For five years I was an Investigator for Child Protective Services (CPS). My job was to investigate cases that were assigned to me and determine, with the help of my supervisors and the Department’s attorney, whether or not abuse or neglect occurred. Often times Investigators are faced with unusual circumstances that have never occurred before. I was faced with this type of case on December 12, 2011. My case had allegations of a drug addicted mother, a missing and possibly dead infant, and very little information to locate the infant or family. During the case I obtained Court Orders signed by a District Judge called “Orders in Aid of Investigation” to enter the residence and search for the infant. I, along with two other CPS workers and two sheriff’s deputies, entered three different homes to find the baby. Finally, in the third house, we found the five day old infant in a closet, with only a ribbon tied around her umbilical cord. She had had no prenatal care, was born at home without a midwife or a doctor, and born to a cocaine addicted mother. She had not been to the doctor since her birth. The infant was hungry, underweight, and positive for cocaine. The mother of the infant admitted to using cocaine, methamphetamines, K2, marijuana, alcohol, and tobacco during her pregnancy. She then admitted she was breastfeeding the infant while using cocaine. The infant was rushed to Dallas Children’s Medical Center where she was medically cared for while she went through cocaine withdrawals. The mother and father were arrested, convicted, and sentenced for child endangerment due to providing the child with an illegal substance through breastfeeding. Their parental rights were terminated and the child was adopted by her foster parents. On September 24, 2013, one year and 9 months after I had found the baby, and just two months AFTER the child endangerment conviction was final against the parents and AFTER the adoption of the infant was final with the foster parents, I was arrested for Official Oppression. I did not know allegations had been brought against me. I did not have any complaints in my file from anyone, the parents had never complained to me, and our CPS attorney had never told me I had done anything wrong. All I had to go on was what the indictment stated which said I “did then and there, individually or acting as a party with (my supervisor's name), intentionally subject (parent’s name) to search and/or seizure that the defendant knew as unlawful……” I spent nearly $30,000.00 and two years of my life fighting this case. I was convicted on September 17, 2015 for Official Oppression. This is the first time in history that a CPS worker has ever been criminally charged or convicted for Official Oppression. The witnesses against me were my ex co-workers, including the two workers who were with me inside of the home. Even though they testified against me, they admitted they were the ones who took the pictures inside of the house, drove the vehicle to and from the house, knew I had Orders, did not know exactly what I did or and whether it was me or the two deputies who completed parts of the search. They admitted that neither they nor the deputies were arrested for Official Oppression even though they had all been inside the home helping to locate the baby. The mother of the infant was called by the prosecution to testify but ended up testifying in my behalf. She thanked me for finding her baby and giving her baby a better life. She admitted she knew CPS was looking for her at the time but stated she had abandoned the home they were staying in to attempt to hide from CPS. She testified she did not have a problem with anything I had done, had never filed a complaint, and knew I had court orders. She stated the family members who told her I was looking for her, who had lied to me about where she was, told her I had shown them the court orders. She said she understood why I would search so hard for her daughter as she had delivered her daughter on the bed in the home, without any help, and there had been so much blood and fluid all over the wall and mattress that it “looked like someone had been killed in there.” Testimony as to exigent circumstances was presented and the Orders in Aid of Investigation and my affidavit showing probable cause were admitted into evidence. However, I was still convicted of an illegal search and or seizure, Official Oppression. I was sentenced to one year in jail with the sentence probated for two years. I was ordered to serve 30 days in jail, pay a $2000.00 fine, and complete 150 hours of community service. I was told by the judge when he handed down the judgment that I was a public servant and had to be held to a higher standard. I filed notice of appeal and requested my jail time and probation time be put on hold pending the outcome of the appeal. The same judge that convicted me ordered a $10,000.00 appeal bond for me to stay out of jail to work on my appeal. My mother paid the bond for me as we did not have another dime to go into this case. I retained an attorney for the appeal. My attorney feels, as do I, that this case is much larger than me. It is about CPS as a whole. My appellate attorney feels so strongly about this that she is representing me without charge. She and I believe if an Investigator does something wrong they should be held accountable. However, when an Investigator files an affidavit of probable cause, obtains the proper court orders authorizing entrance into the residence to locate the child, then finds a 5 day old infant in a closet with just a ribbon tied to her umbilical cord, and she’s addicted to cocaine, then the Investigator does not need to be scared that later on she might be arrested for doing what she thought was, in good faith, the correct way to do her job. My appellate attorney has dedicated over half of her life advocating for children and families and feels the ruling by the District Court will adversely affect CPS but most of all, it will adversely affect those children who do not have a voice and are being injured, abused, and neglected. Even though she is not charging a fee for her services, there are other out of pocket fees that go beyond her services. In order to appeal a case you must have the entire court transcript and court record. It is required and there is no way around it. The court reporter must type the transcripts on her own time and charges for doing so. There were two court reporters during my trial. We have asked for an estimated cost and were told these transcripts and records will cost between $2000 and $2500. We have already cleaned out our savings, retirement, and my family’s savings in order to pay for the trial and the appeal bond. My husband works in the oil field in the Gulf of Mexico but due to the economic downturn regarding the oil industry, he received a substantial pay cut in order to keep his job. He brings home enough to pay our immediate bills. We have cut out all unnecessary expenses such as cable, satellite, a car payment, etc. We do not go out to eat, go to the movies, or do anything extra that costs money. I sell homemade egg rolls on the side and my husband makes furniture as he can but again, this pays for the house payment, utilities, food, and our children’s needs such as clothing and school activities. I am in school full time obtaining a 2nd Bachelor’s Degree in Paralegal Studies so I can start working again after I graduate. Due to the stigma associated with this case, living in a small county, and having four children, it has been extremely difficult for me to obtain another job. We do not feel we will be in this financial situation forever but unfortunately we are right now. My goal with this appeal goes far greater than just being about me. If it was just about me I would have moved on long ago. But children’s lives are at risk now as it has already been made known that CPS workers and even police officers are not sure if they can act, what they can do, or if they should do anything even when having Court Orders signed by a District Judge. In fact, one Supervisor (not my supervisor but one who disagreed with how I handled the case) testified in court she would have “just walked away.” She said even with court orders, walking away would have kept her from having the risk of doing too much and getting into trouble later on. She testified that even if the baby had died on her watch, it would not have been an issue because at least she didn’t push a search too far. We pray the Appellate Court will clarify multiple questions of law regarding this case. If you are able to help at all it would be greatly appreciated. I feel many will want to know the details of the story and since it is public record I will share it in future comments if asked. The cause number for the criminal case is 29,269 and is filed in the Hunt County District Clerk’s office in the Hunt County Court House located in Greenville, Texas. The cause number for the CPS case associated with the criminal case, and also public records, is 77,600. It too is also filed in the Hunt County District Clerk’s office in Greenville, Texas.
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