Judge Who Ordered Baby Steffen to be Removed from Life Support Orders Sister be Placed for Adoption

Annalise with her baby brother Steffen. Photo provided by the family.

by Health Impact News/MedicalKidnap.com Staff

The Rivenburg family was back in court on Monday morning, June 19. This time, it was to fight for Annalise, the big sister of Baby Steffen, the baby who was taken off of life support on June 8.

The family, including aunts, uncles, and cousins, were hopeful that the court would send little Annalise back home to be with her family, but that did not happen.

Instead, they learned that the Department of Children’s Services (DCS) now plans to terminate her parents’ parental rights and place her for adoption, presumably with the foster family with whom she and Baby Steffen were placed 4 months ago, just before the baby got sick.

They are devastated.

Patricia’s heart-wrenching sobs could be heard in the background as a family member told the news to Health Impact News. The thought of losing Annalise seems an unbearably cruel blow to the family that is still reeling from what they call Baby Steffen’s “potentially preventable” death.

Annalise with her baby brother at a visit in the hospital, after they were seized by DCS. Photo provided by the family.

See our coverage of the family’s story:

Medically Kidnapped Baby Scheduled for Execution TODAY!

Baby Scheduled to go Off Life Support Responding to Family – Rally and Court Date on Monday Morning

Civil Rights Abuse? Judge Only Gives Parents 24 Hours to Find Doctor Before Baby is Removed from Life Support

Family Seeks Answers on Baby’s Death – Threatened Arrest for Trying to Record Last Moments of Life

Parents Patricia Tornberg and Steffen Rivenburg Sr., along with grandmother, Lisa Rivenburg, went to the Montgomery County Juvenile Court in Clarksville, Tennessee, for a review hearing of the DCS dependency case.

According to the Reunite the Rivenburgs Facebook page:

The parents have filed a motion to have Judge Wayne Shelton recuse/disqualify himself for violation of their constitutional rights and his judicial canons.

They have also filed an appeal on the denial of the motion to stay that took Baby Steffen from the world over a week ago, which will be heard soon in a higher Court.

Grandma Lisa has her own motions – a motion for placement of Annalise with her or other kinship care, and a motion for visitation and phone calls with her granddaughter.

Kinship Placement Bypassed in Favor of Foster Care with Strangers

Lisa Rivenburg was reportedly not permitted into Judge Wayne Shelton’s courtroom on Monday, and her motions have been postponed until July 24. Lisa has been a huge part of Annalise’s life, but DCS has not permitted her to even see her granddaughter.

Lisa Rivenburg with her granddaughter Annalise in happier times, before DCS. Photo provided by the family.

DCS has allegedly not considered her for placement for her grandchildren, even though she has a “squeaky clean” record. She has never been in trouble with the law and graduated from college with honors. She homeschooled all 7 of her children, and has taken in other children besides her own over the years.

Other relatives with clean records have also reportedly been passed over for consideration for placement.

This is consistent with reports that we hear at Health Impact News from all over the country. States are able to secure far greater federal funding when children are placed into foster care with strangers as opposed to placement with family or friends that the children know.

See:

Report Exposes Why Corrupt CPS Agencies Seldom Place Foster Children with Family Members

Judge Who Ordered Life Support Removed from Baby Steffen Refuses to Recuse Himself

Judge Wayne C. Shelton. Image source.

Patricia and Steffen Rivenburg Sr. asked Judge Wayne Shelton to remove himself from future hearings dealing with their family. The motion notes that the family has appealed the judge’s decision which allowed Vanderbilt hospital to take their son off of life support.

They allege that their “objections, parental, and constitutional rights have been repeatedly ignored” in Judge Shelton’s court, and that he has not performed his duties impartially and fairly, instead showing bias and prejudice.

Patricia, Annalise, and Steffen – a family that needs each other after such a devastating loss. Photo supplied by the family.

Judge Shelton denied the motion to recuse himself.

