Jennifer Whitton is a mother to two bright, emotionally intelligent precocious children, Oliver, 6 , and Ellison, age 4. The three are known to refer to themselves as the “Three Musketeers” and are rumored to have a top secret handshake.

Jennifer is a social worker, who previously worked for the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services early in her career, before moving on to the specializing in her life's work & passion- advocacy for and working with incarcerated individuals, returning citizens and all impacted by the criminal punishment system.

Oliver is a charmer, a tad dramatic and extremely outgoing. He loves playing guitar and has recently discovered newfound talent —playing soccer. He has a heart of service, and will literally give his last to those  he feels are in need. He is passionate about politics as demonstrated by his deep, vocal concerns about the outcome of last fall's U.S Senate race between Rafeal Warnock and Herschel Walker.

Ellison is the star of the show . Affectionately referred to as “boss baby”by her big brother, she  can frequently be heard giving orders and asserting her rights  using her new favorite imperative-- “respect my boundaries"! She is mighty but kind. She loves singing with her mom in the car, and wants to be a nurse when she grows up.  She tells the best, most dramatic stories and has mastered the art of the “side eye”.

The lives of this family were thrown into chaos in late May 2022, after the children's father, a combat Air Force Veteran with a history of documented Intimate Partner Violence and Coercive Control, made a false allegation of sexual abuse being peprtrated against the children, just 2 days before the little family of three were to move 100 miles away to location unknown to the father’s continued threats and acts of aggression towards Jennifer, despite having no in person contact.

Jennifer allowed an Athens Clarke County DFCS intake worker to interview her children on May 29,2022--less than 24 hours after the allegation was made. The intake worker asked for three collateral contacts and sent a text saying the case would close soon.

Jennifer and her two children happily moved to Milledgeville, Georgia at the beginning of June 2022 and immediately felt more secure and began thriving without the nagging presence of the father's tools of manipulation and control. However, in July Ms. Whitton received a call from Investigator Eleanor Click with Baldwin County Georgia DFCS, stating she needed to conduct a home visit. Ms. Whitton hesitantly agreed, as she feared this would be weaponized by her abuser as another tool of coercive control. Ms. Click rescheduled the home visit three times before going on leave.

A week or two after Ms. Whitton stopped receiving contact from Ms. Click another employee of Baldwin County DFCS reached out to Ms. Whitton and forcefully claimed she needed to make a home visit immediately. Ms. Whitton agreed but explained she worked out of town, over an hour away three days a week , and asked to schedule on a day when she was working remotely. The worker became angry and Ms. Whitton reluctantly agreed to a day she would be working in her office, 90 miles away. 

The day of the home visit, there was an emergency at Ms. Whitton's place of employment and she called to notify the worker she did not think she would be able to make the drive home in time for the visit. The worker became noticeably upset and Ms Whitton stated she was uncomfortable and wanted to talk to her advocate at the local Domestic Violence agency. The worker said, flippantly. "Fine, I will let our director know”, and ended the call. 

Almost 2 weeks later in August 2022, Ms. Whitton was shocked when she was served with a petition for dependency alleging abuse, moving to escape a CPS investigation (lease was signed 17 days before allegation was made), and failure to protect from domestic violence. 

The children have been in the care of mother since the petition was first filed. Both children were forensically interviewed in September of 2022 and the report was given to the Investigator that day. The report found no evidence of any abuse, but despite a motion to dismiss being filed by Ms. Whitton’s attorney the case continued with no safety concerns ever articulated and the children being left in the care of Ms. Whitton—no safety plan in place. No court orders issued. 

In all, the case was continued more than 4 times at the request of the Georgia Department of Family & Children Services with months passing while Ms.Whitton and her attorney tried to decipher what they could possibly be alleging. By early December, Ms. Whitton’s attorney received an email from The Department, finally addressing the question about what safety concerns the department had. The answer? That the children were suspected of being in contact with and being abused by the father, the person who made the false allegation, and who had not seen  (and has paid no child support )  in almost a year.

