State backs seizure of Moscow children

BANGOR – The Department of Human Services and the Maine State Police didn’t violate a Moscow couple’s constitutional rights by invading their home and taking custody of their five children, an assistant attorney general said in a response to a complaint filed in May in U.S. District Court.

DHS caseworker Joan Leslie-Brown and State Trooper Darryl Peary Jr. had the authority last January to enter Ann and William Tower Jr.’s home and arrest William Tower for simple assault, according to Assistant Attorney General Melissa Reynolds O’Dea.

“They did have an arrest warrant that was signed by the court and put into the computer system, but it’s not something that’s [typically] carried by an officer,” O’Dea said Monday during a telephone interview.

In the response filed earlier this month, O’Dea said state officials’ conduct was based upon probable cause; that the department made reasonable efforts to prevent removal of the children; and that William Tower is physically and mentally abusive to three older children in his home, putting two minor children in jeopardy.

“Our bottom line position is that [state officials] didn’t do anything wrong and that this will play out in due course in litigation,” O’Dea said.

As part of the federal lawsuit, the Towers allege that state officials entered the home without legal authority; made long-distance phone calls without consent; prohibited Ann Tower from entering her residence or seeing her children until she spoke with the caseworker; refused to allow William Tower to bring with him medication for a heart condition; and failed to abide by DHS’ state and federal mandate to make reasonable efforts to prevent the removal of the children before seeking a preliminary protection order.

Also named in the lawsuit is Michelle Dolley, the children’s guardian ad litem, who allegedly failed to do what was in the best interests of the children, according to attorney Ferdinand Slater of Hancock.

O’Dea asked the court to dismiss DHS and the Maine State Police because they’re state entities, and Dolley, Leslie-Brown and Peary because they were acting in their official capacities.

The assistant attorney general also hopes to make certain portions of the case confidential because it involves a child protective matter that’s pending in state court.

State workers went to the Towers’ home after one of the older children told school officials that William Tower slapped his 14-year-old stepson. A retired U.S. Army sergeant major, Tower, 48, said he struck the boy as part of a disciplinary measure and that the slap didn’t leave a mark.

The couple is seeking compensatory and punitive damages as well as declaratory relief and payment of attorney’s fees and expenses.

Slater has until Aug. 3 to respond to her motions, according to O’Dea. The court could make a decision by the end of the summer, she said. If the state wins on the motions, the case will involve only the complaint against Leslie-Brown and Peary in their personal capacities, O’Dea said.