Mom refuses paternity tests, spends 39 days in jail, gives birth prematurely and sues over ordeal

Sonja Haller
Updated

A Missouri woman has filed a federal lawsuit claiming that her civil rights were violated when she was jailed for 39 days after refusing to submit her two children for a paternity test.

Adrianna Thurman was 7 months pregnant when she was sent to jail and said she refused the paternity test because her ex-boyfriend was stalking her, the lawsuit claims.

As a result, she said her baby was born prematurely and her stage 4 breast cancer could not be diagnosed until after her release, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Chelsea Merta, Thurman's lawyer, told the newspaper that his client also lost her job and relatives had to care for her children during her incarceration.

"It’s scary,” Merta told The Appeal. "One minute you’re just living your life, taking care of your kids and going to work, and then the next minute police are knocking on your door saying that you’re in contempt for something that you didn’t even really know was happening, and being locked up for 39 days and losing everything. And having your entire world flipped upside down."

Her two children did eventually take the court-ordered paternity test and were found not related to her ex-boyfriend.

The attorney added that Thurman was not told of her civil rights after her arrest, including her right to a bond for as little as $100.

Thurman filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in St. Louis and named St. Louis County, Sheriff Jim Buckles, and court clerk Michael Young in her suit.

She is seeking compensatory and punitive damages and a judgment that people detailed on civil warrants have "prompt access to the judicial system," according to The Appeal.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mom refuses paternity tests, spends 39 days in jail, gives birth prematurely and sues over ordeal