ONSITEDNA DNA Paternity Testing News & Stories

As Published in the Salt Lake Tribune by Christopher Smart

EL DORADO, Texas — A 32-year-old Nevada man arrived at the courthouse here today to provide a DNA sample to Texas authorities determining paternity of children seized from the FLDS polygamous sect earlier this month.
David J. Williams said he is a former member of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints and has three sons currently held in state custody in San Angelo. The boys — Parley, 9; Jacob, 7; and Teral, 5 — were among the 437 children rounded up when Texas law officers raided the sect’s YFZ Ranch.
Williams, who left the FLDS three and a half years ago for reasons he would not discuss, called the raid — triggered by claims of sexual abuse and under-age marriages on West Texas compound — “an injustice” perpetrated by “unhonorable bastards.”
Asked why he had driven 1,200 miles from his Nevada home — he would not provide a specific town — Williams countered: “What honorable father and parent would not give his all to protect the innocence of their children and family.”
He insisted there is no abuse of children on the ranch. “These children are very much loved and cared for,” Williams said, adding that he thought much of the reason for the raid was bias against the beliefs of the sect.
He brought with him a photo album of his children and wife, but he was noncommittal when asked if he intended to see custody
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of his boys.
“I call upon America to aid me in this effort for justice,” Williams said.
Texas authorities this week have launched an effort to conduct DNA screenings of children, mothers and fathers to determine family ties. Parents who do not provide DNA samples risk being held in contempt of court, authorities say.
The samples will be processed by the Laboratory Corp. of America at a cost to the state of Texas of more than $50,000. It is estimated results will not be available for at least 30 says.
— Tribune reporter Brooke Adams contributed to this story

According to KoloTV; A Reno, NV middle school counselor has been fired, for fathering the child of one of his students.

Daniel Bryant, an O’Brien Middle School counselor was fired Monday for getting one of his former students pregnant. The Washoe County School District delivered 38-year-old Daniel Bryant a formal letter of termination, demanding that he never work in our public school system again.

19-year-old Cassi Chambers now attends Hug High School while she takes care of her five-month-old baby, Paige.

When she met Dan Bryant, she was just 16. Cassi was at attending Vaughn Middle School at that time, and Bryant was supposed to be her guidance counselor.

Cassi gave birth to her daughter, Paige late last year. A paternity test has proven that her former middle school counselor, Dan Bryant is the father.

According to Cassi, the relationship with Bryant began three years ago. She says, after being sexually assaulted by a family member for over a year, she turned to Bryant for help, saying she had no one else. Several months later, they began a sexual relationship.

“He knew everything that happened to me. He knew the grisly details of what this man had done to me. It was brutal. He knew that and used it to take advantage of me. The first chance he got, he took it,” said Cassi.

Bryant took legal guardianship of Cassi after hearing about her difficult life at home. She says he gave her alcohol, consoled her, and told her he loved her.

“He’s kind of like the snake that got Eve to eat the apple. He is conniving and manipulative and he’ll say anything or do anything to make you think he cares about you,” said Cassi.

Bryant later transferred to O’Brien Middle School, where he had one-on-one contact with students weekly. The Washoe County School District got wind of the affair and the pregnant student in late November.

Superintendent Paul Dugan says he placed Bryant on administrative leave while an investigation took place. Once the paternity test was conclusive, Dugan says he made the decision to fire Bryant for good.

“We ask parents to put their children under our responsibility. 99 % of the time, we do a great job. This individual made a major mistake, one that is inexcusable and indefensible,” said Dugan

Dugan says the decision was easy, and Bryant has possibly tainted the role of a middle school school counselor.

“I feel angry this individual ever worked with Washoe County School District for even one day,” he added.

Cassi plans to graduate this year. She says her daughter, Paige won’t have contact with her father, but she is hoping for child support. She says the district’s decision to fire Bryant was the right one.

“I’m afraid that if he continues to have contact with students in the school district, he’s going to find another vulnerable girl like me and that he’s going to get one of them too,” she said.

Dugan says if he has anything to do with it, Bryant will never work in the Washoe County School District again. The district is also asking the state to pull Bryant’s Nevada teaching license, meaning he can’t get a job in any of our state schools.

Bryant can appeal either of these decisions with an outside arbitrator, but Dugan says the chances of overturning the termination is unlikely.

The school police forwarded the case onto the Washoe County District Attorney. Once reviewed, the DA will have to decide whether or not to press charges.

We placed three calls to Mr. Bryant, but he has not returned our messages, thus far.

As reported in the Associated Press, Penielle “Penie” White has been added to the list of women who say the leader of a suburban Atlanta megachurch sexually abused them or coerced them to have sex.

Archbishop Earl Paulk, 80, co-founder of Cathedral of the Holy Spirit at Chapel Hill Harvester Church, is alleged to have touched Ms White inappropriately when she was about 8 years old. She said she made the allegations in a sworn deposition a few months ago as part of a lawsuit against Paulk, who is accused by a former church member of coercing her into a sexual relationship.

Paulk has been hit by multiple lawsuits, but does not face criminal charges.

“He started out playful, tickling and sort of fondling,” White said in a phone interview. “But as a child, you don’t know that’s what he’s doing.”

White said she also was present when her grandfather fondled Jessica Battle, another young member of the church, who later sued Paulk in 2001 for molestation and rape. That case was settled out of court two years later.

Matt Wilkins, one of Paulk’s attorneys, denied White’s allegations.

“They surprised him,” Wilkins said of the on-air interviews given by White and her mother - Paulk’s daughter, Beth Bonner. “He spent Thanksgiving at Beth Bonner’s house, and Penie was there. They had a loving family Thanksgiving.”

