Posted on 10/11/2005 11:48:33 AM PDT by WmCraven_Wk
POTTSVILLE, Pa. -- Melissa WolfHawk, due to give birth any day now, lives in fear that her baby will be taken from her - by the government. The county child-welfare agency believes her child won't be safe because her husband is a sex offender who spent more than a decade in prison for rape in a case involving two teenage girls.
But WolfHawk says her husband of three years, DaiShin WolfHawk, is no "monster," and she won a federal court order Sept. 30 keeping child-welfare workers from asking about her pregnancy, at least until a hearing next week.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which has taken her side, argued that the county was too aggressive in monitoring her pregnancy and will ask a judge Monday to block the agency from taking the baby.
Melissa WolfHawk also is fighting to regain custody of another child, a girl now 21 months old living with a family in Maryland, in a case that also began with questions about her husband's fitness as a father.
Despite the restraining order she won last month, Melissa WolfHawk is still required to notify the Schuylkill County Department of Children and Youth Services within 24 hours of giving birth.
"I am living every woman's worst nightmare - that when your child is born and you close your eyes for one second, if that baby isn't sleeping on your chest, you open your eyes and that child isn't going to be there," the 31-year-old said in an interview last week at her modest row home in this town 75 miles northwest of Philadelphia.
She said she is not worried about her husband's past.
"If he was this miserable monster - and I've dealt with miserable monsters - I wouldn't be able to close my eyes at night, knowing I was carrying his child," she said.
DaiShin WolfHawk, 53, was known as John Joseph Lentini when he pleaded guilty in his native state of New York in 1983 to rape, attempted rape, sodomy and attempted sodomy.
"I'm not saying I was an angel. Maybe more like a Hells Angel," he said in an interview.
DaiShin WolfHawk, who is unemployed, said he lives about 20 miles from the home his wife shares with her father. He described himself as the chief of an American Indian tribe, the Unole E Quoni, which he says has 175 families in eight states but is not recognized by any state or by the federal government.
The ACLU argues that officials in Pennsylvania have no right under state law to question Melissa WolfHawk about her unborn baby, and that DaiShin WolfHawk should not be punished further.
"There's just no evidence in this case that Mr. WolfHawk has engaged in criminal acts against very young minors," said attorney Paula Knudsen. "And while the charges that were lodged against him in the early 1980s are not excusable, he certainly has paid his time for those crimes and has moved on."
Melissa WolfHawk's federal lawsuit, filed in Harrisburg, says county officials violated her due-process rights by threatening "to 'take' her baby" and leaving notes on her front door saying they were monitoring her pregnancy.
Schuylkill County Children and Youth Services confirmed in a Sept. 23 letter to WolfHawk's attorney that the department may seek custody of the boy once he is born.
"Schuylkill County Children and Youth Services believes this child's physical and emotional health is in danger because of the abuse perpetrated by the natural father against other minor children," wrote agency attorney Karen E. Rismiller.
Rismiller told The Associated Press that confidentiality rules prohibit her from commenting further.
"Every case you need to look at individually and assess the safety factors, not only of children who may be in (foster) care but any children born subsequently," she said.
© 2005 The Associated Press
Maybe the ACLU is on the right side this time(for a change).
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I agree. This reminds me of a Texas story where a girl was taken from her parents and her brothers and sisters were taken as well because the parents didn't follow 'government perscribed' cancer treatments:
http://www.neoperspectives.com/katie_wernecke.htm
Jerry Springer, is that you?
I can't seem to think of a comment snarky enough to convey my utter contempt for this imbecile.
Good Lord!!!
"Jerry Springer, is that you?"
This does sound like it would a great candidate for the JS carnival if it wasn't so tragic.
Not yet lady, not yet. Just wait a few years.
The article didn't mention if he was a registered sex offender? Are there restrictions on who he can live with/associate with? Those don't disappear because the children are yours.
I don't think child rapists get better - sounds like a horrific place to knowingly let a child live.
Our choices in life have long lasting consequences - the safety of the children should trump any 'right' or trying to prove child rapists can rehabilitate. This isn't about the rights of the parents. It it about safety for the children.
"There's just no evidence in this case that Mr. WolfHawk has engaged in criminal acts against very young minors," said attorney Paula Knudsen
Well then, by all means, let's put the child in danger and see if he will ! (sarcasm)
It sounds like she, the Mother and the ACLU would like to give him ample opportunity to produce that evidence.
Its all about YOU isn't it lady....
When you wake up to hear your 14 year old daughter sobbing in her bed are you going to go find out why, or are you going to cover your ears and pretend he's still not a monster...?
Amen
Are you friggin kidding me? Would you want this cretin around your children? I don't care who he violated PERIOD. He is subhuman and should not be around children PERIOD. If his wife is so stupid I also think she ought be sterilized.
If he were in his early twenties when it happened, and the girls were very adult looking and acting girls, who engaged in consenting, non-forced sex with him, I might agree..
However, the guy was 31 when he plead guilty... and no details were given here about the age and level of engagement of the girls... Whether this was a forcible or unforced act. The charge of "rape" and "attempted rape" leads me to believe there was a struggle and an element of violence to get compliance. That's a major distinction to be clear about.
A long time has passed... but many are adamant when sex offenses occur, that there should be a lifetime punishment for such crimes, and that punishment usually means no contact with potential victims.
She has already had one child taken from her because of this man, so she has another?
I'm with the government on this one. This woman is in DENIAL. The child is the one who will pay for the mother's mistrust, ignorance and stupidity..
"What's wrong with you?"
Who are you to say that his man's crimes are unforgivable? Since when is a convict not allowed to continue life after he pays his debt to Society? Are you trying to say that he is not allowed to marry, raise a family and go on with his life because of his past mistakes? While I would agree that the situation should be monitored closely and the local Child Services should be concerned, the forcible abduction of the child by the State from the mother, who has, by the way, done nothing wrong, is wholly unjustified.
You have no right to question what is 'wrong with me' considering your heartless attitude.
I'm with the government too. The child will pay a life long heavy price. God help it.
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