International Journal of Coercion, Abuse, and Manipulation Volume 6 2023 142
arrest are unclear. Meyer distanced himself from her
case after the arrest, presumably to avoid legal trouble
(Martin, 2022). Stanley then pled guilty, and was
sentenced to time served, three years of probation, and
was fined about $9,000 (Scir Reeve, 2022). The custody
details of Stanley’s case are currently unknown.
2. Samantha Ricks
Samantha Ricks, from Oklahoma, is a mother with two
children. For the past few years, her family has been
concerned about her. She struggled with paranoia after
separating from the children’s father (Gilbert, 2022b).
Ricks believed that neighbors were plotting to steal
her children. Then in October 2021, Ricks became
actively involved in the QAnon splinter cult known as
“Negative 48.” The group believed (and continues to
believe) that John F. Kennedy will reappear at Dealey
Plaza as the reincarnation of Jesus Christ (Gilbert,
2022a). President Kennedy was the 35th President of
the United States and was assassinated on November
22, 1963. Between October 2021 and December 2021,
Ricks and her two young children spent time with the
cult. They lived in hotels with other cult members who
were using drugs and engaging in bizarre activities,
including drinking bleach-based cocktails from a
communal bowl (Rohrlich, 2021).
Things continued to go downhill. Ricks had a falling-
out with members of the cult and was using drugs and
alcohol. CPS also accused her of exposing her children
to “inappropriate sexual behavior,” stemming from her
attempts to breastfeed the children, who were then five
and six years old. The agency removed the children
from Ricks’s care and placed them into foster care
(Gilbert, 2022b 2023 Karma, 2022).
After her children were removed, Ricks frantically tried
to get them back. She accused CPS of being child sex
traffickers. Ricks started a crowdfunding campaign
called “Help Rescue My Children Kidnapped by
Traffickers” (Gilbert, 2022b) that raised at least $2,090
from 13 donors (ADL Crowdfunding Report, 2023).
She also contacted Michael Lewis Arthur Meyer, who
had assisted other mothers in similar predicaments.
Reports indicate that Ricks had been communicating
with Meyer for at least a month, and he assisted her in
devising a plot to kidnap her children (Gilbert, 2022b).
In August 2022, Ricks and Elijah Erlebach, a known
sovereign citizen, went to the foster care home where
one of Rick’s two children lived, and forcibly seized the
child. Ricks’s daughter was riding her bike at the time.
According to court records, Ricks, in a vehicle driven
by Erlebach, approached and grabbed her daughter,
who was thrown into the blue truck. Ricks and
Erlebach first drove off, but then circled back around
the neighborhood, planning to come back for Ricks’s
other male child (Weaver, 2022). However, the foster
father had called the police, and within 25 minutes, law
enforcement pulled over the kidnappers’ vehicle, which
had an “American National” license plate. Erlebach
presented a sovereign citizen ID, would not roll down
his window, and refused to exit his vehicle. The police
eventually removed Erlebach from his vehicle, and
located Ricks in the back seat with the abducted female
child. The police searched the vehicle and found
multiple weapons including a knife, and two guns: a
1911-style pistol, and an AR-15 assault rifle, which “had
full magazines and were chamber loaded,” according to
the affidavit (Weaver, 2022). Both Erlebach and Ricks
were arrested. The status of the subsequent criminal
prosecution is currently unknown.
3. France Kidnapping
A similar style of kidnapping took place in France
in April 2021. Lola Montemaggi lost custody of her
8-year-old child, Mia, to Mia’s grandmother. The
French government deemed Montemaggi unstable.
Prosecutors characterized her as a lost mother who felt
that the justice system was not listening to her (Ataman,
&John, 2022). In response, Montemaggi sought refuge
online where she became increasingly convinced
by conspiracy theorists that a pedophile network,
operating in conjunction with the government,
placed her daughter in danger. Montemaggi was also
a member of One Nation, a group headed by Alice
Pazalmar which subscribes to sovereign citizen and
new age philosophies (Sarteschi, 2022b).