Bonner, however, said the family had a meal together on the Saturday following Thanksgiving so that they could be with Paulk’s wife, Norma, who refuses to go anywhere without her husband.

“They make it like we were all in family unity, and we weren’t,” said Bonner, who left her father’s church in 1992.

White’s assertion marks only one in a long string of sexual allegations to plague the Paulks. At least three women have sued Earl Paulk and his brother, Don Paulk, over alleged sexual misconduct.

In October, the results of a court-ordered DNA paternity test revealed that Paulk is the biological father of his brother’s son, D.E. Paulk, who is now head pastor at the family’s church. A judge ordered the test at the request of the Cobb County district attorney’s office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which are investigating Earl Paulk for possible perjury and false-swearing charges stemming from a lawsuit.

The archbishop, his brother and the church are being sued by former church employee Mona Brewer, who says Earl Paulk manipulated her into an affair from 1989 to 2003 by telling her it was her only path to salvation. Earl Paulk admitted to the affair in front of the church last January.

In a 2006 deposition stemming from the lawsuit, the archbishop said under oath that the only woman he had ever had sex with outside of his marriage was Brewer. But the paternity test said otherwise.

As part of Brewer’s lawsuit, eight women have given sworn depositions that they were coerced into sexual relationships with Earl Paulk.

So far no criminal charges have been filed against Earl Paulk. GBI spokesman John Bankhead referred questions to Cobb County District Attorney Pat Head, who did not return a call for comment on Monday, December 17.

The church began in 1960 with just a few dozen members. At its peak in the early 1990s, it claimed about 10,000 members and 24 pastors and was a media powerhouse. By soliciting tithes of 10 percent from each member’s income, the church was able to build a Bible college, two schools, a worldwide TV ministry and a $12 million sanctuary the size of a fortress.

Today, though, membership is down to about 1,500 - a downturn blamed largely on complaints about the alleged sexual scandals.

As reported by the Associated Press, a clinic in southwestern Germany said it has found the real parents of two infant girls who were mixed up and sent home with the wrong couples.

The St. Elisabeth clinic in Saarlouis, Germany plans to have the two babies returned to their biological parents within days.

The girls probably were mixed up this summer, while they were being bathed, and remained with the wrong parents for about half a year, the clinic said.

The mix-up came to light when one of the fathers took a DNA paternity test. His wife did the same, and both tests determined they were not the real parents of one of the girls.

A local councilwoman, Monika Bachmann, said psychologists would be offered to help the families deal with the clinic’s mistake.

As reported in the Patriot News, Col. Scott Carlson, who is charged in an alleged paternity test scam, came before Cumberland County Judge Skip Ebert to explain why he didn’t appear for his court hearing on a $12,000 child support delinquency.

Although Senior Assistant District Attorney Derek Clepper argued the no-show was deliberate and that Carlson, 51, a former Army War College student, should be jailed, Carlson’s defense attorney Laurence Kress insisted his failure to appear resulted from miscommunication.

Judge Ebert didn’t find Carlson in contempt, but told him he didn’t buy his excuse.
“You’re a colonel. You’re used to getting your way,” Ebert scolded. “That doesn’t apply in this courtroom. Don’t play games with me, you understand?”

“Yes, your honor,” Carlson replied.

Carlson and another former War College student, Bruce Adkins, 44, are charged with forgery and other criminal counts for allegedly swapping places in March to try to fool a paternity test Carlson was supposed to take.

The test was ordered because a Virginia woman sought a boost in child support for her 9-year-old daughter. Carlson had been paying support for the child without a court order.

According to the India Times, Mubai-based married couples are beginning to use DNA Paternity Tests if they have serious doubts about the child’s parentage. Even though infidelity is one of the original sins etched in the ancient testaments, high-tech answers are being increasingly sought.

In India, the state-run Forensic Science Lab at Kalina preforms the DNA Paternity Testing, usually in response to a request by the court when there are ongoing legal disputes as to the identity of the child’s father. The test are often triggered when harassment charges are filed.

Due to increasing marital disharmony in urban nuclear families, legal experts in India fighting paternity suits, say there has been an increase in the number of such cases. “The DNA test is recognized under the Indian Evidence Act, although it is not conclusive proof and courts still look at supporting evidence if the case is related to harassment and sexual abuse,” counsel Uday Warunjakar said.

DNA Paternity Testing is also currently being used when there are disputes that arise over property and there are many legal heirs claiming their right. To confirm legal heirs, a DNA Paternity Test may be used.

In India, evidently, most DNA Paternity Tests are conducted using blood tests. Here in the U.S. however, a painless cheek swab is all that is required to collect the samples. The accuracy of the test results are the same, if both types of tests are properly conducted.

According to the Media, two army officers have allegedly participated in a paternity fraud.

A woman in Virginia earlier this year, sought an increase in child support from Scott Carlson, age 51, who was enrolled at the U.S. Army War College. The request was transferred to the Cumberland County Georgia Domestic Relations Office.

Carlson denied paternity to officials there and was requested to take a DNA Paternity Test. According to reports, he asked his friend Colonel Bruce Adkins to take the test in his stead, providing him with his I.D. The DNA Paternity Test proved that Carlson was not the father.

According to District Attorney David Freed, officials at the Cumberland County Domestic Relations Office suspected that the man who took the test was not Carlson.

Now both men face charges of tampering with physical evidence, tampering with public records or information, obstruction of the administration of law, criminal conspiracy, forgery and other crimes.

It is routine during a properly conducted DNA Paternity Test for the identification of the individuals to be verified by taking fingerprints and photographs as well as obtaining signatures and checking photo identification.