St. Charles County Officer Under Fire for Alleged Misconduct, Witness Tampering, Raising Alarms Over Civil Rights Violations

October 1, 2022

SAINT CHARLES COUNTY, MISSOURI– Serious questions are mounting against the St. Charles County Police Department after body camera footage and sworn testimony exposed apparent misconduct, bias, and possible witness tampering by Officer Nicholas Seiverling during a child welfare investigation on September 20, 2022, and September 23, 2022.

In a transcript from the officer’s bodycam, Seiverling is seen instructing another officer to contact the Saint Charles County Children’s Division within 30 seconds of arrival– without conducting any investigation. Witnesses reported being pressured and fed narratives by Seiverling that contradicted facts, with the officer falsely stating that this was a “habitual situation” and “second time” the child had gone missing. In reality no such prior incident had ever happened and was never recorded.

Further troubling, Seiverling told a neighbor he would tell the child’s mother “if its ok with you I will let her know you want no further contact with her.” This was done on his own accord without any such statement being made by the neighbor. In fact, quite the opposite, the mother was in the shower and the child who was supposed to be napping simply walked next door in a quiet Dardenne Prairie neighborhood, and the neighbor advised Seiverling “mom is always around” and that this was in fact the first time and Seiverling responded with “Well we can agree to disagree.” Seiverling continued pressing for written statements, screenshots of text messages, and even continued to imply a pattern of neglect, mental illness, and more, again unsupported by any official or even unofficial record. Such actions suggest clear bias and raise concerns about whether Seiverling deliberately constructed a narrative of habitual misconduct to justify Children’s Division involvement and charges against Robinson.

Despite the neighbors advising Seiverling they did NOT want him to advise Robinson that they wanted no further contact, Seiverling is seen in body cam footage walking across the street and advising Robinson that “they want no contact with you and if you contact them again you will be arrested for Harassment and Trespassing.”

Seiverling can also be seen lying to the neighbor after talking with Robinson stating, “She said that you knew the child was coming over to your house,” a comment that was NEVER made by Robinson and clearly used to further his retaliatory efforts against Robinson for exercising her Constitutionally protected right to be free from unlawful and unwarranted search, seizure, etc. absent a warrant. Seiverling can be heard calling her mentally unstable, mentally ill, claiming “she is not the type of person to just let this go,” “in my opinion she is not fit to have a four-year-old,” and multiple additional bias, impartial, unethical and unprofessional statements.

Later in the week on September 23, 2022 Seiverling can be heard changing his narrative yet again to state to Robinson’s family that this is the sixth or seventh time he had been there for the same incident, and that he “comes to calls there” furthering his bias and incorrect narrative that Robinson the loving mother of three was a habitual neglectful mother.

Legal experts warn that Seiverling’s conduct may constitute “tampering with witnesses” or “tampering with a victim” under Missouri Law as well as Defamation, Slander, Libel, falsifying police reports and probable cause statements including perjury, false arrest and imprisonment and violation of Missouri’s 24 hour hold law absent a warrant under RSMo § 544.170 and violations of the first, fourth and fourteenth amendments of the Missouri and U.S. Constitution. This is particularly important if he misled or pressured neighbors to make statements that supported state intervention without a lawful basis. Under Missouri Revised Statutes (RSMo) § 575.270, these offenses are felonies if tied to an underlying felony investigation or prosecution.

This incident is not the first involving Seiverling. The Eighth Circuit recently denied qualified immunity to him and Corporal Scott Ronald in Setchfield v St. Charles County et. al. where the court found that they used excessive force on a non-violent, 68-year-old man during an unrelated arrest of his son. In that case, the court ruled that the officers conduct, which included dragging and beating the man while seated and buckled inside his car, was not protected under qualified immunity standards.

Civil Rights advocates and the community are now calling for an independent investigation, citing a pattern of conduct by Seiverling that suggests a reckless disregard for constitutional rights, deeming anyone who asserts their protected rights as uncooperative as cited in the Deposition of Nicholas Seiverling in the Setchfield Case. They are also stating that he has a dangerous tendency to fabricate or distort facts in official proceedings and has no problem advising other officers of his fabricated bias narratives which will lead to exposing other officers to civil liability for failure to act or even independently investigate anything Seiverling says.

Stratford News Network will continue tracking this story, release the bodycam footage of the egregious acts of Nicholas Seiverling.

If you or someone you know has experienced similar misconduct by law enforcement or Children’s Division in St. Charles County, contact Stratford News Networks Civil Accountability Division at tips@stratfordnewsnetwork.com and make sure to file a complaint here with St. Charles County PD and here with St. Charles County Children’s Division Constituent Services Division.