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I am cheering for the parents in this article. They were accused of child abuse against their four biological children. Their children had a rare disease called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and a partially descended brain.
Initially Leslie Udvardi was charged with Munchausen by Proxy and the charges were then changed to child abuse.
This isn’t the part that makes this family unique. What does that is that the parents are fighting back. They already spent over $150,000 fighting to clear their names.
The judge quickly dropped the case and discredited the county’s “expert” while ordering that the children be returned to their parents.
As the laws stand, social workers have blanket immunity from wrongful investigation of a family. The Udvardis are working to change that. When a parent has been wrongly accused they have no recourse to recover the money they lost defending themselves, and no way to take the agency to court.
I know how they feel. When we were cleared in our investigation I wanted someone to pay for what I had been through, both financially and emotionally. You don’t go through something that terrifying without anger and wanting revenge when you’re done.
However, this family is working hard. They are contacting legislators to get them to take some action on this. I agree with them. If workers and the agency are not held accountable, we could have many more needless investigations and children being harmed. I know my own kids were emotionally harmed by our investigation. I understand the need for caution, but there is also the best interest of the child to be considered.
I give these parents credit. They are fighting for the rest of us who have been through this. It’s a fight that needs to be fought.
An attorney, Robert Powell, won a case in January that lifted the blanket immunity that workers and social services have. It will not help the Udvardis since the statute of limitations has expired, but their children may be eligible.
I’m usually not a lawsuit person, but these types of cases certainly deserve it. A family has been through one of the worst kinds of pain imaginable and they should at least be able to recover the money they have lost, not to mention the emotional pain that this causes. I hope they get somewhere.
