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Attorney sues after facing abuse claims

Attorney sues after facing abuse claims

Complaint says fabricated evidence led Children Services to take twins

A Toledo attorney whose infant twins were taken away from her on what she claims were false suspicions of child abuse is suing the physicians who declared her 2-month-old daughter a victim of shaken-baby syndrome and Lucas County Children Services, which removed both of her daughters from her custody for nine months.

Molly Blythe of Holland filed the suit in U.S. District Court Jan. 15, claiming her constitutional rights to make decisions about the care of her children were violated.

“You have a right to raise your kids,” said Toledo attorney Lorin Zaner, who represented Ms. Blythe in the abuse, neglect, and dependency case brought against her in Lucas County Juvenile Court in 2014 and filed the lawsuit on her behalf in federal court. “You have a right to be with your kids, and they were essentially taken away from her for a long time.”

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The complaint, which has been assigned to Judge James Carr, names as defendants Dr. Randall Schlievert, Dr. Rayyan Anwer, Dr. Tiffany Lisk, Dr. Susan Tourner, Dr. Jamie Dargart, Dr. John Rosenthal, Lucas County Children Services, and two of its employees, Chanda Beal and Jason Wegman.

The complaint alleges the physicians “recklessly and deliberately” fabricated evidence that made Ms. Blythe appear guilty of physically abusing one of her 2-month-old daughters and disregarded evidence showing the opposite.

Ms. Blythe, a single parent, took the twins to their pediatrician with specific concerns about one baby’s development eight times in two months after the newborns came home from the hospital. 

On Jan. 16, 2014, the doctor ordered a cranial ultrasound, which quickly led to the investigation.

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The suit alleges bleeding on the surface of the child’s brain was declared the result of abusive head trauma. It was likely caused by an extractor used to deliver the baby during the twins’ premature birth on Nov. 12, 2013, the suit says.

It alleges that Dr. Schlievert, who provides medical consultations to Children Services in suspected abuse cases, didn’t look at the baby’s birth records or consider other causes for the injury. 

To prevent the twins from going into foster care, Mr. Zaner said, Ms. Blythe’s sister moved to Toledo to take care of the children and Ms. Blythe moved out of their home, in accordance with a safety plan developed by Children Services.

After nine months and six expert opinions that countered Dr. Schlievert’s conclusions, the abuse case was dismissed. 

Ms. Blythe agreed to give her mother legal custody of the children so that they could live together. The children are doing well, Mr. Zaner said.

Julie Malkin, spokesman for Lucas County Children Services, said she could not comment on pending litigation.

A spokesman for Mercy, where Dr. Schlievert is a pediatrician and vice president of academic affairs, said Dr. Schlievert had not seen the complaint and could not comment.

The suit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, and attorney fees.

Mr. Zaner claimed Children Services and the medical professionals it relies on in abuse cases are at fault.

“Children Services is the one charged with making decisions about abuse and neglect, and then deciding whether to go to court,” he said. “But they are relying on medical professionals who, in my opinion, are not adequately trained and do not keep up with the research.”

“Imagine where Molly would be if her family didn’t step up to the plate and hire all these experts?” he asked. “She would have had no chance in court.”

Contact Jennifer Feehan at: jfeehan@theblade.com or 419-213-2134.

First Published January 25, 2016, 5:00 a.m.

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