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Teen in Idaho Standoff in Custody http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010601/us/children_standoff_16.html
McGuckin Family photo http://www.msnbc.com/local/KHQ/Images/saglefamily.jpg
By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS, Associated Press Writer
SANDPOINT, Idaho (AP) - One of six children involved in a standoff at their
rural home was taken into custody overnight after he went to a neighbor,
authorities said Friday.
Benjamin McGuckin, 15, who initiated the standoff and is said to be an avid
reader of survivalist magazines, went to a neighbor's house late Thursday
and accepted the neighbor's offer to drive him to a meeting with
authorities, Bonner County Prosecutor Phil Robinson said.
The boy met with a sheriff's deputy, a social worker and two doctors, a
pediatrician and a family practitioner.
Although there was ``some indication that he was suffering from
malnutrition,'' the boy did not need to be hospitalized and was in the
custody of the state Department of Health and Welfare, Robinson said.
The children's mother, JoAnn McGuckin, 46, was arrested Tuesday on a
warrant charging felony injury to a child. Since then, the children left
at home - ages 8 to 16 - have refused to leave the house.
Two older children live elsewhere.
The other children who remained inside Friday have been identified as
Kathryn, 16, Mary, 13, James,
11, Frederick, 9, and Jane, 8.
MORE SANDPOINT, Idaho (AP) - The stalemate between six frightened children
and Bonner County sheriff's deputies has escalated, with a lawyer for the
holed-up McGuckin kids demanding that the government back off.
Attorney Edgar Steele on Thursday warned that anti-government activists
from around the country would converge on northern Idaho if the children's
mother was not released from jail.
``The sheriff's department is adding fuel to the fire,'' said Steele, a
Sandpoint lawyer who recently represented Aryan Nations founder Richard
Butler in a lawsuit. He called the case ``a modern American tragedy in the
making.'' As the stalemate along a rural road entered its fourth day on
Friday, Steele planned to ask a Bonner County judge to reduce the bail for
JoAnn McGuckin, 46, from $100,000 and reunite her with her children.
Bonner County officials did not immediately reply to Steele's demands.
Contrary to previous reports, the house has had electricity throughout the
standoff, said officials at Northern Lights, the local power company.
At a news conference, Steele ridiculed the assertion that the children had
been starving and filthy and living in unhealthy conditions before
authorities tried to remove them to social service agencies on Tuesday.
``They've characterized them as little more than savages,'' Steele
complained. ``It just ain't the truth.'' The father of the family, Michael
McGuckin, was buried last Friday after a lengthy illness. Since JoAnn
McGuckin was arrested Tuesday, on a warrant charging felony injury of a
child, the six children left at home - ages 8 to 16 - have refused to leave
the house. Two older children live elsewhere.
When deputies tried to approach the residence Tuesday, the children loosed
a pack of vicious dogs on them.
Deputies had no luck trying to negotiate with the children on
Thursday. They planned to continue their policy of waiting.
``We're trying but we haven't been able to establish contact,'' said
sheriff's Sgt. Rob Rahn.
The children are said to be well-armed and proficient with weapons,
although Steele noted that no weapons have been seen in this standoff. The
house is located near the community of Garfield Bay, about 10 miles south
of this north Idaho city.
Despite early reports the children might be starving, a family friend
picked up a 200-pound box of staples for them at the Bonner Community Food
Center last Friday, director Alice Wallace said Thursday.
The family routinely received food from the center, she said. Of reports
that the children had been subsisting on lily pad soup and lake water, she
said: ``They weren't existing on that and that alone.'' Wallace
characterized the McGuckins as ``a normal family that has fallen on hard
times.'' The children are ``great kids. They're well-mannered, they're
polite, they're respectful.'' Steele, who represented Butler in the recent
federal trial that cost the Aryan Nations its Idaho compound, blasted
sheriff's officers for their arrest of McGuckin and their plan to disperse
her children into foster care.
``This is exactly what she was afraid of and that's exactly what they're
trying to do,'' Steele said.
He went to the house Thursday, but said the children would not speak to him
either. He planned to try again.
Steele did spend two hours with the mother on Wednesday. He is working pro
bono as one of the woman's lawyers and is representing the children's
interests. McGuckin also has a court-appointed lawyer.
