Thursday, February 6th 2025, 9:56 pm
Authorities are investigating how a former Oklahoma Department of Human Services trainee was able to take a child from their mother under false pretenses using fraudulent documents.
Police say Xander Faison went to a Midwest City home last Thursday, presenting what appeared to be an emergency custody order. Believing the order was legitimate, the mother reluctantly allowed Faison to take the child.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Faison claimed she was taking the child to a cousin’s home in Shawnee, who was a DHS-approved foster parent. However, investigators say the documents Faison presented were fake, complete with stamps from the Oklahoma County Court Clerk and a judge’s signature, which she allegedly admitted to taking from the internet.
Instead of taking the child to Shawnee, police say Faison kept them at her Oklahoma City apartment from Thursday to Sunday. During that time, she filed a protective order against the child’s father, accusing him of neglect, claiming he left the child in a soiled diaper and cut their hair in a way she alleged was disrespectful to the child’s Native American culture.
The child did not arrive Shawnee until Sunday morning. That evening, officers arrested Faison after speaking with DHS officials.
DHS stated that Faison was only a trainee, authorized to take calls for the agency’s hotline but not to remove children. Officials said the case traces back to a hotline call Faison took in December 2024, which alleged abuse by the child’s father. Faison later told police she took the child because she believed the mother needed help.
Faison remains in jail. The child’s parents declined to comment, referring all inquiries to their attorney.
DHS has called the incident isolated and said it is cooperating fully with the investigation.
An Oklahoma native, Tevis Hillis joined the News 9 team in 2020 as a multimedia journalist. She now anchors the weekend morning newscasts. Passionate about shaping the future of journalism, Tevis also serves as executive producer and adjunct professor for OU Nightly, mentoring and teaching more than 160 students.
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