Mom must pay for state taking her kid

This weird story is from Canada:

The Oregon government is suing a Calgary mother for the cost of keeping her son in foster care for two years while she fought for his return to Canada.

The boy, now 12, was visiting his stepfather in Oregon in 2008 when police there picked him up for not wearing his bike helmet.

U.S. officials didn't recognize the boy's stepfather as a legal guardian, so he was sent to a foster home, setting off a long legal battle. A U.S. judge finally allowed him to return to live with his mother and younger sister in Calgary last month.

This week, the mother — who cannot be identified along with her son — received a notice from the provincial court of Alberta that Oregon wants to be reimbursed for child support and medical costs incurred while the boy was under the state's care.

Maybe the boy should have been wearing a helmet. Maybe he should have carried better documentation. But two years in foster care as a penalty? And trying to make the mom pay for the foster care?

This is another of those crazy stories that sounds like parody. I would not believe it, except that it comes from a reputable source, and I have seen some of these evil things for myself.