Cops Take Away 3-Year-Old Adolf Hitler

[Ben Lesser]

Remember these guys? There was a thread awhile ago about the controversy around the children's names when some supermarket wouldn't put Hitler's name on a birthday cake.

Originally Posted by ABC News

Cops Take Away 3-Year-Old Adolf Hitler
Child Protection Officials Removed Adolf Hitler Campbell, 3, From Parents' Home
By RUSSELL GOLDMAN

Jan. 15, 2009—

Police and child protection officials removed a 3-year-old boy named for Adolf Hitler and his two younger sisters, whose names also have Nazi connotations, from their New Jersey home.

On Friday, officials from the New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services took into protective custody Adolf Hitler Campbell, 3, and his younger sisters JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell, 1, and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell, 8 months, according to the Holland Township Police Department.

Police, DYFS officials and a court spokeswoman declined to reveal the exact reasons the children were removed from their home, citing confidentiality, but a child protection official indicated it was not because of the children's names.

The children and their parents, Heath and Deborah Campbell, made headlines last month when a ShopRite supermarket in Greenwich, N.J., refused to inscribe Adolf Hitler Campbell's name on a cake for his third birthday.

"I cannot comment specifically on any family or case. I can't even say if we're dealing with a case," said DYFS spokeswoman Kate Bernyk.

"I can say we become involved when there is an allegation of abuse or neglect, and remove a child only if there is an imminent risk to the safety of child," she said. "We would never remove a child simply based on their name."

Local police were on hand when DYFS officials removed the children and confirmed the event.

Holland Township Police Sgt. John Harris who personally escorted the child-safety workers to the family's Holland Township home, said the police were there to "keep the peace" and that the Campbell parents were not at the time charged with any crime.

"I was at the house to keep the peace and protect the workers," he said.

Harris said Deborah Campbell "was very upset" when she learned her children were being taken. He said local police had not received any direct complaints about the family.

Calls by ABCNews.com to the Campbell home went unanswered. Calls to the county public defender to determine whether the couple had obtained a lawyer were referred to the Somerset County Court administrator, who, citing confidentiality, would not say if the couple had retained counsel or whether a hearing was scheduled.

"This is a sealed matter," court spokeswoman Chrstine Murzdeck said.

Campbell Children Taken for Safety, Not Because of Nazi Names

One of the family's neighbors said she had been called by DYFS to testify at a hearing Thursday but said she had not witnessed any "sexual or physical abuse."

"He [Heath Campbell] had some kind of hold over those kids and his wife. I don't think it was sexual or physical abuse, but the kids were confined to certain areas in the house," said Lori Dilts, 38, a neighbor and the daughter of the Campbells' landlord.

"It was more than just their names and the cake situation," said Dilts, who was reluctant to share any more details until after the hearing.

"Those children look outwardly healthy, but they didn't have much freedom," she said. "Occasionally, the little boy would come over here and would hate having to go back to his house."

Dilts said Campbell had swords and Nazi paraphernalia hanging on the walls of the family's home. She said the couple was unemployed and received government assistance to pay their rent.

Copyright © 2009 ABC News Internet Ventures

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=6648877&page=1

[tplyons]

Wow. Again.

[bongomania]

I have a suspicion members of this family will be in the news more times in the future as well. Like twenty years from now we'll see some news article like "bank robbery found to have religious motivation" and then a few days later "religious bank robber turns out to be man formerly named Adolf Hitler".

[f'nar f'nar]

I'm not saying taking the children away is right or wrong...

















...But come on, those parents HAD to see this coming!!

[MAJOR METAL]

If they pull that on me when I give my child the middle name Metallica I will seek and destroy the baby snatchers !

[Ben Lesser]

Originally Posted by MAJOR METAL

If they pull that on me when I give my child the middle name Metallica I will seek and destroy the baby snatchers !

I see what you did there.

[Stigs]

I don't care what their motivation was when they named their children... but they ruined their lives until they are at least old enough to have their names changed, and that's a terrible thing to do to your kids.

[warnergt]

Maybe they think he'll be president someday like Barack Hussein Obama.

[Beno]

Wait.. One of the sisters is 1 and the the other is 8 months?

[gold_member_321]

It's obvious that their names started all of this. Although it may not be the main reason, and I'm not assuming so, but you
have to admit...it is kind of odd that after being in the news about the names of their children the kids are taken by the state.

