‘Off-the-Grid’ Parents Lose Custody of 10 Kids

Yahoo! News ^ | 05.12.2015 | Beth Greenfield

[dware]

Following a Monday court hearing, a Kentucky couple living what they call a “simple, back-to-basics life” in a rural, off-the-grid shack has lost custody, at least temporarily, of their 10 children. Joe and Nicole Naugler — who are expecting an 11th child in October — will remain under investigation by the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS), while their kids, ranging in age from 3 months to 15 years old, will stay in the agency’s custody.

[thackney]

Yes, when the parents choose getting a computer and running their blogs more important than walls through a couple of winters, there is more to the story than these few paragraphs.

[Dr. Sivana]

There’s something wrong in her eyes, like this is having the effect of abuse on her. And my sense was confirmed: another post says that the oldest kid is claiming physical and sexual abuse.
[. . .]

Closer to wrong as in “a woman that is likely to drown her children in that pond.” Or wrong as in “survivor of terrible abuse.” It’s the feminine equivalent of the thousand-yard gaze. [. . . ] there is a haunting gaze of desperate resignation.

Okay, now I understand. I only pick up the "look in the eyes" thing in extreme cases (e.g. Ted Bundy, random angry Muslim). I know it's real, and my wife picks up on these things MUCH better. Since the long denim skirt (or jumper) is the closest thing I know of to a home schooling mom's "uniform", and I know some great homeschooling families whose mom wears a style in the same "neighborhood", I feared that you had an issue with mothers who embrace that style as both practical and feminine.

All in all, I'd rather that they arrest the father, let the accuser bring his name to light, and give the eldest child a chance to make her case. Ten children ripped apart and placed in the foster care casino is not the best response, in my opinion.

[onemiddleamerican]

The oldest child has said he was abused and was removed from the home years ago. The father has a criminal record. He is a accused of stealing from his neighbor and threatening the neighbor with a knife. Judging form the photos the animals were held in a better pen than the kids. Homeschoolers and church members who know the parents say they are bad news.

1. The oldest child, who is 19, says he was abused. He left (for lack of a better term - the parents sent the boy on a plane from TX to his paternal grandparents' home in NH for a visit, and the paternal grandparents filed for custody) at age 4, and hasn't seen his father or stepmom for 15 years. Parents say no abuse.

2. Father does not have a criminal record. Father has a 10 year old adjudicated charge of writing a bad check. And around 4 years ago he went to jail for no license, no auto insurance, no car tags, child support arrears for son taken and adopted by another family member.

3. He is accused of...

4. Photos purporting to be the home are actually showing what the mom's photo captions call the summer kitchen. House apparently has 3 solid walls, with the 4th wall "removable" in warm weather, making it open to the summer kitchen. Roof of the home is metal. Tarp is over the summer kitchen. Parents say they have a composting toilet until the can get the old septic checked out from the mobile home that used to be on property before they arranged to finance purchase from property owner.

There is a lot of "he said, she said" and a lot of gossip and a lot we don't know.

What happened to presumption of innocence?

My mother was born on a farm in Appalachia that had no indoor plumbing. She had her siblings ran around barefoot, in flour sack dresses, chasing chickens and sheep and pigs and cows. The children became RNs, teachers and farmers... my aunt did not have indoor plumbing until 1976... and she raised her 4 children on the farm. They became teachers and a logger and truck driver. And she turned 100 years old on groundhog day this year. She never left the farm until her husband died 6 years ago.

It may not be your choice of a "happy home" but what about it gives you, or any of us, a right to condemn it as unacceptable?

[thackney]

Father does not have a criminal record.. he went to jail

Doesn't that sound contradictory?

[-YYZ-]

“This isn’t as cut and dried a situation as we think; there are issues with the parents that cast doubt on their motives...”

Parents seem like a couple of lazy neo-hippies to me, living in filth out in the woods. I’ve seen the pictures of their “home”, which looks like the sort of thing a group of homeless men might put together in an urban park (actually, they’d probably do better than this). They’re living in the woods with 10 children and not even a place to live with a solid roof or walls. I don’t think the people who settled Kentucky, way back, would have considered a couple of ratty tents an appropriate permanent living arrangement for their large and growing families.

[-YYZ-]

“It is obvious from the photos of the “home” (actually sticks stuck in the ground with a tarp overhead) that the children were not being cared for even at the most basic levels.”

Thank you - that’s what I thought, too. These people have been living “off the grid” on this piece of property for how long? And that’s the best they’ve managed to do in terms of creating a home?

[dangus]

You can live off the grid and provide for your kids’ health and safety. But this family isn’t “off the grid;” A bunch of sticks with a tarp over it is not a home.

[Politicalkiddo]

Why didn’t you say so, then?

[mjp]

Were the kids examined by a doctor and had blood tests? Were the kids’ educational levels tested? It might be a good idea to get some objective facts first before making any decisions.

[stellaluna]

My mother was a sharecroppers daughter. They didn’t have indoor plumbing until 1958. But they lived in a real house with real beds and their own well. Something about this doesn’t smell right. Family members have apparently remained silent. People who claim to know them say they are glad the kids are clean and safe now. Their defenders do not appear to be locals. I’d wait for more details before giving them money.