A Grandmother's Letter To The Judge

The Honorable Rex Barbas,

I am a broken-hearted grandmother and I beg you to please read this letter. I am going to fast and pray until I am sure you have read this letter. I will know that you have when God gives me the peace in my heart that I have asked Him to give me.

The main purpose of this letter is to inform you of the great injustice that has been done to our family by the DCF, and how it is truly breaking our hearts. We very much appreciate the time you are taking to read this letter.

My husband and I are missionaries and through text messages and emails with churches and individuals in several Southeast Asian countries, thousands of Christians all over the world are praying for my grandchildren who have been taken from our son and daughter-in-law’s arms unjustly. They have been taken from a family, both immediate and extended, who are devout servants of the Lord Jesus Christ and want to raise their children to love Jesus too.

My little granddaughter, Jaquelyn Faith Douglass, who turned three on September 22nd was taken ill in April and her parents took her to Sun City Hospital where she was diagnosed with the stomach flu. The doctor prescribed medicine to treat this flu. She seemed better for a few days. My husband and I were visiting in the home when she became ill again. This time they took her to Brandon Regional Hospital. There she was diagnosed with a life-threatening intestinal problem. She was flown to Tampa General Hospital and my husband and I were there to be with our grandchild. Both hospitals she had been in prior, had no report of physical abuse. In fact the reports which we have received in the form of hospital records stated there is no evidence of physical abuse of any kind. In the emergency room of Tampa General hospital the emergency room doctor went over every possible cause with us and there was no evidence of any abuse nor signs of bruising. Jackie was in the emergency room of the pediatric section and we saw her several times along with her other grandfather and her parents. Judge, there were no bruises or evidences of abuse at all. Photos and videos of Jackie in the hospital taken when she arrived will show no bruising. Three weeks later Dr. Brooks claimed he saw bruising on Jackie which he believed caused Jackie’s trauma requiring her to be hospitalized.

I know my son and his wife. They live and breathe for their children and would in no way ever hurt them. They stayed with us when they were first married and had their first daughter, and again when they were relocating to be near us. I have never seen them to be abusive in any way. I would have known, I am sure. I have taught children for over 20 years and I know what abused children look like and act like.

Our family and Jackie’s siblings were allowed to visit her in the hospital for over one month. Then a doctor in the hospital who works for an arm of DCF said that because she had been diagnosed with pancreatitis that my son, or daughter-in-law, had punched or kicked her. His statement to my son was “What did you do, get drunk and kick her in the stomach?” My son does not drink, do drugs, or even smoke. He has done some of those things in his younger and more foolish days, but since he allowed God to turn his life around years ago, he has lived as he was raised by my husband and myself. He now sings and preaches in Baptist Churches all around Florida warning young people to live the right kind of life and stay away from all those things that will hurt them. He loves his children and wife the way God intends.

Two years ago a family we were acquainted with got angry and made some false allegations against my children and called the DCF. The circumstances were thoroughly investigated and there was no abuse found. However, my son and his wife were told if they pleaded “not guilty” to child abuse it would take years to get their children back, but if they pleaded “no contest” and followed the program set up for them, they would have the children back soon. They have done all required of them and the case was closed in Clay County and the children returned to their custody.

They have done excellent since that time demonstrating their love for their children. They have joined a Baptist Church in Plant City where the children sing with their dad and love to go to church. I was allowed to see the other three children who had been placed in foster care on June 27th and the oldest granddaughter held her mom, who was with me, and said “Mommy, they won’t take me to church and I want to go.” How sad!!!

In June we were ordered out of our granddaughter’s hospital room and told we could not come back and see her, after seeing her regularly for all of May. There is no reason to deny her family from being with Jackie. The siblings have not been allowed to see her also and cry to do so. The children are in 3 different Foster homes, in 2, possibly 3 different cities. No one would take them up to the hospital to visit Jackie. The only way they could see her was for her mother to video-tape her in the hospital and take the video to the visitation with her other children. She then video-taped them and took it to the hospital to show Jackie. The first time she saw them on video in two months, Jackie waved and kissed the video as a tear rolled down her cheek.

My son was arrested on June 7th on aggravated child abuse charges with no evidence. Dr. Brooks’ false vindictive accusation is why those children can not see the dad they adore. That is why Jacquelyn cannot see her siblings, and while she was in the hospital, only her mom could be with her with Jackie’s grandfather supervising. The mom was there almost every day since this little one has been in the hospital (April 29, 2007). Dad was there everyday until his arrest. I realize, and know full well, after having worked with children for over 20 years, that there are cases where children are much safer away from their wicked parents. This is NOT the case for my children and grandchildren. Every evening, my son sat the children down around him and read God’s word to them. He sang with them and told them a Bible Story. I have been there many times to be blessed to observe this. He and his wife tuck them in and kiss them goodnight after praying for and with them. My son and his wife ask wisdom from the One who is Wisdom to raise the children entrusted into their care by the Great Creator of children.
Having been raised in a Christian home, my son is today the very picture of a Christian father and family man. I am so proud of both of them.

Having been in the ministry for over 30 years has taught my husband (pastor, teacher, missionary and now a missionary/evangelist) and I that many things can be said and done to break our hearts. Our hearts have been broken by people many times over these years, but never like this heartbreak; the reason being is that this is so unjust, and the lies are many to make our family look like the worst of the worst. I am so glad that the Heavenly Father knows the truth. I am so glad that He is Sovereign. Even knowing this, our hearts are breaking for our children and grandchildren. My daughter-in-law calls me regularly in tears and great sorrow. She has visited the children and been told by the oldest that she is not allowed to tell how her sister got a black eye or how the bruises got on her arms or on the baby boy’s head. They do not even see their baby brother except for two hours out of 744 hours of the month. Neither does their mom. What is this organization doing, trying to make my grandchildren forget their family? Forget those who love them the most of all?

