A Montana couple who claim they lost custody of their daughter after opposing a gender transition now allege the 14-year-old was taken from them by the state’s child protective services without a warrant, according to a new lawsuit.
The teen’s father, Todd Kolstad, and stepmother, Krista, slapped the agency with a federal suit earlier this week, claiming that social workers allegedly took their child without due process by not having a judge sign off on the warrant, the Daily Montanan reported.
The couple also allege their religious freedoms were ignored and their civil rights violated when CPS opted to put the teen in a psychiatric facility in Wyoming instead of Montana — and then banned them from communicating with the child.
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The couple, however, said they refused the teen’s request because of their strong religious beliefs.
State officials were alerted last summer when H.K. expressed suicidal thoughts at school and was admitted to a hospital for inpatient psychiatric care after claiming to have ingested a mix of ibuprofen and toilet bowl cleaner.
Concerned about the risk of suicide and imminent harm, state officials argued at the time that they were justified in taking custody of H.K.
But the couple claim the social workers lied in an affidavit that H.K. faced “an imminent risk of physical harm” and left out any mention of their religious beliefs.
“Seizing a child without a warrant is excusable only when officials have reasonable cause to believe that the child is likely to experience serious bodily harm in the time that would be required to obtain a warrant,” the court filing states.
“(CPS) knew that H.K. was not facing an imminent substantial risk of serious harm when they seized her on Aug. 22,” the suit continued. “Defendants’ deceit of the state court made the court’s proceedings against the Kolstads a sham from start to finish.”
When it took custody of the teen, the state said it was trying to find a permanent bed in a psychiatric hospital for H.K., the lawsuit notes.
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The couple believed Montana banned medical support for teens looking to transition given that the issue is still being litigated in state courts, according to the suit.
They claim state officials switched the plans at the last minute and moved H.K. to a psychiatric treatment center in neighboring Wyoming against their wishes and banned them from contacting the teen.
The state agency didn’t immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment about the litigation.
The lawsuit comes after the case spilled into the public realm earlier this year when Gov. Greg Gianforte ordered Lt. Gov. Kristen Juras to carry out a review of the case.
Gianforte, a Republican, later backed the social workers after Juras’ probe found “the court have followed state policy and law in their handling of this tragic case.”
In a statement to The Post, Gianforte’s office stressed the state doesn’t remove minors from homes to provide gender transition services or use public funds to pay for those services while a minor is in the state’s custody.
“As outlined in its statement of purpose, Child Protective Services protects children who have been or are at substantial risk of abuse, neglect or abandonment,” a spokesperson said at the time.
H.K. currently resides with his biological mother in her native Canada.
* Original Article:
https://nypost.com/2024/05/23/us-news/montana-parents-who-lost-custody-of-daughter-after-opposing-gender-transition-claim-14-year-old-was-taken-without-warrant/amp/?utm_source=smartnews&utm_campaign=nypost&utm_medium=referral
