present and do it then. They don't need permission to interview the child. They just need to notify the parents after the fact.

[–]Shillyshelly 8 ポイント9 ポイント  (0子コメント)

CPS has 90 days from the date it gets a call to finish its investigation. It must then do one of these:

end the investigation and close the file

file a dependency petition

enter into a voluntary contract with the parents

It's in your best interest to cooperate during this initial stage. Here is some information about how CPS investigations work in Washington

[–]BiondinaQuality Contributor 15 ポイント16 ポイント  (20子コメント)

Are you saying they believe your wizard son whipped out his penis and cast spells with it because it's a wand?

[–]ArchmageMordenkainen[S] 26 ポイント27 ポイント  (19子コメント)

I'm saying they think my son told Mary that his penis was a wand and he's a wizard...idk what they think the magic tricks are suppose to be. I'm not joking.

[–]BiondinaQuality Contributor 9 ポイント10 ポイント  (10子コメント)

I suppose you wait on CPS to finish their investigation, and move forward based on whatever they decide.

[–]grasshoppa1Quality Contributor 2 ポイント3 ポイント  (7子コメント)

I'm saying they think my son told Mary that his penis was a wand and he's a wizard

So do you know for certain that he didn't? He's a teenager. They say some stupidly inappropriate shit from time to time.

[–]ArchmageMordenkainen[S] 11 ポイント12 ポイント  (6子コメント)

Read the whole thing over. Nothing found in the interview (her story was consistent with an innocent game.) She also, I should have added, knows what a penis is as she has two little brothers. But CPS won't drop it. The Sheriff laughed it off. But CPS won't drop it. CPS CAME TO THE HOUSE AND SAW ALL THE FANTASY STUFF...still won't drop it. I'm looking for legal advice not another WITCH HUNT.

[–]derspinyQuality Contributor 27 ポイント28 ポイント  (1子コメント)

I'm looking for legal advice not another WITCH HUNT.

Did you come here just to set up this pun?

Because if you did, respect.

[–]BiondinaQuality Contributor 14 ポイント15 ポイント  (0子コメント)

WITCH HUNT

Wait a second...

[–]grasshoppa1Quality Contributor 9 ポイント10 ポイント  (2子コメント)

There's no real legal advice to give. You need to let them do their investigation. You can't afford a lawyer, you already made that clear, so you really have no choice.

[–]ArchmageMordenkainen[S] 1 ポイント2 ポイント  (1子コメント)

I heard that is not true. I came hear to find that out. As near as I can tell A. they had no right to come into the home. b. they have no right to do follow up interviews. c. they have no evidence but their own sick imagination. How can they keep legally harassing us?

[–]grasshoppa1Quality Contributor 11 ポイント12 ポイント  (0子コメント)

They can't forcefully enter your home without a warrant, but I assume that's not what happened, right? Someone let them in, correct?

I'm not sure what you mean by "they have no right to do follow up interviews" though. They can schedule as many interviews as they want. You do not have to cooperate. However, when you refuse to cooperate with CPS, it usually doesn't end well or just go away on it's own. In WA state, they can get a court order to place the child in out of home care, or they can ask a police officer to place the child in protective custody if they feel it's needed.

Honestly, the best thing possible here would be for your friend and his family to get their own place. That would probably satisfy CPS quite a bit, since they'd be away from your teenage son.

[–]bbhr 3 ポイント4 ポイント  (0子コメント)

CPS has a responsibility to investigate anything suspicious, and the child's words are enough to set off warning bells. That said, it sounds like they are satisfied so far that no abuse has happened, which is your best cast scenario.

I would not have other people (non-family) staying at the house while this is going on.

[–]LocationBotTremendous! -2 ポイント-1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

http://imgur.com/a/myIAb

I am a bot whose sole purpose is to improve the timeliness and accuracy of responses in this subreddit.

It appears you forgot to include your location in the title or body of your post.

Please update the original post to include this information.

Do NOT delete this post - Instead, simply edit the post with the requested information..

Report Inaccuracies Here | GitHub | Author | LocationBot Statistics (Not Mobile Friendly) | LocationBot v2.1.1

Original Post:

Author: /u/ArchmageMordenkainen

CPS is investigating over 'wizard' comment.

Some background, background is important...but shouldn't be. A month and a half ago my wife's friend was evicted from her apartment right before Christmas (no good reason...the new landlords were just looking to renovate and are cleaning out tenants every chance they get...they were late with rent twice). My wife and I offered they stay with us for a year or two as they had no other options. Her friend is married with 4 children aged 7,6,4 and 2 (I think). We have a big house so it's not been a problem. The move meant they had to change schools.

I have a 17 year old son, almost 18. Both myself and the children's' father are stay-at-home dads right now. Occasionally we have my son watch the kids while we do chores and house repairs. There is always an adult here.

We are gamers. I mean we play fantasy role-playing games (D&D) and go to SCA and similar events regularly. We also host pseudo-pagan feasts four times a year on our property. I even have an Alchemy display in the library. We are geeks. I even named my son after a wizard.

One of the girls (I'll call her Mary) likes to play make-believe a lot. She has imaginary friends and everything. She is always trying to get my son to play. She tries to get me too as well and really anyone.

When my son was much younger I use to play wizards. He had a book (we still have it) that was all about how to be a wizard for kids. We made wands, potions etc.

My son has baby sat his niece since she was 2-4 years old one of the games they played was...wizards. So...

Mary was overheard telling other children at school that my son was a wizard who showed her magic tricks and ....his wand (he does have a wand folks).

CPS is called as well as the Sheriff. An interview is conducted at school. Parents called. The officer and CPS didn't seem to think there was anything more to it after that interview with Mary and both the girls were sent home with the father (with CPS FOLLOWING). Then CPS came to the house and interviewed their father, interviewed a friend staying with us, looked at the sleeping arrangements and idk what else...I was sleeping at the time.

Apparently there is also going to be another interview in town with a social worker and Mary.

When the cps worker left our house she told her father "everything looks fine, but expect the worst".

WTF?

I know about leading children. They found nothing in their initial interview. We are all shitting bricks right now. My son is really upset. We are scared and angry (both our families). We can not afford a lawyer.

[–]AutoModeratorTremendous![M] -9 ポイント-8 ポイント  (2子コメント)

Please review the Landlord Tenant Questions section of the /r/LegalAdvice Wiki for common questions and answers regarding landlord tenant issues. If this does not apply to your question, please disregard

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[–]Martijngamer 2 ポイント3 ポイント  (1子コメント)

WTF..

[–]brentathon 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Probably because OP mentions landlords and tenants in their original post.