HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. -- A Tampa Bay area family at the center of a national controversy will not be getting their 4-year-old son, who is battling leukemia, back into their home.
Parents of 4-year-old Noah McAdams were denied custody of the young boy Monday evening.
Judge Palermo has decided Taylor Bland and Joshua McAdams will NOT regain custody of 4-year-old Noah McAdams. Judge says he’s considered all of the evidence with care — he says this is not intended to punish the parents but to protect the child. @abcactionnews pic.twitter.com/tCbyqRcoCG
— HeatherLeighWFTS (@HLeighWFTS) September 9, 2019
Noah McAdams was diagnosed with leukemia earlier this year. His parents, Joshua McAdams and Taylor Bland-Ball, refused to give him chemotherapy treatments.
The case sparked a nationwide search when the boy's parents took him out of Florida instead of going to the hospital for treatments. Authorities eventually found the family in Kentucky where the couple said they were seeking a second opinion and looking for alternative health care options and natural remedies.
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During Monday's hearing, Judge Thomas Palermo said the state successfully proved that Joshua McAdams is "an untimely threat to them because of his anger issues." Judge Palermo went on to call the details of Joshua McAdams "disturbing."
Judge Palermo also said Joshua McAdams and Taylor Bland-Ball both knew deputies were searching for them when they left their phones and abandoned their car ahead of their trip to Kentucky,
Noah also had what was called a PICC line, which can be extremely dangerous to remove.
"[Bland-Ball] testified that she had no training on how to remove the PICC line. She explained during the trial that she was still comfortable removing it because she watched a YouTube video on how to do it," Judge Palermo said in court. "She simply pulled the PICC line out of her son's body."
Judge Palermo recommended both parents to seek mental health evaluations.
The judge would like both parents to get mental health evaluations. @abcactionnews
— HeatherLeighWFTS (@HLeighWFTS) September 9, 2019
Noah will remain in custody of his grandparents. The State of Florida will have the option to give Joshua McAdams and Taylor Bland-Ball custody in the future.
His parents' attorney said Noah is in remission.
