Judgement Against CPS For Groundless Removal of Houston Children

Texas Child Protective Services took two twin girls away from parents Darcy and Tye Miller after they suspected that the girls had been abused. However, the Millers claimed that the abuse allegations were false and hired a family law attorney so that they could successfully regain custody of their children.

The Houston Chronicle reports that the twin girls were born premature and that they saw their pediatrician weekly due to concerns about their weight. The doctors did a chest X-ray which reportedly showed that the infant girls had several rib fractures that were healing, which led doctors to contact CPS.

CPS then asked Darcy and Tye Miller to voluntarily place their infant girls and their older son with in-laws while an investigation was conducted. The Miller family cooperated with the investigation, but were informed five days later that CPS had requested legal custody of the children, and that District Judge Michael Schneider had granted approval of the custody request.

The Millers apparently were never even notified of the child custody hearing and were never given an opportunity to explain their side of the story before a family court judge. Hence, the parents decided to fight back.

An attorney representing the parents said in court that there’s “reasonable medical evidence” in this case that shows that the rib fractures could have been caused simply by lifting the children. Judge Schneider, who had depended solely on on CPS information, surprised the community by siding with the family and ruling against CPS in this case, saying that a “groundless cause of action” was taken.

The judge also ordered CPS to pay $32,000 to Darcy and Tye Miller to cover attorney fees.