ISSN: 2710-4028 DOI: doi.org/10.54208/1000/0006 125
physically assaulted (Radey, Langerderfer-Magruder,
&Schelbe, 2022). Researchers have observed that the
dangers of the job lie in both the nonvoluntary nature
of the agency contact, and the unpredictable nature
of the environments in which the contacts take place
(Radey, Langerderfer-Magruder, &Schelbe, 2022).
Social assistance workers are six times more likely to
experience workplace violence than other workers
(Radey &Wilke, 2021).
Research on parental custody disputes with those
employing pseudolaw tactics is limited. Slater (2016)
uncovered only five instances in which sovereign
citizens targeted “child support services” for
harassment via litigation, out of 378 sovereign citizen
court proceedings. Netolitzky (2017) investigated
parental disputes in Canadian courts that involved
pseudolaw tactics, and identified only three examples
in all reported Canadian pseudolaw caselaw. These
results suggest pseudolaw and sovereign citizen tactics
are historically uncommon in the CPS context. Much
less is known about the relationship and interactions
between CPS workers who investigate conspiracy-
oriented people who believe in sovereign citizen and
QAnon ideas. It is reasonable to assume that those
relationships also pose heightened acrimony and
danger.
A core element of QAnon conspiracy theory is that
powerful Democratic politicians are involved in the
global sex trafficking of children. QAnon theory thus
provides a political and cultural narrative that enflames
pre-existing anti-authority and anti-government biases
held by sovereign citizens. Despite the growth of these
movements, both in the United States and abroad, there
is little to no research investigating the growth of these
meritless child sex trafficking accusations by followers
of the aforementioned movements. These tactics
may be employed as a method to generate sympathy
and support from other like-minded followers, and/
or to defame the character of those involved in CPS
processes.
Part two of this article examines a pre-QAnon instance
of sovereign citizens interacting with CPS. Next, part
three of this article describes the sovereign citizen/
QAnon conspiracy figures involved in promoting
meritless, absurd claims of CPS sex trafficking children.
Part four examines actual cases of children having
been removed by CPS, due to suspected abuse or
neglect, whose parents then accused CPS of child sex
trafficking, all without evidence. In some cases, parents
resorted to violence directed toward fully innocent
CPS workers. This article documents these cases using
open-source information along with news accounts
and court material.
II. Pre-QAnon: The Matusiewicz Case
The Matusiewicz-Belford child custody dispute, which
erupted into extreme violence, is a case that predates
the emergence of QAnon, but that has remarkable
similarities to scenarios where QAnon concepts are
involved. This example shows that sovereign citizen
ideology and beliefs alone can trigger highly unfavorable
outcomes in child custody dispute scenarios. Multiple
documentaries airing on the Investigation Discovery
channel revealed that the Matusiewicz family ascribed
to sovereign citizen ideology. They stockpiled weapons,
anticipating a violent battle with the government,
which the Matusiewicz family regarded as illegitimate.
The custody problems began in 2006 when Christine
Belford and David Thomas Matusiewicz divorced and
agreed to shared custody of their three children (U.S. v.
Matusiewicz, 2015). One year later, in 2007, David and
his mother, Lenore, kidnapped the children and took
them to Nicaragua for two years (U.S. v. Matusiewicz,
2015). Federal agents returned the children in 2009.
David Matusiewicz pled guilty to parental kidnapping
and bank fraud (U.S. v. Matusiewicz, 2015).
Around that time, David Matusiewicz and his family
falsely accused Belford of sexually abusing her
children. They embarked on a four-year campaign
of stalking, surveilling, and harassing Belford. They
created fake YouTube videos, wrote emails and letters,
created a website called “A Grandmother’s Impossible
Choice” filled with allegations of abuse, and false
polygraph reports (Department of Justice, 2018).
