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CNN Sunday Morning

Idaho Police Remove McGuckin Children

Aired June 03, 2001 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BRIAN NELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we begin in northern Idaho, where sheriffs deputies have successfully removed five children from a remote mountain home. It took five days to get them out, but authorities now say the situation never escalated to an armed stand- off. Advocates for the family say that the children's only crime was being poor.

CNN's Eileen O'Connor has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EILEEN O'CONNOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Inside a sport utility vehicle the five McGuckin children leaving the family compound five days after the stand-off began. Officials at Bonner General Hospital say they are in good condition, under the care of the family doctor.

SUSAN MONTGOMERY, BONNER GENERAL HOSPITAL NURSING: Their condition is very good. There are no injuries. They are ambulatory and looking fine and we're happy to have them and happy that things are going so well.

O'CONNOR: The sheriff says it took family, friends and family members, especially their oldest sister Irena (ph), seven hours of negotiations.

SHERIFF PHIL JARVIS, BONNER COUNTY: I think they finally decided that it was in their best interests to come out and to protect each other.

O'CONNOR: The children turned wild dogs loose on sheriffs deputies on Tuesday when officials tried to put them into protective custody. Their mother JoAnn was already under arrest, accused of felony child neglect. Despite that, the sheriff insists this was never a stand-off.

JARVIS: A stand-off is not what is going on. Stand-off to me is a picture of people pointing guns at one another. That never happened. What we did was safeguard the location so that no one else could get in there and hurt the children and then we started slowly but surely gaining their confidence.

O'CONNOR: The Health and Welfare Department will now determine their future. SGT. ROBERT RAHN, BONNER COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: Well, that is not our wish that they be split up.

O'CONNOR: Their mother remains in jail. Her attorney says she is innocent of neglecting the children, that this was a family that fell on hard times. The children's father died three weeks ago of multiple sclerosis. Some say JoAnn McGuckin cut the family off from the community fearful officials would evict them from their home after the county sold their land for an unpaid tax debt.

(on camera): Locals here say this was a family tragedy. The sheriff's department says the goal now is to give the children privacy and the means to rebuild their family.

Eileen O'Connor, CNN, Garfield Bay, Idaho.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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