Full opinion text
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER WEBBER, District Judge. STATEMENT OF FACTS In the United States of America, citizens are prepared to forfeit the exercise of some natural rights for the promise of the protection of laws, which are expected to be executed fairly and impartially, so the weak and the strong stand on even ground in the treatment by lawfully installed officials. This is a case where some public officials used and abused their public offices, not in accordance with their oaths to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America, but instead to violate the rights of those they were sworn to protect. The recitation of the facts of this case, which was tried over seventeen days, has burdened the file with considerable volume. Because the findings and conclusions are so significant in the lives of so many people, it is important to review the facts as reported by many, most with interests to be protected, measuring credibility, as observed from the witness stand, against a plethora of documentary evidence including video-taped events. The statement of facts will begin with testimony of a young man who, on October 30, 2001, was at the Heartland Christian Academy when buses arrived to remove all “program students.” Ovidiu Boghean, originally from Romania, graduated from Heartland in 2002, and continues to reside there. He is a professional pilot. His parents worked at Heartland and lived on a farm about twelve miles away from the school. At around 2:00 p.m. on October 30, 2001, he received a call while at the airplane hangar from Elisa Bock, who requested that he report to the School to operate a television camera. Upon his arrival at 2:15 p.m., he was advised of rumors that police officers were coming to the campus. Police officers arrived at 3:00 p.m. Mr. Boghean carried the camera, shooting intermittently for approximately two and one-half hours, making two tapes which ran for sixty-five minutes (PI. ex. 93 OB, 93 SR and 93 SUM). The edited summary was not received in evidence. These tapes show what cannot adequately be described in words to capture the expressions and speech of students removed, and the chaotic way the removal was executed. In cross-examination, he was asked about his editorial comments that are recorded on the tapes. He described his comments as, “[t]his is the United States of America; this is wrong; this should not be happening.” He describes what he was thinking at the time, and it summarizes concisely and about as well as words can describe the scene at the Heartland Christian Academy on October 30, 2001. This case is not only about the mass removal of students from Heartland Christian Academy on October 30, 2001. It is about care and treatment of children at Heartland. It is about fear of some because Heartland exists. It is about courage of many and the perfidious behavior of others, operating under the color of law, to deprive scores of their rights as guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States of America, necessitating the issu-anee of injunctive relief and a declaratory judgment to prevent what will predictably happen if that relief is denied. I. THE MISSION OF HEARTLAND Heartland Christian Academy is a school offering education from kindergarten through twelfth grade. It began in 1995. There was a boys’ dormitory in Lewis County at the time of the mass removal on October 30, 2001. It has since been moved to Knox County. Boys and girls are now housed on alternate floors in the dormitory in Knox County. Residential group homes are located in Shelby County. The School is also located in Shelby County. Staff homes are located in Lewis and Shelby Counties. There is a “respite home,” designed for individual students who are not thriving in the dormitory setting, allowing a child to be put into a single-family dwelling in a family environment for a period of weeks or months. Many students work on the dairy farm located in Lewis County. Some are heavily involved in Future Farmers of America and 4H activities. They are encouraged to show animals at the county fairs. A public steak house restaurant is located in Knox County. The convenience store, gas station, laundry and Solid Rock Café are located in Shelby County. Commercial enterprises are owned by a corporate “for profit” entity. All of the improvements have been built since 1996. Buildings are heated with geothermal technology. The plan is to build an environmentally friendly sustainable community. A Bible College has been added since October 30, 2001. On October 30, 2001, all of the children were taken from Shelby County where the School is located. For the purposes of this opinion, unless specifically otherwise designated, all of the entities will be called (“Heartland”). Before October 30, 2001, the School had two hundred and twenty students consisting of one hundred and twenty program children and one hundred residential children who reside with families. Children come to Heartland by parent, guardian and juvenile court placement. Services are provided to children from birth to eighteen years of age. Frequently, children arrive from other failed placements. Children come from “all over the United states,” Eastern Europe, Mexico, and Asia. The Christ-centered mission is to help troubled youth become productive citizens. Children are not locked-down or fenced in; they are “loved,” and sometimes that includes “tough love.” Heartland started as a recovery center for adult drug abusers who were offered residential treatment. A natural progression involved the care of children for people in treatment. Heartland Childrens’ Home followed. Heartland is financed by Charles and Lori Sharpe. No funding is accepted from local, state or federal governments. Charles Sharpe is founder and pastor of Heartland, founder and president of CNS International Ministries, Inc., and a member of its board of directors. He is also founder of Ozark National Life Insurance Company which has its headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri. He and his, Lori Sharpe, live in a group home located on Heartland property with fourteen girls. One is eleven years old and the others are teenagers. Teenage girls have lived in his home for four years. Some have babies. Some of the babies were born while the girls were living in his house. Presently, there is a two-year old child living there. Carissa Garnel and Carol Lundstedt provide part-time help in managing the household. Mrs. Sharpe is manager of the Womens’ Recovery Center, and administers the group homes and the Girls’ Dormitory. She has held various positions at Heartland over the last five or six years. Mr. Sharpe describes, in part, the mission of Heartland: Q. Mr. Sharpe, why did you start Heartland? A. I believed and I do believe that if we don’t do something about our youth, that America is going to become a weak nation in the next 50 years. I’ve lived 76 years, and I’ve watched America’s youth go from where it was when I was a kid to where it is today. And my wife and I both had very humble beginnings, but we made some money and we decided we was going to spend our money on youth. And so that’s — We just want to see if we can help change our young people into a real life. Q. And you’ve talked about the— There’s been talk about the kinds of kids that you bring to Heartland, and Mr. Dunne pointed out that you don’t say “no.” What — What is your approach? Can you describe for the Court