Kids were getting groceries. This chick, DFS Worker Tammy Ledbetter, pulled up in a little Cherokee and parked in front of Mandy's house. I asked Mandy who that was and she said she didn't know. She got out of the car and had a file in her hand and started walking towards us. I knew she was a social worker. I told the kids to go in the house. She came up and asked Mandy and Brandon and Dennis if they lived here and they said nothing. I said Can I help you and she said do you live here and I said yes. She said is your mom or dad here. I said no, and she said can I have your name and ask you a few questions, and I said no you can't. I said do you have a search warrant or court order or anything.

Ledbetter said no, but I can call the police. I said you go ahead and call the police - until you have a search warrant or a court order, you ain't talking to me or any of the boys. I gave her my mothers name and where she worked. Ledbetter went to her car and got on the cell phone. I went inside and called my mother. She said she would come right away and to keep the kids inside in one room and to lock the door. Dennis told her to leave and she went down the street. A cop drove by and they talked for awhile. The cop and Ledbetter walked up to the house. I met them in the driveway. The cop was calling in our license plate. They said can we talk to you and I said no. I said do you have a search warrant or court order. He said we don't need a search warrant or court order. I said yes you do sir, it's the law. He said I am the law I know the law. He said we just want to talk to the little kids and I said no you don't. I said do you know who my mom is and he said no and I really don't care. I said you will care eventually, I promise you. He said yeah, whatever. He asked my name and I said Paul. He asked if I had an ID and I said yes and gave it to him. He started calling it in. Then my mother drove up.

She got out - cop was yelling and cussing at me. They started talking to her and I asked for my ID back and
then went inside. I saw mother being handcuffed and went back out. Mother said to go call Lily. I told my friends Brandon and Dennis that if my mother got arrested not to open the door and that I was locking it and not to open it unless the cops had a search warrant. I called Lily and she said she was going somewhere and couldn't come over. I went and asked the cop if I could talk to my mother to ask her what she wanted me to do. He said no not right now. I
said that they're supposed to be here in the bests interests of the children and they won't let me ask my mom what she wants me to do with the kids then that contradicts everything they're here for. He went and said something to my mother. I told the DFS worker - I'm not trying to be sarcastic or nothing, but you're making career decision here and she started laughing.

I went back inside. I waited. I saw several cop cars pulling up - about 5 cars. They were all talking outside. I kept the door locked and my brothers in one room with the door locked. After awhile the cops came to the door - they asked me to come out and they said I want you to call all the kids out here and I said do you have a court order - and he said now listen, your mom tried to say that shit and now she's in the cop car. Then he said unless you want to go to juvenile you should let us talk to the kids and I said do you have a court order. Then he got mad at me and shoved me against the door, put me in hand cuffs and shoved me on the ground. He told me to open the door and I was like I can't and he said give me a key and I said I don't have a key.

They checked me for a key and then the first one that was there went around back and knocked on the back window and Brandon looked through the blinds and the cop said if you do not open the door you will go to jail so Brandon opened the back door. He told Dennis to open the front door and Dennis opened the door. The kids were coming out of the room and the cop took me out to the car. He said you're gonna spend a few days in Mountain Grove.

I saw all the kids being brought outside and talking to the cops and the DFS worker. They came to the car to get film once. The cuffs I had on were cutting into my wrists so the cop traded them out.

After like three or four hours, the cop came to take me out of the cuffs. They took me in the house and in my room. The DFS worker came in and asked dumb questions like what's your life like and do you do this, do you do that, and other stuff. She said don't you know watching kids is a lot of responsibility and you should be living life as a normal teenager. The cop also said he thought I was getting the short end of the stick having to watch kids all the time.

She asked if there was any cleaner in the house and I said yeah and she said where and I said under the sink and she said well that's where it should be. I walked out and went next door.

The cop,Wheeler, came over and said okay Paul here's what's going on, we're going to take the baby. Then
he said I'm going to go talk to your mom and see if she cooperates or you're all going to leave including
you. I said can I talk to my mom first and he said yes. Then we went to the cop car and he got my mom
out and took the cuffs off of her and then I asked her what she was going to do. The cop came back and told
me mom that they were taking the baby and that if she tried any shit he'd take all the kids. He said that
she better change her tune and cooperate with DFS and sign their agreement or he'd take all the kids right
now. After that I stayed next door and the cops and the DFS worker went and talked to my mom in the house and then
stole my baby brother.

