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"He was blue," says Krueger.
Wyatt spent nine days in neonatal intensive care. Over the next two years, his breathing problems necessitated oxygen treatments, tubes in his ears and four surgeries, according to Krueger.
Some of his treatments were at a nearby hospital in Peoria, Illinois. Many hospitals today have a Child Abuse Pediatrician: a doctor on contract with child protective services. Their job is to be on the lookout for child abuse, including abuse other doctors may have missed. While the CAP at this hospital never met Krueger or worked directly with Wyatt, she reviewed his file and accused the mother of Munchausen syndrome by proxy — causing or faking a child's illness to get attention.
This CAP's report was all it took for Illinois' Department of Child and Family Services to put into place a "safety plan" to remove the Kruegers' kids. Thus, in March of 2019, when Wyatt was two and back in the hospital, Krueger's husband and mother-in-law were in his room when a DCFS worker — and four armed police officers — arrived and ordered them out. Wyatt was alone there for four days while DCFS arranged a foster placement, according to Krueger.
DCFS also came for Wyatt's older brother, age three. He had never been away from them before.
But that's not all: Krueger was also pregnant with their third son at the time. DCFS took him away four hours after she gave birth, according to Krueger.
The family spent 467 days apart. It took an incredible amount of time and money to piece together the evidence that they were not guilty of abuse. In this, they were helped by the Family Justice Resource Center, an Illinois nonprofit founded by Michelle Weidner — a mom who had gone through a similar nightmare ten years earlier. The center helps "families facing wrongful allegations of abuse and neglect, with an emphasis on medically-based allegations," according to its website.
"They were an answer to our prayers," says Krueger.
With the help of FJRC, the Kruegers found an attorney in this field and a well-respected pediatrician to review Wyatt's files. This doctor found that Wyatt's illness was not imagined or parent-induced. She also said that genetic testing showed Wyatt had Xia-Gibbs syndrome, a rare disease that causes airway issues. The CAP had shrugged off this possibility.
Meanwhile, Krueger undertook a psychiatric evaluation administered by a state-approved psychologist (but paid for by the Kruegers), which found her to be of sound mind and not inclined to abuse a child.
During all this, Krueger and her husband were only allowed to visit their children on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. "with someone sitting" with them, says Krueger.
But on July 8, 2020, a family court judge read the evidence and vacated all orders. The children were finally allowed to come home.
The Kruegers did not emerge unscarred. They mounted cameras throughout their home so if one of their boys hurts himself, there would be proof it wasn't child abuse. Understandably, the boys have terrible anxiety. If they aren't warned that pizza is coming, hearing the doorbell sends them running to hide.
The family is now pushing for the legislature to reform the state's child protection laws, as Texas just did. There, if parents are accused of abuse based on a medical report, they can now request a second opinion from a specialist in the relevant field. In a case such as the Kruegers', that means the parents would be able to consult a respiratory doctor, and child services would have to submit this testimony before getting a court order to take a child into custody.
This seems like the least the state can do before breaking up a family.