your approach in attempting to change and develop the young people that come into your ministry? A. Our first objective is to let the kids know that we truly love them and that they need to love instead of hate and be full of anger. We direct them, of course, to Christ. We’re Christian people, and we believe that that’s the first way that these kids can get to have an understanding of love and appreciation, and so that’s where we start. That’s our — Loving the kids at whatever the cost is our fundamental beginning and then beginning to get them into some structure of going to school. Almost all of our kids when they come to Heartland, I mean nearly all of them have dropped out of school or are flunking out. They’re usually two to three years behind in school. So we get them back in school and we start giving them just some — some thoughts about life that they’ve never had before. And, of course, it’s a very, very difficult situation because these kids, many of them, are — have been in gangs, and they’re really — they’re— they’re traumatized to the very limit. So we love them. We just keep loving them. The one thing they do know is we love them. Q. And then you said that the other part of it is the structure. A. Yes. We have to bring structure in[.] Q. And what are the elements of structure that you give to these kids? A. Well, we start off by they have to go to bed. Most of these kids stayed up all night or almost all night. Then they couldn’t get up the next morning. They have to go to bed. They have to get up at a certain time. They have to eat at a certain time which is something they’ve never done. Many of our young people have never sat down at a table and never had a meal with a family; not ever. This is their testimony. They never — They was never — There was no structure in their life. We tell them they have to go to school and they have to — they have to have some activity, and many times we do physical exercise with them to get them so they’re — build up their bodies. We just go — It’s just a continual thing as like a family. We give them a family structure as much as we possibly can. Q. And how many people make up— Roughly, how many people make up this family or community at Heartland? A. Well, we have about a hundred thirty to forty students that live there, and we have well over a hundred adults there, and every person, we’re very close. I mean very close. We many times eat together. We go to school. When we go home, for instance, my wife and I have 14 — I believe 13 or 14 kids in our home that live with us. We go to church together. We eat together. We sleep together. We go to church; everything. We do everything together and it’s 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Q. There’s been discussion during your [cross] examination about memos and policies and communication. For the people in the Heartland Community, how many occasions are there for formal interaction in the course of a week? A. Oh, many. Q. Okay. And, again, can you give the Court the kind of activities the community as a community formally participate in the course of a week? A. Well, we have church three times a week. The young people have a service of their own which is the fourth time but that only includes the young people. We have many meetings; staff meetings, teachers meetings. We have interaction constantly. It’s completely different than a normal, you know, setting because we’re a very tight-knit group because we got these kids that are in such bad shape that we have to just focus on it all the time. Can’t do anything else but just live with them.. Dr. Gilbert Kliman, a child psychiatrist employed by Heartland, also provided a description of the Heartland program: Heartland, it appears to me, has set up a system that depends upon developing very close and highly structured attachments between house parents and children, and administration and children, and school and children. It integrates the house care, administrative care, and educative care into a spiritual package so that a homogeneous and highly networked system of influence and support occurs creating strong attachments on the part of the children and, ultimately, in many cases leading to spiritual activities, conversions and immersion of the children in what for them is a new disciplined and moral way of life. Mr. and Mrs. Sharpe have made very substantial investments of their financial and personal resources in Heartland. Mr. Sharpe describes the personal and financial commitment he and Mrs. Sharpe have made to Heartland and the impact of the mass removal on the Heartland program: Q. Mr. Sharpe, approximately how much have you and your wife invested in Heartland? A. Between fifty and sixty million dollars. Q. Now has your investment in Heartland just been financial? A. No. Q. In what other respects have you invested? A. Well, it’s our life. Q. What, in your opinion, was the impact upon Heartland of the October 30th removal? A. It was devastating. Q. And in what ways do you believe it was devastating? A. Well, the — -the—the damage to the children in some cases will never ever be recovered, in quite a number of them I would say, particularly that we never did get back. Q. And what about — And what do you believe has been the impact on Heartland itself and its mission? A. It has been hampered immensely. Q. In what ways? A. Well, the flow of kids coming to us, children, was cut probably three-fourths; certainly more than a half. Q. Is the size of Heartland’s program now where you expected it to be? A. No. We’re about — just over half of the place that we thought we would be at this time. Q. Do you believe the Heartland youth program can survive another removal of its boarding students? A. Absolutely not. Submission is a-big part of the Heartland program to break down resistance to get the children to “focus on the right thing.” The first approach at Heartland is to let new students know that they are truly loved and to direct them to Jesus Christ. The kids at Heartland are loved at all costs. Children with many sad stories come to Heartland. There, they are put on a new road. There is a public steak house, grocery store and convenience store at Heartland. The grocery store and restaurant are operated, in part, by the students. Mail and telephone restrictions are implemented based on experiences from other drug and alcohol abuse treatment programs. Parents decide the identity of individuals with whom their children may communicate. Cameras in the possession of children are not permitted to prevent them from being used to capture images of an inappropriate sexual nature. Additionally, on two or three occasions, children have taken photographs of bruises inflicted by another child, followed by a false claim to parents of abuse by Heartland staff members, with the stated belief if the child could get the photo to someone outside Heartland, the child could be released. As a result, cameras are not allowed in the possession of students without approval. David Melton is legal counsel for Ozark National Life Insurance Company, Heartland Ministries, and CNS International Ministries, Inc. (a 501 Tax Exempt Company). He offered additional testimony concerning the mission of Heartland. He is deeply involved in the operations of the Heartland enterprise, and is very knowledgeable about its activities. He testified that Heartland is a city of refuge that was established to help troubled youth become productive citizens. Heartland Community