Update: Hot Springs Couple Gets Custody Back from State for 4 Children

HOT SPRINGS, AR – A local couple reports that they’ve won full custody of their four youngest children, four months after the state removed them from their home.

Hal and Michelle Stanley have been battling the state since January after their seven children were placed in state custody.

Back in March, the couple got their youngest children back home temporarily for what was described as a 60-day trial period.

The case started over a so-called “miracle” mineral treatment alleged to be a remedy for cancer and AIDS that was found inside the Stanleys home.

There’s no further word on the status of three older Stanley children who remained in foster care.

HOT SPRINGS, AR – The parents of seven children wrapped up in a DHS and court dispute have reason to celebrate.

Their youngest four children got to come home Wednesday afternoon.

We’re told this is all as a result of an agreement between attorneys for the parents and DHS that they made Tuesday during a day-long mediation.

The attorneys negotiated the return as part of a 60-day trial period.

According to DHS, this means the Stanleys will still be considered foster parents of their own children until an official decision can be made.

Hal Stanley shared with us about the work it took to get to this point.

“What we got… down here we got the media putting pressure,” he shared moments before his youngest children came home. “We got the politicians in the Capitol. A lot of action in the Capitol [on our side].”

We reported in January that the children were taken following a search at the Stanley’s home for a chemical called MMS which is considered extremely harmful by the FDA.

Allegations of physical abuse surfaced as well following the first court hearings.

The three oldest children have not been returned home.

A previously set adjudication hearing will still take place March 23 to handle additional litigation and determine the ultimate fate for the children.

The oldest remain in foster care but in the meantime will come home on weekends and the week of Spring Break.

Sources close to the decision making process say investigators ultimately did not feel the four younger children were in any danger and there was not sufficient evidence to keep them away.