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Saving James
January 22, 2015 permalink
James, son of Crystal Cross, has been adopted. by John and Teresa Osten in Michigan. The real family knows the identity of the adopters and has registered their objections on a Facebook page, Little JAMES Illegal Adoption Case--FORCED ADOPTION. Early postings to the page recount the abusive tactics of social workers used to separate James from his real mother.
Enclosed is a press article favorable to the adopters. The distant relatives mentioned are James' mother and his aunt and uncle in Texas.
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Family says they’re being harassed after they adopted a child
GALESBURG, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - A Galesburg couple is fighting online harassment from a family member of their adopted son.
Newschannel3 talked to the couple who says they're being stalked, and fear for their safety.
The family says they've been told their options from a criminal standpoint may be tough, because much of what is said online is protected by Freedom of Speech.
After finding out they couldn't have children of their own, adopting two boys was a dream come true for John and Teresa Osten.
Teresa says James was addicted to meth at birth and was placed in their care as foster parents.
About the time they started the adoption process six months later, the Osten's say they discovered they were being stalked by one of James' distant family members from Texas.
“Apparently, she had seen us at the zoo, she made comments he had severe sunburn, that we didn't know she was there,” said Teresa Osten.
Then they discovered someone had created a page on Facebook called, "Stolen, Little James Illegal Adoption Case."
It listed the Osten's home address along with a family photo.
“Our fear is that she would go and take him,” said Osten.
The Facebook page also shows James as a baby with the word stolen on it and says the Osten's are quote, "foster parents stealing children for profit."
“We're foster parents for a reason. We're here to take care of these children. We could lose children over this, we could lose our licenses,” said Osten.
The Osten's say they've contacted the authorities, but were told the harassment falls under free speech. But they tell us they're not giving up.
“We don't feel safe you know, we don't,” said Osten.
The Osten's say they tried to file a personal protection order, but didn't have all the information they needed about their stalker to legally file it.
Now they're reaching out to Galesburg Police.
Source: WWMT-TV
