Civil Rights Complaint Stems From 2007 Child Custody Case

POSTED: 11:52 pm EDT September 17, 2008
UPDATED: 12:54 am EDT September 18, 2008

BERGHOLZ, Ohio -- Members of the Amish community in Bergholz, Ohio, have filed a $35 million federal lawsuit against the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department.

The plaintiffs claim their civil rights were violated when armed deputies got involved in a child custody dispute in September of last year.

The Amish school near Bergholz has only recently reopened after community leaders claimed deputies had gone to the school to pick up the children of a teacher and return them to the custody of their father.

Last Friday, the parents of every child in that school filed a federal civil rights complaint claiming those deputies "violated their right to peaceful enjoyment of their community and posed a danger to the safety and welfare of the plaintiffs."

"We all have basic rights guaranteed to us by the Constitution and this complaint alleges those rights were violated under color of law," said Bryan Felmet, an attorney who has represented members of the Amish community in this case.

Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla has been spending most evenings this week away from his office on patrol in communities still affected by Sunday's massive power outage.

Abdalla told NEWS9 he has not yet seen the lawsuit and therefore couldn't comment on it.

In September 2007, Abdalla told NEWS9 he and his deputies had never put the children in danger.

At the time, Abdalla defended the armed escort saying a leader in the Amish community had threatened his life and the lives of his deputies.

"If it wasn't for all the allegations being made, for all the statements being made and the threats being made, we would have handled it differently," Abdalla said in a 2007 interview with NEWS9.

The plaintiffs in the case are seeking $10 million in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages.

http://www.wtov9.com/news/17501115/detail.html