The federal judge presiding over a civil rights lawsuit filed by three former Blair County children has set new deadlines in order to move the case toward either settlement or trial. They were removed from their homes nearly 16 years ago in what purportedly was an effort to force their parents to cooperate with police in a drug investigation, the lawsuit claims.

The attorneys for the children, Roy Huntsman of Cedar Hills, Utah, and Martell Harris of Pittsburgh, in a petition filed last week stated they realized that U.S. District Judge Stephanie L. Haines had “a strong preference to move this case along,” but they reported they were having difficulty obtaining child welfare and other records to support their allegations.

The attorneys stated they only recently obtained records from the Blair County Children, Youth & Families which it is alleged, sought removal of the children from their homes in October 2008.

The children were eventually moved from Blair County to Clearfield County.

Huntsman and Harris reported in their petition that they also have acquired records from Pentz Run, an agency that cares for high risk and disadvantaged children, and from the Moshannon Valley School District where the children attended school.

“Together, these records are a couple of thousand pages that provide some of the information related to the (children’s) claims,” the petition stated.

Also, it was reported that subpoenas for additional agency records have been served.

But as the plaintiffs’ attorney noted, Clearfield County Children, Youth and Family Services — a key agency involved in the case — sought a protective order barring release of its records last December and again in March.

Haines has not yet ruled on the requests by the Clearfield child welfare agency.

The petition by the attorneys on behalf of the children stated, “Plaintiffs have made several efforts to obtain the Clearfield County records without success. … Plaintiffs believe the Clearfield County records are central to Plaintiffs’ civil rights case before the court.”

After reviewing the petition filed last week, Haines issued an order setting several deadlines that included:

Oct. 24 for the filing of amended complaint’

Answers to the amended complaint and the disclosure of expert witnesses and the completion of all fact discovery by Nov. 22.

Mediation, which is to occur on or before Dec. 5.

Depositions of expert witnesses to be completed by March 27, 2025.

Haines has scheduled a status conference for Dec. 18.

The children involved in the case are all adults now, but they have claimed in their civil rights lawsuit that they were removed from their familial homes by police and child welfare in the midst of a major drug investigation.

Authorities, they say, removed them, and vowed never to return the children to their biological parents,” in order to coerce plaintiffs’ parents as part of a police investigation.”

The lawsuit indicates that other family members were barred from becoming foster parents of the children, and the children were transferred to Clearfield County for placement in foster care.

The foster parents, Barbara and Timothy Krause of Houtzdale, eventually adopted the children.

However, the Krauses were more recently charged with physical and emotional abuse of the children and were sentenced to prison for terms of seven to 40 years.

Timothy Krause is now deceased while Barbara Krause remains in a state correctional facility.

The defendants in the lawsuit include the Krauses, Blair County, Clearfield County, and a law enforcement officer who led the drug investigation.

The federal lawsuit, brought under the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution, charges unconstitutional interference with familial relationships and failure to protect children.