Kentucky Parents Found Not Guilty of Charges in Criminal Court but Family Court Refuses to Return Children

We bring you one Kentucky family’s story that illustrates the incredible struggle families face today in what many call an unjust Family Court, and what happens when DCBS relies on unproven allegations. When Danny and Leeann Foster of Christian County, Kentucky fell on hard times in the summer of 2015, they decided to move to Louisville to look for work. Not finding work there, Danny moved to Nashville, TN to work in his father’s business as an electrician, while Leeann and their two daughters, Bailey age 5 and Danica age 2, stayed in Louisville. Leeann ’s mother Sonya offered to have the children come stay with her for the summer, and since the children would enjoy summer back in their old town better than staying in Louisville, Leeann agreed. Leeann never could have imagined the nightmare that was about to unfold when her own mother would make allegations that she and Danny had sexually abused their own daughters. There is no argument that physical and sexual child abuse is a crime, and if found guilty in a due process Criminal Court of law, that the criminals should be incarcerated. But what if you were accused of sexual abuse based on a false allegation and a faulty medical exam, arrested, incarcerated, then released from jail because the Criminal Court dropped the charges for insufficient evidence, yet you learned that Family Court would not return your children because they were still going to press charges? How is it you can be Not Guilty in Criminal Court, but Guilty in Family Court on the same charges? The 5th Amendment says that no person shall be tried for the same offense twice, so it begs the question, is this a type of Double Jeopardy and a way around the 5th Amendment?