One would think when you get your ass handed to you in court, you'd go lick your wounded ego, shut up and just fade into the woodwork. This concept is apparently lost on Kim and David Hodgin, who have taken their story national in their efforts to further spread their sob story and further demonize the father of the child they try to unrightfully call theirs.
National news chains have picked up on the story now, flaunting the clearly slanted tale as truth, misinforming millions. Headlines boldly call the foster parents adoptive parents, refer to S as their daughter. Comparing the Hodgin's home to the home she now resides in with her father, implying that their larger home, property and income make them the fitter parents. Implying that her father is unfit simply because he has served time. Not for a violent crime either. By the logic the media outlets have put out, anyone who spent time in jail should have their kids taken and placed with a couple who has more money and things.
Here is the thing: JM never lost custody to DCS due to neglect or abuse. He allowed a family friend to take the child to another state and from there, a series of events took place that landed S as a ward of TN state. The Hodgins were never licensed foster parents until they got S. And they only got licensed so they could keep her. They used connections through the courts and the police to hold onto the child even as the father and his family fought to get her returned.
Yes, they did at one point adopt S. They circumvented DCS and attempted a private adoption against DCS's recommendations. They attempted to adopt a child that was NOT legally free for adoption. The judge who finalized that adoption was a friend of theirs. This adoption was later vacated barely a year later. Legally, it was like it never happened. They tried several times to terminate the father's parental rights during this fight and each time was shot down.
Some Hodgin supporters are claiming no other family had come forward or were deemed a suitable placement, but fail to mention that S's paternal grandmother had been deemed a suitable placement option and was fighting for S to be placed in her care. The Hodgins fought against this and held up the various reunification hearings and custody transfers with appeals and whatever else they could to keep grandma away. S's grandmother even went to TN to retrieve S and was stonewalled by the Hodgins through frivolous appeals and court hearings.
They lied to S and told her she was abandoned. They never told her that her family had been fighting her entire life to have her brought back home.
When the adoption was vacated several years ago, the Hodgin's status reverted back to that of FOSTER PARENTS and DCS began the process of reunification. The Hodgins were cited as being uncooperative by DCS, refusing to prepare her for the transition home or arrange counseling/therapy sessions that would prepare her for her return to her family.
In their most recent court hearing, the judge ruled S remain with her father until this is final and sorted. Lawyers for DCS pointed out the deranged behavior of the Hodgins and their supporters. They made their point very clear: if for any reason S is removed from her father's care, she will NOT ever go back to them. The Hodgin's push to have S placed back with them fell on deaf ears.
So what do sore losers do? Go to the media chains, give a one sided story to biased journalists and have an entire nation believe they had adopted a little girl through foster care because her daddy was in jail only to have her taken from them and placed with her father upon his release. They fail to mention the fact that the adoption took place years ago and was annulled just as quick. Fail to mention that DCS themselves fought against their attempt to adopt S. Fail to mention that they were circumventing DCS's reunification plan and attempting to use private adoption laws. Fail to mention that the father had been fighting to get his daughter back BEFORE his incarceration. Fail to mention that S's paternal grandmother had also fought for placement during father's incarceration (and had been approved and given the green light to take her).
What else do sore losers do? Lie. They have changed their story numerous times regarding the night DCS forced them to finally hand S over. In their media blitz, they claimed they packed three duffel bags and were given a mere moment's notice. In other versions, they claim they only got a few hours. Sometimes only five minutes. Depends on who is asking, I suppose. The issue is not the time, but the fact that they refused to comply with the orders handed down by DCS and the courts and everyone got fed up with the bullshit and said "Have her here NOW." They made a huge scene the night they had to give her to the social workers and no doubt filled the child's head with lies in an effort to scare her and traumatize her. They recorded a phone call between them and S mere days after leaving the Hodgin's home and this call has been aired nationwide in the foster parents' continued efforts to sway public opinion and paint the father in a bad light. Interestingly enough, many believe this phone call with S was coached. A disgusting and poorly put together plan that prompted DCS to bar further contact.
The Hodgins didn't do all of this alone, though. They have Trio Solutions, Munday, Sykes, and numerous others at their beck and call. Trio is most likely the ones responsible for the one sided information being given to the media outlets and their minions have flooded the message boards, feeding more and more into the misinformation being spread. I think the Veronica case got Trio, Munday and the minions too confident. Too cocky. It's going to be epic when this is over. S, her father and family can move on from this nightmare and maybe the Hodgins, Trio, Munday and the minions will all go down in flames. Their actions have endangered the welfare and safety of a child who is still technically a ward of the state. Sweet justice will be seeing the Hodgins, Trio and everyone else directly involved with helping them nailed with a lawsuit that bankrupts them.
