Idaho Lieutenant Governor Janice McGeachin defied local law enforcement and once again disrupted the chain of command in advocating against protecting the rights of a severely malnourished 10-month-old baby. McGeachin has also revealed the name of the minor child on her official Facebook page, recording videos about the confidential case from her office.
The baby in question is the grandson of Diego Rodriguez, family friend and campaign consultant to Independent candidate for governor Ammon Bundy. According to the AP, Bundy was arrested for refusing to leave St. Luke’s Meridian after involving himself in a child-welfare case. The arrest early March 12 was on the eve of this week’s unrelated trial stemming from his arrests in 2021 at the Idaho Capitol.
Authorities took the child from his mother because a local pediatrician found that the child was dangerously underweight.
In February, Bundy dropped out of the Republican primary, which is May 17, to run as an independent in November. The move was thought to be a boost to McGeachin, who has picked off numerous former Bundy supporters tied to militias, including Eric Parker and Todd Engel.
Rodriguez told the Idaho Statesman he was thankful for McGeachin’s support.
“We feel grateful for all of the outpouring of support from everyone in our community,” Rodriguez said. “Times like these transcend politics. We sincerely thank Janice McGeachin for weighing in on behalf of (the baby). God bless Janice for her courage and her prayers.”
In what appears to be a politically motivated stunt to appeal further to extremist supporters in Bundy’s camp, on Monday, McGeachin attempted to advocate against protecting the health rights of the minor child, attempting to involve her Republican primary opponent, Gov. Brad Little.
The Idaho Statesman reported that Brady Hall, the governor’s general counsel, responded to McGeachin, saying he “cannot and will not recommend Governor Little interfere with the legal process.”
Hall went on to say: “Idaho law mandates that pediatricians and other medical professionals report suspected child neglect and abuse to law enforcement who will remove the child if necessary to protect the child from death or serious physical harm. Our legislature entrusts law enforcement to make those difficult and somber decisions.”
Hall said the names and medical conditions of the child or parents will not be released and are considered highly confidential. In a Facebook video uploaded Monday, McGeachin revealed the first name of the baby. Rodridguez’s blog, Freedom Man, has gone further with doxxing, publishing the names and addresses of the pediatrician, social workers, and police officers, prompting local officials’ condemnation.
The national calls from Bundy and McGeachin to their supporters to complain about the malnourished baby being removed from his mother have caused strife for the Ada County Sheriff’s office.
Ada County Sheriff issued this statement on Tuesday, March 15 on Facebook:
“I know there are a lot of questions about a Meridian Police case involving a declaration of imminent danger for a 10-month old child who was reported to be suffering from malnourishment.
“I have spoken with Meridian Police Chief Tracy Basterrechea and I am confident in his officers’ decision-making. Based on what I know, I fully support how they handled what was a very difficult and complex situation.
“Given the same circumstances, our investigators would have likely arrived at the same conclusion and made the same decisions.
“I know there are some in our community who do not approve of what happened. I want you to know “probable cause” has a very high threshold, and investigators do not make that finding lightly.
“There isn’t a single law enforcement officer in Ada County that wants to separate a child from a parent. We always want to preserve the ability for families to stay together if safely possible. First and foremost, however, is the safety of the child.
“Our local law enforcement agencies are faced with incredibly difficult situations like this more often than I would like.
“Investigators from our agency had to declare imminent danger in over 40 different cases in 2021. Each case was unique and complex — and there was clear and comprehensive evidence for investigators to declare a person to be in imminent danger in every one of those cases.
“Sometimes the issue is child abuse. Sometimes it’s about filthy living conditions. Sometimes the cases involve kids having immediate access to drugs. Sometimes it is a medical issue.
“I understand people are concerned and have questions. Meridian Police have done a thorough job of publicly documenting the decisions their investigators made at https://bit.ly/3tbNulJ and https://www.facebook.com/MeridianPD/posts/279481404356792
“At this point, the case is now in the hands of the 4th District Court and the family court judges, who are experts in what they do. The court will evaluate the evidence and determine what happens next.
