On a summer’s night 21 years ago, 90 Vermont State Troopers and 50 social workers entered the small Northeast Kingdom village of Island Pond, and they left with more than 100 children the state said were the victims of abuse.
But a district court judge ordered the children released and called the State’s action unconstitutional because the warrant to remove the children included no specific allegations of abuse. The members of the Church in Island Pond known today as the
“Twelve Tribes” contend that they were the victims of anti-religious officials in state government who wanted to put an end tothe church and its way of life.
Twelve of the now-grown children removed from their homes that June night in 1984 are featured in the new documentary “The Children of the Island Pond Raid: An Emerging Culture” Jean Swantko produced the documentary and she recently spoke with
MitchWertlieb about the film.
(To hear Mitch’s interview with Jean Swantko, click on the
“Listen” icon.)
Note: “The Children of the Island Pond Raid: An Emerging Culture” will debut Wednesday night at 7pm with a free screening in Burlington’s Contois auditorium at city hall.