``This woman is perfectly capable of taking care of the kids and herself,''
he said, though he conceded the family had become reclusive since the
father's illness.
Steele suggested the stalemate could be resolved by bringing the mother to
the house, but said he would not have any part in such an effort if the
goal was to separate the children into foster care. He said family and
friends stand ready to take them in.
He described the children as loving, well-adjusted, with enough food to
last a month. They're thin because they eat healthy food and lead a
healthy outdoor lifestyle, the lawyer said.
``The real crime these people perpetrated is that they are poor,'' Steele said.
The specter of Ruby Ridge is inescapable here. Three people died in that
1992 north Idaho standoff - anti-government isolationist Randy Weaver's
wife and son, and a federal deputy marshal, one of several sent to arrest
Weaver on a weapons charge.
Weaver told KHQ-TV of Spokane, Wash., on Thursday that the children likely
have a strong distrust of the government.
``They might very well be thinking, 'We love each other and we want to stay
together,''' Weaver said.
The family fell on hard times when the family's sawmill business went
bankrupt in the 1980s. Michael McGuckin, who had worked at a lumber mill,
was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis several years back.
The Bonner County coroner attributed McGuckin's May 12 death at age 61 to
malnutrition and dehydration.
Acquaintances say JoAnn believed chemicals sprayed on area roads had caused
her husband's illness.
The younger children were kept home from school. With no money for
utilities, the family often did without heat, electricity, telephone and
running water.
The family home was sold at auction last year to satisfy unpaid back taxes,
but the McGuckins remained in the residence under arrangements that remain
unclear, officials said.
The situation reached a crisis Tuesday, when JoAnn McGuckin was offered
cash and a trip to the store by deputies. She was then arrested.
Prosecutors alleged in court Wednesday that the children were malnourished,
dirty and deprived of heat. Prosecutors alleged she had been spending the
family's meager financial resources on alcohol.
After her arrest, deputies went to the house to get the children.
But one of the boys spotted them, yelled, ``Get the guns!'' and set the
dogs loose.
The deputies withdrew, and have blocked the road to the house.
McGuckin Family photo http://www.msnbc.com/local/KHQ/Images/saglefamily.jpg
By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS, Associated Press Writer
SANDPOINT, Idaho (AP) - One of six children involved in a standoff at their
rural home was taken into custody overnight after he went to a neighbor,
authorities said Friday.
Benjamin McGuckin, 15, who initiated the standoff and is said to be an avid
reader of survivalist magazines, went to a neighbor's house late Thursday
and accepted the neighbor's offer to drive him to a meeting with
authorities, Bonner County Prosecutor Phil Robinson said.
The boy met with a sheriff's deputy, a social worker and two doctors, a
pediatrician and a family practitioner.
Although there was ``some indication that he was suffering from
malnutrition,'' the boy did not need to be hospitalized and was in the
custody of the state Department of Health and Welfare, Robinson said.
The children's mother, JoAnn McGuckin, 46, was arrested Tuesday on a
warrant charging felony injury to a child. Since then, the children left
at home - ages 8 to 16 - have refused to leave the house.
Two older children live elsewhere.
The other children who remained inside Friday have been identified as
Kathryn, 16, Mary, 13, James,
11, Frederick, 9, and Jane, 8.
MORE SANDPOINT, Idaho (AP) - The stalemate between six frightened children
and Bonner County sheriff's deputies has escalated, with a lawyer for the
holed-up McGuckin kids demanding that the government back off.
Attorney Edgar Steele on Thursday warned that anti-government activists
from around the country would converge on northern Idaho if the children's
mother was not released from jail.
``The sheriff's department is adding fuel to the fire,'' said Steele, a
Sandpoint lawyer who recently represented Aryan Nations founder Richard
Butler in a lawsuit. He called the case ``a modern American tragedy in the
making.'' As the stalemate along a rural road entered its fourth day on
Friday, Steele planned to ask a Bonner County judge to reduce the bail for
JoAnn McGuckin, 46, from $100,000 and reunite her with her children.
Bonner County officials did not immediately reply to Steele's demands.
