Bring Zain Home: Corey Shepard's Battle for His Son

My name is Corey Shepard. For those of you that know me and some who don't, you are aware of the struggles I've faced in life, especially with family. For the past three years, the powers that be have led me to believe that I no longer had the right to be a parent. Well, it all turned out to be a lie.

In the past 10 months, I've learned that my son was being abused by the special care facility that was supposed to be caring for him. To top it off, the Department of Health and Human Services took it upon themselves to stuff the investigation and hide the fact of the abuse happening at the facility, which has since been closed. My words are not an allegation towards D.H.H.S but fact.

From the time of finding out about the abuse, the State of Maine and its Dept of Health and Human Services were being sued by the Dept of Justice for the lack of support and services that were ignored by the D.H.H.S concerning its treatment of families with special needs children and the children themselves. Instead of helping the families, they were removing the children from their parents and siblings. Maine lost that suit, which was ruled on and decided by the United States Supreme Court. You can read the ruling on Justia (Dept of Justice v. Maine) finalized in September of last year.

While all this was going on and I had been made aware of the circumstances my son (Zain) was facing, the Dept was ignoring my calls and letters attempting to find out what was going on with my son's investigation and the issue of the investigator not keeping in touch with me and ignoring my messages and calls. Mind you, they first contacted me in April of '24 informing me of what was going on. So from then until September, I had been making calls and inquiries about what was going on with my son and the investigation. Then I was made aware of the fact that my son had been taken out of the state by a mother who left him without remorse in the hands of the people who ended up abusing him. No one to help him, him being all alone with no family, not seeing his twin brother, his sister, or his father for two years. The most contact being with his mother who just picked him up from the facility in Maine, flew out to Arizona, and directly took him to Child Services in Arizona, where she dropped him off saying, "I can't take care of him due to my being an alcoholic and consuming up to and sometimes over a half gallon of liquor a day." (These words are in the report).

I've been fighting to get my son back ever since. I had friends and family write letters to the caseworker and courts in Arizona, attesting to the facts of my being his caretaker since his misdiagnosis. They witnessed the lack of care and empathy from his mother and the fiduciary in charge of keeping him safe. A Department of Children and Welfare Services in both states ignored the proven false allegations and gaslighting of my faith and commitment as a father. Supported by specialists, doctors, and special needs teachers, they attested to my care and competence in the care of my son Zain and his brother and sister. Both of these entities, who are supposed to be looking out for children, are doing just the opposite concerning my son and myself.

He had been deserted by his mother on several occasions, with the last two being just to spite me with no care or concern for the damage it has done to our family, especially my son Zain. One day he went to school and never left! Not seeing his twin brother, his sister, or his father. Going on 3 years now... just gone! Afraid and alone! I, as a father who has done nothing but fight and prove the lies and gaslighting to be exactly that, am still being ignored. The count of both state and constitutional violations that I've proven are being committed by both states and the judicial system is at a level of gross and willful ignorance of the laws as to the oath they took to uphold the rights of the American people. It might as well have been written on parchment paper and set in a toilet. All the while, my son still remains alone.

The doctors who cared for him throughout his life remain here in Maine. The only family he knows is here in Maine. The fact that his mother, who lived over an hour away from him, has moved an additional two hours away from him, and who has suddenly come back into the picture to do what she can in order to keep Zain from the one parent who loves him, trying to keep him away from his father because of her ill will, with not a care or shred of empathy or remorse as to what he's been through in the three years since she dropped him off the first time.

I'm fighting and learning the laws and constitutional rights that are supposed to protect us from this kind of injustice, which are being overlooked and ignored by a justice system that is Family Court. I'm fighting an uphill battle against a mountain lion with just my hands. In a battle that has been behind the closed doors of their four corners. NO MORE! It's time to bring the atrocity of the actions of these courts to light. With the help of Miles F. Cane of Author Vicinity, who has listened to my story and agreed to write and publish our story. But as we know in life, nothing is free, and this is the reason why I'm on this platform. I'm not a person who just has funds hanging around in excess...

Please help me to get this book out into the public eye. I'm still in the battle to get my son home! They can ignore the laws behind closed doors. I'm trying to rip the doors off the hinges. Help me put a spotlight on exactly what is going on in these "Family Courts." The set of circumstances and situation that has been placed before me is an obligation to not only do everything in my ability to get my son home but also to put a spotlight on the blatant and willful display of how these Family Courts operate with no regard to the oath they took to uphold a Constitution they swore to uphold.