Ellen & Aaron Storck

ABC's "20/20" show has repeatedly featured Aaron & Ellen's moving story. This wonderful mom, falsely accused of MSBP, has fought hard for years to regain custody of her son, Aaron. He desperately wants to come home to his loving family. The letter below was written by the Storck children.

When A Family is Shattered By its System of Protection
by Dana Drew Storck (Age 15), Joshua, Courtney and Aaron

We are writing this letter with little hope that it will make a difference; however, we are desperate and need at least to feel as though we are forging ahead. Our voices may not carry any weight or be audible to those in control, because we are minors, and as we have come to learn as such, we barely exist as people in the United States of America.

Those of us who are not yet 18 or 21 seem to be property. We can so easily be caught up in battles of who we belong to; parents, non-parents, which parents, and in our case, it is the government. It frightens us to think that the time of our birth should have such an impact on our credibility as people. we realize that there must be governmental controls and check points to ensure our safety, but when does this protection turn into destruction?

We were taught to believe that we are valuable, independent beings. People who should learn, grow, develop, be truthful to ourselves and others, protecting ourselves while we protect those around us, all the while striving to become productive members of society. I guess my mother, growing up in the 60's, was far too idealistic, because in the harshest and cruelest way we have found that lies, dishonesty, exploitation and the power of the powerful; adults (those over 18 or 21) are all that really matter in the county of Suffolk in the United States of America.

We are four children of a single mother. We were a close, loving family. We had struggles and triumphs. Now we have just pain. Our youngest brother, Aaron, now nine years old, has had an unusual medical problem since he was a baby. Sometimes he was absolutely healthy and other times he was seriously ill. He is smart, a good athlete, and a super person.

On August 1, 1992, a doctor who never examined our brother said our mother caused his problem. Our pediatrician said that this was untrue and it would be fine when someone objective became involved. That someone unfortunately was/is Child Protective Services and the "Family" court.

Our brother was taken into "protective" custody and a hearing took place. We were assigned a law guardian, Arza Feldman. She didn't even bother to meet us before she decided that we were not credible and that we were in danger. (We were - from them!) We testified and told the truth about who we were, and what we knew was the truth. We testified that our brother's problems were apparent when our mother was not around. There was much other testimony from doctors, nurses and many others to that fact, as well as experts who confirmed the existence of Aaron's true medical problem. Even so, we were told that because there was a doctor writing a book on a new "illness" called "Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy" that he knew without ever meeting any of us that we were not believable and subsequently we are now deemed "neglected and endangered children."

It seems horrific to us that the television show "20/20" did a more serious and complete investigation than the courts, including filming the trial, and their conclusion was that no evidence existed, and even they thought it was a grave injustice.

Our brother is in a terrible foster home where he seems to have less rights that felons; his showers are timed at 5 minutes, he gets no phone calls, and has not been able to communicate with anyone who ever knew or loved him since he was taken. We can only see him for two hours once a week in supervised visitation. He is being punished for telling the truth, hit by the foster father, bruised with no one investigating it, and is frightened because every time he attempts to say what jeopardy he is in, he is threatened. We have a Child Protective Services worker, Vivian Misshula, come to our home. She is abusive and we are subjected to her telling us we are liars. We cannot understand how this agency can punish so severely our country's minors and be called "protective."

In an instant our lives were changed by a single "Family" court judge, child "protective" services, and a law guardian seeking the power of our protection. Well, the powerful gained control and were legally able by the stroke of a pen to decide just how they will control and direct our lives.

We have now hired our own ,lawyer in an attempt to be acknowledged as people, human beings covered by the same Constitution that covers those with a different birth date.

Child Protective Services, the law guardian, and the family court judge, David Freundlich, say that in New York, children are not entitled to their own lawyer, certainly not one of their own choice; again, we were born on the wrong day.

I suppose we are asking you to examine the question of why children are simply someone's property.