Church is located on the Heartland campus. Church services are conducted in the school gymnasium on Sunday morning, Sunday evening, Wednesday evening, and, twice a week, prayer services are observed. The gymnasium is also the site for various youth activities. Average weekly church attendance is between five hundred and six hundred persons. Mr. Melton describes many of the children in the Heartland program as having failed in other placements. Many have been involved in criminal activity including crimes against persons, offenses involving alcohol and drug abuse, and self-destructive behavior. Many children coming to Heartland are “street wise.” Controlling their behavior during the first three to six months is challenging. It is a highly structured environment with little contact between boys and girls. Forms of punishment, in addition to swats, include the wearing of jail-type jump suits, having hair cut short, having food substituted, for example to Heartland stew, and not permitting second helpings. Swatting is implemented as the final option. Swats are administered as a child bends at the waist placing both hands on a chair while being fully clothed. Counseling occurs before swatting to identify the reason swats are necessary, so the punishment is associated with the particular activity being discouraged. A person of the same gender as the person receiving swats must be present. Mike Peterson, a person of imposing size, is available to assist in restraining a child who resists receipt of swats. Mr. Melton presents himself as being very well informed and prepared in steadfastly representing Heartland interests, including the interests of children at Heartland. Rebecca Flood offers insight into some of the challenges Heartland staff faces in its mission. She married Jason Flood in January 2002. She was formerly known as Becky Gilmore. She moved to Heartland on May 27, 1998, entering the Heartland program as a student, rebellious and disrespectful of her parents. Other junior staff members who have been through the Heartland program include Heather Clark and Brenda McNabb. Ms. Flood’s annual salary is $15,000.00 plus provision of housing. Her husband is currently a staff member in the Boys’ Dormitory. In October 2001, he was removed from child care services because of child abuse allegations involving O.M. This matter will be thoroughly discussed, subsequently. Ms. Flood was a dormitory staff employee on October 30, 2001. That employment started in the Spring of 2001. Prior to that duty, she worked in the child day care center for two years, and before that she worked on the farm with the calf crew. Ms. Flood reports that some of the girls at Heartland have problems concerning drug and alcohol addiction; some have been sexually abused; some have violently acted out and are out of control; and some were physically abused by their parents. Some students engage in self-destructive behavior such as cutting themselves. Some are suicidal. Two or three girls room together in the dormitory. Sometimes, with particular girls, restrictions are placed on their communication with individuals adversely affecting their behavior, including parents. Generally, girls are allowed no contact with parents for the first thirty days of their placement, and at the conclusion of that period they are allowed to make one ten-minute phone call each week in the presence of a discipleship group leader. The group leader makes no notes of conversations unless the student is cussing or “something like that.” Parents dictate the identity of persons who may receive calls from the girls for one year. The girls are permitted to write letters which are screened by Ms. Flood, Amy Wilson, and Becky Powell for expressed cussing, disrespect for the intended recipient of the letter, or for expressions that are very negative. Expressions of hatred for Heartland or of mistreatment at Heartland are forwarded to supervisors. Ms. Flood has received bruises and had a broken blood vessel while administering discipline. She knows that Carol Lundst-edt suffered a broken rib when she was knocked down while trying to stop a child from running through a door. She never saw an instance of a child being injured when she was working in the Dormitory. She never made any hotline calls and she was never named as a perpetrator in any complaint. She was never disciplined for mistreating any girl and has never been reprimanded. She is familiar with the filing of incident reports. Their purpose is to identify who was involved in an incident, where the incident occurred, what happened, and what discipline was administered. She was told when she first started working at the Day Care Center at Heartland in 1998, that she was a mandated reporter under the law and had a duty to call the “hotline” if she suspected that a child had been abused or neglected. She believes that the mass removal adversely impacted the children. Ms. Flood is not permitted to administer discipline without approval of Carin Patchin, who is the wife of Rob Patchin, grandson of Charles Sharpe who has management responsibilities at Heartland. Mr. Sharpe explained the requirements of parents on admission of their child. Parents must sign an agreement upon admission of their child agreeing, among other things, to the control of outgoing and incoming mail. Mail and telephone restrictions are implemented based on experiences from other drug and alcohol abuse treatment programs. Parents decide the identity of individuals with whom the children may communicate. Manuals for the Boys’ Dormitory (Pl.Ex. no 112) and the Girls’ Dormitory (Pl.Ex. no. 113) set forth the procedures to be observed concerning communications’ restrictions for admitted children. Over 90% of the children coming to Heartland do not want to come there. Generally, admitted children are manipulative and will do almost anything to leave. They do not like the restrictions upon the freedom they have been accustomed to observing. They frequently tell others that Heartland does not feed them, does not love them, and will report almost anything to get released. Staff members may inspect all mail because the associations of previous drug, alcohol, and sexual environments of children must be eliminated. Specific efforts are made to break the cycle that makes the admission necessary. Children frequently ask for items they should not have. The limitations are put in place to change behavior to give them a more positive outlook. It is believed that unless a rebellious attitude is broken, prospects for change are grim. In their telephone calls each week to parents, they must address parents respectfully without manipulation and argument. Parents sign an agreement when they bring a child to Heartland agreeing to pay for the services performed for the child. If the parent has no money, no payment is expected or received. No child has ever been turned away from Heartland and no legal action has ever been taken to collect money for the care of a child. Children admitted to Heartland are expected to graduate from high school. Parents are told not to bring their children to Heartland unless they expect the child to graduate. Any debt is excused if the child graduates. Parents are told they will be expected to pay six hundred dollars for each month the child was at Heartland if the child is removed by them before graduation. Parents are not told that there is no expectation that Heartland will actually attempt to collect if the