Mother reports that her son was taken away by prosecutor without a court order: “I haven't seen him since February”

Santo Domingo.– A desperate mother, a child with no clear whereabouts, and a judicial process laden with irregularities. María de los Milagros de los Santos Mercedes, a resident of Santiago de los Caballeros, denounces that her son was taken from her home on February 6th by a prosecutor from the child protection system, without, she claims, a court order. "Since that day I haven't seen him again. Mother's Day passed, his birthday... and I still have no answers," she declared in a choked voice to the program Bajo El Foco, where the case was made known. According to her lawyer, Bernardo Encarnación, the prosecutor Yerlina —assigned to the Attorney General's Office for Children and Adolescents— would have entered María's home without prior notification and without a court order, taking her minor son under the allegation of a protection measure. "That is an irregular action. The procedures established by law were not respected," said the jurist. Encarnación links this case to a previous judicial process involving a daughter of María, who had been a victim of rape in 2018 within the educational center María Teresa de Calcuta Fe y Alegría. The mother claims that the aggressor was an employee of the school and a relative of the director, Evelina Altagracia Rodríguez, who allegedly prevented the facts from coming to light. "The knight was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but the director was favored. Although the court established that she acted negligently, she remains in office and had even threatened the girl not to speak," denounced the lawyer. Maria asserts that, after this event, she tried to enroll her other children in that same school —located in front of her home—, but the principal denied them access. Although she obtained a favorable ruling through an amparo appeal in 2022, which ordered the Ministry of Education to enroll the minors, the refusal persisted. In 2023, according to the lawyer, the National Council for Children and Adolescents (CONANI) initiated legal action against Maria, accusing her of not sending her children to school. The judge accepted the lawsuit, but ordered that the minors remain under her custody. However, on February 6, 2024, the prosecutor again appeared at the home and took her 11-year-old son. Since then, Maria has had no physical contact with the minor, and has only been authorized —according to Conani— to communicate via video call. The institution stated that it does not disclose the location of the foster homes to protect the minors and assured that the mother can go to its offices to coordinate the calls. In response to the situation, CONANI indicated to Bajo El Foco that the other children of Maria are listed as enrolled in the corresponding educational center, and invited the mother to formally integrate them.

Meanwhile, Maria continues to pay for transportation and a study room for her other children, despite not having a fixed income. “I just want them to return my child to me, and for my children to be able to go to the school that is right in front of my house. I ask the first lady to please intervene,” she pleaded.

Lawyer Encarnación warns that they will continue to exhaust all legal avenues, but questions that a director accused of omission in a case of child sexual abuse is still blocking access to the education of the complainant's children. "This case cannot be ignored. Not only is there a minor separated from their mother without clear explanations, there is also a prior history of violence, neglect, and institutional retaliation," he concluded.