The case of 14 year-old Justina Pelletier has many Americans wondering if it could happen to them, but a new op-ed appearing on National Review Online shows how shockingly easy it can be to "legally kidnap" a child in the U.S. - especially when it involves ideology.

Melissa Moschella, an assistant professor of philosophy at the Catholic University of America, reports on the true story of Tom Jones (not his real name) who confided to his school counselor that he believed he was homosexual. Without informing his parents, the counselor referred Tom to a gay youth organization where he was told not to trust conventional therapy but to seek counseling only from them. In addition, he was encouraged to reject his faith and his family. As a result, Tom became even more distressed and began to develop self-destructive behaviors.

"One Friday morning, emotionally confused and angry after a romantic breakup, Tom called his guidance counselor, who illegally picked him up at his home — again without his parents’ knowledge — and drove him to school," Moschella continues.

Tom's mother eventually found her son in the school's guidance office where the counselor refused to allow her to take him home. She threatened to place him in the custody of the Department for Children and Families (DCF) unless Mrs. Jones allowed Tom to spend the weekend at a friend’s home and agreed to seek family counseling from DCF. All of this was happening in spite of the fact that the Joneses were loving and responsible parents.

The following Monday, a social worker from DCF showed up at the Joneses door where they learned that they had been classified as "unaccepting parents". Tom was no longer permitted to live there and was sent to stay with the same friend with whom he had spent the weekend. Mrs. Jones was then manipulated into signing a form requesting counseling from DCF under the threat that failing to sign it would mean a delay of her son's return to her.

"On the basis of this form, which was signed under duress and which indicates that counseling was the only service to which his parents agreed, DCF now claims that its intervention was a response to the family’s voluntary request," Moschella reports.

The Joneses received a glimmer of hope when another social worker evaluated the case and promptly returned Tom to his home, saying there was no evidence of abuse and that his parents were exceptionally loving.

But that glimmer faded quickly when Mrs. Jones tried to get information about the school's practice of referring students to outside organizations without parental consent, but was repeatedly stonewalled. She also wanted to know about the connection between Tom's guidance counselor and the Massachusetts Gay Straight Alliance (GSA). Instead of answers, she was referred to the school's lawyer.

The lawyer denied that the school had a practice of referring students to outside organizations, even though Mrs. Jones had a letter from the principal saying the school had no intention of ending this practice. The lawyer also denied that Tom's counselor had anything to do with GSA even though the counselor is listed on GSA's website. Even more outrageous, DCF officials denied that they took Tom away from her without due process and claimed they were following her "voluntary" request for services - the same request she was forced to sign if she wanted to see her son again!

As shocking as this story sounds, what happened to the Joneses is not an isolated incident.

"At their booth at last year’s Massachusetts Gay Youth Pride Parade, DCF officials told Mrs. Jones that DCF routinely manipulates standard processes to remove children with sexual-identity issues from the homes of conservative and Christian parents."

When the Joneses confronted the DCF about this, they appeared to be concerned, but soon stopped responding to the Joneses letters and phone calls.

"Regardless of one’s beliefs about homosexuality, anyone who cares about parental rights, children’s well-being, and the limitation of state power should be horrified by the Joneses’ story," Moschella writes.

"Exploiting the emotional fragility of adolescents to turn them against their parents and enlist them in a political movement; removing troubled children from the care of loving parents and taking them to live with unvetted families, with a complete absence of due process or evidence of abuse or neglect; denying after the fact that there is any basis for grievances and failing to follow proper grievance procedures: These are the actions of a totalitarian regime, not a liberal democracy."

Moschella is calling for legislators across the country to pass laws such as Massachusetts House Bill 427 which forbids school officials to refer children to outside organizations without parental consent.

"The Massachusetts DCF’s practice of removing children with sexual-identity issues from the homes of loving parents for ideological reasons should be thoroughly investigated, as should the practices of social-service agencies throughout the country, in order to prevent further unconstitutional government intrusions into the family sphere."

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