Last weekend's "taking" of little Elian Gonzales must have stimulated mixed emotions among officials here at the Key West Office of the State Dept. of Children & Families (DCF).
On one hand, the sight of armed-to-the-teeth law enforcement officers smashing down doors to grab a terrified 6-year-old must have been downright orgasmic for the local DCF baby-snatchers. That's their kind of action.
But, on the other hand, they must have suffered some confusion, knowing that Operation Reunion was being conducted on behalf of Elian's father. That's just not the way it works down here.
Typically, the DCF snatches babies from the parents and places them with strangers in foster homes, not the other way around.
The case of Nick and Carrie Nowatney is a good example. Last September, when DCF officials learned that both of the Nowatney children— Natalie, 3, and Nathan, 1— had suffered broken arms within a year, they were able to talk a judge into letting them take those little children.
But that was just the beginning. For the next five months, the DCF shuffled those kids between three different foster homes up and down the Keys. In one of those foster homes, Nathan got a diaper rash so serious, it blistered.
Meanwhile, other parents who had also had their kids snatched by the DCF were getting their children back in just a few day— even though some of these parents are booze-swilling drug addicts. Why? Because they were willing to plead "guilty" to the DCF charges and accept their "services", such as psychological evaluation, parenting classes and family budget counseling.
So why couldn't the Nowatneys get their kids back? Simply because they wouldn't cop a plea and accept the DCA's "services."
Because they wouldn't yield, because they wouldn't plead guilty to something they didn't do, DCF officials decided to make examples of them. In essence, the DCF officials said, "If you don't plead guilty and accept our services, we'll keep your kids indefinitely and put you on trial— and that could take a long time and cost you plenty!"
And the really sad part of this story is that the judiciary has gone along with this outrage— even as the evidence has continued to build that the Nowatneys are innocent:
• Both the Army and the Navy conducted separate investigations and found no evidence of child abuse. Nick is a medic with an elite Army Special Forces unit assigned to the Naval Air Station here.
• Doctors who treated the children said they saw no evidence of child abuse.
• Full-body x-rays of both children showed no evidence of child abuse.
• Both parents voluntarily sat for polygraph examinations. Innocence indicated.
• Neighbors, babysitters, fellow church members and co-workers and others who see the kids often say they've never seen any evidence of child abuse.
Finally, just last month, the situation apparently just got too embarrassing— the spectacle of the DCF, unable to make a case, continuing to hold children hostage to coerce a guilty plea from the parents. Judge Mark Jones ruled that the kids could move back home, even though the trial wasn't even set to begin until March 27.
Doesn't that seriously beg this question: Why weren't the kids allowed to move back home in September or October? Or November or December? Or January or February? Why indeed?!
The trial started on March 27. During the first two days, several of the state's paid medical experts testified that the broken arms "could have" been the result of child abuse.
Then, over the next two days, two other top medical experts, who were testifying for the defense at no charge— because the fight to clear their name has financially exhausted the Nowatneys— argued persuasively against the possibility of child abuse.
"Forearm breaks are common in childhood," said one medical expert, "but they are not common in child abuse cases. Children who have been abused are more likely to suffer broken ribs, collarbones and bones in their shoulders."
When the trial continued for a half-day on April 14, the DCf found itself in the bizarre situation of trying to convince the judge that one of it's own state-approved psychologists should not testify— because her psychological evaluations of the Nowatneys turned out to be so favorable.
The trial resumed again yesterday.
Now, back to the Elian story. If those who oppose Elian being sent back to Cuba have enough gumption, here's how they can stop that from happening.
1. Somehow trick his father into bringing Elian to Key West.
2. Once they are here, call the Child Abuse Hotline and accuse the father of child abuse. It doesn't even have to be a real complaint.
3. The local DCF people would then talk a local judge into letting them take Elian and put him into a foster care home somewhere in the Keys. (This would probably be a done deal. Nobody can remember the last time a local judge suggested to the DCF that it might, just might, be better for the kids to stay with the parents.)
4. The beauty of this strategy is that, unless Elian's father agreed to plead guilty to the DCF's child abuse charges and go to parenting classes, the DCF might never give him back his child.
5. Elian's uncle in Miami could then apply to the DCF to become a foster parent. But that might take a long time and, unfortunately, in the meantime, the DCF might shuffle Elian to a different foster home every week. Some of the foster parents might even speak Spanish.
NOTE: The outrage continues! While State Attorney Kirk Zuelch (who is running for reelection) has millions of taxpayer dollars to spend to try to run this young family into the ground, the Nowatneys have been financially exhausted by the state's dishonorable efforts to make their children "dependent".
If you want to help— and your help is needed— send your contribution to to the Nowatney's legal defense fund. We call it the "Mama, am I still in Foster Care Fund" because that's what little Natalie always asked her mother every time she saw her during those long months when she was being forced by the DCF to live with strangers.
To contribute, drop your check off at our office at 422 Fleming St. or mail it % Key West The Newspaper, PO Box 567, Key West FL 33041. Questions: Call Dennis Reeves Cooper, 292-2108.