About 10 or 10:30

Drove in once and drove out. Mandi and Tina were getting back from Skateworld. Cops asked if they knew Blase. Mandi said yeah, he'd over at my house. Then she came in and said Blase the cops want to talk to you. I went outside. He asked if he could talk to me in his car. I said okay and got in the car. He started talking and explaining the situation. First thing he said was that there was an anonymous report to DFS. I said you know anonymous reports are illegal, right? He said stop talking all that lawyer shit. Said that there was an anonymous report from DFS and that they'd been at my house for 4 hours. I said well first of all did my mom say you could come inside. He said that one of Paul's friends let him inside. I said well you know you're not allowed to go in the house without a search warrant. He said I know your mom has you coached to say that and that you're brainwashed to say that stuff. Everyone of the kids said that, even the 12 year old asked me for a search warrant. I asked if my mother said I had to talk to him. He said, Blase it's simple, you know, your mom messed up - your house was a total disaster area - house is in an uproar - your mom dropped the ball - Max picked up a bath bead and was eating it (we don't have bathbeads) and that the cop stopped him from eating it - and she realizes that she messed up and at first she was acting just like you were, she wasn't talking, wasn't answering any of our questions, then she realized that she was losing and she started answering our questions and let us talk to the kids - she signed a caseplan. I said again, Did my mom say that I had to talk to you. He said, Blase you're a juvenile and that I was just a kid or something. I said that may be, but I'm not in your custody, I'm in hers and I don't have to talk to you. I said, so if my mom did not say that I had to talk to you, then I'm not going to talk to you. I said I'm going back in now, goodbye. He said that I couldn't leave until he talked to DFS. While he was waiting for DFS to call, his daughter called on the cop phone and was wanting to know when he was going to bring by the money to Wendy's or something like that. Then he was like I'm on duty and that he'd have to call the house and ask her mom about it. Still waiting for DFS to call - his daughter called back like 5 minutes later and said that nobody was home. Tammy from DFS called. He said I got Blase here and you can talk to him tomorrow if he lets you. She said yeah if it lets me I can talk to him tomorrow. I went inside. He went in and asked Mandi for their address and their mom's name.

We were carrying groceries in from the van. This lady came and started talking to Paul about something. Then Paul just said for all of us to go inside. Paul's friends were here (3 friends - Mandy and 2 other guys). We all went to our bedroom. While we were in our room, we saw our mother was here from the window. Then we saw her in cuffs being brought to the cop car. We were there for about awhile and then one of Paul's friends said come on out. Then we saw Paul by the front door in cuffs. The cops took Paul and all of us outside. Then Paul was taken to a cop car. Then the cop said well everyone listen up - this is no big deal, we just want to speak with you to get the facts straight - we tried to talk to your mother and your brother but they won't tell us - it's no big deal. He said no big deal several times. While we were talking to the social worker, the cops were going in our house and taking pictures and stuff. Ledbetter said do you know what I do. I said you come to people's houses to see what's wrong and sometimes you take kids away and she said no, not quite. I'm just a family helper, I just go around to families to see if they need anything and help them out - like if they're short on clothes, I'd see what I could do to get them more.

The social worker asked me my name, my age, my mother's name, my dad;s name, where my mother worked, where my dad worked, if we needed anything in the house, if we have enough to eat, if we have enough clothes, where do we go to school and do I go to school.

While Max was crawling around the driveway, I picked him up and took him inside to get a coat. Then I asked the cops if they had a warrant to come in and take pictures. They go, listen kid, we're cops, we know what we're doing, we have every right to come in here. Your Mother and brother - they tried to fight with us and now they're in the cop car in cuffs. We have every right to come in here. You're a smart young boy, you don't want to get in the middle of this. I went and got Max a coat and brought him back outside and put him in the front seat of the van. I gave him a pop tart from the groceries that were still in the van. Ledbetter was talking to the other kids and I was with Max. She asked them pretty much the same questions.

Then we all went back inside. All the cops were outside. Then one or two came inside with us. There were about 5 cops cars here. After a long time, Paul came in. Then Mother came in. She was talking with the social worker in the kitchen. I heard that she had to sign a form and if she signed it they wouldn't take any kids away. She agreed not to work and to stay home with us. Then Max was tooken away. All the cops left with Max in his car seat.

10/10/03 (about 5:15)

Came in the house from cop car at 8:30.

Paul called at work and said that DFS was here. He said that he told her she needed a court order or search warrant and that all the kids were inside. I asked if Ledbetter left and he said that she was sitting in her car. I figured she was probably calling law enforcement. I said that I would come right away and to make sure everyone stayed inside and
that they were clean and Max was dressed and diapered.

When I arrived, Paul was in the driveway with a Taney Co Sheriff Deputy and the DFS worker. The cop, Sheriff Deputy Loberg, was yelling and cussing at Paul. Paul was maintaining that they needed a warrant and they we're going to be sorry eventually. Loberg said that he didn't need a warrant and that it was no big deal, they just needed to talk to the kids to unsubstantiate some allegations.

I asked Ledbetter if I could help her and she said that she had a call that the kids were home unsupervised and that she just needed to talk to them to unsubstantiate that claim. I said that this would be no problem - I just needed to see her court order. She rolled her eyes and the cop said that they didn't need a court order. Ledbetter, Tammy Ledbetter, said that this was not an investigation; it was an assessment so they didn't need a court order for an assessment. I said that according to her manual, section a-4, she can only request law enforcement assistance on investigations of allegations that violate the criminal code, not on assessments. I also said that in this section, her investigation shall end when a parent requests a court order.

The Loberg said that I would regret not cooperating with them and asked what I had to hide. I said that these
laws were enacted by our legislators to protect children and that I thought they should always be followed. I asked why he wanted to skip procedure. Loberg said this is the procedure. I said that a court order is required and all they need to do is present probable cause to the judge to get an order. I said that they could have an order here in half an hour if
they had probable cause; and that if they didn't have probable cause, they shouldn't be here to begin with.