child is removed before graduation. Heartland personnel do not want to baby-sit children while their parents take a vacation. Since its beginning, fifty-four students have graduated from Heartland. Mr. Sharpe claims a better than eighty-five percent success rate with children admitted at Heartland, although he admits that one student has had a “run-in” with the law since graduating. Heartland maintains close contact with the students after graduation. II. THE MANURE PIT INCIDENT An event literally reported around the world occurred in late March or April 2001, at a manure pit and manure platform where animal waste is collected from a large dairy herd owed and operated by Mr. Sharpe’s for-profit enterprises. Students at Heartland are regularly assigned routine jobs with the dairy operation. Rob Patchin conceived the idea that students expressing dissatisfaction with scho.ol attendance should be taken to the manure pit or the manure platform, and be instructed to wade into the manure at a depth that remains in dispute. The discipline was promoted under the title of “School Appreciation Days.” Facts that are not in dispute are that the manure at the location had a foul odor; that its presence on the skin was unpleasant; that no physical injuries occurred from the practice; that in each instance when the practice was executed, it proved an efficacious means of re-channeling the students view of school attendance; and that Mr. Sharpe was not aware that this practice was being conducted. When he learned of it, he characterized it as being “dumb as a rock.” From this point in the Opinion, any exposure to manure by Heartland students will be referred to as The Manure Pit Incident. The Manure Pit Incident was the cause of frenetic intrusion into every aspect of Heartland’s existence. Before this incident, Heartland was a curiosity in a rural area because of the construction of many new buildings; the development of a very large farming operation; opening of a state of the art school; existence of an alcohol and drug treatment care; and regular Christian worship services. When children were discovered wading in manure, the story was reported, among other places, in the New York Times. This episode redefined the way Heartland was perceived by law enforcement, the Division of Family Services, juvenile officers in the Second and Forty-First Judicial Circuits, and neighbors and residents in the area. This formerly benign entity, having primarily a local identification, overnight took on a role of a suspicious undefined separated group, in the age of other now identifiable dangerous causes, making it a target for intrusive inquiries. In late March or early April, a few teenagers in the Heartland program were required to wade into the manure pit. Mr. Sharpe first learned of Mike Waddle, Juvenile Officer of the Second Judicial Circuit, in April, 2001. Mr. Waddle became actively involved in the Manure Pit Incident investigation that followed. Mr. Waddle graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice. Immediately thereafter, he became employed by the Missouri State Probation and Parole Board as a probation and parole officer. Four or five years later, in 1988, he was hired as a juvenile officer for the Second Judicial Circuit Juvenile Office. He is currently a board member and treasurer of the Missouri Juvenile Justice Association, a member of the Northeast Missouri Peace Officers’ Association, and a member of the Northeast Missouri Juvenile Officers’ Association. He is a gubernatorial appointee to the Juvenile Justice Advisory Group, and a member of the National Coalition for Juvenile Justice. He receives annual training from the Missouri Juvenile Justice Association in the Spring and Fall at its conferences. At least annually, he receives training at the National Council for Juvenile and Family Court Judges’ meetings. He has received training in the past from the Department of Justice in child abuse and neglect investigations. He is training to become certified as a Juvenile Court Administrator. Most of the volume opinion concerns the actions and intent of Mr. Waddle, for reasons which will become apparent. Heartland presented to Mr. Waddle his first experience with a significant population of juveniles with serious behavioral and emotional problems. Before April 2001, Mr. Waddle was generally aware of Heartland, but he had never been on the property and no Second Judicial Circuit Juvenile Office personnel had ever conducted any investigation at Heartland. No Heartland personnel had ever been suspected of any activity that would call for action by his Office. Mr. Waddle first went to Heartland with a family support group where a father was involved in the Men’s Recovery Program. On April 30, 2001, he was notified by Lewis County Sheriff, David Parrish, of a child abuse allegation concerning the exposure of children to a manure pit at Heartland. Before April 2001, he only knew that a school was located on the Heartland property and that a religious ministry was practiced there. He was not aware, before April 2001, that Heartland was established to treat children who abused drugs, those with serious emotional problems, or that some children were placed there involuntarily. In March 2001, he was not aware that corporal punishment was practiced there. Mr. Waddle knows that it is lawful in Missouri for unlicensed facilities to operate residential child care facilities. Licensed facilities must comply with health and fire codes and maintain minimum standards for staff. Corporal punishment is not permitted in licensed facilities. Mr. Waddle has no objection to licensed child care facilities being located in the Second Judicial Circuit, and he believes that all residential facilities should be licensed. Before learning of Heartland, Mr. Waddle had no experiences with religious schools in conjunction with residential facilities having students with serious behavioral and emotional problems. He did not know at that time that other juvenile officers in the state of Missouri had been placing children there under court order, but now believes that other juvenile officers from other circuits should notify him before children are placed there. Before April 2001, no one came to him and voiced any objections about Heartland. Cindy Ayers has been the Chief Juvenile Officer of the Forty-First Judicial Circuit since 1992. Deputy juvenile officers are Tammy Shoemaker, Vicki Sweet, Larry Carmer, and Daniel Waller. Ms. Ayers is familiar with Heartland, as she attended the Groundbreaking Ceremony at Heartland in approximately 1996. The Heartland School Building and some of the Group Homes are physically located in the Forty-First Judicial Circuit. In Heartland’s history, the Forty-First Circuit Judicial Office has taken three formal actions involving Heartland, all in 2001. The first, on April 3, 2001, involved removal of an infant from the Group Home occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Sharpe. K.M.F.’s mother, D.C., was a sixteen year old boarding student at Heartland. On April 2, 2001, Ms. Ayers learned that the child’s mother wanted K.M.F. returned to her. Ms. Ayers learned later that a consent to adopt the child had been executed by D.C., who had abandoned K.M.F. at Heartland when she was pregnant with her second child and was unable to care for K.M.F. Ms. Ayers was aware that KM.F.’s father had lawful custody of her, but she made no effort to contact the father. Mr. Steve Raymond, Shelby