Desertion or discharge?: Another family destroyed by Child ProtectiveServices..

Desertion or discharge? A jury will decide for Merlyn Seeley
1A | Bryan / Liberty | Intown | Local News
Sean Harder | Thursday, May 17, 2007 at 12:30 am

http://www.savannahnow.com/node/286211


Merlyn Seeley is facing desertion charges seven years after he says he
left the Army legally on an early-out order. He, his wife Angel and
6-year-old daughter are living in an unfurnished house in Hinesville as
he awaits his court martial.




HINESVILLE - Merlyn Seeley turned in his gear and - with a stamped
clearance certificate in hand - figured he had left the U.S. Army's 3rd
Infantry Division free and clear.

He never suspected a federal warrant for desertion would follow him out
Fort Stewart's gates and into his civilian life.

More than seven years later, Uncle Sam has caught up with Seeley. He has
been plucked from his suburban life in Arizona and put back in uniform
at Fort Stewart, where he awaits a general court martial on desertion
charges.

"I went off, got married, had a little girl and started a business in
Arizona," said Seeley, who was forced to move his wife, Angel, and
6-year-old daughter to Hinesville after being apprehended in December.

"When they picked me up on that warrant, it destroyed everything. My
family went homeless. We basically went broke. Every day that goes by is
worse and worse."

On Monday, Seeley, 32, is expected to face a general court martial
before a jury on two counts of desertion.

He could face up to six years in a military prison.

Until then, Spc. Seeley is wearing a borrowed uniform and has been
assigned to the labor pool.

"I wear an orange vest and pick up trash like a common criminal," he
said. "I was here almost eight years ago. Nobody is left here who knows
me, no commanders and no soldiers. I'm being put through court martial
for leaving my job legally, and there's no one left who can vouch for me."

Compounding matters has been a lack of evidence supporting Seeley's
argument, said defense attorney Capt. Alex Gallego.

The Army has been unable to locate Seeley's DD-214 form, the standard
armed forces discharge certificate, but Army files have produced
documents signed by his commander declaring the Army specialist absent
without leave.

Among the few documents in Seeley's defense is a stamped certificate
showing he turned in his gear, a record that he attended a career
transition course for departing soldiers and a memo from his First
Sergeant that notes his final date with the Army: Sept. 17, 1999.

'Reasonable mistake of fact'

If anything, Gallego said, the case amounts to an error in documentation
or a mistaken impression by Seeley that his discharge was complete.

"Right now we're going to argue it's a reasonable mistake of fact,"
Gallego said.

Typically, when documents surface that support a soldier's claim that he
or she left with proper orders, a general discharge request can be
submitted to avoid a court martial. Fort Stewart commanders, however,
declined Seeley's discharge request, as they have done with most
requests in recent years, Gallego said.

Col. Todd Buchs, Fort Stewart's garrison commander, felt there was
enough evidence to move forward with the court martial, said spokesman
Kevin Larson.

Seeley said he ended his more than two years of service after being
issued early-out orders during a post-Cold War effort to downsize
America's armed forces in the 1990s.

He first learned of the desertion charge in 2004 when police in Tucson,
Ariz., arrested him and transported him to Davis Air Force Base. After
six hours, the Army told the Air Force to release him.

"They said they'd call me," Seeley said. "They had my address and my
phone number. I wasn't hiding."

That call never came. So after several unsuccessful attempts to talk to
someone at the nearest Army installation, Seeley figured the Army had
discovered his discharge records and realized its mistake.

Then, in December, an Arizona Child Protective Services agent who Seeley
said was conducting a door-to-door survey in his neighborhood, ran a
background check on him and discovered the warrant. Police arrested
Seeley, and the Army took him back to Fort Stewart.

Angel Seeley said she gave up her job and lucrative tips at a restaurant
in Kingman, Ariz. Now, she home-schools her daughter in the near-empty
Hinesville home the couple rent.

The Army agreed to pay Seeley the maximum salary allowed at his rank of
specialist but declined to issue him a new uniform. He had to locate a
used dress uniform for his court appearance and pay to get it altered.

He hopes the documents he received in 1999, indicating the Army was
processing his discharge, will be enough.

"I'm hoping the government will realize just how much they've destroyed
an innocent person's life," he said. "I just want to go back and pick up
the pieces and start where we left off."



CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A
DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NATIONAL
SECURITY AGENCY/CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WIRETAPPING PROGRAM....

CPS Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of Child Protective Services.

every parent should read this .pdf from
connecticut dcf watch...

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com/8x11.pdf

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com

Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US
These numbers come from The National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS

*Perpetrators of Maltreatment*

Physical Abuse CPS 160, Parents 59
Sexual Abuse CPS 112, Parents 13
Neglect CPS 410, Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS 14 Parents 12
Fatalities CPS 6.4, Parents 1.5

Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that
are supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per
100,000 children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse
and kills more children then parents in the United States. If the
citizens of this country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold
parents too. No judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY
government agency because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and
death than any human being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more
human rights violations and deaths of children then the homes from which
they were removed. When are the judges going to wake up and see that
they are sending children to their death and a life of abuse when
children are removed from safe homes based on the mere opinion of a
bunch of social workers.

BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF
REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES
TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY
ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...