Parents who refused to vaccinate their children are charged with kidnapping

Two Massachusetts parents who refused to vaccinate their children were reported to the state and have now been charged with kidnapping their own children.

Isael Rivera and his girlfriend, Ruth Encarnacion, are religious parents who homeschool their five children and oppose vaccinations, both for religious reasons and over health concerns. When they refused to vaccinate their nine-month-old baby, their pediatrician, Dr. Behzad Goharfar, reported them to the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) for neglect.

The DCF launched an investigation into the family. After being contacted by DCF agents, Rivera and his wife decided to flee to Texas with their children, the oldest of whom is 10, before DCF operatives could seize them. They were located days later in Whitney, Texas, and sent back to Fitchburg, Massachusetts, where they were charged with kidnapping. The judge entered a not-guilty plea for Rivera, who is being held on $25,000 bail. According to a GiveSendGo fundraiser set up by Isaac Rivera, Encarnacion is being held on $7,500 bail.

Targeted by the state

In an interview with Rivera posted by reporter Joan Quinn Eastman, the beleaguered father said Dr. Goharfar confirmed that the baby was healthy but still pushed childhood vaccinations. Rivera and his wife had been repeatedly pressured to vaccinate their children at doctor’s visits to the point that they felt harassed. Encarnacion stopped accompanying her boyfriend on doctor’s visits to avoid being badgered about vaccination. When Rivera told Dr. Goharfar he planned to switch doctors because of the constant pressure, the conversation turned frosty. The physician threatened to file a 51A report with the DCF alleging child abuse or neglect.

“I'm not going to keep going through this abuse of you . . . trying to force me to take this vaccine for my son, which I've told you many times that it's not going to happen,” Rivera said he told the doctor. “And he said, ‘Okay, well I'm going to have to file a report as a mandated reporter unless you give me history of your son or unless you take this vaccine.’ And I said, ‘What? Absolutely not.’ And I stood my ground.” 

The father said the doctor called his superior, who tried to “calm the situation down.” After Rivera repeated that he was withholding consent to vaccinate his child, they checked the baby, issued a bill of health, and let them go. But even though the child was healthy, Dr. Goharfar filed a 51A report.

The DCF contacted Rivera, who denied neglecting his children and asked the agency to “leave us alone.” Shortly before DCF agents arrived at Rivera’s home to take custody of the children on February 27th, the family had fled to Texas. The family was reported missing, though no AMBER Alert was issued. Texas law enforcement agents apprehended Rivera and Encarnacion at gunpoint in front of their children, placed the parents in handcuffs, and transported them back to Massachusetts, where the five children remain in the custody of the DCF.

The parents have been charged with five counts of custodial kidnapping of a minor by a relative, according to Boston 25 News.

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