Letter Written To The President & First Lady Years Ago.

Dear Mr. President & First Lady Obama 

This letter is in regards to the corrupt practices of CPS, DCFS, and the State of Utah’s Attorney Generals Office.

I became involved with them during a matter with my ex-husband, Rory Jack Schultz. During a brief separation my older daughter had hinted at a possibility that her step father had inappropriately touched her. I called the authorities in order to have it looked into. I was informed by a detective, Daphne Olberg, that there was nothing there (she hadn’t disclosed anything) and that I should bring her back if she ever did say anything. Although since we were in the beginnings of divorce proceedings it looked like I was just trying to get sole custody of our mutual daughter. They basically acted as if I were lying.
Several months later we began talking about reconciling. The girls constantly wanted Daddy to come home, so I finally went to court and asked for the protective order to be lifted, which I notified DCFS of well in advance. They did not show up to contest it being dismissed. Life went on as we attempted to work things out.
Living in Utah was hard. My ex-husband was unable to find gainful employment here, so I became the family’s sole provider after six years of being a stay at home Mom. While attempting to be a family again we had many a fight over his affairs. At one point he said that one of them had resulted in a pregnancy. I flew “off the hook”. after the fight was over I asked my daughters for their forgiveness. They should never have witnessed their Mommy angry like that. I also asked them not to tell their “Aunt Karen” about the fight, she was a nosey, drug addict in-law who kept getting in our business. That is an important point, because the state always cut them off in their interviews as soon as they heard the words “Mommy told us not to tell”….didn’t let them finish their sentences.
On July 16, 2001 CPS showed up at our door and accused Rory of molesting the girls. They also brought along several police officers! He claimed over and over that it was not true. At least to me, that was his claim. I later found out it was our 11 year old neighbor girl who made the accusation. He made the claim that the girl was emotionally confused because she was being raised by an openly lesbian mother. That same night my bishop and I drove my daughters to my first husbands parents home. They still had three minor children of their own living in the home, one of which was close to my youngest age. I felt relieved that they were with family I trusted and that they loved.
We both went for our interviews, with of all people, Detective Daphne Olberg. His interview lasted four hours. Mine was fifteen minutes. And come to find out they had taped us during the break. When we were leaving Olberg stated,” you and Rory are decent people, I don’t know why we cant work this out.” I thought everything was going to be just fine and we were going to be able to go pick up the girls. So we raced over to the court house only to have an attorney pull me aside and tell me that my husband had confessed to raping my daughter. And that we had been taped during a brief break, which was being taken completely out of context. I did not believe her. Decent people don’t rape children. Rapists are in jail, not walking free. I eventually went to the AG’s office and viewed the tape of him confessing. There are now two days were I remember nothing! I ended up in a psychiatric hospital. The doctors diagnosed me as severally depressed, suicidal, and homicidal! He believed that if I’d have made it home that day I would have killed my husband.
During this time Rory is arrested and the girls were taken from their grandparents. Just days before Michelle’s 8th birthday. My older two were taken straight from school and were never even allowed to say goodbye to their family. The grandparents were told to bring my youngest to the office. Later at court I was told I could have my older two placed back with their grandparents ( it was a kinship ) but my four year old is going to foster care with or without them. I wasn’t going to do that to her! She had speech and learning disabilities. So they all went to foster care. Needless to say their grandparents were not very happy with me. I was also arrested the day after my release from the hospital on witness tapering charges. I spent 3 weeks in jail before being released on my own recognizes.
I was finally given another attorney, Francis Angley, who I thought was going to help me. I thought wrong. He had no plans on helping me. He did everything he could to help the state. Even destroying evidence I gave him for court. Failed to subpoena witnesses or obtain medical reports. He failed to even make sure that the states evidence was there. Evidence that was talked about in court that supposedly showed red flags, was a lie. No medical records were ever entered into evidence only talked about. Once my appeals attorney got copies of the records they all said the opposite of what the case workers, therapist and state said in court. The case worker was asked if my daughters were adoptable and the exact first words out of her mouth were, “Yes, their little white girls.” I got angry and started to say something and she tried to back track her answer. I had not even been allowed my therapy visits with the girls before going to trial. The first time I got to see them after they were taken was the day before trial. The therapist eventually contradicted everything the state therapist said in court. She had seen them for one hour the day before court. Knew nothing but what the state wanted and was paid to say what they wanted. It took a total of four and a half months to terminate my parental rights. When all my daughters wanted was to come home. The eleven year old involved told me later that she had asked my oldest if she had told me that he does this and she said, “I cant.” he had threatened them with: he’d go to jail, they’d go live with strangers and they’d never see their mother again. Thanks to the state of Utah his treats came true!
I told the attorney, Francis Angley, to file an appeal. He refused to and stated, “your guilty just deal with it.” This was said in front of a witness. I went to the state Bar Association and made a complaint against him. He was later disbarred when others eventually came forward about his behavior. It came out in court that he was using drugs, getting DUI’s, stealing from clients and not showing up for court. He didn’t even show up for his own disbarment trial.
I had also been charged with witness tampering in criminal court. I actually had a good public defender for that case. The charges were eventually dropped 18 months later. After the new prosecutor talked to Michelle and she was finally able to tell him that I never knew what was going on. She then asked if they could now go home. They still wouldn’t admit that they messed up.
I was able to find an attorney who worked on my case for several years. Going to the supreme court twice. The first time we won and I was granted my appeal. Only to have the appeals court deny it again. The second time it was to come up before the supreme court, the Jenson family filed their lawsuit against DCFS and the state. So it would not be heard. I was told we could keep going, but by then my girls had been gone four and a half years. My youngest had been gone from me longer than she had been with me. I decided it was time to let them be. They didn’t need to be ripped away from yet another family, whom I’m sure they are quite attached too. Not to mention friends, school and all else that has become a part of their lives. I hope someday I can explain to them that I did not give up on them. I gave them stability. I love them more than anything in this world. I did what I believed best for them. Now I teach their little sister about them through pictures and video.
It’s my wish, hope, prayer that this never happens to any other children. My daughters were not only victimized by my ex-husband but by DCFS and the state of Utah also! A system that the federal government rewards for tearing apart families. They refused to leave them with loving grandparents because they couldn’t profit in a kinship placement. They got away with lying in court, falsifying records and tampering with witnesses. Getting their way at every turn and making sure I had no way to win, and when I finally had a good attorney who could get my girls back and expose the truth, they went after him. He was sanctioned for doing his job and took away his conflict counsel cases that were in juvenile court. Causing him to let go one of his employees. How are we suppose to get a fair chance at getting our children back went the system is so corrupt? There are children out there who do need the system and protecting, but unfortunately these children have severe problems that families don’t want to deal with. So instead they place orders for children like mine and the state fills the order and collects the money. While the other children go back to abusive drug addicted parents. I know, I’ve seen it. I’ve lived it.
Please, help change the system.
Sincerely,
Lena Theresa Miller- Williams