DENVER (CN) - Parents who spanked their teenage daughter with a rod for sexting a boyfriend claim in court that social workers tried to force the girl to strip naked and be photographed, then chased the family cross-country when she refused.
The Doe family claims in Federal Court that El Paso County Department of Human Services, El Paso Board of County Commissioners, El Paso Sheriff's Office and the Monument Police Department violated their privacy in following up on an anonymous tip alleging child abuse at the family home in Monument.
The seat of El Paso County, Colo., is Colorado Springs.
The Doe family, not otherwise identified in the complaint, includes parents John and Jane, two Girl Does and two Boy Does.
They claim they attracted the attention of authorities after they impressed "traditional family values" upon their adolescent daughter's backside.
"On April 17, 2012, Parents discovered that their 15-year-old daughter, Girl Doe 1, had a secret sexual partner, when Mother discovered explicit text messages on an unauthorized iPod Touch," the complaint states. "In addition to the texting, Girl Doe 1 confessed that she had lied to the school about her whereabouts on repeated occasions, broken other school rules, engaged in both physical sexual activity in the school and in sexting (sending naked pictures of herself and extensive pornographic text exchanges.)
"At two different times in the evening, parents separately gave Girl Doe 1 a spanking that consisted of 20 swats on the backside with a light rod."
The parents say they kept their daughter home from school the next day, "while they considered how to keep Girl Doe 1 safe from self-destructive and potentially criminal activity."
The complaint continues: "Also on April 18, the School Resource Officer, Deputy Dennis Coates, came to check on Girl Doe 1 because of an anonymous report. He interviewed her in her home and reported she said nothing that raised his concern for her safety.
"On the morning of April 19, Girl Doe 1 voluntarily went on a bicycle ride (approximately seven miles) with Father, and did not complain of any discomfort from the spanking."
Then things changed, the parents say in the complaint: "On April 19, the Department of Human Services (DHS) sent caseworker [defendant] Joanna McAfee to the home to investigate an anonymous allegation of child abuse against Girl Doe 1.
"Ms. McAfee told Parents that she needed to interview Girl Doe 1 privately, which they permitted. Parents did not allow Ms. McAfee or others into the home where they conducted highly confidential scientific research, which was their ongoing professional policy."
The complaint does not elucidate on the nature of the research.
It continues: "Ms. McAfee also told Parents that she needed to see whether there was a physical injury on Girl Doe 1. Ms. McAfee, Mother, and Girl Doe 1 went into the Doe's garage.
"At some point, Girl Doe 1 acknowledged that there were marks on her buttocks. Girl Doe 1 showed Ms. McAfee her back and stomach, but when Ms. McAfee pulled out a camera and instructed Girl Doe 1 to strip so Ms. McAfee could inspect and photograph her naked buttocks, Girl Doe 1 refused.
"Girl Doe 1 stated that she did not want to strip. She looked at her mother and said, 'Do I have to?' Jane Doe responded, 'You have my permission to do it but I'm not going to compel you to do it.'