'Dorkzilla'. The name says everything.
ReplyDeleteNothing constructive to add? IQ not high enough to give a proper response so you resort to insulting my screen name? Come back when you graduate kindergarten.
DeleteI can see both sides of this horrible coin. However, IF the best interests of the child are SERIOUSLY being considered please explain to me how ripping her from the ONLY people and home she's ever REALLY known and placing her with a person who she doesn't know at all but only shares a blood line with, is in HER best interest. WHY wasn't she placed with the grandmother in the first place and WHAT kind of people did her father leave her with in the first place and HOW did she end up in Tennessee? You're calling her adoptive parents "sore losers" but in REALITY the ONLY one who REALLY loses from all this is "S"! How do I know? I was once in "S's" shoes and on the receiving end of such custody case. MY wants and needs were NEVER asked about and as a result I have faced MANY years of insecurity issues, feelings of hatred towards those who were involved in "my best interest", anxiety and panic attacks, confusion and anger, and to top it ALL off a VERY strained and awkward relationship with my "blood line" parent who fought so much to rip me away from the ONLY decent and loving home I ever knew.
ReplyDeleteAs a parent I can see how her father would want to have a relationship with her.....but to what expense? After all, doesn't he have her best interests in mind?
As an adoptive parent I can see the Hodgin's side as well. Once you've welcomed a child into your home and heart, adopted the child and treated them as your own, your emotional attachment to that child grows.......and that's NORMAL.
Children are human and have feelings that need to be taken into consideration. My concern is for "S" and how this will emotionally effect her long term. As someone who's "been there", right now she is probably frightened, confused and angry. SHE IS 9YRS OLD!!! I don't know one 9yr old on the face of the planet who wouldn't be frightened, confused and angry! My heart breaks for her, tremendously. I know, all too well, the pain of having the people you love, know and trust taken away from you and being placed in a STRANGE and DIRTY environment FAR AWAY with someone whom you know NOTHING about other than the fact that they have WON you. There's nothing like knowing that you've been treated like an "object" at an auction rather than a child with life and emotions.
I know this is not easy for anyone on either side of the situation but I do not believe that "S's" best interests are TRULY being considered. Selfishness is on BOTH sides and greed only leads to destruction. The Law is one thing but where is the moral standard of value to HOW this will impact her life? Consider this; My adoptive parents have ALWAYS been the ones to whom I feel safe with, trust, call upon, visit, love, respect, honor and feel comfortable taking my children around. I cannot say as much about my biological parent who in "my eyes" turned my whole world upside down, caused me to have feelings I'd never felt before.....feelings of loss, abandonment, insecurity......I was frightened and alone in my feelings. I was told HORRIBLE things about the people who I loved, was told to HATE them and reminded daily of how much they hated my adoptive parents. There's NOTHING in this world that can make that RIGHT, NOTHING! I have resentment towards my bio parent to this day.
My prayers are for "S" and "S" alone. May God's will be done in her life and may He give her strength to endure all that is to come. :(
You know, when I first heard about this case, I was as shocked as everyone else. But after the Veronica Brown case and seeing just how corrupt adoption can be, I looked further into it and honestly was appalled at how the Hodgins went about this. They more or less conspired to kidnap a child because they felt they deserved her more, the child's family fighting the entire 8 yrs to have her brought home. Her paternal grandmother was approved as placement and the Hodgins managed to pull underhanded court moves to keep her in their custody and bar the grandmother from even seeing her. They never let her speak with them or see them. THEIR FAULT if she is confused and torn on the matter. The blame lies solely with the Hodgins for refusing to accept this child was not their child. I also put a great deal of blame on DCS for not removing S from their care the moment the adoption was nullified and sending her back to NE where she belonged. Her best interests are not served to remain with kidnappers and kidnappers should not be rewarded simply because they managed to hold onto the child for years and year.
DeleteThe Hodgins used their money and connections to try to hold onto a child and even try to adopt her behind everyone's back. I don't doubt they love her and I do not doubt she loves them, but seeing that they hooked up with a PR firm and are selling their tale of woe to the masses, giving a one sided version of events and even outright lying, I give them zero sympathy and S is better off without them.