This Couple Had Their Children Taken Away Simply For Taking Photos Of Them At Bath Time

Since the invention of the smartphone and pretty much everyone owning one, taking photos has become an everyday thing. Gone are the days of needing super expensive photography equipment or waiting for the school photo day to get a good picture of your kids. Now we're able to snap images of everyday situations and keep those memories forever. But, back when you had to take your photos in to get processed, those captured memories were really cherished. That's something the Demaree family did and they took a lot of photos when they all went on vacation in order to preserve some of the best times and looked forward to flipping through them when they got them back. But, unfortunately that's not what happened. Instead the Demaree family found themselves in a decade long fight. One that led them to losing custody of their children and fighting with Child Protective Services to get their kids back into their care and to have them look at their policy regarding what prompted their involvement in the first place. According to The Washington Post, the Demaree family's story starts way back in 2008, when Lisa and A.J. Demaree took their three daughters, then 5, 4 and 1 to San Diego for a vacation. During this time, the parents snapped over 100 photos throughout their trip, as so many of us have done. The images included a lot of their fun activities and everyday normal things families do, including image of their girls having fun in the bath. The trouble started for them after they took their photos to Walmart to get processed. The Demaree family would then see the hardest decade of their lives. An employee at that Walmart store who was processing the images marked them as "innapprorpaite" and then authorities were alerted. Yes, apparently the images were just typical everyday bath photos, but that's not what those in charge saw. [ALSO READ: Pediatrician Arrested For Giving Partial Vaccine To Hundreds Of Children!] After the Walmart employee alerted the police regarding the images of the Demaree family's daughters, a full-scale investigation was launched. Lisa and A.J. were being accused of child abuse and pornography and Child Protective Services (CPS) got involved. The parents lost custody of their girls who were taken from their home for nearly a month. During this time, law enforcement did a full investigation into the parents and the family and ultimately decided not to press charges. Yes, all this from a Walmart employee. While the girls were eventually returned home after being away for nearly a month, and no charges were filed, the damage was done. The Demaree family decided that is was their best course of action to file their own suit against CPS, alleging that they violated numerous laws and put their children into more harms way. “I was in so much disbelief. I started to hyperventilate. I tried to breathe it out,” Lisa Demeree said during an interview with ABC News. She adds, “As crazy as it may seem, what you may think are the most beautiful innocent pictures of your children may be seen as something completely different and completely perverted.” And what happened next was a very long drawn-out legal battle of the family vs the CPS. While there were setbacks along the way, the federal appeals court finally sided with the Demaree family. "The social workers did not have reasonable cause to believe the children were at risk of serious bodily harm or molestation,” the court ruled. “Therefore, viewing the record most favorably to the Demarees, the defendants acted unconstitutionally in taking the three children away from home without judicial authorization.” The court continued: “The risk identified by the defendants did not include taking photos of a nude child in an exploitative situation and distributing them, because there was no allegation or indication that A.J. and Lisa had distributed, or were likely in the future to distribute, nude pictures of their children to anyone,” the three-judge panel wrote. “Nor did the identified risk include taking photos of a nude child engaging in sexual conduct, because there was no allegation A.J. and Lisa had ever taken, or were likely to take, photos of their children engaging in sexual conduct.” [ALSO READ: Mom's Children Taken Into Foster Care After She Decided to Homeschool Them] “And the risk was not that the Demarees would see their own children, ages five, four, and one-and-a-half, nude, including their genitalia,” the judges added, “as caring for children of those ages necessitates doing so.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=17&v=W_rlqVF_6b4 So thankfully the Demaree family was able to get their kids back. But it does add an interesting part of the conversation regarding what parents should and should not capture. And especially so when it comes to what's being shared on social media. What do you think? Let us know your thoughts and don't forget to SHARE this post with your friends.

This Couple Had Their Children Taken Away Simply For Taking Photos Of Them At Bath Time

The family has been through a lot.

Devan McGuinness

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