Monday, July 21, 2008

To the Honorable Judge Tom Hart
To the Attorney General of the state of Oregon
And to whomever else it may concern

My name is Anya Warde and I am the oldest child of Graydon and Robyn Drown. I understand that they will have a bail hearing in August. I was very relieved when you denied my parents bail. I know that they are incapable of raising any bail and that their family members are not disposed to raise it for them. But it is possible that some other group or individuals might raise the money and that cannot happen. As you are probably aware, this is not the first time my parents have had children taken away from them. A sister, a brother, and myself were taken away because of child abuse when I was four years old. When it became apparent that they would not be getting us back, my parents left and moved to another state, Alaska. They stayed in the secluded areas of Alaska for the next 13 years, moving around and never giving us their physical address. My father and mother call infrequently, perhaps 2-3 times a year when I was a young child. These were not pleasant calls. Rather, they would contain 3-hour sermons from my father, attempting to raise his firstborn from a distance in what he believed. Every conversation ended with a promise to "rescue " us from our "kidnappers. " This was very upsetting to me, and for usually a month after one of these phone calls I would be very difficult to handle. I grew up with the fear of them lurking in the shadows, and even today I have a remnant of anxiety every time I go into a dark room. During one of these infrequent phone calls, my father told my grandparents, my guardians and his parents, that he had a "follower" that had offered to come down to California, snatch us up, and beat up my grandparents. I think a gun was also mentioned. I believe that not only is my father a flight risk, but that if he did have a disciple, and he has always had someone whom he had convinced for a while, or someone wanted to make a statement by helping him out, that he would be a threat to my brothers and sister, and a threat to their foster parents. I believe that even knowing that my father was out of jail could cause my siblings to be afraid. Please do not grant him any bail, however high. To my mind, it is not worth the risk.

As to my mother, I have heard from people who talk to her that they believe that she will be out of jail come August, whether by a small bail amount or by being released to her own cognizance I do not know, and that she will have access to the kids. I do not know if she is completely controlled by my father or not. However, if she is, I believe her fully capable of saying things that would make her children feel guilty about testifying against both herself and their father. If she has not been controlled this whole time, then she is as responsible as her husband in all of this, and she should not be allowed near them for the same reasons my father should not be. She has had practice with getting around the social workers during supervised visits, and I fear what influences she would have, one way or another, over the fragile peace and stability that the foster parents are trying to build for my siblings.

I understand that Graydon and Robyn Drown have rights, and that they are innocent until proven guilty. But the possible damage they could do to my brothers and sister, if there is  even the slightest chance that they are guilty, does not seem worth giving them the chance at bail and I ask you to take these things into consideration on August 13th.
Thank you,
Anya Warde