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Parents Threaten Social Worker's Family

November 8, 2013 permalink

When New Hampshire social worker Caleb Wells took their son, parents Mark C Bohannon and Christina Kempton-Struthers threatened to retaliate in kind against his children.

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Parents accused of threats against social worker's children

WINCHESTER — The parents of a Winchester boy taken into protective custody by N.H. Child Protection Services threatened to kill members of a social worker’s family in August and are scheduled for trial this month, according to court documents.

Mark C. Bohannon, 39, and Christina Kempton-Struthers, 28, are charged with criminal threatening and obstructing government administration for allegedly threatening to kill Child Protective Services worker Caleb Wells’ children.

Police allege Bohannon and Kempton-Struthers sought retaliation against Wells for removing their son from their home.

In an affidavit filed by Winchester police Youth Aid Officer Mike T. Tollett, he details a conversation Bohannon and Kempton-Struthers had in the presence of Sarah Marek, a case manager for Easter Seals in Keene. Marek had picked the two up in Winchester for a meeting with Wells in Keene.

During the drive, Tollett wrote, the parents talked about their anger toward Wells.

Kempton-Struthers said she knew where Wells, his wife and children live and what they look like. Bohannon added that if he and Kempton-Struthers didn’t get their son back, “they would camp out at (Wells’) house,” Tollett wrote.

That’s when Kempton-Struthers said they would kill each of Wells’ children and make him watch, Tollett wrote.

Bohannon also faces a charge of violation of a protective order for allegedly being at an apartment at 23 Ashuelot St. in Winchester where Kempton-Struthers and their son were staying. A protective order granted by 8th Circuit Court District Division in Keene on June 20 prohibited Bohannon from being on the property. But details about why Bohannon was ordered to stay away are unclear.

On July 26, police say Bohannon went to the Ashuelot Street home, violating the order, and he was later arrested.

That same day, Wells met with Kempton-Struthers and her son to arrange for his temporary out-of-home placement. This wasn’t the first instance in which Child Protection Services had taken the child, according to court documents.

The charges against Bohannon and Kempton-Struthers are scheduled for trial at the 8th Circuit Court in Keene on Nov. 20.

Alyssa Dandrea can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1435, or adandrea@keenesentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter @ADandreaKS.

Source: Keene Sentinel

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