Boys Found in NJ to be Returned to Florida

1010WINS ^ | 03/13/2003

[gaucho]

Three young brothers allegedly taken by their parents from a Florida foster home will return to that state rather than stay with family members in North Plainfield, authorities said Thursday.

The state Division of Youth and Family Services is working with Florida officials to returned the children "as soon as possible," spokesman Joe Delmar told the Courier News of Bridgewater.

New Jersey DYFS officials took custody of the children, ages 4, 6 and 8, after their parents, Donna and Giovanni Conigliaro, were arrested Saturday in North Plainfield near the home of one of their relatives.

Police said the Conigliaros assaulted the children's foster mother in Cocoa, Fla., and forcibly took the boys from her care last Friday. They fled to Donna Conigliaro's hometown of North Plainfield, police said.

The boys had been put in protective custody by court order Feb. 6, according to Florida law enforcement officials.

That followed a Jan. 8 incident when the Florida Highway Patrol stopped Donna Conigliaro for speeding on Interstate 95 with her children not wearing seat belts.

According to a report by Titusville, Fla., police officers, who accompanied a Florida Department of Children & Families caseworker to the Conigliaro's home the next day, Giovanni Conigliaro became "enraged." He said he would kill anyone who tried to take his children, the report said.

Police said they subdued Conigliaro with two Taser shots after he lunged at them.

[gaucho]

Follow up to the story.

I don't understand why they can't say with relatives. I also don't understand what justification the Florida Division of Youth and Family Services had to taking these kids away from their parents a month ago because they where not wearing seatbelts (a dumb move, but not a justification for removing the kids from their parents).

Sounds like Florida supports state sanctioned kidnapping of children to me.

[Coleus]

It's not right but who knows if this is the whole story. Let's face it, the father had to be shot twice with stun guns which means he may have a record for violence.

[gaucho]

It's not right but who knows if this is the whole story. Let's face it, the father had to be shot twice with stun guns which means he may have a record for violence.

I don't have a history of violence yet I would probably need multiple taser shots if they tried to take my kids away from me. There have been several stories in the media over the past year regarding the Florida Youth Services agency. It seems to me that they really do overstep their bounds because they profit from it in the form of finacial compensation from the state for holding kids.