Montana couple who lost custody of 14-year-old daughter after refusing to let her transition to a boy using drugs off AMAZON claims she was taken without a warrant as they sue the state
- Todd and Krista Kolstads say the state violated their religious freedoms
- READ MORE: How teen obtained sex change hormones on Amazon
A Montana couple who lost custody of their 14-year-old daughter after refusing to let her transition claims the teen was taken by the state without a warrant.
Todd and Krista Kolstads filed state and federal lawsuits claiming their child, born Jennifer but currently identifying as Leo, was taken from them because they opposed their gender transition due to their religious beliefs.
In one of the suits, they claim the state's Child Protective Services lied to a court judge in order to take the 14-year-old child without a warrant, as reported by the Daily Montanan.
The teen was removed from their dad and stepmom's home last summer after their school called claiming they had tried to kill themselvesf with toilet bowl cleaner and painkillers.
The state said they were trying to find a psychiatric placement for the child, and sent her to a Wyoming facility and a Billings group home. The child is now under the custody of their biological mother in Canada.
Todd and Krista Kolstads filed state and federal lawsuits claiming their child, born Jennifer but currently identifying as Leo, was taken from them because they opposed their gender transition. The teen (left) pictured with parents Todd and Krista Kolstad and their sister
Montana Governor Greg Gianforte has called the situation 'tragic', but Lieutenant Governor Kristen Juras concluded that the Department of Health and Human Services and the court had 'followed state policy and law.'
As part of the ongoing legal challenge, the couple sent a cease and desist letter to Juras demanding she stop lying about the case and apologize to them.
In their cease and desist request, the parents claim: 'You have said that CPS's seizure of the Kolstads' daughter was lawful and have repeatedly accused the Kolstads of lying about their daughter's seizure... You have it exactly backwards — it is your statements about the Kolstads that are unfounded, malicious and slanderous under Montana law.
Parents from Montana, Krista and Todd Kolstad lost custody of their 14-year-old daughter, Jennifer, now identifying as Leo, after they obtained sex change hormones through Amazon
As part of the ongoing legal challenge, the couple sent a cease and desist letter to Montana Lt. Gov. Kristen Juras demanding she stop lying about the case and apologize to them
The letter continued: 'CPS workers instead seized the Kolstads' daughter and took her to Wyoming against her parents' will. CPS did this because they believed the Kolstads' objections to transgenderism made them unfit parents.
'They told the Kolstads that their daughter would not be returned to them until they accepted her transgenderism. When the Kolstads refused to compromise their faith, CPS workers took their daughter to her biological mother in Canada.'
Before the child was taken by the state, the teen reportedly had obtained gender transitioning hormones through Amazon so the parents wouldn't find out.
'One of her friends was ordering her hormones off of Amazon and having them sent to her house, not ours and then giving those to our daughter, Jennifer. You don't have to prove that you're 18 or anything,' Krista Kolstad told the Post-Millennial.
Krista is the teen's step mother while Todd is the girl's biological father
Krista, who is the teen's step mother, and their father Todd, said the child had a tough upbringing and several undiagnosed mental health concerns, including attention-seeking behavior and lying, which they believe caused the urge to transition and were overlooked by social services.
The teen had first expressed a desire to change gender to the parents at the age of 13.
The parents said she was too young to make such as decision and sent them to counseling to explore why they felt that way.
The couple opposed their child's transition due to their personal moral and religious beliefs
'We were told that letting Jennifer transition and live as a boy was in her 'therapeutic best interest' and because we aren't willing to follow that recommendation, the court gave CFS custody of Jennifer for six months,' Krista told Reduxx.
The Kolstads said the teen had a traumatic upbringing, claiming their birth mother walked out when they were young and was only around sporadically.
Statements from the teen and their sister's counselor showed them describing their biological mother as uncaring, abusive and 'crazy.'