County Prosecuting Attorney, advised, upon request, that the Forty-First Circuit Juvenile Office was the appropriate agency to take custody of K.M.F. Ms. Ayers applied for and received a court order to remove K.M.F. from the Sharpe home. The Sharpes, in talking to Ms. Behrens of the Lewis County Sheriffs Office, reported that they would not voluntarily release K.M.F. without a court order. Accompanied by seven other Shelby and Knox County officials, Ms. Ayers went to the Sharpe home, presented the court order to Mrs. Sharpe, and received custody of K.M.F. without resistence. Mr. Raymond filed felony criminal charges against both Charles and Lori Sharpe for failure to return K.M.F. when D.C. demanded custody. The charges were later dismissed by a successor prosecutor. In a subsequent Division of Family Services’ investigation, pursuant to a hotline report, the child abuse or neglect report against the Sharpes in the K.M.F. matter was unsubstantiated. Mr. Raymond was very upset over the OuWof-Home Investigator’s “unsubstantiated” conclusion. Ms. Ayers expressed the view, at that time, that “Heartland is becoming its own city and stretches into three counties, Knox, Lewis and Shelby (Pl.ex. 42).” She observed that there were people everywhere, there were people from foreign countries, and there was a rehabilitation center loeat-ed there. She also observed prevalent new construction. On April 9, 2001, Ms. Ayers and Brenda Wright of the Division of Family Services sent a memorandum to area law enforcement agencies inviting them to a meeting to gain coordination of counties and get information to develop a plan concerning Heartland. Ms. Ayers believed that Heartland officials had not worked well with her in the K.M.F. matter. The meeting lasted one and one-half hours. No one from Heartland received an invitation. Ms. Ayers recalls the attendees at the April 16, 2001 meeting as herself, sheriffs from the three counties, Mr. Waddle, Ms. Wright, Pam McGowan, from the Missouri Division of Family Services, and Mr. Raymond, the Shelby County prosecuting attorney. Ms. Wright expressed the view that she wanted to assist families that left Heartland. The issue of run-a-ways and jurisdiction implications were discussed. When asked if anyone expressed concern about the Heartland program, Ms. Ayers had “no recollection.” Immediately after the April 16, 2001 meeting, there was no attempt to consult with Heartland personnel. When Ms. Ayers circulated the memorandum calling for the meeting (Pl.ex. 1), the notice of the meeting came as a surprise to Mr. Waddle. At that time, he had little information concerning Heartland. Before the meeting, he was aware of what he considered a disproportionate share of run-a-ways from Heartland, although he had received no complaints from sheriffs about such run-a ways. Mr. Waddle does not remember the identity of all persons at the meeting, but recalls that those attending included Ms. Ayers; Brenda Wright; Jerrie Jacobs-Kenner; Ms. McGowan; Mr. Raymond; Donna Rohrbach, a Division of Family Services supervisor from Lewis County; probably someone from the Shelby County Sheriffs Office; probably someone from the Adair County Division of Family Services’ Office; himself; and perhaps some one from the Knox County Sheriffs Office. The primary conversation at the meeting, according to Mr. Waddle, was Mr. Raymond’s expressed dissatisfaction with the Division of Family Services because of the inability of its personnel to make a finding of probable cause in their investigations. Mr. Raymond expressed the belief that the Division of Family Services has a lesser burden in making its finding than the Associate Circuit Judge when considering a probable cause finding. He believed that when he filed charges against Mr. and Mrs. Sharpe concerning K.M.F., as mentioned, and proved probable cause that a crime had been committed, the Division of Family Services should have made a probable cause finding of child abuse. Ms. McGowan expressed an opposite view and remained unconvinced by Mr. Raymond, who expressed the view that he had prepared an “open and shut” case against the Sharpes. The Office of Out-of-Home Investigations, located within the Division of Family Services of the Department of Social Services, conducts investigations of child abuse in residential facilities. Mr. Tim Carter conducted out-of-home investigations at the time of the meeting of April 16, 2001. At that meeting, Division of Family Services’ personnel and juvenile office personnel expressed dissatisfaction with Mr. Carter’s performance. There was expressed belief that there were instances when he should have made substantiated findings of child abuse when unsubstantiated findings were made. Mr. Waddle recalls no discussion at the meeting related to any investigations at Heartland. There was a recognition that since Heartland was an unlicensed facility, the Division of Family Services did not have available all of the remedies as with licensed groups. With licensed organizations, the Division of Family Services is lawfully enabled to negotiate to bring the facility into compliance with their requirements. Ms. Ayers believes that Mr. Waddle did not contact her from April 16, 2001, until criminal charges were filed against five staff members at Heartland alleged to be involved in the Manure Pit Incident on June 26, 2001, except at a May 9, 2001 meeting. Between April 16, 2001 and June 28, 2001, Ms. Ayers contacted no one at Heartland about having a meeting. She has no recall of being involved in a conference call with Mr. Waddle about removal of the children from Heartland or of Heartland ceasing operations on or about June 28, 2001. Upon a review of Plaintiffs Exhibit 46, a four page Division of Family Services memorandum, Ms. Ayers testified that she still had no recall of a conference call on June 29, 2001, concerning her contacting Mr. Raymond about seeking an injunction to close down Heartland. Ms. Ayers does recall that the subject of an injunction was discussed at the meeting on May 9, 2001, attended by Mac Aber-nethy, Jerrie JacobsKerner, Anita Williams, Donna Rohrbach, and Mr. Waddle. The primary focus of this meeting was the out-of-home investigations of Tim Carter of the Division of Family Services. Injunctive relief at this meeting was discussed in the context of possible future problems. There was a discussion that Heartland was growing too fast and they needed to slow down the number of children entering there. An injunction could “stop it” until it stabilized, to prevent new children from coming in. Ms. Ayers made it clear in her trial testimony that seeking an injunction was not on her agenda. At this meeting, she says there was no talk about using an injunction to close the school. In late April 2001, Mr. Waddle learned that the Mr. and Mrs. Sharpe had been criminally charged for failure to return a child placed with them when its rightful custodian demanded custody (the K.M.F. matter). He did not participate in that investigation. He learned this information from Mr. Raymond at the April 16, 2001 meeting. Mr. Waddle acknowledges that there was talk about the possibility of seeking injunctive relief against Heartland at that meeting. He recognized that there was some concern that Heartland was growing too fast, it was expanding into the counties of Shelby, Lewis, and Knox, that it was isolated, and seemed to be developing into its own community. At this meeting, he says there was no discussion