Cocaine Scandal Involving a Baby

“I Don’t Want Much, Just to Live a Life Without Fear”

After this ordeal, Mom Kathi, Dad Matthias, and James want only one thing—“to live in peace and without fear.”(Bild: zVg, Krone KREATIV)

Following the cocaine drama involving her baby, the 23-year-old mother from Lower Austria has spoken out from her hiding place. In an interview with “Krone,” she reveals how she and little James are doing—and that she still feels terrorized by child protective services.

The story of Kathi and her baby is making waves. As reported, the 23-year-old woman from Lower Austria was placed in a mother-child shelter with her baby because she tested positive for cocaine at the Mistelbach Clinic—a result that a hair test refutes. She has now left the facility on her own, but the authorities are still pursuing her. Here, she tells us how she’s doing.

“Krone”: Kathi, you’re currently at a secret location. How are you and James doing?
Kathi: We’re doing well here; we’re in good hands, and Matthias (the dad, ed.) can see James more often again. But it would be nicer at home, where we belong.

The past few weeks haven’t been easy for you. You and your baby tested positive for cocaine and had to go to a mother-and-child shelter. How do you feel when you think about that?
I’m completely at the end of my rope,both mentally and emotionally. Being constantly accused of something I never did is indescribable. And continuing to portray me and my family as criminals, even after we’ve all proven our innocence, is a nightmare. We’re being terrorized by Child Protective Services, even though we’ve done and proven everything possible.

Child welfare does whatever it wants. This just isn’t right. As I said, we’re doing everything: We’re even having the baby’s hair tested. 

Anwalt Manfred Arbacher-Stöger

How did you find your time at the shelter in Ansfelden (Upper Austria)?
In terms of care, it was okay, but the conversations I had mostly made me feel like a criminal. During one incident—namely, when James vomited after eating Hipp baby food—the director accused me that it was “surely from cocaine.”

Your hair test, requested by the authorities, came back negative. Yet the police are still looking for you. Are you afraid of having to go back to the shelter?
Yes! As I mentioned, we’ve complied with everything and taken all the tests—even two voluntary ones, which also came back negative—yet we’re still being terrorized. Not just me, but Matthias and my in-laws, too. All I want now is to go home and forget this whole ordeal. I don’t know if that will be possible—the Youth Welfare Office is hounding us. I really don’t want much—just the right to live a normal life without fear.