Fountain parents wrongfully accused of child abuse due to son’s bone disorder

FOUNTAIN, Colo. (KRDO) -- A couple in Fountain recalled going through "hell on Earth" after losing custody of their child over wrongful abuse charges.

"The worst day of my life," Crystal Bryan said, describing the day police took away her infant son, Jace.

Crystal and her husband, Jarvis, knew about their child's multiple health conditions early on. Doctors surgically placed a feeding tube on Jace to treat his severe acid reflux.

But they didn't know the feeding problems were also causing an extreme vitamin D deficiency resulting in brittle bones.

In 2018, Jarvis was bathing 5-month-old Jace when he accidentally dropped him in the tub. Both parents noticed their child's discomfort in the following days and Crystal took him to hospital.

An X-ray revealed Jace had a broken femur, but there were also several other fractures throughout his body, including his ribs and wrists.

"It just really went downhill from there," Crystal said.

Jarvis says he was puzzled because the physicians told him Jace's fractures were also in different phases of healing.

"It just didn't make sense," he said. "We were like, 'Well how does he have these fractures?' No one ever told us anything.'"

Despite the family physicians not noting any signs of child abuse in previous visits, Child Protective Services was called. The two new parents were now suspects and questioned by police.

Officers charged the couple with felony child abuse and the parents were forced to give custody of their only son to friends.

Crystal and Jarvis spent one night in jail before posting their bonds. However, they still were only able to see their son twice a week as they fought their charges.

"I really hate talking about it because I just start to feel the same feelings," said Crystal between tears. "And even though I have my son back it's just like those times I will never get back. Those days my son would never have back with us."

Jarvis spent the next couple months emailing doctors in various countries until he finally obtained three physicians who agreed to take his case pro bono.

The three doctors from Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. came to an agreement that the child's injuries were likely caused by his brittle bone disease.

Officials looked into the medical condition and decided to grant the couple full custody again. The judge dropped their charges on Oct. 1 of 2019.

The two had spent 164 days fighting to prove their innocence.

"You appreciate time a lot more," said Jarvis about his son coming back home. "You appreciate everything a lot more because you know what it's like to not have that."

Kristina Iodice, a spokesperson for the Department of Human Services in El Paso County, said the case is now sealed and she couldn't comment on it.

Although the DHS investigates thousands of possible child abuse and neglect cases, only about 25 percent of them are founded.

Iodice says taking away the parental rights of people is usually an extreme measure.

"The decision to remove a child from a home is never taken lightly and it is never done independently by DHS staff," she said. "That is a decision that involves a judge and that involves attorneys taking into consideration all of the information that is available at that particular point in time."

The family says Jace has since outgrown his medical conditions and will soon need to have his feeding tube surgically removed.

Both parents smile often as they take turns holding their child, but they say they've already felt the pain of losing a child temporarily.

Jarvis says they don't wish their case upon anybody else, hence why they're pushing for legislation that will allow for lawsuits against the agencies that escalated their situation.

"Before you make the decision to take someone's child do your due diligence," he said. "Do a proper investigation because you have cases where children are abused, but you also have cases where they're not."