Camden

A rambunctious seven-year-old Ohio boy was taken from his parents after they refused to have him diagnosed with a mental disorder and put on psychoactive drugs.

Katie Maple knows how to deal with her son, Camden. When he gets bored, he acts out and becomes boisterous, as she puts it, “like children sometimes do.” But at the Bowman Primary School in Lebanon, they don’t know how to deal with Camden, so they demanded the parents force him to undergo a mental evaluation and be placed on drugs to make him more manageable.

The district won’t comment on Camden’s case, but here’s Katie’s side of the story:

My stepson Camden is a very energetic and intelligent 7 year old. He tested a full grade level above where he should be! Camden gets very good grades, but he gets bored easily in class and acts out on occasion, like children sometimes do. The school thinks he is ADHD, we as parents disagree. We believe that it stems mostly from boredom and not being challenged in the classroom. The school has tried on several occasions to get us to have him diagnosed, so that he can be medicated. We as parents do not have the problems the school claims to have with him, at home. We know how to deal with a rambunctious 7 year old, but the school is content with making him believe that he is a bad child, we disagree.

The school did not like us going against their recommendations and proceeded to call children services 4 times over the course of the past year for false allegations ranging from physical abuse, neglect and no food in the house. We have no idea where these allegations came from, as we do not abuse our children and we have plenty of food. They were obviously completely made up. [Child Protective Services] (CPS) never contacted us about these phone calls because they themselves admit that the calls were unsubstantiated.

What triggered the event that had Camden removed from the Maples home happened in late February when Camden decided to get a rise out of the school counselor:

Upon meeting with the school counselor, Camden stated that he was upset because he felt that he was bad and wanted to erase himself from the earth. The counselor asked him how he would do that and he stated that he would stab himself in the eye with a knife. My husband immediately went to school and got Camden. We had a long conversation with him when he got home to find out what was going on. Camden said that he did not want to hurt himself and just said that because he was upset and wanted to see what the counselor would say. The school thought we should have taken him to the hospital emergency room for a mental health evaluation, but upon assessing the situation and speaking to him at home, it was clear to us that he posed no threat to himself and just said it to get a rise out of the counselor. He has never said anything about harming himself prior to this incident or after. This was one time, one day…most likely repeating something he heard somewhere.

The next morning, school officials called the Maples and wanted to know how the hospital visit was. When they informed them that they did not take him to the hospital, they insisted on knowing what exactly Camden said to his parents. The parents refused, saying they don’t need to discuss private conversations with school officials.

The school called CPS, who contacted Camden’s dad, Christian, and wanted to go to the home and investigate. Christian said the child was fine and they would not be allowed to come into the home, citing their Fourth Amendment right to privacy.

Then all hell broke loose:

Two weeks AFTER the incident at school my husband received a call from a CPS worker informing him of a court hearing for later that same afternoon. Upon appearing in court we find out that the allegations have now changed from neglect to a “dependent child” case. We find out that this is an “Emergency shelter care” hearing later, we had no idea what we were walking into. It is so much of an emergency that it took them TWO WEEKS to file for the hearing, when in true emergencies they are supposed to file within 24 hours. Are you smelling something fishy yet?

They are alleging that Camden has a mental condition (without ever speaking to him or as so much as laying an eye on him) so severe that it warrants removing him from his home and family and placing him in the care of children services. They have zero proof of any such condition and zero proof of any parental wrongdoing, but yet the court ordered him removed? How can this be? How can CPS get away with ripping children from loving homes without just cause?

The Maples have set up a GoFundMe page seeking donations to fight and get their son back.

“CPS should not have this much unchecked power!,” she ended her plea for help. “We will not let them get away with this! We will not rest until our son is home with his family where he belongs!”

Written by Robert Gehl for and published by The Federalist Papers ~ April 14, 2017.

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