Highland County Juvenile Court judge places child in temporary custody of HCCS; issues repeated warnings to mother
An emergency hearing was held Thursday afternoon in Highland County Juvenile Court, where Judge Kevin Greer ordered a young child to be placed in the temporary custody of Highland County Children Services.
The child is alleged to be abused, neglected and/or dependent due to an allegation of sexual assault, according to the complaint filed Wednesday, Feb. 21 and testimony Thursday from caseworker Hannah Workman.
After the child’s mother told Judge Greer that she objected to the agency having custody of the child, Greer heard evidence from Workman, under examination by Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins.
According to Workman, the HCCS agency received a referral from an area hospital Feb. 20 about the case. The child disclosed allegations of physical and sexual abuse, allegedly perpetrated by three individuals, to the mother. Workman said the mother allegedly waited several days to seek medical attention because she felt “she needed to make sure the child was telling the truth.”
After Children Services began investigating, Workman said that the mother “refused to cooperate,” allegedly giving the agency different addresses, including in at least four different cities. Workman said that welfare checks were performed by law enforcement at some locations, while caseworkers also drove to other locations and were unable to find the mother or child to talk to them in person.
Workman testified that she was originally able to speak to the mother on the phone, but the mother hung up on her. In a later phone call, Workman said the mother allegedly said “it was disrespectful” that Workman had contacted her and that the address where they were staying was “none of [the agency’s] business.
“I did stress the importance of filing a police report and a forensic interview to make sure that justice was served and the child is safe,” Workman said. “She wouldn’t give me an address and eventually hung up the phone.”
Workman said that after talking to the prosecutor’s office, she again contacted the mother to let her know about the agency seeking temporary custody and about the hearing. She said the mother “cussed at” her and “hung up on me again.” Another caseworker also contacted the mother on the phone, according to Workman.
“The mom said she didn’t care if we had custody, that she was not going to tell us where she was or give us the child,” Workman said.
In response, Greer gave repeated warnings to the mother while issuing his judgment, after he appointed attorneys for the mother and child. On four different occasions, the judge warned the mother that if the court cannot notify her of subsequent hearings, they will “have a hearing without” her.
“I understand to a point your reluctance to tell your address, but understand this — if we don’t know where you are, you’re going to miss the hearing, and I’m going to proceed without you,” Greer told the mother.
Greer also told the mother that he was “not going to tolerate profanity” aimed at the caseworkers. “That’s got to stop, and it will stop,” the judge said.
As the mother appeared without counsel, Greer explained why she was not allowed to testify Thursday. He told her if any of the “horrible things” alleged in the complaint by the child occurred, “I’m going to do everything I’m allowed to do under the law to make sure the adults involved are going to be prosecuted.
“You could be one of them,” Greer said. “That’s why we don’t let you testify at this stage of the case.
“You may not have done anything wrong. You may have done a lot wrong. That’s yet to be determined.”
Greer concluded the hearing by ordering the child to remain in the custody of the agency — with parental visits to be “under strict supervision” — and issuing yet another warning to the mother.
“My job is to protect children,” Greer told her. “The best way to do that, with the deception you’ve shown so far, is to have Children Services protect the child.”
To the agency, Greer added to Workman, “If this family gets out of hand, I want to know about it, and I will take care of it — quickly.”
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