'Tell Mama Why You Cry' (Part II)

DeLipsey asked DHS if she could attend that last visit with the children. Her request was denied.

Sam and Kathy Krasniqi have refused to give up. A year and a half ago, they turned to a local support group called Victims of Child Abuse Laws (or VOCAL) for assistance. With the help of VOCAL president John Cloud, they appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The court actually considered the case again, but decided against ordering a lower court to hear the case on its merits.

But VOCAL's efforts stopped the clock on the adoption of the children, and bought the Krasniqis some time. VOCAL also put the Krasniqis in touch with attorney Gary Noble, who has defended numerous men charged with sexual abuse.

"This country did wrong by this family," says Noble, who calls himself the patron saint of hopeless cases. "The kids were ripped out of their home, out of their heritage. That trauma is real. It's amazing Sam and Kathy still have a shot. They have reason and decency, but not the law, on their side."

Two thousand miles away, Barbara Halpern wants to know what more she can do to help."I feel strongly that justice has not been served,"she says. "Their lives have been truncated by this terrible confusion. It is a miracle to me they have any gumption left for living."

How much they have left is uncertain.
After learning that her children have been adopted, Kathy says, sobbing: "It's over now. I know what kind of mother I was. My life is over. What do I have to live for?"

Krasniqi then takes a visitor to his bedroom closet. He picks up a handgun and a small plastic bag filled with bullets. "If I don't have my children," he says, "life is not worth living.