PROVO — A Utah County couple accused of abusing children they adopted from Russia are scheduled to appear again before a 4th District judge on May 24.
A Tuesday telephone conference between Judge Anthony Schofield and attorneys scheduled the hearing, at which any further issues in the case of Reed and Teresa Hansen can be discussed. A trial date has not been set.
Schofield told attorneys he had made a decision on whether a 2002 search of the couple's home in Saratoga Springs violated the search and seizure clause of the U.S. Constitution. Utah County prosecutor Sherry Ragan said attorneys must wait for the decision to be formally filed before they know the details of the ruling.
The state has accused the Hansens of withholding food from their children as a form of punishment between July 2001 and February 2002. The case came to light when the couple took two of their three children to a Washington state pediatric doctor who specialized in treating Russian orphans.
The doctor was so disturbed at the children's malnourished state that he immediately contacted Washington child and family officials, who then contacted Utah's Division of Child and Family Services. DCFS has placed the three adopted children with other families.