SANDY — Parker Jensen spent this summer doing what many 13-year-old boys in Utah do: He rode bikes with friends, downed his share of fast food, went to Scout camp and tried to earn money for the upcoming snowboard season.

And according to his parents, he'll return to Churchill Junior High next week in perfect health, "just like a year ago."

Parker Jensen was headed back to school a year ago when his health became the business of state child welfare workers and a national news story. His parents were accused of kidnapping him to avoid treatment for a rare form of cancer — his father spent time in jail — and the case ultimately became a landmark in an ongoing fight between state child protection agencies and parental rights groups.

A small growth found under his tongue tested positive in May 2003 for Ewing's sarcoma, an aggressive cancer that doctors say can reappear and spread rapidly. The Jensens said then and said again Tuesday that the growth, which an oral surgeon removed, was a blocked saliva duct.

The highly publicized and emotionally charged monthslong custody battle ended in October when a judge accepted the state's motion to dismiss a medical neglect case against the Jensens.

Though state officials believed and continue to believe chemotherapy is Parker's best bet for survival, they concluded they could not force on him a treatment that he and his parents believed was both unnecessary and harmful.

The Jensens said all they wanted was to decide what was best for their son, who they say has never showed any symptoms of cancer.

"We know what we need to do, and we've been doing it," Daren Jensen, 39, said. "It's been that way all along."

Parker sees doctors and is periodically tested for cancer as a preventive measure, the Jensens said.

"We do as we feel and our doctors feel is best for Parker," Daren Jensen said. "He's definitely getting the care he needs."

From all outward appearances, the brown-haired boy with a crooked front tooth looks healthy. Parker said he feels fine and that life is getting back to normal after the tug-of-war over his care.

"I really don't think about it," he said. "I'm just glad it's over."

The Parker Jensen case is closed as far as the state Division of Child and Family Services is concerned. Neither it nor the attorney general's child protection division nor the guardian ad litem monitors his health care.

Nevertheless, state officials continue to maintain, based on doctors' opinions, that Parker's life remains in danger.

"It's been one year, but that wasn't the time frame set by the doctors," said Mark May, head of child protection with the Utah Attorney General's Office. An Idaho doctor who diagnosed Ewing's sarcoma believes it will spread in three to five years.

"It's one of those cases where you hope the medical community is wrong, you really hope they're wrong," May said.

Guardian ad litem office director Kristin Brewer agreed. "We're not hoping to be proved right down the line," she said. "For that to happen means something bad for Parker."

Cancer or no cancer, life made an abrupt turn for the Jensens, who see themselves as casualties of a state welfare system run amok. The Jensens filed a notice of claim in federal court over the summer that basically reserves their right to pursue civil action against the state.

Daren Jensen hasn't had a full-time job since July 2003; consequently, the family is without medical insurance. The Jensens sold their boat, trailer and other items to make ends meet. He estimates the case cost his family $416,000 in lost income and legal, medical and travel bills. Financial help from extended family members is drying up. The bank is ready to foreclose on their two-story gray stucco home.

"We're hoping for another miracle," Daren Jensen said.

What was the first miracle?

"That we survived the state's wrath," Barbara Jensen, 36, said.

The Jensens say government officials abused their power in going after them, including a felony kidnapping charge on which Daren Jensen spent three days in jail after being arrested in Idaho on a warrant. Prosecutors eventually dropped the charge in exchange for the couple pleading guilty to custodial interference.

"We did our homework and they wouldn't accept it," Barbara Jensen said of the family's research into making an informed decision about Parker's care. "They wanted us to be abusive, neglectful parents."

May said the child welfare division did not have it in for the Jensens. They acted on sound medical conclusions that Parker had life-threatening cancer, he said.

"This was not the division's own opinion. This was the opinion of the established medical community, not only in our community but in our country," he said.

The case was difficult for everyone involved, May said.

"In a lot of our cases, it's easy to figure out what to do. This one was not black and white. You sort of had two perfect arguments that were diametrically opposed," he said.

Richard Anderson, state child and family services director, said his office often finds itself in the middle of "value crisis conflicts." Whether the life of a child or honoring parents' wishes is the highest value, "I still think that's sort of up in the air."

The Jensens, who consider themselves Republicans, lobbied the Legislature this year on a number of child welfare bills, many of which attempted to broaden parental rights. They plan to become more politically active in the future not only on child and family issues but as backers of specific candidates.

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"We do feel like we have work here to do," Barbara Jensen said.

The couple also receives regular calls from parents inside and outside Utah seeking advice on parental rights and custody matters. They have been approached about doing a book about their experience but have not settled on a date or writer or publisher, Daren Jensen said. They also want to set up a nonprofit foundation to provide resources for parents who find themselves in similar circumstances.

The Jensens say they don't want pity because in the end, the got what they wanted. "And I'd do it again," Barbara Jensen said. "I'd do it again 10 times," Daren Jensen added.


E-mail: romboy@desnews.com

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