about removing children at Heartland. When initially questioned as to whether there was any discussion about the use of injunctive relief against Heartland, Mr. Waddle first said that was mentioned in the context of caring for children. When specifically asked, “is it your testimony that you never participated in a conversation with anyone about seeking injunctive relief for the purpose of Heartland ceasing operations,” Mr. Waddle responded, “I had that conversation as one of the potential remedies, yes, as a last resort, and that was always in the context of those conversations.” He believes that such a conversation occurred after the April 16, 2001 meeting. It was agreed at the April 16, 2001 meeting that in the future, there would be more sharing of information. Mr. Waddle departed from the meeting with no agenda towards Heartland. On the same day, at a subsequent meeting attended by Mr. Waddle; Ms. Jacobs-Kenner; Ms. Rohrbach; Ms. McGowan; Ms. Wright; Ms. Ayers; Linda McDaniel, Division of Family Services supervisor from Lewis County; and perhaps someone from the Adair County Division of Family Services’ Office; the questioned competence of Mr. Carter to do out-of-home investigations was further discussed. Ms. Ayers had little knowledge about the Manure Pit Incident at the time the news about it was released in late June, 2001, in a radio broadcast. She then discovered that criminal charges had been filed related to the Manure Pit Incident around the first of July. On July 5, 2001, Ms. Ayers reviewed the Lewis County Sheriffs report concerning the Manure Pit Incident with some friends. She was concerned about the welfare of J.J., a Shelby County juvenile at Heartland, who was developmentally disabled and was involved in the Manure Pit Incident. He lost a shoe in the pit and was crying. She decided to seek removal of J.J. from Heartland upon advice from Kyle Kendrick of the Division of Family Services, who had concluded that J.J. had been abused. J.J.’s mother was opposed to any action to remove him from Heartland. However, after Ms. Ayers advised the child’s mother of facts she had learned concerning J.J., his mother removed him from Heartland (PI. Ex. 31). Later, J.J. returned to Heartland. Mr. Waddle first went to Heartland premises during the Manure Pit Incident investigation on April 30, 2001, at the request of Sheriff David Parrish, former Second Judicial Circuit deputy juvenile officer for Lewis County under the supervision of Mr. Waddle. Mr. Waddle believes it is possible that he and Sheriff Parrish had conversations during the week of April 23, 2001, about possible child endangerment at Heartland resulting from the Manure Pit Incident. He and Sheriff Parrish had earlier met at the Sheriffs Office in Monticello, Missouri, where Sheriff Parrish told him that he had learned that a child, likely a girl, had been put into a manure pit, that there may have been more than one child involved, and that several people who were at the manure pit at the time were upset. It is Mr. Waddle’s practice in conducting child abuse allegations to physically remove the child to a neutral location for an interrogation, e.g., the courthouse or Division of Family Services’ Office. His investigations are frequently conducted jointly with law enforcement personnel. A “risk of harm assessment” is made on a case-by-case basis to determine if a child should be removed from a custodial setting without consent of the parent or responsible person. In the initial investigation of the Manure Pit Incident, Mr. Waddle, Sheriff Parrish, and possibly Deputy Juvenile Officer Jamie Goodwin, contacted Ron Osbon at the Boys’ Dormitory at Heartland. Thereafter, they visited the Girls’ Dormitory. Mr. Osbon made arrangements for a juvenile female, M.I.K., to be interviewed by the Second Judicial Circuit Juvenile Office personnel and Sheriff Parrish or his deputies. They took her to the LaBelle, Missouri police station. She was not advised that she was not required to accompany the officers. Mr. Osbon had stated that M.I.K. had stood in the manure pit where she had been subjected to raw animal waste, cow urine, and cow feces. Staff members were asked to get M.I.K. ready to be taken by Mr. Waddle, Sheriff Parrish, and Mr. Goodwin. They were not asked to contact M.I.K’s parents. Mr. Waddle had concluded that as the child’s custodian, Heartland had authority to release her. At that time, there was no belief by Mr. Waddle that M.I K. was in protective custody. She was questioned by Mr. Waddle, Kris Chamley with the Division of Family Services, and Sheriff Parrish. The interview was not limited to the Manure Pit Incident, but included questions about her personal history, conflicts with her parents, past psychological problems, medical history, the scope of her medications, and disciplinary practices at Heartland. The questioning began at 5:00 p.m. and M.I.K. was taken into protective custody at 6:20 p.m. The Missouri Division of-Family Services took protective custody of her She was taken to the Bruce Nor-mile Juvenile Justice Center in Kirksville, Missouri, which is located in Adair County. Her parents were then contacted and they took custody of her the next day. Thereafter, Mr. Waddle filed a juvenile court petition against Heartland alleging child abuse. He concluded that the incident was harmful to M.I.K., it was emotionally distressing, and it was abusive. He also learned from M.I.K. that other “problematic” forms of discipline were practiced at Heartland. Thus, Mr. Waddle wanted to interview other juveniles. After questioning M.I.K., Sheriff Parrish and Mr. Waddle went to view the manure pit. Sheriff Parrish described it as being very dark, resembling sewage with an overwhelming stench. He recalls seeing insects at the site. He took exception to the suggestion that the children who were there were doing farm chores, based upon his personal farming experience. The Court agrees with his analysis that the children were not there to do farm chores. Sheriff Parrish was very angry when he saw the pit. He testified that some of the children interviewed were “very matter-of-fact about it and I was surprised by that. I’m not sure they even recognized what had been done to them.” He then said, “[sjome of the kids were, I think, very, very hurt by it.” Sheriff Parrish took some photographs. Mike Peterson and other staff members were questioned. Mr. Peterson was taken to the LaBelle Police Station for his interrogation. Sheriff Parrish and Mr. Waddle learned from the staff that the Manure Pit Incident had occurred a month or so before and the practice of exposing juveniles to the Manure Pit had been discontinued weeks before. " On May 1, 2001, six male juveniles were transported to the LaBelle Police Station by Mr. Rob Patchin where they were interrogated. Mr. Waddle conducted four of these interviews. Sheriff Parrish and Jamie Goodwin conducted the other two interviews. The children were asked about subjects other than the Manure Pit Incident. One of the boys told Mr. Waddle, “Pastor Charlie will be talking about you guys in church again.” Mr. Waddle testified that a juvenile reported that “we’re evil and we’re out to shut them down and that the government should stay out of his business.” One of the boys talked about bringing a gun to a former school to kill a teacher and another student. One related that he was involved as a drug dealer, and was involved in a theft and a battery. All were asked about disciplinary