Embattled Parents to Pursue All Legal Options Against 'Unlawful Seizure' of Kids

>>News Alerts: Subscribe to a free email newsletter: BETHESDA •ROCKVILLE • SILVER SPRING

A couple says they will fight what they called the unlawful seizure by Montgomery County Police of their children – describing it as a terrifying detainment by police and Child Protective Services – when the children were three blocks from home.

The Meitivs of Silver Spring believe kids living in a city must be given the tools and confidence to safely navigate their neighborhood without their parents. That philosophy, known as free-range parenting, has already put the couple at odds with Montgomery County’s Child Protective Services, which said in February that Danielle and Alexander Meitiv had committed unsubstantiated neglect of their children for an earlier unsupervised trek to a local park.

Their attorney said in a statement Tuesday that the government has overstepped its role, and is interfering with the rights of parents to raise their children as they see fit.

Authorities said a file will be open on the family for the next five years after the parents allowed Rafi, 10, and his younger sister, Dvora, 6, to walk home by themselves from a neighborhood park.

SEE ALSO: ‘Walk Heard Around the World’: Parents Face 5 Years of Legal Purgatory

On Sunday, someone called police – as happened in two earlier cases – to report the Meitiv children were alone. The siblings were picked up by Montgomery County Police about 5 p.m. and turned over to the Child Protective Service, authorities told The Washington Post. Danielle says the children were released to their parents at 10:30 p.m. Sunday.

Once Danielle and Alexander signed a safety plan agreeing not to leave their children unattended the family was allowed to leave CPS, WUSA TVreports. The parents do not plan to violate the terms of the plan and risk another seizure of their children, they said.

The Meitivs’ attorney, Matthew Dowd, a partner with Wiley Rein, said in a statement on Facebook: “The Meitivs are rightfully outraged by the irresponsible actions of Maryland CPS and Montgomery County Police. We must ask ourselves how we reached the point where a parent’s biggest fear is that government officials will literally seize our children off the streets as they walk in our neighborhoods. The Meitivs intend to fully vindicate their rights as parents and their children’s rights, and to prevent this from happening to their children again. The CPS investigations and actions here are premised on a fundamental misapplication of the law and are contrary to the constitutional rights of these parents to raise their children as they see best.”

The Meitivs told Patch previously they hope to meet with a county supervisor to explain their parenting philosophy, but they will pursue all options. The first step is to appeal, which lawyers are working on.

Last week, the Meitivs said they’re filing an appeal to challenge the agency’s ruling of “unsubstantiated neglect.” An outcome on the appeal isn’t expected until summer.

A legal defense fund has been set up on the Causes.com website to help the family with legal bills; about $2,600 has been donated so far.

Disputed Timeline of Events

On Monday, Montgomery County Police released a timeline of their officer’s interaction with the Meitiv children and CPS. According to police, a 911 came in about 5:03 p.m., reporting the siblings were at the Fenton Street parking garage. Child Protective Services was contacted about 5:16 p.m., say police, but it was 7:18 p.m. before the officer was told to take the children to the CPS offices in Rockville.

The siblings told police they were hungry and thirsty, having last eaten hamburgers between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. An officer who had packed a lunch began to feed what he had with him to the kids until Rafi said that he and his sister have food allergies, police say.

The Meitivs and their attorney have a different account of Sunday’s events. They say police demanded the children get into a police car under the misleading assurance that the police would bring them home. The children told the police they knew where they lived and they asked to call home. Although police had Danielle or Alexander’s contact information, they didn’t call or allow the children to call their parents.

Nearly three hours passed with the children confined in a police car without any explanation of why they were being detained, the family says. During their time with police and county workers, the children had no access to food and only limited access to the restroom. The children did not return home until about 11 p.m. on a school night, the Meitivs say.

The law firm will represent the Meitivs on a pro bono basis in their effort to vindicate their parental rights, the statement says, and attorneys intend to pursue all legal remedies to protect the Meitivs’ parental rights.

»PHOTOS: Screenshots from Danielle Meitiv’s public Facebook page of the family, and their children, Rafi, 10, and Dvora, 6.