![]() Apparently incensed by the rash and the baby’s cries, Francis declared she was a judge and “mandatory reporter” of child mistreatment – and pounced, according to Mervyak. By now they had the full attention of Olga Mervyak, who had been keeping tabs on her other two children in the pool. The man, Fender, set the baby down on her unsteady little legs and her sister rushed over and grabbed her. Judge Renatha Francis, right, with her husband Phillip Fender, their son and her mother, Hyacinth Francis in 2018. (A doctor diagnosed contact dermatitis and prescribed an ointment.) ![]() A red rash was visible on her back shoulder area. Urged on by the woman, Francis, the man reached inside, unbuckled the baby and lifted her out. The teething baby was crying when a man and a woman walked up to the stroller. “We just want to be left alone,” he said.Īccording to the Mervyaks’ account, on July 4 their oldest daughter was with her 10-month-old sister in a covered pool-side pavilion. Still, Mervyak doesn’t plan to sue anyone or file an ethics complaint against Francis. “She put us through a wringer.” He said his children were traumatized by the thought of being separated from their parents and the oldest girl, who just turned 13, suffered panic attacks and a breakdown when a DCF investigator questioned her. “Just because this lady is a judge, it doesn’t mean she can do whatever she wants. We’re living in the U.S., it’s not freakin’ Russia,” said Oleg Mervyak, who emigrated from Ukraine more than 20 years ago. Mervyak’s husband, who did not visit West Palm Beach with his family on July 4, expressed outrage weeks later. Later she searched the Internet, examined some photos and realized the woman was Judge Renatha Francis of the Palm Beach Circuit Court family division and the man was Phillip Fender, her husband. Ron DeSantis is expected to announce who will succeed retiring Florida Supreme Court Justice Alan Lawson – and Francis leads a short list of candidates under consideration.Īt first Mervyak had no idea who the intrusive couple at the pool was. Her words may carry more weight than other people’s. Nor would he say whether the matter is getting special handling because it was initiated by Francis, a mother, too. Lawton did not respond to an email asking him to explain the discrepancy. Peter Lawton told Florida Bulldog the sheriff’s investigation is over, so the case report is a public record minutes later Lawton called Mervyak and told her the investigation is still active. A complaint by the judge apparently triggered investigations of the Mervyak family by the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.īoth are unresolved. The woman, Olga Mervyak of Poinciana in Central Florida, and her four daughters were visiting relatives at Cityside Condominiums in West Palm Beach to celebrate the holiday.īy the time they left, a stranger – later identified as Francis – had accused Mervyak of neglecting her children and threatened to have the state take them away, she said. High-profile Judge Renatha Francis and her husband, Phillip Fender, provoked a bizarre scene at a condo swimming pool on the Fourth of July, a woman whose family is still reeling from it said. The pool and pavilion at West Palm Beach’s Cityside Condominiums where on July 4 Judge Renatha Francis, a leading contender to be named to Florida’s Supreme Court, allegedly accused a mother of four daughters of neglecting her children and threatened to have the state take them away.
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