CORINTH, Texas — In a disagreement over a doctor's advice about antibiotics, a 2-year-old boy has been in the custody of state child protective services for 68 days now.
And on the eve of a long-delayed court hearing, the boy's mom is sharing her ordeal with anyone who will listen -- and anyone who might be able to help.
Joslyn Sanders' life with her son Josiah is part of her social media presence. Partially paralyzed in an accident as a teen, Joslyn uses a wheelchair. And in many of her Instagram photos and videos her son is often by her side.
"And to just be able to give birth to my son naturally is just a blessing in itself. And for someone to come just rip him from my arms unwarranted is just very disheartening and its been over 60 days without my son," Sanders said.
The mom says that on Dec. 20, on her pediatrician's advice, she took her son to Children's Medical Center in Dallas, to be treated for a rash. She says a doctor recommended a topical ointment and the antibiotic Clindamycin. Sanders declined, stating she'd read bad things about it. She says she was offered Keflex as an alternative. But since she had previously proven allergic to Keflex herself, she worried her son might be allergic too. She told the doctor at Children's Health that she would return to her pediatrician for a second opinion.
Sanders says the pediatrician prescribed an antibiotic called Bactrim as an alternative the next day. But, on the afternoon of Dec. 21, she says a CPS worker with two Corinth police officers arrived at her home. The Corinth Police Chief tells WFAA that the social worker did not yet have a court order, and that the child appeared happy and healthy.
"What didn't happen was the social workers' direction to the officer to grab this child out of his caretaker's arms. That did not happen. We don't do that," said Corinth Police Chief Jerry Garner of the request for help from the social worker who arrived at the Sanders' home. "One of the officers was told to grab the child out of his caretaker's arms which the officer declined to do. Police officers don't need anyone's permission to take a child into custody."
"They can take a child into protective custody themselves," he says, if the officers notice any signs of neglect or abuse. "But they didn't see any reason to do that."
Garner says one of the officers did help attach a toddler car seat in the back of the CPS worker's vehicle when the mom voluntarily agreed to follow the CPS worker back to Children's Medical Center. After waiting several hours, Sanders says she was told she would not be getting the child back until a court hearing. She has since learned, through the hospital's MyChart health-tracking app, that Josiah was given Clindamycin anyway.
"So I was able to see they gave him Clindamycin. However, after they became aware that I saw that information, they blocked my access to his medical records," Sanders said.
The family alleges the boy spent three weeks in the hospital alone, before being sent to a family friend where the mom could visit only one hour each week.
"He just cries for me and I feel hopeless knowing he's screaming for me saying mom when I leave and I can't do nothing in that moment," Sanders said.
Children's Health, citing privacy laws, refuses to comment on the case. The Department of Protective and Family services tells WFAA they did get a court order and that further answers will come in a court hearing in Denton Wednesday morning.
But an affidavit filed in Denton states a DFPS investigation regarding Josiah was opened as early as December 7, 2023. Joslyn Sanders stated at the time that Josiah suffered detergent burns from his clothes and car seat liner that had been washed and it caused an allergic reaction and that he had lost weight since the allergic reaction occurred.
On the December 21 visit to Children's Medical Center Dallas, a pediatric dermatologist determined the burns "were possibly due to abuse." The CPS worker filing the report says that Josiah's mom refused IV antibiotics and left the hospital "against medical advice." The social worker believed "the child has a skin infection and a nutritional deficiency" and appeared malnourished and says a doctor determined "the child is at severe risk of becoming septic due to serious infection."
"There's been attempts to keep us silent," said the child's grandfather Jason Sanders. "But my grandson is counting on us to spread the word and to get other help."
Help that they hope comes with answers and an emotional reunion.