A confrontation between family members and child welfare caseworkers in the Widefield area ended with two people in handcuffs after they allegedly forced two children away from the workers' custody and ran off. Colorado Springs police, the El Paso County Sheriff's Office and Fountain police all converged on the scene before the pair was tracked down and taken into custody.
According to KKTV, Colorado Springs police received a call around 3 p.m. asking for help from a local social service agency. Field workers had been confronted and assaulted by family members, and the family members then forcibly took two children who were in the care and custody of caseworkers before running away from the area, police said.
Colorado Springs police, the sheriff's office and Fountain police coordinated a meeting with the involved family members in the Widefield area, the station's report states. Police said the children were not harmed during the incident. Two family members were ultimately taken into custody: 36-year-old Richard Bartholomew and 32-year-old Mandy Bartholomew.
Jurisdiction and the Multi-Agency Response
Widefield is an unincorporated community in El Paso County south of Colorado Springs, meaning primary law enforcement authority there rests with the El Paso County Sheriff's Office rather than a city police department, as Hoodline has previously reported. That jurisdictional layout is part of why three separate agencies mobilized so quickly: the sheriff's office maintains multi-agency strategic agreements with municipal partners including the Colorado Springs Police Department and Fountain Police Department to share communications and coordinate joint operations across jurisdictional borders, according to the El Paso County Sheriff's Office.
Child protective caseworkers conducting investigations or family interventions are explicitly authorized under Colorado Department of Human Services regulations to request law enforcement escorts when safety risks are anticipated, per state regulation 12 CCR 2509-2. Child welfare cases in the region fall under the El Paso County Department of Human Services, which operates a 24-hour child abuse hotline in coordination with local law enforcement to execute child safety plans and emergency placements, according to the county agency's own description of its services.
Bond Set, Custody of Children Unclear
Court records provided information on the case Friday morning, according to the station's report. Richard Bartholomew is being held on a $2,000 bond, court records show, while records did not provide custody information for Mandy Bartholomew. It remains unclear from available records what became of the two children after the confrontation, or what formal charges prosecutors have filed against either Bartholomew.
Under Colorado law, taking or enticing a minor from the care or custody of a lawful custodian, including child welfare caseworkers, is classified as a class 5 felony punishable by one to three years in prison and fines up to $100,000, according to the Right Law Group. The statute does provide affirmative defenses, including a reasonable belief that removing a child was necessary to protect them from imminent welfare danger, according to legal guidance from Colorado's public law code. It is not known from available records whether either defendant intends to raise such a defense.
Protections for Caseworkers Under State Law
Colorado law separately makes it a criminal offense to publish the personal identifying information of human services workers online, a protection that covers state or county employees and contractors investigating child abuse or neglect, according to FindLaw. The Colorado General Assembly expanded those protections in 2020 through House Bill 20-1052, extending address confidentiality safeguards to county attorneys and support staff who handle child abuse cases after threats against child welfare personnel increased across the state.
The high stakes surrounding child protective interventions are underscored by a broader statewide count: a data analysis reported by The Denver Post found that 146 children died in Colorado from abuse or neglect between 2018 and 2023, according to state human services records, with fewer than half of those deaths undergoing formal fatality reviews. Police have said the children involved in Thursday's Widefield incident were not harmed.
