LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Child Protective Services saves thousands of children from abuse and neglect. Their work is important — but sometimes they get it wrong and it can destroy families.
It was this time last year when we first reported on a local mother being wrongly accused of abuse when underlying medical issues were to blame for her child's death.
Now, another Las Vegas mother has come forward to share her story. She told 13 Investigates, "I felt like my heart had literally been ripped out of my chest."
Her family's experience has sparked a lawsuit and a nationwide call for change.
September is Hydrocephalus awareness month. The condition is typically caused by a birth complication resulting in fluid collecting between the brain and inner skull.
Sometimes, the symptoms are mistaken by doctors for abuse, which is what happened to the Troy family.
Jason Jonathan (JJ) Troy is the reason for a recent lawsuit filed by his parents— Lorina Bourne and Jason Troy— against a Texas children's hospital, a doctor, and multiple Child Protective Services workers.
"It makes me sad that we were taken away from our mom when I was a baby," JJ said.
Now nine years old, JJ was born in Texas on New Year's Eve 2014.
"We had noticed that his head had been getting larger than normal since birth," Bourne said."We told his pediatrician but she said he probably just needs more tummy time and he should be fine."
But it didn't resolve and when baby JJ began vomiting, Bourne said his pediatrician directed them to Dell Children's Hospital in Austin.
"They said they found fluid in his head and a little blood," Bourne explained. "They jumped to the worst conclusions possible. They said, 'We think he's a victim of Shaken Baby Syndrome.' CPS showed up at the hospital and they were interrogating us."
While their baby was being prepped for surgery, Bourne and Troy were being accused of abuse.
"It was really tough being in the hospital and seeing my son laying in the hospital bed, and he's about to have surgery--neurological surgery--and you're just confused and shocked. I knew in my heart that he had a medical condition but I just didn't know what it was. And I told them, 'My son has never been hurt in any way. I will find out his correct diagnosis'."
If this sounds familiar, that's because it is.
In September 2023, 13 Investigates reported the story of Las Vegas mother Kristina Kerlus.
Her youngest son, Jocai Davis, died in 2018 when he was just two-and-a-half months old. Kristina was accused of shaking Jocai so violently he experienced a brain bleed that led to his death.
"We shouldn't be scared to take our children to the hospital," Kerlus said. "That's the first thing they do is just zero in on child abuse without even doing further research. There are so many medical conditions that mimic Shaken Baby but they don't do their research! They don't care!"
Kerlus spent four years fighting to prove her innocence. During that time, Clark County Child Protective Services took her other three children.
"This case, to me is the most tragic, unjust case I've ever had," said Attorney Ryan Helmick. "It didn't make sense factually from the beginning at all. I felt like it was rubber-stamped, so to speak."
Helmick was able to get Kerlus' case dismissed after his medical expert did what Las Vegas doctors, police and the Coroner failed to do. He examined Jocai's medical records to determine the baby had died from complications of sickle cell disease.
"Look deeper!" Kerlus implored authorities. "Make sure that you're not going to ruin somebody's life! Make sure that you're not just gonna take children away from good parents or a good home and traumatize the children! Because the system does!"
And that's what the system did to Lorina Bourne's family.
According to their lawsuit, the child abuse investigation was "arbitrary" and "ignored documented medical conditions."
JJ was born with swelling between his skull and scalp: a medical condition called benign external hydrocephalus that's often caused by the birthing process.
It's documented in JJ's birth records but the Texas hospital and its doctors concluded it was Shaken Baby Syndrome.
"They made their father leave the hospital because they were wrongfully accusing him because he was the last person with them--with JJ," Bourne explained.
The lawsuit says before Bourne could take JJ home, CPS forced her and Jason to sign a safety plan or JJ and his brother, Kainoa, would both be taken. Part of that plan included a requirement that Jason move out of the family home
"They wrongfully charged their father with two felonies," she said. "He had a top secret government and military security clearance. And he lost his job."
Bourne's time with her children had to be constantly supervised by another family member. The lawsuit says after a month, the safety plan ended and the family didn't hear from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Even so, out of an abundance of caution, Bourne's lawyer notified DFPS that they were going to visit family in Oklahoma.
Then, the lawsuit says Texas DFPS contacted Child Protective Services in Oklahoma.
"They lied and said my children were in immediate danger when they weren't," Bourne said, holding back tears.
An Oklahoma CPS record shows all allegations against Bourne and Troy, including "threat of harm" and "failure to obtain medical attention," were found to be "unsubstantiated."
But that didn't stop Texas CPS officials from getting an ex parte court order, crossing state lines, and coming with armed deputies to take then-six-month-old JJ and four-year-old Kainoa away.
Bourne said her boys were moved to three different foster homes in five months before a Texas judge ordered that they be returned home.
Bourne and Troy were cleared of any wrongdoing but by then, a lifetime of damage had been done.
"We had to sell our house for the mounting attorney's fees to fight for our innocence and to fight for our kids."
She said it cost them close to $80,000 as Jason's fight to get his criminal charges dropped dragged on for about two years.
Bourne's fight for justice continues to this day. She's written a book and testified before lawmakers, helping to get a state law passed in Texas in 2021 that allows parents accused of abuse by medical providers to demand a second opinion.
Now that she lives in Las Vegas, she's teamed up with Kerlus, hoping to get a similar law passed here in Nevada.
"I just couldn't stay quiet," Bourne said. "Changes need to be made to protect children and families."