Contrary to previous reports, the house has had electricity throughout the
standoff, said officials at Northern Lights, the local power company.
At a news conference, Steele ridiculed the assertion that the children had
been starving and filthy and living in unhealthy conditions before
authorities tried to remove them to social service agencies on Tuesday.
``They've characterized them as little more than savages,'' Steele
complained. ``It just ain't the truth.'' The father of the family, Michael
McGuckin, was buried last Friday after a lengthy illness. Since JoAnn
McGuckin was arrested Tuesday, on a warrant charging felony injury of a
child, the six children left at home - ages 8 to 16 - have refused to leave
the house. Two older children live elsewhere.
When deputies tried to approach the residence Tuesday, the children loosed
a pack of vicious dogs on them.
Deputies had no luck trying to negotiate with the children on
Thursday. They planned to continue their policy of waiting.
``We're trying but we haven't been able to establish contact,'' said
sheriff's Sgt. Rob Rahn.
The children are said to be well-armed and proficient with weapons,
although Steele noted that no weapons have been seen in this standoff. The
house is located near the community of Garfield Bay, about 10 miles south
of this north Idaho city.
Despite early reports the children might be starving, a family friend
picked up a 200-pound box of staples for them at the Bonner Community Food
Center last Friday, director Alice Wallace said Thursday.
The family routinely received food from the center, she said. Of reports
that the children had been subsisting on lily pad soup and lake water, she
said: ``They weren't existing on that and that alone.'' Wallace
characterized the McGuckins as ``a normal family that has fallen on hard
times.'' The children are ``great kids. They're well-mannered, they're
polite, they're respectful.'' Steele, who represented Butler in the recent
federal trial that cost the Aryan Nations its Idaho compound, blasted
sheriff's officers for their arrest of McGuckin and their plan to disperse
her children into foster care.
``This is exactly what she was afraid of and that's exactly what they're
trying to do,'' Steele said.
He went to the house Thursday, but said the children would not speak to him
either. He planned to try again.
Steele did spend two hours with the mother on Wednesday. He is working pro
bono as one of the woman's lawyers and is representing the children's
interests. McGuckin also has a court-appointed lawyer.
``This woman is perfectly capable of taking care of the kids and herself,''
he said, though he conceded the family had become reclusive since the
father's illness.
Steele suggested the stalemate could be resolved by bringing the mother to
the house, but said he would not have any part in such an effort if the
goal was to separate the children into foster care. He said family and
friends stand ready to take them in.
He described the children as loving, well-adjusted, with enough food to
last a month. They're thin because they eat healthy food and lead a
healthy outdoor lifestyle, the lawyer said.
``The real crime these people perpetrated is that they are poor,'' Steele said.
The specter of Ruby Ridge is inescapable here. Three people died in that
1992 north Idaho standoff - anti-government isolationist Randy Weaver's
wife and son, and a federal deputy marshal, one of several sent to arrest
Weaver on a weapons charge.
Weaver told KHQ-TV of Spokane, Wash., on Thursday that the children likely
have a strong distrust of the government.
``They might very well be thinking, 'We love each other and we want to stay
together,''' Weaver said.
The family fell on hard times when the family's sawmill business went
bankrupt in the 1980s. Michael McGuckin, who had worked at a lumber mill,
was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis several years back.
The Bonner County coroner attributed McGuckin's May 12 death at age 61 to
malnutrition and dehydration.
Acquaintances say JoAnn believed chemicals sprayed on area roads had caused
her husband's illness.
The younger children were kept home from school. With no money for
utilities, the family often did without heat, electricity, telephone and
running water.
The family home was sold at auction last year to satisfy unpaid back taxes,
but the McGuckins remained in the residence under arrangements that remain
unclear, officials said.
The situation reached a crisis Tuesday, when JoAnn McGuckin was offered
cash and a trip to the store by deputies. She was then arrested.
Prosecutors alleged in court Wednesday that the children were malnourished,
dirty and deprived of heat. Prosecutors alleged she had been spending the
family's meager financial resources on alcohol.
After her arrest, deputies went to the house to get the children.
But one of the boys spotted them, yelled, ``Get the guns!'' and set the
dogs loose.
The deputies withdrew, and have blocked the road to the house.