The family has also learned that DCS does not consider that Baby Steffen is in their custody any longer, and is not planning to pay for his burial.

Is the Change to Terminate Parental Rights Retaliation for Speaking Out?

Even so, the most difficult part of court on Monday was the realization that DCS has decided that the goal of reunification with 6 year old Annalise, which was stated just last week, has been abruptly changed to a plan to terminate the parental rights.

They were crushed when the Guardian ad litem argued that it is now in Annalise’s best interest to be adopted by non-family members. This is the same GAL who reportedly told the judge to pull Baby Steffen off of life support, where doctors then administered the drugs that killed him.

Some supporters wonder if this is possibly retaliation against the family speaking out so vocally against DCS and about their experience with Baby Steffen at Vanderbilt. Most supporters that we spoke with believe that there is a cover-up happening, and that Annalise is an innocent victim caught up in the events.

The Rivenburgs have lost Baby Steffen. They just want to bring Annalise home and to heal together as a family.

How You Can Help

Supporters have set up a Facebook page for the family called Reunite the Rivenburgs. There, supporters can find more information on how to help the family.

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam may be reached at (615) 741-2001, or contacted here. Governor Haslam is also on Facebook.

The Senator for their district is Dr. Mark Green. He may be reached at (615) 741-2374, or contacted here.

Their state Representative is Representative Joe Pitts. He may be reached at (615) 741-2043, or contacted here.

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Published on June 20, 2017

4 Comments

grieving mom June 21, 2017 at 2:08 pm - Reply

Anna said:

This Judge who gave him the authority to play GOD… with people’s lives… No human at any time has the capability to know what is "BEST" for him or herself let alone for someone else… CPS has overstepped their authority beyond belief… WHO do they think they are… probably most of them are Narcissistic personalities with "control" issues… borderline pathological… people in these positions need to be screened for these traits… its no different then pedophiles who seek jobs as cross guards at schools, or as teachers… mentally disturbed people will seek what feeds their mental conditions.. no different than addicts with a drug… or smokers or alcoholics … why would we think or assume that all people in positions as judges, doctors, nurses, teachers etc. are mentally "FIT" for those positions..
then we are shocked when news come out that this nurse killed babies in the nursery… or teachers having affairs with their students.. or doctors pushing drugs and vaccines they wouldn’t push on their "own"… now judges who want to play GOD… how dare they… Our systems are not perfect but what makes them corrupt are people who are truly mentally disturbed passing as "normal"… what should be done is investigations should be set up to look into these people passing themselves as "normal"… lets look into their backgrounds and families… there is one Judge on You tube caught beating his daughter.. and he is a family court Judge???… when people rule harshly they need to be investigated.

This was my first thought too Anna – Look into the backgrounds of these judges and DHS entities etc, all who are "playing GOD." Particularly the judges, as it is they who are being given the ‘power" of final judgement. When I started looking into the backgrounds of those involved in my daughter’s medical kidnapping I found glaring evidence of serious criminal activity as well as what would surely be "diagnosed" as a serious mental disorder/deficiency.. And then the following cover-ups by superiors and hospital admin to save face/reputation, and to head off certain huge law suits is proof beyond a doubt that it is profit that trumps all humanity and decency and protecting our most vulnerable of all, a sick child. But these judges – they are being given ultimate power, unabated, to actually grant a death sentence of an innocent and helpless child. I wonder if it would make any difference in them if they were required to be the one to pull the plug, or at least to witness what they have ruled to be done.

grieving mom June 21, 2017 at 1:38 pm - Reply

"The family has also learned that DCS does not consider that Baby Steffen is in their custody any longer, and is not planning to pay for his burial."

