On Thursday, October 9th, State Sen Shane Jett (R-Shawnee) took to social media to update Oklahomans on a nationally covered case involving the medical kidnapping of a 17-year-old boy named Presten by the child welfare system. Jett has been actively advocating for this autistic teen and his family throughout their ordeal.
Jett referred to a decision by the Canadian County District Court (October 6th) ending the emergency custody order that allowed the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) to take the minor into emergency custody on October 3rd.
Link to FB video: Sen Shane Jett (R) updates Oklahomans on OKDHS medical kidnapping case.
During the show cause hearing, Special Judge Charles Gass reportedly determined OKDHS had not followed the law as they had not met the legal burden of proof to show Presten was being neglected when they took custody. OKDHS took Presten on a Friday, admitted him into OU Children’s Hospital and, within 24 hours over a weekend when courts are closed, began administering two (2) chemotherapy medications against the wishes of his family.
Previously, during 2023, Presten was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia(CML), a slow-growing form of leukemia more prevalent among those with autism, and received unsuccessful, and what his family describes as harmful, treatment at OU Children’s at that time. The family then opted for more thorough and holistic treatment for Presten that would build up his immune system, provide renewed health and address Presten’s potential, inherent deficiencies such as the known, randomly occurring genetic change called the Philadelphia chromosome which presents in 90-95% of children with CML .
The family says OKDHS Child Protective Services (CPS) worker Tanya Stephens told them she believed the anonymous referral to OKDHS concerning Presten’s health was retaliatory and requested the family arrange a time when she could meet with Presten’s current provider to ensure a treatment plan was in place.
Stephens showed up to that October 3rd meeting with law enforcement and an emergency court order to take Presten into custody before ever consulting with his medical provider. Therefore, Stephens had no understanding of the treatment plan he and his family had followed for a year to restore Presten’s health and help him gain back 20 pounds.
On September 29th, Presten was healthy enough to be mowing the lawn when Stephens first knocked on the family’s front door to investigate medical neglect. Since coming into emergency custody just thirteen (13) days ago, Presten has experienced a massive decline in both health and well-being.
Nevertheless, instead of accepting the court’s October 6th determination that Presten was taken unlawfully and walking away, Canadian County District Attorney Tommy Humphries and Assistant District Attorney Eric Epplin, alongside OKDHS, are presumed to have invoked a 3-day option to appeal the decision which meant Presten was forced to remain at OU Children’s Hospital under their treatment plan. In his video, Sen Jett informs the 3-day window had just ended, and DA Humphries had not filed an appeal.
Canadian County DA Tommy Humphries (left) and ADA Eric Epplin (right)
DA Humphries was appointed by Gov Kevin Stitt (R) in December of 2023 and will be up for reelection in 2026.
A reasonable person would assume Presten would now be free to go home and his nightmare would be over since the DA did not file an appeal of the court’s decision to place him back in his mother’s custody. That assumption underestimates the arrogant brokenness of Oklahoma’s child welfare system.
OKDHS and DA Humphries continue to hold Presten hostage with the threat that removing him from OU Children’s Hospital or questioning the current treatment plan would bring a new accusation of abuse against his mother Dayna Mooney for operating “against medical advice” or AMA.
V1SUT has reached out to the offices of DA Humphries, Gov Stitt and OKDHS Director Jeff Cartmell for comment on this case but has not yet received any responses.
Presten Before and After OKDHS Intervention: Chemo & Infection from Forced Bone Biopsy Cause Unrelenting Suffering
Just two weeks ago, Presten reports he felt great as he enjoyed what he calls family dinner night. He was smiling, bowling and spending time with his extended family.
Presten (17) bowling (left) and enjoying family dinner (right): Sept 29, 2025.
And now, thirteen (13) days after being medically kidnapped by OKDHS, Presten is in constant pain, has lost the weight his family and outside provider helped him gain over the past year and is battling a serious infection from a bone marrow biopsy he and his family did not wish for him to have. Presten’s right hip is visibly swollen where the infection set in and he’s experiencing unbearable cramping and neuropathy in his lower extremities.
From health to OKDHS, Presten battles infection from forced biopsy.
The video below will be difficult to watch. Presten is not the same, smiling boy he was just two weeks ago:
Presten is trapped, and what this tyrannical system has now done to his health is shocking. On Tuesday, with permission from both Presten and his mother, this journalist was allowed to visit with Presten and hear, in his own words, what is happening to him.
Presten Calls DHS “Abusers”, Cries “No More!”
Presten laid on his left side and cried out in pain throughout our conversation, repeatedly saying, “No more!” Despite his pain, he was determined to tell the world what is happening to him.
When asked how he was feeling before coming back to OU Children’s Hospital, Preston described feeling “great” and having no pain as he was helping with the weed-eating and mowing on the day OKDHS arrived at his home.
