Attorney General Josh Stein announced today that a Macon County jury has found Scott Lindsay guilty on 12 counts of felony obstruction of justice and two counts of misdemeanor obstruction of justice. The case was prosecuted by Special Prosecution Section head and Special Deputy Attorney General Boz Zellinger, along with Special Deputy Attorney General Arneatha James.
"Public servants have a responsibility to the people they serve – they have a duty to uphold the law and protect the vulnerable," said Attorney General Josh Stein. "Scott Lindsay failed to do that and harmed families in Cherokee County, who suffered for years. I thank the jury in Macon County for their verdict. My heart goes out to these families, and I hope this verdict eases their pain."
Lindsay served as the attorney for the Cherokee County Department of Social Services (DSS). In his role, he advised DSS Director Cindy Palmer and DSS staff to engage in coercive custody and visitation agreements with parents, effectively removing their children from their custody and infringing upon parents’ constitutional rights. These agreements were used without clear explanation to the parents, many of whom were grappling with addiction or poverty.
The Cherokee County DSS did not possess the authority to create or force parents into signing these out-of-court agreements. However, it compelled parents within the county to sign up to 30 such agreements. This resulted in parents losing access to their children, some of whom were subsequently placed in dangerous conditions that included abuse and neglect.
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation looked into the matter, while Cherokee County District Attorney Ashley Welch referred the prosecution of the case to the Department of Justice. Cindy Palmer had previously pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and received a suspended sentence along with 12 months of unsupervised probation.