Sweden “Kidnaps” Christian Girls After False Abuse Claim, Won’t Return Them

The Swedish government refuses to relinquish two girls it took from their parents when one falsely alleged parental abuse because it claims the parents are “religious extremists” since they attend church and read the Bible with their family.

The situation has become an international cause because the family — Daniel and Bianca Samson and their seven children — are Romanian citizens.

Philistines Attack Samsons

Sara and Tiana Samson, then aged 11 and 10, respectively, were seized by authorities in December 2022 after Sara, angry because her parents wouldn’t let her wear makeup or have a smartphone, told school officials her parents had abused her.

Daniel Samson told CBN News:

As soon as (Sara) said those things to the school, they took both of them … the social services. Then (Tiana) said, ‘Everything, it’s a lie. My sister invented everything. And I was there when she blackmailed the parents.’

And Sara, who started everything, confessed to her lies in a matter of days. And she never changed her story. But that was not enough, because, basically, (Swedish Social Services) searches for a reason to keep them captive.

According to Guillermo Morales Sancho, legal counsel for ADF International:

Sara retracted her false claim against her parents within days. Prosecutors investigated and cleared the parents of wrongdoing and even certified their “parenting aptitude.” Yet the girls … were not returned home. Instead, Sweden’s child protection services pivoted and accused the Samsons of being “religious extremists.”

Their supposed extremism? Attending church three times a week, praying as a family, and setting faith-based boundaries for their children. 

Daniel Samson told Fox News that, in court, government lawyers “used their parenting choices against them, such as the girls not being allowed to paint their nails, the lack of a television in the home and the reading of Bible stories, which he said authorities called ‘violent.’”

Bianca Samson fled back to Romania with the couple’s other children after social services threatened to take them too, Daniel Samson told CBN.

Girls Tried Suicide; Government Lied

For their first three years in state custody, Sara and Tiana were allowed one brief, supervised visit with their parents per month plus occasional video calls. Those conversations provided Daniel and Bianca with horrifying glimpses into what their girls were experiencing — which, perhaps, is the reason they have since been disallowed.

The girls have been kept separated and have gone through at least three foster placements. Both have attempted suicide, and Sara has been using drugs.

Both girls also expressed a desire to return home, reported CBN:

Tiana, in a phone video, said, “Just please take me home, I don’t want to be here anymore.”

… Sara, in a video call to her parents, said, “I have tried to take my life seven times, and if you ask why, it is because I didn’t see the point in life.” When her mother asked, “And would you like to come back home to your parents?” Sara’s answer was, “Yes. One hundred percent. Home!”

“[Swedish Social Services] would come to me and my wife and tell us, ‘Your children said they don’t want to see you anymore,’” Daniel Samson told CBN. “And that was a lie.”

In addition, he told Fox News, “They told me, ‘You give false hope to your children because you tell them they’re coming home, and we have no intention of giving them back.’”

Caught Kidnapping

Everyone knows there are serious problems with Swedish Social Services. Studies have found that 90 percent of requests for state custody of children based on allegations of violence — and 78 percent in all other cases — are granted by courts and that court-ordered removal of children carries a strong risk of suicide for the kids the state is supposedly protecting. Many, including Daniel Samson, refer to social services’ actions as “kidnapping.”

The criticism has become so intense that the government has labeled it a “disinformation campaign” and instituted a series of measures, including criminalizing the act of insulting a public official, to combat it — sure signs that the critics are on target.

Romania to the Rescue?

After losing 14 times in Swedish courts, the Samsons took their case to the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled it “inadmissible.” The family has therefore reached the end of the line when it comes to the courts. Sweden has even announced that it intends to put Sara and Tiana up for adoption.

All may not be lost, however. According to CBN, “Thousands of Romanians protested in Bucharest on [June 20] over Sweden’s refusal to return Sara and Tiana Samson to their parents.”

CBN wrote:

The Romanian Senate has unanimously approved a declaration demanding the immediate return of the Samson girls.

Romanian Senator and former Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean told us that Sweden has not taken the demand seriously.

“No reaction,” Corlatean said. “It’s a simulation of cooperation from Sweden for eight months. They didn’t respond to a long list of questions and requirements of the Romanian government. It’s violating the Romanian constitution because the girls belong to the Romanian state.”

Corlatean, who called Sweden an “open-air concentration camp,” vowed to continue pressing for the girls’ release.

“We are going to be in the streets,” he said. “We are going to protest. The Romanian communities once again are organizing themselves right now, and we are going to raise this issue at the international level.”

The Samson family, meanwhile, is relying on their own prayers — and those of fellow believers around the globe — to see them through this trying time.