During that same time, Ms. Whitton became aware of escalating patterns of behavior from her ex partner and left the jurisdiction of the court, with attorney and Department’s knowledge, to visit family during the holidays. Before the next scheduled court date, Ms. Whitton received advice from her and the children’s family therapist that having repeated forced contact with her abuser in court was harmful to her mental health and possibly dangerous and suggested an ADA request to appear virtually as an alternative. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

letter from Jennifer & Children’s Therapist to the court 

The ADA request was submitted January 9th at a scheduled hearing where Ms. Whitton attended via Zoom. The Judge, Kelli Rutherford, refused to acknowledge the ADA request, and demanded that this mother, and credible victim of IPV & coercive control, disclose her location in open court with her abuser present. When Ms. Whitton protested citing concerns for her and children’s safety, the Judge threatened a removal order and contempt warrant. Ms. Whitton asked if the Department could state their safety concerns for the record to which the Judge answered they didn’t have to. She could issue a removal order —and seek ex parte communication after. Ms. Whitton then asked for time to hire new counsel—as her attorney asked to withdraw from the case during that hearing earlier that morning,citing her inability to effectively represent her client—but was told by Judge Rutherford that the 6th  Amendment didn’t apply in her courtroom and refused to allow a continuance for hiring new counsel. Instead she set a hearing for two days later with the demand Ms. Whitton appear with her children. 

Forced to represent herself, Ms. Whitton drafted a motion for the judge to be recused and a motion for continuance to seek legal counsel. She also requested the written ADA policy from the Baldwin County Court Administrator and Clerk of Courts but was told none existed. At the hearing, Ms. Whitton was allowed to appear virtually to argue her motions. The judge denied both motions and ordered a warrant for Ms. Whitton’s arrest be issued in contempt of court for refusing to put her and her children in potential danger, and following their licensed mental health care provider’s recommendation. The judge also set a date for adjudication—just one week later. 

Ms. Whitton consulted various attorneys but was unable to find anyone available to represent her before the scheduled adjudication. She then filed motions for discovery, that went unanswered. The day before the scheduled adjudication, she still had no response to her discovery motion, no witness list and no idea what she was even preparing to defend herself against.

On January 30 2023, an “adjudication “ was held with the Sheriff of the county waiting outside the courtroom ready to arrest Ms. Whitton if she appeared in person. Inside the courtroom, the judge’s assistant sent a reply to Ms.Whitton that there would be no zoom link provided as there had been during the previous two hearings. Ms. Whitton frantically called and emailed anyone she could think of all day trying to find out what transpired at the hearing she was never intended to attend. 

Finally that evening, she received a phone call from Investigator Eleanor Click and her County Director for Baldwin County DFCS, who told her the adjudication had went on without her or anyone present in her defense and the judge had ordered her two small children into foster care. Shocked and confused, Ms. Whitton repeatedly asked what the reasons were that justified placing her children in foster care after them being left in her care and custody, without even a safety plan, for the preceding 8 months following the initial false allegation was made. 

Ms. Click and her Director repeatedly refused to discuss any safety concerns, but demanded the mother bring her children to them that night. Ms. Whitton refused to take her two young children to strangers who couldn’t even articulate a clear concern after an unlawful hearing where she was denied access to legal representation or even an attempt to defend herself.  Upon receiving then “court order” allowing the removal of children, Ms. Whitton was shocked to see no credible safety concerns or imminent dangers, just muddy water and lies from her abuser, and even more shocked to see they judge as ordered her to have only 4 hours per week supervised visitation. While they’re abuser, just accused the month prior of abusing these very children, was ordered unsupervised visits at “The Department’s discretion.” How is this even happening? 

It’s been over 10 days, and Jennifer and her children are together…for now. She has filed motions but Judge Rutherford has made it clear she refuses to even acknowledge them. She has retained a new lawyer, but the courts move slow. More than anything, she wants for them what’s she wanted since the day she had her ex partner removed by police as her babies slept… for her children to wake up safe and together with her without walking on eggshells or looking over their shoulders. 

She managed to protect her and her children from their abuser when the family moved hopefully and excitedly the first of June, but the family regulation system interfered.

It is intentionally vulnerable to perpetrators of domestic violence and has become adept at exploiting survivors of IPV & coercive control by accusing them of vague things like “failure to protect” and “being unstable ”.

The family regulation system preys upon these already vulnerable mothers. Just as they have Black & Brown families  and poor families for decades. And they will continue to do so until people demand transparency and accountability. Light cannot exist in the dark. And light makes the best sanitizer. 

To demand that transparency and light be shed in this case you can :

*call Georgia Office of the Child Advocate at 404-656-4200 and demand the contempt warrant be rescinded, the unlawful order to remove the children be vacated, or to express other concerns about the actions of Baldwin County DFCS Investigator Eleanor Click, County Director Jennifer Crowell, and presiding judge, Kelli Rutherford 

*Call Georgia DFCS Constituent Services at 404-657-3422 and demand the same.

*Contact the office of the Chief Judge of the Circuit, The Honorable Judge Brenda Trammel, and request she intervene. You can email bboswell@eighthdistrict.org. 

Let’s keep this family safe & together!