FITCHBURG, Massachusetts (LifeSiteNews) — The Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) is under fire for taking custody of five children after a pediatrician reported their parents for allegedly refusing to vaccinate their nine-month-old baby due to their religious beliefs.
The homeschooling parents, Isael Rivera and Ruth Encarnacion, were later arrested for “familial kidnapping” last month when they fled to Texas to escape the DCF.
The department launched an investigation into the family in February, after their pediatrician filed a 51A child “neglect” report when the parents declined vaccination for their baby boy on religious grounds. Massachusetts allows religious exemptions for child vaccination.
“The doctor said if we didn’t vaccinate, he’d have to report us,” Rivera said, according to Boston Broadside.
Encarnacion’s attorney, Kevin Larson, said that there wasn’t “any basis” for the neglect report. “I don’t think a 51A should have been filed in the first place,” he told COMFLM reporter Janet Aldrich, who noted that “the doctor’s appointment said the child was completely healthy” and the baby “just needed the shots.”
The DCF left a notice on the family’s door demanding a home visit, which the parents refused, Boston Broadside reported.
“What followed was a dramatic escalation,” according to the newspaper. “Fitchburg police, at the direction of Leominster DCF allegedly surrounded their apartment, banging on doors and circling the property for up to 30 minutes,” leading Encarnacion to hide in the closet with the five children.
The police and DCF came back “in greater numbers the next day,” and the family decided to flee Massachusetts for Texas.
Before the family was reported missing, the DCF filed a “care and protection” petition with the Fitchburg District Court for an emergency order to take custody of the children, which the judge granted. Neither Rivera, Encarnacion, nor Larson have seen that order, Aldrich said.
Larson accused the DCF of having “overstepped their bounds” with the “very drastic steps” the agency took to get the children.
Authorities hunted down the family after they left Massachusetts, arresting Rivera and Encarnacion in Whitney, Texas, on March 8 and charging them with five misdemeanor counts each of “kidnapping a minor by a relative.” They face up to one year in prison and a $1,000 fine per charge.
Encarnacion’s sister had claimed to police that Encarnacion has a “domestic violence history” with Rivera, according to The Boston Globe, and DCF allegedly questioned Isael’s “mental health.”
But the children were found safe and “unharmed” in Texas before being promptly taken into the custody of the DCF, the Globe said.
The Fitchburg Police had acknowledged in a press release that they did not issue an AMBER Alert in the case because the children were not thought to be in “imminent danger of serious bodily harm or death.”
The four oldest children have since been placed with Encarnacion’s mother, and the youngest is with Encarnacion’s sister.
“This is a blatant violation of fundamental rights on multiple levels,” constitutional law strategist Ron Bouchard told Boston Broadside. “By what authority has this family been apprehended and for what? Was there a warrant? What is familial kidnapping? A family has the right to travel with their children.”
“What laws have they broken and what imminent danger exists to justify the drastic action of DCF and the Fitchburg Police Department traumatizing this family by tearing it apart?” he said.
“Medical exams upon their return to Massachusetts confirmed all children were in good health, with no evidence of state-administered vaccinations against parental wishes during their brief time in custody,” Boston Broadside related on X.
The outlet added that “despite no record of neglect or harm, DCF is mandating supervised visits for Encarnacion,” who has reportedly been released on $7,500 bail.
Rivera, who is representing himself and is set to appear in court on April 15, remains incarcerated in Worcester County Jail.
The case is increasingly attracting national attention, with activists like Ann Vandersteel highlighting the Massachusetts family’s plight.
Texas Republican congressional candidate Ava Zolari also commented, saying, “I’m beyond disgusted to watch our God-given freedoms — especially the right to say NO to medical mandates — being ripped away by the greasy hands of government overreach.”