One thing I know is that these children are treated worse than most prisoners. A prisoner can see those who love him every Saturday and Sunday for six hours and all holidays. One who is incarcerated in the jail can see his loved ones every day for one hour. My children have done nothing wrong, and my grandchildren have done nothing wrong and cannot even see each other. I cannot see my grandchildren due to the DCF’s disapproval of our religious faith. I have had a loving relationship with all of them since the day they were born and I was there to see every one of them at birth. What is wrong with an organization that is supposed to be FOR the family, but is tearing down my family? Why are my grandchildren being punished? Why am I being punished? Why is their mom being punished? Our family is not abusing the children, DCF is abusing our grandchildren and children.

Your Honor, after the court hearing when you said the family can visit Jackie and the children, there was an immediate refusal to your court order. The maternal grandparents were down from Pennsylvania for the hearing, and to see the grandchildren. It was told that their background check, which was passed in PA, was not accepted here in FL, and to go to the Sheriff’s Dept. to get a new one. When they got there, Dep. Allison Bredbener refused to run the check stating “this case is now closed”. She then referred them to go to H.K.I., where when they got there were told their check takes up to 2 weeks! The test at the Sheriff’s Dept takes only one day. The Grandparents sadly had to go back to PA without seeing their own grandchildren. Dep Bredbener has caused our family so much pain, by not only refusing your direct order, but by malicious comments to Jackie’s mother stating how when this is all over, she wants to adopt their son herself. There are many other cruel statements she has said to the family, too many to write at this time.

The DCF said that the children’s mom “failed to report.” She has nothing to report! Her husband has never abused the children and did not abuse their little one in the hospital. Now the doctors are saying that the pancreatitus may have been caused by cysts in the bile duct or the stones in the gallbladder they have found and could have been there since birth. (Not Abuse!!!) Now what about my son who cannot see his children and was falsely accused? They say it is because his six year old daughter said that he hit Jackie for crying. However, DCF workers told her if she would say that daddy hit the little girl that they would bring Jackie home from the hospital and she would be well. How do I know? The older girl told our friend that very thing. Our friends were allowed to have temporary custody of the children for a short while. The older child cried when she got to the house after DCF tricked her into accusing her daddy and Jackie was not there. She then told our friends that the DCF people were liars. Then she said, “I can’t talk because they told me the police are hearing everything I say.”

What kind of people do this kind of thing? By the way, I work everyday with children that are that same age, and have for many years. Be assured a person can twist what ever a child may say or even get a child to say what ever they want by a promise or a gift. The students I teach say things that I know are only how they have perceived a conversation or an act, but it is not necessarily so.

At this time Jacquelyn is doing better and has been released from the hospital and has been placed in a medical foster home. Do you have any idea what heartache Jackie’s mother and her family are going through? She has been at the hospital nearly everyday to care for and comfort her little girl. Being able to see each other everyday has been instrumental to help Jackie’s mother keep going through these atrocious and false accusations , and the one thing that has caused Jackie to heal. Seeing her mother is the one thing that Jackie looked forward to everyday. What will this do to a little child trying to heal after being in a hospital for over 19 weeks? Imagine not knowing how your 3 year old child may be doing or not being allowed to see your recovering child but 2 hours a month? Jackie is still going to need surgery later. She has done nothing to deserve the way she is being treated by the DCF and the courts.

I have had to ask myself the question many times, “Just who is the abuser in this situation?” It is not the parents. It is the people with no heart or genuine love for my grandchildren. To them it is just a job, a cruel job, and the children are the means of them making money. Do those people tuck them in at night and read them a Bible Story or sing them a song or give them “butterfly kisses” good night? Do these people pray for my grandchildren? I lay awake night after night, crying and praying for my children and grandchildren and writing this letter in my mind. My son and his wife cannot sleep or even eat properly for the heartache they are unjustly being made to endure.

Please pray and ask God to help you see the real abuser in this case. It is not our family. I am a grandmother with a broken heart and a constant prayer on her lips to keep her precious grandchildren’s minds and bodies safe. I have heard many horror stories from people who were in foster care as children. I don’t know what this is doing to my grandchildren and I can only imagine what they must think every day. Their daddy always told them he would be there to protect them and care for them and love them. Now some cold-hearted people are playing with their minds and they must wonder “When will my daddy come for me?” When will I feel my daddy’s arms around me and my mommy’s arms around me again? When will I see the mammaw who loves me so much again? When will I get to visit my aunts and uncles and cousins again? All my sons are fine Christian young men with families of their own. They are active in good Baptist churches and are raising their children right. So was this son, until an organization decided to stop all the good that was being done. You have not been told the facts, Your Honor, and in a country where we are suppose to be innocent until proven guilty my son and daughter are treated as though they are guilty and have to prove their innocence. Meanwhile precious children and wonderful parents are separated from one another. This is totally wrong.

Please, Your Honor, help put my family back together. Our government has put you into a position of trust and as someone having wisdom I am very respectful of this very thing. I know you are a busy person, but please consider all I have written and take a close look at what is going on in this case. Thank you from the heart of a heart-broken, and sad grandmother and mom.

Paula Jean Douglass