David Matusiewicz and his family also attempted to
recruit others to aid in the surveillance of Belford and
her children (Department of Justice, 2018). Numerous
courts repeatedly found the abuse allegations against
Belford to be untrue. The courts noted that there was
“overwhelming, uncontradicted evidence that the
accusations that [Belford] sexually molested or abused
her children were false” (Department of Justice, 2018).
physically assaulted (Radey, Langerderfer-Magruder,
&Schelbe, 2022). Researchers have observed that the
dangers of the job lie in both the nonvoluntary nature
of the agency contact, and the unpredictable nature
of the environments in which the contacts take place
(Radey, Langerderfer-Magruder, &Schelbe, 2022).
Social assistance workers are six times more likely to
experience workplace violence than other workers
(Radey &Wilke, 2021).
Research on parental custody disputes with those
employing pseudolaw tactics is limited. Slater (2016)
uncovered only five instances in which sovereign
citizens targeted “child support services” for
harassment via litigation, out of 378 sovereign citizen
court proceedings. Netolitzky (2017) investigated
parental disputes in Canadian courts that involved
pseudolaw tactics, and identified only three examples
in all reported Canadian pseudolaw caselaw. These
results suggest pseudolaw and sovereign citizen tactics
are historically uncommon in the CPS context. Much
less is known about the relationship and interactions
between CPS workers who investigate conspiracy-
oriented people who believe in sovereign citizen and
QAnon ideas. It is reasonable to assume that those
relationships also pose heightened acrimony and
danger.
A core element of QAnon conspiracy theory is that
powerful Democratic politicians are involved in the
global sex trafficking of children. QAnon theory thus
provides a political and cultural narrative that enflames
pre-existing anti-authority and anti-government biases
held by sovereign citizens. Despite the growth of these
movements, both in the United States and abroad, there
is little to no research investigating the growth of these
meritless child sex trafficking accusations by followers
of the aforementioned movements. These tactics
may be employed as a method to generate sympathy
and support from other like-minded followers, and/
or to defame the character of those involved in CPS
processes.
Part two of this article examines a pre-QAnon instance
of sovereign citizens interacting with CPS. Next, part
three of this article describes the sovereign citizen/
QAnon conspiracy figures involved in promoting
meritless, absurd claims of CPS sex trafficking children.
Part four examines actual cases of children having
been removed by CPS, due to suspected abuse or
neglect, whose parents then accused CPS of child sex
trafficking, all without evidence. In some cases, parents
resorted to violence directed toward fully innocent
CPS workers. This article documents these cases using
open-source information along with news accounts
and court material.
II. Pre-QAnon: The Matusiewicz Case
The Matusiewicz-Belford child custody dispute, which
erupted into extreme violence, is a case that predates
the emergence of QAnon, but that has remarkable
similarities to scenarios where QAnon concepts are
involved. This example shows that sovereign citizen
ideology and beliefs alone can trigger highly unfavorable
outcomes in child custody dispute scenarios. Multiple
documentaries airing on the Investigation Discovery
channel revealed that the Matusiewicz family ascribed
to sovereign citizen ideology. They stockpiled weapons,
anticipating a violent battle with the government,
which the Matusiewicz family regarded as illegitimate.
The custody problems began in 2006 when Christine
Belford and David Thomas Matusiewicz divorced and
agreed to shared custody of their three children (U.S. v.
Matusiewicz, 2015). One year later, in 2007, David and
his mother, Lenore, kidnapped the children and took
them to Nicaragua for two years (U.S. v. Matusiewicz,
2015). Federal agents returned the children in 2009.
David Matusiewicz pled guilty to parental kidnapping
and bank fraud (U.S. v. Matusiewicz, 2015).
Around that time, David Matusiewicz and his family
falsely accused Belford of sexually abusing her
children. They embarked on a four-year campaign
of stalking, surveilling, and harassing Belford. They
created fake YouTube videos, wrote emails and letters,
created a website called “A Grandmother’s Impossible
Choice” filled with allegations of abuse, and false
polygraph reports (Department of Justice, 2018).
David Matusiewicz and his family also attempted to
recruit others to aid in the surveillance of Belford and
her children (Department of Justice, 2018). Numerous
courts repeatedly found the abuse allegations against
Belford to be untrue. The courts noted that there was
“overwhelming, uncontradicted evidence that the
accusations that [Belford] sexually molested or abused
her children were false” (Department of Justice, 2018).