“I do want to ask people who are upset with what is happening to please stop calling our Emergency 911 Ada County Dispatch Center and our ACSO records clerks.
“Our dispatchers need to be able to concentrate on taking 911 and the urgent non-emergency calls and coordinating emergency response for over a dozen police, fire, and EMS in Ada County.
“Every call placed to dispatch or our clerks about this case makes it more difficult for those hard-working and essential workers to do their jobs and puts the safety of Ada County residents at unnecessary risk.”
The name of the child and his parents have been released on Facebook by the parents themselves along with the boy’s grandfather who have held daily press conferences in front of St Luke’s-Boise. Janice McGeachin has not “released” anything that isn’t already public knowledge.
The woman is a disgrace to the state of Idaho and the United States. She represents all that is wrong with the ultra right wing society. She should be removed from office, removed from the ballot and be brought up on charges. These people are dangerous.
she is a depraved person, McGeachin is. She’d rather a baby die than lose a vote it appears. and then she’ll play the innocent victim. think about i; someone who does not want to protect an abused child wants your vote. no way.
Why was this abused child returned to the abusive parents? Because you don’t know what you are talking about.
I am not familiar with the Idaho Bulletin, but I do note that there is no name of whoever wrote this inflammatory article. I see the author, whoever he or she may be, used every opportunity to paint the Lt. Governor as a “far right” rabble-rouser. He/She went further by saying that she divulged the baby’s name and the names of all those involved in the case and that somehow doing this was horrible. The HIPPA laws do not cover the health professionals who care for the baby — and the child’s family has already made it abundantly clear what his name is and who his family is. This whole thing is obviously POLITICALLY MOTIVATED by those who do not like conservative, Constitutional candidates and/or their families! Shame on the medical community for participating in this sham! This child was hospitalized and was given a clean bill of health prior to his discharge. This has been factually confirmed. This toddler was most certainly NOT DANGEROUSLY ILL as the author would have readers believe. This article is Bull Roar! The author makes it seem as though it is a “life and death” situation, when this young family was doing all in their power to find answers to this baby’s medical problems by taking him to specialists and to the hospital for hydration by IV. Shame on this “anonymous” author. This is typical of leftist progressive broad brush vilification! To even suggest that the healthcare workers were put at risk by peaceful protestors is ludicrous! The hospital’s choice to shut down was more of the same dramatics used to paint the family and their supporters as the bad guys. I hope that the family throws the book at CPS, the hospital and anyone else who participated in the “medical kidnapping” of this small child who by all rights should be with his parents, and especially with his mother who is nursing him. This is one of the most egregious examples of how far the left (in this case RINO, establishment left) will go to malign and vilify an opponent. Using a 10 month old child as a pawn and putting his life at risk is one of the most disgusting things I have ever heard of in my life! Separation from his nursing mother is vile. I pray that he will not fall into a “failure to thrive” situation. That would be truly dangerous and caused by the medical community and CPS, with the aid of the police. Too bad the author of this article is anonymous. It’s always easy to hide behind anonymity! Shame on you.
I wholeheartedly agree with you on this. You have written a clear evaluation of this and I have seen repeatedly how the media twists and attacks when anyone with the true facts in a case dare speak out. All who are involved need to be investigated.
Well said, Carolyn.
Using children in such despicable abuses by the state is unacceptable. It was plain the child was languishing away from his parents and being damaged against their will.
Outstanding response
Carolyn,
Thank you so much for writing this very accurate description of the facts. It’s sad that we live in a world where media is allowed to blatantly tell lies with no consequences. Furthermore, I feel really sorry for the people that believe this crap, as they are truly a victim in this whole smear campaign. We need to bring back laws so that media is not allowed to libel and slander good people and have no liability for their unlawful behavior.
Why was this abused child returned to the abusive parents? Because you don’t know what you are talking about.
McGeachin has established her ultra right wing bona fides long since. There is no doubt where she stands on this and other issues. What I find both hilarious and terrifying is that these people who despise government so much are running for office. I hope Idaho voters defeat her soundly.