practices at Heartland. Mr. Waddle noted that children under placement frequently exaggerate care-giver inadequacies. The interviews began at 9:00 a.m. and the boys were released by 4:00 p.m. All were returned to Heartland after a decision was made that there was no risk of immediate harm to any of the children. Parents were not contacted before the children were interviewed. Mr. Waddle believed that Heartland was acting in loco parentis with respect to these young men and he had no obligation to contact the parents. There is no indication that the children were advised or their constitutional rights under the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution, or of their right to call a parent or counsel. The next questioning concerning Heartland was supposed to occur at Sheriff Parrish’s office at 10:00 aim. on May 3, 2003. Mr. Waddle recalls that five Heartland employees, Mr. Peterson, Ms. Abu-Saada, Mr. Osbon, Mr. Kepke, and Mr. Patchin were to be interviewed by Mr. Waddle and Sheriff Parrish in the presence of counsel. Legal counsel from Heartland appeared for the interrogations. When Sheriff Parrish announced a schedule conflict, Heartland personnel believed the session would be rescheduled. No attempt was made by Mr. Waddle or Sheriff Parrish to reschedule these interviews. Mr. Waddle believed it was not significant at that point that he talk to Heartland staff members. On the afternoon of May 3, 2001, however, Mr. Waddle wanted to interview four more juveniles from Heartland. Later, Sheriff Parrish talked to Steve Porter, local counsel for Heartland, and Mr. Sharpe, both of whom objected to the removal of the children from Heartland for interviewing without the presence of counsel on or off the Heartland campus. Upon learning of the objection, Mr. Waddle told Mr. Sharpe that he was taking juveniles into protective custody and if he interfered, he would be arrested by Sheriff Parrish. Sheriff Parrish later stated that he was not sure he had that authority. As he was leaving, Mr. Waddle was told that there were a couple more juveniles that they would eventually want to interview, so they might as well take them as well. A.C. was interviewed in the presence of a licensed psychologist, Dr. Kurt Bumby from the Missouri Division of Youth Services, who concluded that A.C. had been emotionally traumatized by being placed in the pit. After the interviews, all of the children were taken back to Heartland except A.C., who was taken to the Bruce Normile Juvenile Justice Center. Mr. Waddle learned that A.C. was under another Court’s order, and was asked not to return the child to Heartland. At the time of these interviews, parents were not notified before the children were taken from Heartland to be interrogated, nor were children advised of their rights regarding the questioning. Mr. Waddle believed that only if the child was believed to be a law violator would the interview be conducted with parental consent. Where child abuse or neglect was suspected, parents were not first notified. Mr. Waddle’s practice in interviewing juveniles who are suspected to be abuse or neglect victims is not to give them a Miranda warning. On May 7, 2001, Rob Patchin brought eight more youths to the LaBelle Police Station for interviews. .Juvenile authorities learned that the staff at Heartland had recently reduced discipline practices. On May 10, 2001, the Division of Family Services personnel visited Heartland, talking to 10% of the enrolled population in a sampling investigation. They concluded that no one at Heartland was being harmed. Sheriff Parrish distinguishes himself in this proceeding with his truthful testimony in responding to difficult questions. It is the Court’s repeated observation that he takes his oath seriously. His testimony adds some details concerning early law enforcement involvement at Heartland and the interrogation of juveniles from Heartland in the investigation of the Manure Pit Incident. He confirmed that he is a former deputy juvenile officer supervised by Mr. Waddle. Heartland’s current operation in Lewis County includes the Cattle Company, the Men’s Recovery Center, and various residences. In the Spring of 2001, he had some concerns about Heartland because of its considerable size in Lewis County. He perceived it as an isolated community. Many people were drawn to the Heartland church, initially, but eventually started going back to their own churches because of the disciplinary practices at Heartland and the “types of people and some of the issues as well.” He was concerned because of the lack of oversight of the Heartland Church and because it was not affiliated with any particular denomination. He started having concerns about the religious message at Heartland including what he heard about their interpretation of the Bible, including the issue of “submission.” He had performed some investigations at Heartland and became concerned about the' dangerousness of kids that were there. The word “cult” never “popped into [his] mind” until after the Manure Pit Incident. People came to him with their experiences at Heartland, and he believed it had the “potential to be a cult.” The community was isolated and the people had an elitist view of themselves. He believed that “Heartland was building its own community.” He became concerned that Heartland was “developing a mind set.” He questioned whether Heartland was a legitimate religious community. He was concerned in 2001, about Mr. Sharpe’s over-exalted status. He contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the summer of 2001, to see if that agency had a definition of “cult.” When some tried to leave Heartland, he was advised that they were told they could not survive outside Heartland and that Heartland was the best place for them. He reported knowing that some left in the middle of the night. Sheriff Parrish said that Tim Kixkmiller of the Missouri State Highway Patrol may have used the words “Little Waco” in reference to Heartland after the investigation of Heartland began. He is sure he had a conversation with Mr. Waddle about the potential for cult activity after the Manure Pit Incident, but is sure it was not an elaborate conversation. Sheriff Parrish had visited the Heartland campus as part of a tour with the Northeast Missouri Juvenile Officers’ Association after the school was first built. His associations with Mr. and Mrs. Sharpe before April 2001, had always been cordial. He only had a couple of conversations with Mr. Sharpe before that time. He knew that Mr. Sharpe had supported his opponent in the last election. Mr. Sharpe had “done some things he did not care for.” In some manner, Mr. Sharpe had offended him. While he could not be more specific, Sheriff Parrish was sure he was not affected in the administration of his duties. Later, Sheriff Parrish said that Mr. Sharpe had a lot of money and you do not cross Charlie Sharpe. Sheriff Parrish was familiar with the mission of Heartland to work with children with behavioral problems to turn their lives around. He was concerned with the type of kids at Heartland. His “constituents” complained to him about the kind of kids there. Sheriff Parrish preferred that these kind of kids not be brought to Heartland. When asked if he ever said “life would be easier if Heartland was shut down,” he responded, “I’ve said that it would be easier if they didn’t have those kids, but I didn’t say if it were shut down, but yeah, I have said that.” He had reason to believe