After my desperate pleas begging them not to take my daughter’s life – not to take her off life support after they were done with her, she was no longer of any value to them and much to be exposed of what they did to her had there been any "real" investigation, I too was left with a dead child and everything that has to be done and decided – and paid for. Since she was taken 5 states away from home I had to find a way to get her back home to bury. Decisions that had to be made on the spot, immediately. Beside the added emotional devastation, these things are very expensive, especially when you have just been financially devastated from fighting the "system." I had to either pay several hundred dollars to have her transported and another few hundred for the "transfer box", which I did not have and no way to get, and the preparation costs (embalming etc) – or have her cremated for abut half that price and a funeral home from back home would pay that up front to the crematory five states away and bring her ashes with me, paying that bill in installments later. Then you have all the funeral planning (more funeral home costs) to do and bills to pay for all that. A casket if not cremated or holder for cremations if cremated – both are unbelievably expensive. And if your pastor has a fee, although it would surely be unheard of for a pastor to not wave such a fee in this circumstance, it is another hurdle to deal with. What kind of service do you want, any singers and music, the memorandum write up and what pictures to use, who to acknowledge, what to display, a lunch afterward, and on and on. These are all more costs – big expenses. Burial costs are on top of all this. First of course you have to find a cemetery and then choose the plot you want and can "afford." That fee is of course an up front fee as well. Then you have to pay the cemetery crew for the actual burial – preparing the ground, if you need a canopy etc, and then the burying of your loved one (closing the grave). And you’re not done yet. You have to then decide, at some point maybe into the future, what headstone to place and what to have on such headstone. Headstones are very very expensive. This is additionally traumatizing if you are not able to afford any way to mark your child’s resting place with a headstone. And one last thing, a burial plot is considered an "asset." So if after all this you are in need of some type of assistance until you can get your feet back on the ground, this burial plot will be counted against you as an asset.

Anna June 20, 2017 at 4:02 pm - Reply

Admin said:

The Rivenburg family was back in court on Monday morning, June 19. This time, it was to fight for Annalise, the big sister of Baby Steffen, the baby who was taken off of life support on June 8. The family, including aunts, uncles, and cousins, were hopeful that the court would send little Annalise back home to be with her family, but that did not happen. Instead, they learned that the Department of Children’s Services (DCS) now plans to terminate her parents’ parental rights and place her for adoption, presumably with the foster family with whom she and Baby Steffen were placed 4 months ago, just before the baby got sick. They are devastated. Patricia’s heart-wrenching sobs could be heard in the background as a family member told the news to Health Impact News. The thought of losing Annalise seems an unbearably cruel blow to the family that is still reeling from what they call Baby Steffen’s "potentially preventable" death.

This Judge who gave him the right to PLAY God?… this is happening everywhere with these two bit judges in family court… CPS as well has stepped way beyond their lines of authority… family court system and CPS needs to be restructured, eliminated, whatever but the way it is now is beyond reproach.. The problems they are causing, the violations of individual rights, parental rights this needs to STOP…

Anna June 20, 2017 at 4:02 pm - Reply

This Judge who gave him the authority to play GOD… with people’s lives… No human at any time has the capability to know what is "BEST" for him or herself let alone for someone else… CPS has overstepped their authority beyond belief… WHO do they think they are… probably most of them are Narcissistic personalities with "control" issues… borderline pathological… people in these positions need to be screened for these traits… its no different then pedophiles who seek jobs as cross guards at schools, or as teachers… mentally disturbed people will seek what feeds their mental conditions.. no different than addicts with a drug… or smokers or alcoholics … why would we think or assume that all people in positions as judges, doctors, nurses, teachers etc. are mentally "FIT" for those positions..

then we are shocked when news come out that this nurse killed babies in the nursery… or teachers having affairs with their students.. or doctors pushing drugs and vaccines they wouldn’t push on their "own"… now judges who want to play GOD… how dare they… Our systems are not perfect but what makes them corrupt are people who are truly mentally disturbed passing as "normal"… what should be done is investigations should be set up to look into these people passing themselves as "normal"… lets look into their backgrounds and families… there is one Judge on You tube caught beating his daughter.. and he is a family court Judge???… when people rule harshly they need to be investigated.