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Local News

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Hancock County judge to hear testimony in unusual child custody case

By J. STEVEN DILLON

STAFF WRITER

A judge will begin hearing testimony on Friday in a child custody case involving a mother whose four children were taken away last fall after she was accused of subjecting one of the children to unnecessary medical treatment.

Hancock County Juvenile Court Judge Allan Davis will ultimately decide, after a “disposition hearing,” what is in the “best interests of the children” and decide if and when they will be returned to their parents, Angie and Chris Cox of Findlay.

The children, ages 2, 8, 11 and 13, are currently in temporary custody with a foster family.

They were removed from the Cox home Oct. 23 after Judge Davis found probable cause to support a complaint filed by Hancock County Children's Protective Services Unit.

The court allowed a fifth child, now 18, to remain with his parents.

The complaint alleged the four younger children were abused, neglected and dependent under law because Angie Cox suffers from Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy.

Munchausen's is a rare disorder that causes parents, usually the mother, to fabricate symptoms in their children, subjecting the child to unnecessary medical tests and/or surgical procedures.

The abuse allegations in the complaint were dismissed in January. As part of a settlement agreement, the Coxes entered no contest pleas to amended charges of neglect and dependency.

It's not clear if Children's Protective Services will proceed with the Munchausen's claim at the disposition hearing, or if the agency will raise other mental health claims against one or both of the parents.

Judge Davis will have various options after considering the testimony, much of which will come from doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists who have treated or examined the Coxes and their children.

Children's Services caseworkers are also expected to take the witness stand.

Depending on his interpretation of the evidence and the applicable law regarding neglect and dependency, Judge Davis could order that the children continue in foster care, be placed in a relative's care, or be returned to their parents with or without restrictions.

For example, he could return the children to their parents with medical or protective supervision.

One of those who will testify is Ramalinga Reddy, a physician who has been treating the 13-year-old child since before he was removed from the Cox home.

Children's Services brought the court action against the Coxes, in large part, due to the wide range of medical problems of the teenager, whose ailments include asthma, epilepsy, a seizure disorder, and NCS (neurocardiogenic syncope).

At the time of his removal from the Cox home, he was on 15 different prescriptions and his medical file was nearly seven inches thick.

Angie and Chris Cox have said that their son has been to numerous doctors and specialists, who each had their own ideas on how to treat him.

There are several motions pending before the court in the case.

A motion filed by Angie Cox's attorney, Lisa Miller, seeks to disqualify Kristen Johnson, an assistant county prosecutor who is representing Children's Services.

Miller asked for a special prosecutor to be named last month, claiming certain events in the case have created a “clear appearance of impropriety” on the part of Johnson.

In the motion, Miller said it appears Children's Services has lost its “objectivity and focus in the case.”

Johnson, in a response filed earlier this month, called Miller's motion “baseless, unfounded and spurious.”

She said it is Miller and the Coxes, not her, who have lost objectivity. She said they are obsessed with the media attention that the case has attracted, instead of the welfare of the children.

“It's an intoxicant to them,” Johnson wrote. “Unfortunately, the media has chosen to perpetuate the delusions of two people with mental health diagnoses and may very well affect their willingness to work a case plan here.”

Johnson said it was not Children's Services request to have media in the courtroom.

“Despite their presence and the circus-like atmosphere created by the Coxes and Ms. Miller, Ms. Johnson and CPSU will continue to do their jobs in a professional and forthright manner,” Johnson wrote.

The Courier has been covering the case after requesting, and receiving permission, to attend the hearings from Judge Davis. The newspaper petitioned the court for access due to the unusual nature of the Munchausen's claim.

Abuse, neglect and dependent proceedings are normally closed to the public, unless the parties don't object and the court grants access.

Neither Children's Services nor the Coxes opposed the newspaper's request to cover the hearings.

Judge Davis said he would likely rule on the disqualification motion, and other pending motions, on Friday.

Contact staff writer J. Steven Dillon at: 419-427-8423 Send an e-mail to Steve Dillon

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1 Comment

Lesle Shurbun wrote:
Muchausen's/Cox Case
“ Could you please tell me if an expert witness in Munchausen's was used during the trial? If there was may I have the name. ”
Saturday, June 28, 2008 1:17:15 AM
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