the other sheriffs in the area had concerns about Heartland. At some point, there were a lot of run-a-ways. People began locking their doors and were concerned for the welfare of their children. Sheriff Parrish believed that this was changing the community in negative ways. Some in the community were opposed to what was being done at Heartland. He was concerned that people are being brought there from all over the world. He was involved in an investigation where a Guatemalan child had been beaten with a belt. It was not reported for two weeks, then someone at Heartland brought it to his attention. He describes hearing about a man at Heartland named AbuSaada, from another law enforcement official, who was described as a former Palestinian freedom fighter who converted to Christianity. Sheriff Parrish understands that Mr. AbuSaada is a chef at Heartland. He also had developed concerns about Heartland from specific cases of which he had knowledge. He related a matter about a child who almost died from hanging and of a child who fashioned a crude bomb and placed it at a barn. In the context of the explosives investigation, he described the boy as the kind of a child that no one would want. He had a stated preference that Heartland not bring into the community children with backgrounds with a predilection for criminal behavior. Sheriff Parrish did not learn of the Manure Pit Incident until late April 2001. He had run out of gas, and his mother brought him some fuel and told him what she had heard about the Manure Pit Incident. She had received the information at the First Christian Church of LaBelle. There was discussion about the issues of exalted status of the Heartland community, submission, and that Heartland teachers were teaching about speaking in tongues. Sheriff Parrish talked to Mr. Goodson and Mr. Griffin, former employees at Heartland, about the Manure Pit Incident. On April 27, 2001, Sheriff Parrish made a hotline call to the Division of Family Services, reporting that it was alleged that a Heartland resident was required to stand in a dead cow pit up to her chest and several residents were required to stand under a conveyor belt that dumped manure, bedding and cow afterbirth on them. He made it clear that he thought it was a criminal investigation. Sheriff Parrish believed at the time that no child was in imminent risk of harm. He talked to Pam McGowan at the Division of Family Services, telling her that he did not want the regular investigator, Tim Carter, involved, he did not want Heartland alerted, and he did not want anyone going to Heartland without law enforcement, because he was afraid restrictions would be placed on people with whom he wanted to speak. When asked if Heartland personnel had been uncooperative in the past, Sheriff Parrish replied that they had been “cooperative in most things.” He had learned by this time that the practice of subjecting students to manure pit exposure had stopped “some weeks before.” Tim Carter, Out-of-Home Investigator for the Division of Family Services, conducted an investigation of events surrounding the Manure Pit Incident. He made a probable cause finding that Rob Patehin had been negligent with respect to his decision to allow the manure punishment to take place. He made the same conclusion with regard to Ms. AbuSaada, Mr. Peterson, Ms. Powell, Mr. Kiepke, and Mr. Osbon. Of the six staff members originally charged as a result of the Manure Pit Incident, only Mr. Patchin’s case went to trial. He was acquitted after a very brief jury deliberation. Charges against the other manure pit defendants were thereafter dismissed. A few weeks before the trial in this case began, Mr. Peterson, Ms. AbuSaada, and Ms. Powell were again charged with crimes emanating from the Manure Pit Incident. Ms. Powell is currently a senior at Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Missouri. Before Sheriff Parrish went to Heartland on April 30, 2001, he talked to Mr. Waddle and reported to him all he knew about events there. He is sure that he talked to Mr. Waddle about an investigative plan and probably discussed going to the Men’s Center. He is sure he talked to Mr. Waddle about where the interview of the young woman who had been in the manure pit should be conducted. Usually, interviewing away from the area of abuse is preferred. He believed that he could take custody of a juvenile up to twelve hours, while a juvenile officer can take custody up to twenty-four hours. He believed this was a co-investigation and that under those circumstances it was the juvenile officer’s responsibility to take custody. He and Mr. Waddle discussed the issue. When he arrived at the Men’s. Center he talked to Ron Osbon, who directed him and the Knox County Sheriff to M.I K. He, Mr. Waddle, Deputy Juvenile Officer Goodwin, and a deputy sheriff from Knox County went to the Girls’ Dormitory. They took custody of M.I K. and transported her to the LaBelle Police Department for the purpose of conducting an interview. No attempt was made to contact her parents. He acknowledges that the usual practice is to advise parents before picking-up a child in the school situation. He does not know if M I K. was advised whether she could refuse to go or refuse to submit to questioning. There is nothing to indicate that she was advised of her right not to speak or of her constitutional right to the presence of a lawyer. Once at the police station, he recognizes that she was not free to leave. She was asked about her family history, problems she had at home, her medical and psychological problems, and her medication. Regarding Heartland’s disciplinary practices, she said that she believed Heartland was helping her, but that the disciplinary practices were too severe. Later, Sheriff Parrish, Mr. Waddle, and Mr. Goodwin went to the manure pit. Sheriff Parrish talked to Mr. Peterson and took some photographs. Mr. Sharpe arrived. Mr. Sharpe had been cordial with Sheriff Parrish in the past. Sheriff Parrish was asked if he addressed Mr. Sharpe by saying, “[wjhat do you got to do with this, Big’n? You wasn’t involved in any of this.” He denied saying it in that way, but when Mr. Patchin told him that he had called Mr. Sharpe “Big’n,” he knew he had offended Mr. Sharpe, and apologized. After Sheriff Parrish and Mr. Waddle talked to Mr. Peterson, the two conferred and agreed that they wanted to talk to some of the boys believed to be witnesses at the Manure Pit Incident. On May 1, 2001, Rob Patchin agreed to bring the boys identified after the M.I.K. interview to the LaBelle Police Station for questioning. After the boys arrived at the station, they were not free to go. There was no belief any of those boys were in imminent risk of harm. Sheriff Parrish has no recall if any parents were contacted before the interviews began. He did not contact any of their parents at any time. It is rare that Sheriff Parrish allows a parent to be present when he conducts an interview. He, Mr. Waddle, and Mr. Goodwin questioned the boys. There is nothing to suggest that they were advised of their constitutional rights or their right to call a parent or counsel as required by the Missouri Rules of Civil Procedure. They were asked why they were at Heartland and about their personal histories. He learned that one boy had taken a gun to school to kill another student, one was there because of drug abuse and theft, and another for possession of an altered firearm. They were also asked about the disciplina