(LifeSiteNews) — Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is intervening in the case of a Christian military couple who fell victim to an internet harassment campaign that led to false child abuse charges being filed against them.
The Family Freedom Project (FFP) explains that JD and Britney Lott met while serving in the military, and after marrying settled in Lubbock, Texas. Eventually they and their eight children took to traveling the nation, chronicling their travels on Instagram while homeschooling.
Their American Family Road Trip account grew in popularity, but with support also came anonymous online detractors, especially from a Reddit discussion forum called FundieSnarkUncensored, which is dedicated to vitriol against conservative Christians.
On April 29 of this year, while staying in Florida and planning to travel to Georgia, they noticed disturbing comments alleging their one-week-old baby Boone had “severe sunburn, was lethargic, and had jaundice.” After deleting the comment, they proceeded with their trip the next morning until receiving a call from Florida Child Protective Services (CPS).
Reviewing FundieSnarkUncensored revealed that members of the group openly discussed how to report the family to authorities, and even determined their physical location to determine where to send the allegations.
The CPS caseworker “quoted verbatim from the Instagram comment Britney had seen earlier,” explaining that they had obtained her phone number after conducting a welfare check where the family’s RV had been. “The investigator seemed understanding during the call, which ended without further action required,” FFP continues, but later that day, JD had missed a call from Walton County, Florida’s Department of Children & Families (DCF), which was followed up with a text warning threatening to issue a nationwide “Order to Take Into Custody” if the message was not returned.
They reached out to the Texas-based FFP, which found an attorney for them in Florida and arranged a meeting with DCF at a nearby hospital. It eventually determined that the children were not being mistreated, but not before frightening the children with a squad car pulling up behind them, lights flashing. The case was closed with no further danger to the family, but far-left Redditors continued their harassment and police and medical staff alike expressed shock that the situation had gone so far in the first place.
On Thursday, DeSantis spokesman Bryan Griffin told The Daily Wire that “[u]tilizing government entities to make false reports or harass others is unacceptable and will be referred to law enforcement for investigation and ultimately prosecution.”
Florida DCF added that while it is “required to investigate all allegations of abuse, neglect, or abandonment to ensure the safety of children,” it is also the case that “[f]alse reports are reported to law enforcement for criminal investigation and prosecution. Filing a false report is a felony with legal consequences, as outlined in 39.205, F.S., and is also a drain on Department resources dedicated to protecting children from abuse and exploitation.” The agency confirmed that law enforcement is now investigating the false allegations.
In an emailed statement “applauding” the DeSantis administration, FFP vice president Jeremy Newman declared the “time for accountability and reform to Child Protective Services in the United States is long overdue. The Lott family story is just the latest example of a long line of outrageous and unjust cases across the country where a states’ child protective services agency has been weaponized and turned against an innocent and unassuming family.”
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