So what if they're confined to certain parts of the house and the father has Nazi
memorabilia hung all over the house. That has nothing to do with their safety or well being.

[Relic]

There was already a thread on this. Well...sort of. It started in reference to the b-day cake issue and was updated with this latest news a few days ago.
Political Correctness vs. Free Speech

At any rate, I really and sincerely hope that there's more to this than the names.
Taking kids away from their parents for their beliefs is **wrong**, even if they're totally asinine to you and me. If this is about that, then hold on to your arses 'cuz we're in for one helluva ride with the precedent that this will set.

[Relic]

Originally Posted by gold_member_321

It's obvious that their names started all of this. Although it may not be the main reason, and I'm not assuming so, but you
have to admit...it is kind of odd that after being in the news about the names of their children the kids are taken by the state.

So what if they're confined to certain parts of the house and the father has Nazi
memorabilia hung all over the house. That has nothing to do with their safety or well being.

+1 in a big way.

[f'nar f'nar]

Relic has a point, I don't see how raising your child as, say, a white supremacist is any less cruel than raising a child as a christian. In both instances parents are enforcing their own beliefs on children who don't know any better.

BUT

Calling your child Adolf Hitler can be seen as child cruelty just like calling your child 'punch me in the aggots' would be. That kid is gonna get wailed on A LOT and the name was probably bestowed upon him as a symbol of the families beliefs.

Tough one.

[Wicked_Bassist7]

they asked for it

[Mazatleco17]

Originally Posted by gold_member_321

It's obvious that their names started all of this. Although it may not be the main reason, and I'm not assuming so, but you
have to admit...it is kind of odd that after being in the news about the names of their children the kids are taken by the state.

So what if they're confined to certain parts of the house and the father has Nazi
memorabilia hung all over the house. That has nothing to do with their safety or well being.

+2

[superbassman2000]

Originally Posted by Beno

Wait.. One of the sisters is 1 and the the other is 8 months?

whats wrong with that?
if the kid is 1, that doesn't mean they just turned 1. A one year old could be anywhere between 12 and 24 months old. There is plenty of time to conceive after that.

While I don't agree with the whole nazi thing or naming your kid adolph hitler, it seems to me that there is no law against what you can and can't name your child. Heck, just like it was just said earlier, barack obama's middle name is hussein and a lot of people took that too far. It's a name. Just because his middle name is the same as an evil dictator, there is nothing inherently evil about the name hussein. same with adolph.

Seems like it's going to become a first amendment issue pretty soon

[Beno]

Originally Posted by superbassman2000

whats wrong with that?
if the kid is 1, that doesn't mean they just turned 1. A one year old could be anywhere between 12 and 24 months old. There is plenty of time to conceive after that.

Ah, I see. I feel stupid now

[patzilla83]

i could see how having nazi memorabilia and swastikas all over the house could be considered a hostile environment. especially if they're white supremacists. IMHO teaching children to hate IS abuse. i'm sure there is more to story than we know about yet.

done being nice..... seriously though, what f***ed up parent names their kid after adolph hitler?

[doctorjazz]

Originally Posted by gold_member_321

It's obvious that their names started all of this. Although it may not be the main reason, and I'm not assuming so, but you
have to admit...it is kind of odd that after being in the news about the names of their children the kids are taken by the state.

So what if they're confined to certain parts of the house and the father has Nazi
memorabilia hung all over the house. That has nothing to do with their safety or well being.

+1. The parent-child relationship is so personal that it should be breached in only the most dire circumstances. A parent's beliefs, no matter how idiosyncratic, are not sufficient justification for doing so. If this is the case, then it will definitively set a very dangerous precedent that was just skirted by the recent case of the FLDS children.

And just to play a little devil's advocate: How many of your moms had a room in their house with a bunch of expensive, fragile stuff in it that they didn't want you playing in when you were little? And I know that if I had a room with swords on display, I wouldn't want my young children to go in there for any reason. Just something to consider, that the whole "confined to certain areas of the house" thing might just be biased media putting a spin on an otherwise normal, logical thing for a parent to do.

[f'nar f'nar]

The more I think about it, the more I realize how little I know about it. So I'm gonna wait to pass judgment for now.