Alabama couple sues DCS, Sevier County after two kids taken for months after traffic stop
An Alabama couple has filed suit against the Tennessee Department of Children's Services and Sevier County law enforcement after they say their two children were taken for nine months after they were wrongly arrested during a traffic stop.
Nicholas and Elizabeth Frye were on a vacation at a Dollywood-area resort to celebrate their youngest child's seventh birthday in February 2024 when they were pulled over after leaving a Walmart parking lot, according to the Feb. 25 federal lawsuit.
They were charged with DUI, public intoxication, child abuse and neglect and aggravated child abuse and neglect while their children were held at the police station, the suit said. The children remained there until their grandmother made the trip from Alabama to collect them.
Both parents denied being intoxicated or impaired and claimed police lacked probable cause to pull the family over.
The lawsuit does not detail the outcome of the charges. Aaron Kimsey, a Sevierville attorney representing the family, declined to comment on the lawsuit or answer questions about the incident. A Sevierville police department spokesperson did return a phone call seeking arrest documents. A call to Sevier County offices seeking comment was referred to the Sevierville police. A spokesperson for the Department of Children's Services declined to comment on pending litigation.
Lawsuit: Tennessee DCS took kids after traffic stop without a valid court order
There is no record that either parent was tried or convicted on any of the charges, according to clerks with the Sevier County General Sessions Court and Circuit Court – where those accused of such crimes would have appeared.
The lawsuit alleges that police drew Nicholas Frye's blood but failed to immediately test it. When they did, there was no evidence he had been intoxicated, the lawsuit said.
'The ultimate blood test results for Nicholas Frye show the absence of drugs and alcohol in their system at the time of the arrest,' the lawsuit said.
'Both the Frye parents and the Frye minor children have suffered irreparable, permanent and significant mental and emotional anguish,' the lawsuit said.
The couple have 'suffered deleterious effects to their reputations, their standing in their community, their occupations, income and other major facets of their lives.'
The couple are seeking $15 million in damages for violation of their constitutional rights and $10 million in damages for state law violations.
The lawsuit echoes similar claims made against the Department of Children's Services and state and county law enforcement following a 2023 traffic stop that led to five young children being placed in foster care for nearly two months.
Bianca Clayborne filed suit last year alleging the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Department of Children's Services, Coffee County Sheriff's Office and their employees wrongly took the children into state custody.
Clayborne's partner was arrested for possession of fewer than five grams of marijuana, a misdemeanor in Tennessee typically resulting in a citation not arrest. Clayborne was cited and told she was free to leave with her children.
Hours later, the children were later taken from Clayborne's side as she waited to bail her partner out of jail. The incident raised questions about whether the couple's race — Clayborne, her partner and children are Black — made them a target of unequal treatment while driving through rural Tennessee and drew condemnation from the Tennessee NAACP and Democratic lawmakers. Clayborne's federal lawsuit alleging social workers 'illegally tore apart and terrorized Clayborne's family' remains ongoing.
DCS, the Tennessee Highway Patrol and Coffee County denied wrongdoing in the Clayborne lawsuit.
The agencies named in the Frye suit have not yet filed a legal response.
It's unclear where the two Frye children, identified only by their initials in legal filings, remained during the nine months they were out of their parents' custody. The lawsuit contains no information about the family's race.
Court records note that once the parents were arrested, Sevierville police contacted DCS.
A DCS official, in turn, contacted the Alabama Department of Human Services, which ultimately took custody of the children until they were reunited with their parents.
The lawsuit, which does not name Alabama child welfare officials as defendants, alleged they nevertheless 'exacerbated the constitutional violation….by precluding the Frye parents from seeing the Frye children.'
Lawsuit
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