He described the doctor who had been helping him feel better as well as the eating plan, supplements, Epsom baths and other regimens that were happening at home that make him feel well.
“It all stopped because of DHS,” states Presten. “Anytime I’m here I feel worse. It was fine until DHS came. DHS doesn’t want me to feel healthy.”
When asked why he feels DHS is responsible for making him feel sick, Presten expressed that “it’s not okay to lie” and explained DHS lied about “the emergency order and false information”. He refers to DHS as “abusers”.
When asked what should be done to help him, Presten said, “I think DHS should be banned.”
To OKDHS, judges, the DA and anyone else involved in forcing him to come to the hospital, Presten stressed, “Leave me alone for the rest of my life.”
Presten cried and repeatedly expressed his wish to go home, be with his dogs and feel better again. He said his side is hurting the most.
Presten’s mother, Dayna Mooney, informed Presten is on heavy antibiotics and the hospital is not giving any probiotics to counteract the expected hit to Presten’s already compromised immune system. Mooney had to request that chemotherapy be stopped, at least for the day, to allow Presten’s body to fight the infection. During the interview, Presten’s hospital treatment team visited to inform they were recommending yet another chemotherapy drug to be started the following day.
Before we could complete our conversation, hospital staff entered the room to take Presten for an MRI, a test he was unable to complete due to the pain in his hip and lower body. This teen who was continually gaining strength at home is now unable to move from the hospital bed to a wheel chair without significant assistance.
Presten’s body is raked with spasms so painful he cries out in pain nearly every minute. His mother reports Presten is on three (3) separate pain killers and is still unable to find comfort.
Case Smacks of Political Persecution: 2 of 4 OK Moms for Liberty Chairs Battle OKDHS Medical Kidnapping
Yesterday, a spokesman for the Mooney family released a statement calling out the harm done to Presten and their belief OKDHS is targeting the family:
Dayna Mooney is founder and chair of the Canadian County chapter of Moms for Liberty. This nationwide group works to protect the rights and liberties of parents, particularly in public schools, and states, “We do not co-parent with the government.”
Dayna Mooney (Moms for Liberty) talks legislation on ROPE parents rights podcast.
Mooney is one of only four Oklahoma chapter chairs for Moms for Liberty and is the second to have her child medically kidnapped by OKDHS. With a 50% rate for unlawfully intervening in Moms for Liberty chair families, highly progressive OKDHS is highly suspected of political targeting (updated 10/21/2025).
In June of 2024, V1SUT shared the story of Pottawatomie County Moms for Liberty chair Roberta Lewis and her son Blaze.
OK House candidate and Moms for Liberty county chair Roberta Lewis (R).
Lewis’ harrowing experience with OKDHS and the mental health system inspired her to run for a seat in the Oklahoma State House of Representatives in November 2026.
“In summary, multiple governmental and medical entities overlapped to remove Lewis’ son from the family’s home for two weeks during the 2021 Christmas holidays. Parents should heed Lewis’ story as a warning. In a matter of hours after dropping your child off at school, you could be fighting the government for custody. And it all started with a school district’s letter of warning.”
Lewis was quick to speak out about the Mooney case on the podcast of gubernatorial candidate Jake Merrick (R), who has also been strongly advocating for the Mooney family.
Despite the reported intervention of multiple lawmakers, the presiding district judge and Gov Kevin Stitt (R), the unlawful torture continues for Presten and his family. The system appears to have unchecked power to target both political and medical free-thinkers, and is observably accountable to no one. It seems the bureaucratic tail is wagging the elected dog in Oklahoma, to the irreparable harm of the Mooneys and many other Oklahoma families.
An online fundraiser has been established to help pay for the Mooney’s legal expenses.
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I’m sitting here reading this in tears! I’m so angry. What can we do? This is ridiculous. I’ve been in very similar situations with my son trapped in the hospital for 104 days and currently being medically neglected by the establishment who dictates his treatment and withholds others at their command.
This is so wrong, and every legislator and elected official should be immediately asking for not only new leadership at DHS, but a change in the law that allows legislators to look at the DHS records, to provide adequate supervision of DHS cases. This story is so hard to read, to even suspect that something this draconian is happening in our state, shows just how bad things have gotten in the bureaucracy of our state's political system. Thanks for your reporting on this.
I’m sitting here reading this in tears! I’m so angry. What can we do? This is ridiculous. I’ve been in very similar situations with my son trapped in the hospital for 104 days and currently being medically neglected by the establishment who dictates his treatment and withholds others at their command.
This is so wrong, and every legislator and elected official should be immediately asking for not only new leadership at DHS, but a change in the law that allows legislators to look at the DHS records, to provide adequate supervision of DHS cases. This story is so hard to read, to even suspect that something this draconian is happening in our state, shows just how bad things have gotten in the bureaucracy of our state's political system. Thanks for your reporting on this.