A Georgia couple whose children were taken from them for two years following a false claim of child abuse have filed a lawsuit, arguing that the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) officials violated official polices in an effort to sever their parental rights.
The family's ordeal—which was investigated in a 2024 story for Reason—began in 2023, when Matt and Tuckey Hernandez took their youngest daughter, 3-month-old Emma, to the doctor after noticing some swelling on one of her legs. Matt also expressed concern about a small bruise he noticed behind Emma's ear in the previous week.
The Hernandezes' pediatrician told the couple to go to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA), where X-rays found that Emma's leg and ribs were fractured in several places. At the hospital, Stephen Messner, a child abuse pediatrician, quickly diagnosed Emma with "non-accidental trauma," another word for child abuse.
However, there were good reasons to doubt Messner's diagnosis. The Hernandezes showed all signs of being loving parents, and there was no evidence of abuse on the couple's 3-year-old daughter. "When coming to his child abuse diagnosis, Defendant Messner never reviewed any of Baby Emma's birth records, Plaintiff Tuckey's prenatal medical history or either of Plaintiffs' parental medical history, and only gathered some information at bedside," the suit states.
Instead of exploring Emma's concerning medical symptoms, the state removed the Hernandezes' daughters from their...
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