Custodial dad suspended from police job interfering with abuse investigation involving son; threatens non-custodial mom with kidnapping charge (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania)

This case just reeks of backroom deal making and corruption. Because he is a well-connected cop, the abuse allegations against him are perpetually "unfounded." He gets physical custody. Threatens the protective mother with kidnapping charges though she communicated to him the location of their son. He barges into CPS, manhandles the kid out of an interview with an abuse investigator, and then the authorities CONTINUE to force the boy to live his father for another three months before suspending him from his job.

Dad is identified as STEPHEN C. KRUM.

Typical of the fathers rights corruption that infects the whole judicial system.

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2015/09/harrisburg_police_officer_susp_3.html

Harrisburg police suspend officer accused of obstructing child abuse investigation
Dauphin County investigators say Harrisburg Police Officer Stephen Krum barged into a room inside this Children &Youth Services building and forcibly removed a boy being interviewed.
The District Attorney's office later charged Krum, 31, with felony obstruction of a child abuse investigation.

By Christine Vendel on September 10, 2015 at 7:41 AM, updated September 10, 2015 at 11:15 AM

HARRISBURG - The city of Harrisburg has suspended a police officer who authorities say barged into the Dauphin County Children Youth Services building and removed his son who was being interviewed as a possible child abuse victim.

Officer Stephen C. Krum has been charged by the Dauphin County district attorney's office with felony obstruction of a child abuse investigation.

Krum showed his police ID and badge to a security guard at the building who asked if he had an appointment, court records state.

"This is my access and all the appointment I need," he told the guard, according to court records. The six-year veteran, who earns $63,198 annually, has been on paid leave since Aug. 19, when the charge was filed. His next court date is set for Oct. 2.

The incident occurred about 4 p.m. May 14 at the Dauphin County CYS facility at 1001 N. Sixth St. Krum and the boy's mother are divorced, said Krum's attorney, Brian Perry. Krum has primary physical custody of the boy, who has special needs, Perry said.

A county detective investigated the incident. Court records gave this account:

The boy reportedly called his mother after school but before getting on the school bus saying he did not want to go to his father's house. The boy reportedly said he was afraid of his father and wanted to go to CYS to talk to somebody.

The mother responded to the school, picked up her son and drove him to the CYS facility. She called Krum from the facility and left a message letting him know where the boy was.

Krum reportedly called back and threatened to have his ex-wife arrested for kidnapping. Krum showed up at the facility 10 minutes later.

Krum walked past a security guard and bypassed the metal detector initially, but then agreed to go through the detector. The guard then asked about his appointment and he pulled his police badge.

Krum eventually went into a playroom, where the boy was being interviewed by a caseworker and demanded the boy leave with him.

A supervisor confronted Krum and asked him to go back to the waiting room, but he refused. He pushed past the supervisor, grabbed his son by the arm and dragged him to the door, actions that were captured on security footage.

Krum talked with his son briefly, then grabbed him "in a sort of a bear hug," and took him out of the building as the boy "appears to be resisting."

The boy told a screener at CYS that "he was fearful of his father and did not want to go home." He reportedly asked staff members several times to "please don't make him go with him."

Perry said the visit to CYS was the latest in a string of abuse allegations filed by the mother against Krum in Dauphin and Lebanon counties. All of the allegations have been unfounded, Perry said.

Perry noted that the boy was allowed to remain in Krum's home during the three months following the incident, until the criminal charge was filed.

"I think that speaks volumes about the strength of the [abuse] case against Steve," he said. "He found out the boy's mother took him to CYS again and he said, 'No. We're not doing this. You're coming with me.'

"Should he have handled himself differently that day? The answer is yes," Perry said. "But he reacted as most fathers would have."

Assistant District Attorney Sean McCormack disagreed and said he believed most parents would have allowed the interview to finish.

"Justified or not, the system has to work," McCormack said. "Other parents in similar situations have shown much more restraint."

McCormack said his office would file a similar charge against anyone who committed the same offense.

"The allegation here is that he forcibly removed a child from an interview," he said. "That's not something we can condone."

Krum has not been allowed to contact his son since the charge was filed, Perry said.