Palmer, Hughes, Lindsay facing
criminal charges for using CVAs
Murphy – A Cherokee County grand jury issued criminal indictments Monday charging current and former Department of Social Services officials with offenses related to the use of custody and visitation agreements, which allowed minors to be taken from their parents without court involvement.
Cynthia Raxtor Palmer, David Alan Hughes and Ronald Scott Lindsay are accused of using CVAs on numerous occasions in 2016 and 2017. Court documents charging Hughes and Lindsay allege that at least one instance occurred in October 2014. Hughes and Lindsay were charged with 12 and 23 criminal counts, respectively, while Palmer was charged with six separate crimes.
Palmer’s attorney, Hart Miles of the law firm Cheshire Parker Schneider PLLC, issued a statement Monday evening in defense of his client.
“Cindy Palmer has spent her entire career helping families in Cherokee County,” he wrote. “The agreements at issue were put into practice years before she was ever director of the agency. The use of these agreements was initiated and authorized by the attorney for the agency. Cindy relied on his legal counsel and adamantly denies ever acting with any sort of criminal intent.
“Those in the community that know Cindy understand that she is a dedicated public servant who has been wrongfully targeted in this investigation.”
Custody and visitation agreements, informally known as CVAs, are not recognized by the state as a legal document or process because it allows minor children to be removed from their parents without court involvement, in violation of state law. Essentially, a CVA usurps due process, strips parents of their rights to counsel and does not afford parents the ability to mitigate the reason that brought the case to DSS in the first place.
During her previous role as the director of Cherokee County DSS, Palmer is accused of making it a “custom practice” to use CVAs. Palmer became interim director of DSS in August 2015, then was appointed to the position full time in March 2016. She resigned as director in June 2018 amid the state’s investigation into the use of CVAs but was placed back in the role of business officer, a position she held for 11 years prior to being named director.
In September 2018, the DSS board hired a new director, Amanda McGee, who remains in charge today. The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners also dissolved the previous DSS board in favor of taking on those responsibilities themselves.
“The use of [CVAs] effectively avoided judicial oversight into the activities of Cherokee County DSS, and subverted the statutory process for determining abuse and neglect of children, and determining the custody and parental rights,” court documents state. “The practice of using CVAs interfered with the parental relationship between a parent and child, violating the constitutional and statutory rights of parents and minor children.
“This offense was done in secrecy and with malice; with deceit and intent to defraud.”
The indictment charging Palmer accuses her of allowing this practice from January 2016 through December 2017. Documents also allege that two children, ages 4 and 10, were taken from their legal custodian due to the use of CVAs.
Furthermore, Palmer is accused of lying under oath during a February 2018 court hearing. She was questioned about the use of CVAs and allegedly said, “The first time I ever recall hearing of one was Dec. 6, 2017, when I received a call from Mr. Lindsay about a similar agreement.”
Palmer is charged with two counts of felony obstruction of justice, two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, willful failure to discharge duties and perjury. After indictments were filed Monday afternoon, she was placed on investigatory leave status with pay for up to 30 days pursuant to N.C. law. County officials are conducting an investigation to determine Palmer’s continued employment with DSS as business officer.
During his role as the child protective services unit supervisor for Cherokee County DSS, Hughes is accused of using, or causing social workers to use, CVAs on 10 separate occasions from October 2014 through October 2017. Court documents charge Hughes with causing that same 4-year-old child mentioned in Palmer’s indictment to be taken from their legal guardian due to the use of a CVA between March-June 2017.
Hughes is charged with 10 counts of felony obstruction of justice, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and willful failure to discharge duties. He resigned from his position with DSS in the spring of 2018.
During his role as an attorney for Cherokee County DSS, Lindsay is accused of creating, preparing, approving and making it a “custom practice” to use CVAs on 20 separate occasions from October 2014 through October 2017. The indictment accuses him of causing those same two children mentioned in Palmer’s indictment to be taken from their legal custodian due to the use of CVAs.
Lindsay is charged with 20 counts of felony obstruction of justice, two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and willful failure to discharge duties. He was dismissed from his duties as DSS attorney in January 2018, then fired from his position as county attorney a month later by commissioners.
In addition to the criminal indictments filed against these three defendants, a civil lawsuit filed in March 2018 in relation to the use of CVAs by county DSS officials remains open. The outcome of the criminal case will likely affect how the civil lawsuit proceeds.
The criminal case is being tried by the state Attorney General’s Office. District Attorney Ashley Welch recused herself to prevent any impression of a conflict of interest that may arise from her office’s working relationship with Palmer’s husband, Cherokee County Sheriff Derrick Palmer.
The sheriff issued a statement Monday saying his wife’s actions were not meant to intentionally cause harm.
“Anyone who knows her, knows she does not have a malicious bone in her body, and I stand in support of her with my entire being,” his email to the Cherokee Scout reads. “We look forward to bringing these accusations to trial to where all sides can be heard and truth will prevail. I can say with all certainty that if it is determined that elements of a crime were met, it would be one without criminal intent or malice.
“We don’t know why we have to go through these types of things, but such is life. I would like to take a moment to thank everyone for your love and support for Cindy and our family during this trying time. We are overwhelmed with the love and support from our family, friends and community.”