The Loberg asked for my ID. I said that I didn't have it with me because I left work quickly. He asked for my name and date of birth. I asked why he needed this and if I was being pulled over or detained. I also said that if I'm in my home he can't compel me to give information without a search warrant or court order. Loberg said that he was going to take me to jail if he couldn't validate who I was. He said that there were children in the home and he needed to verify that I was the mother or he'd take me to jail. I gave my name . Paul made some comment and Loberg told him, "you need to shut up, I'm law enforcement, I know what I'm doing." I said that I wanted him to get a supervisor here because I didn't like the way he was speaking to me or my son and he clearly didn't know the law so I felt that we needed a supervisor here monitoring the situation. I asked him to please call his supervisor. Loberg then flipped me around and handcuffed me and said I'll call a supervisor in a very sarcastic tone. I told Paul to go in and call Lily, a friend of ours, to come over. Paul went inside and the Loberg took me to his car.

Then Loberg got in the front and called the dispatcher and asked her to contact 115 (?). She said, "I don't want to" and he said, "You don't want to? Well you have to." The dispatcher connected the supervisor and the cop and he asked him to come out and assist. Very soon, there were several cop cars here, about 4 or 5. Then, Sheriff Supervisor, Matt Wheeler, came to the car and said that he knew me and has always found me reasonable. Wheeler said that all they wanted to do was see the kids. I said that I wanted out of the handcuffs, that I can't be detained when they have no legal authority to be here to begin with. I told him, like the other cop, that they could get a court order very quickly if they had probable cause. Wheeler said that the report was anonymous so they couldn't get a court order. I was trying to explain that the law protects children and that my children were being traumatized right now because they knew their mother was in a cop car handcuffed. Wheeler got angry and slammed the door.

They all talked for awhile. Wheeler came back and said that if I didn't cooperate they would arrest me for obstruction of a DFS investigation and 33 my children. I started to respond and Wheeler said, "Look we're going in your house, we'll hold you here in the car while we go in your home, we're getting in there one way or another." Then he said again that he's always found me reasonable and I needed to cooperate with them. I said that if they entered my home without a court order, it would be a blatant constitutional violation and that if this happened, each officer would be held personally liable. I said that I strongly recommend that he contact his legal counsel first. Wheeler shut the door, they talked more, and then they went up to my house. After awhile, I saw my 16-year-old son, Paul being led out in handcuffs and put into the car behind me.

Next, I saw all my children being led out into the driveway. Ledbetter was standing in front of our van and the kids were brought out and placed in front of her, facing her. The cop was talking to them, and then Ledbetter was talking to them. They could see both me and Paul in cop cars. Max was wearing a short outfit and was crawling around the driveway. There was water in the driveway from rain. Several cops and the DFS worker were standing around while Max was crawling in the driveway.

Clinton picked Max up and went inside. After awhile he came back out and Max had a coat on. He put Max inside the front passenger seat of the van. The DFS worker was talking to the other kids.

Wheeler came out and said, "Every one of your fucking kids is telling me I need a search warrant. This is shit that you've put into their heads." I said that he does need a search warrant and my children were right. He said that I was brainwashing them.

After awhile the kids went back inside. The cops and the DFS worker continued to talk. At one point they
got Paul out of the cop car and changed out his handcuffs. A lot of time went by while they were all on radios and cell phones. Eventually they came to get Paul out of the cop car. They took him in the house. I saw Paul come out and talk with the neighbors next door. Wheeler came to tell him something, then they both came over to the cop car.
He took my cuffs off and said that Paul wanted to talk to me. Paul asked what I was going to do. Wheeler interrupted and said that they were taking Max. He said that I was reasonable, that I needed to listen to what he was saying because if I didn't sign an agreement with the DFS worker, he would take all my kids. Wheeler said he didn't want to hear any lawyer shit and to shut up and listen to him and that if I gave them any crap about signing this caseplan, he would take all the kids.

I came inside and talked to the DFS worker. She had a safety plan filled out and asked if I'd sign it. I told her I would if they would leave Max. I said that I would stay home from work with Max until the DFS worker was satisfied if they would leave Max here. She said that it wasn't up to her, it was up to the cops. I asked Wheeler the same thing and pleaded with him to leave Max. I explained that he nurses at night and that he's very bonded with his brothers and going to foster care would be very traumatic for him. I said that I would do whatever he wanted if he would not take Max. Wheeler said I should've thought about that before I decided to fight with them.

Wheeler made it very clear that I had to sign the plan or he would take all the kids - Wheeler said "if you even say one word about this, I will walk out the door with them right now." I signed the plan. The DFS worker gave me some papers. She had me initial a paper that listed my rights and responsibilities, but said that she didn't have a copy of this form. She left copies of everything else. She asked if I had a car seat and I got it out for her. She took 4 diapers, a can of powdered formula and a bottle with her. They all left.

Clinton cried uncontrollably for quite awhile because he was worried about Max.