Story highlights
Maryland family let their children, ages 6 and 10, play alone at a nearby park
The children were held by authorities for hours without the parents' knowledge
The family was found responsible for "unsubstantiated" child neglect in March
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A Maryland family – the subjects of national headlines when they were accused of neglect for letting their children, ages 6 and 10, walk home alone from a park – are under investigation again. This time, the children were taken into custody by police officers and held for hours by police and Child Protective Services, according to the family.
“I can’t believe we are going through this again,” said Danielle Meitiv of Silver Spring, Maryland, in a local television interview. “I can’t believe they kept the kids for hours. It’s 10:30 at night. They’ve been missing since six o’clock.”
Meitiv and her husband dropped their children off at a park at 4:00 p.m. ET Sunday and told them to return home two hours later. When the kids didn’t return by about 6:30 p.m., they started looking for them and grew concerned.
In a post on her Facebook page Monday, Meitiv wrote, “The police coerced our children into the back of a patrol car, telling them they would drive them home. They kept the kids trapped there for three hours, without notifying us, before dropping them at the Crisis Center, and holding them there without dinner for another two and a half hours.”
Meitiv said the family finally got home at 11 p.m. and the kids slept in her and her husband’s room because “we were all exhausted and terrified.”
“We were kind of scared,” said Rafi Meitiv, 10, in the local interview.
Meitiv said that when she called 911, the police called Child Protective Services and that CPS then called the family.
Kids left alone? Call the mom, not the cops
“When we asked them why did they not bring them home, they just said, ‘We decided that the safety of the children was more important,’” said Meitiv’s husband, Alexander.
The Meitiv family’s lawyer said the family would be issuing a statement, through their attorney, later Monday or early Tuesday.
“I will say it’s alarming and disturbing that their children could be literally a few blocks from home and the police pick them up under the guise of telling the children that they will take them home but then take them to a detention center and all the while never call the parents or let them know what’s going on,” said attorney Matthew Dowd.
Dowd said the children know their address and phone number.
“They know how to walk in the neighborhood. They’ve done this many times before,” said Dowd. “And the police knew that the children knew where they lived. The police knew their phone number yet for whatever reason the parents were not called.”
Police: CPS said it would notify the parents
The police received a call at 4:58 p.m. ET Sunday to check on the welfare of two children in the area, Capt. Paul Starks of the Montgomery County Police public information office told CNN.
When an officer arrived on the scene, the person who had contacted police directed the officer to a parking garage where the officer found the children.
“The officer observed a homeless subject who he was familiar with, eyeing the children,” according to a statement by the Montgomery County Police.
The officer notified his supervisors and then contacted Child Protective Services, which is required under Maryland law when officers become aware of any possible case of child abuse or neglect.
Mom arrested for leaving 9-year-old alone at the park
About an hour later, the officer contacted another CPS officer for guidance, according to the statement.
It wasn’t until 7:18 p.m., more than two hours after the officer came upon the children, that they were transported to the CPS offices in Rockville, Maryland.
“The officer was also advised that CPS would notify the parents,” according to the statement. “The officer followed the direction of the CPS worker as procedures dictate – due to the serious nature of a Child Protective Services investigation and concern for the welfare of the children, they cannot be returned home until their safety can be assured.”