Montemaggi was advised to reach out to Rémy Daillet-
Weidemann, a conspiracy theorist, under watch by
the government for his plans to overthrow the French
government. Daillet-Weidemann was known to
promote the idea that “action should be taken to return
children [in care] ...to their parents” (Ataman, &John,

ISSN: 2710-4028 DOI: doi.org/10.54208/1000/0006 143
2022, para. 15). Montemaggi requested that Daillet-
Weidemann rescue her daughter from the (alleged) evil
sexual predators. Daillet-Weidemann and a team of five
men abducted the child from her grandmother’s home,
took the child to the Swiss border, and returned the
child to her mother, who was waiting at an abandoned
factory (Sarteschi, 2022b). The mother and daughter
spent three days together before police arrived. All
involved were arrested. Montemaggi was charged with
“kidnapping ...in an organized gang” and “abduction
of a minor by an ascendant outside the territory of the
Republic” (Agence France Presse, 2022). Montemaggi
was subsequently released, and as of April 2022 is
awaiting trial. She is planning to utilize sovereign
citizen ideology in her defense (Sarteschi, 2022b).
4. Canadian Couple
The growing phenomenon of associating CPS with sex
trafficking is evident in the current case of a Canadian
couple who are not named in compliance with Alberta
privacy legislation. The association of sovereign citizen
and QAnon beliefs became evident after a lengthy audio
narrative was posted on a Telegram message board. In
August 2022, a mother posted many fantastical claims.
In the audio recording, the mother explains that her
child was being abused by a school principal who had
given her son a sexually transmitted infection. This
alleged violation led the mother to remove all of her
children from the school. Soon thereafter, the mother
claimed that police surrounded her home. She and
her family barricaded themselves in their home and
refused to come out. The police forcibly removed
the family from the home, arrested both the mother
and her husband, and took custody of her children.
She claimed that her son, the alleged victim of the
abuse, had been given electroshock treatments by the
government. These treatments were to force the son to
forget the sexual abuse. The mother went on to explain
that her other children were drugged and “genetically
tested.” She and her husband subsequently tried all of
the “sovereign packets” to remedy the case, including
tactics recommended by sovereign citizen guru
David Straight. Her fantastical story ended with her
claim that her husband was in hiding because he had
been “red dotted” by the police, which she said was a
“shoot to kill” order. The mother’s claims were entirely
unsubstantiated.
Court records indicate that the children were removed
from their parents in 2019 after confidential sources
contacted child welfare with concerns about the
children’s wellbeing. The parents refused to cooperate
with a child welfare investigation (TL (Re), 2022 ABPC
112). On the day the children were removed, the father
became combative. Six police officers were required to
subdue him. The parents were subsequently ordered to
complete a urine drug test due to evidence suggesting
the possible use or abuse of prescription medications.
In the intervening years, there have been many
interactions between these parents and child welfare
workers. Some involved threats towards and assaults
by the parents upon the workers. Court records reveal
that the father was convicted of simple assaults, assault
with a weapon, and assault causing bodily harm. Both
parents had outstanding warrants for their arrest
(no further details provided). Often during visits
with the children, child welfare workers had to call
law enforcement because of the father’s threatening
behavior. On multiple occasions, these incidents led
to the father facing additional assault charges, with
the child welfare agency having to obtain emergency
protection orders. Frequently, the parents also refused
to consent to their children undergoing medical
procedures and being given prescription medications.
Reportedly, the parents sent secret messages to the
children on an MP3 player. These messages asked the
children to say negative things about the foster care
home so the parents could publish that information on
social media (TL (Re), 2022 ABPC 112).
In court hearings, the mother repeatedly read from
“Freeman-on-the-Land” scripts. “Freeman-on-the-
Land” is a phrase used to describe a type of Canadian
pseudolaw adherent. These pseudolaw adherents
are similar to sovereign citizens but differ in scope,
activity, and social impact (Netolitzky, 2023a). The
parents have more recently communicated with and
sought help from Christopher James Pritchard, who
runs a website devoted to pseudolaw topics. On the
site are interviews with the couple, who claim that
their children have now been taken to an undisclosed
underground facility, where they are restrained and
strapped to mattresses. The mother says that her
daughter is listed as a “prospect,” which she understands
to mean that the child was chosen for sex trafficking.