IMO, MS had an advantage coming into this hearing...Why? He has controlled everything. Here are my examples:
1. Kids are homeschooled. No daily interaction with classmates, teachers (other than tutor, who does not see them long), or other parents
2. Kids do not interact with neighborhood children. They do not step outside, most likely due to media coverage, but still...they are children. Keeping them in a house with the blinds closed is a horrific lesson of a non-normal household. These are the type of life altering experiences that could effect their personalities into adulthood.
3. Who is DCF going to interview verify his abilities as a parent? The brainwashed children? His Mother? Who else? People that are scared to death of MS? He may have been a "good father". But things are starting to change. Good Father's do not hire someone to kill the girls mother, nor do they need a burner phone, nor do they hide everything he hid. This does no stop with the children. These behaviors are starting to carry through his parenting in some form or another.
4. If he wanted to shelter them from this craziness, he would move somewhere they could lead a normal life, away from the very home their mother was murdered in. If he can not afford it, figure it out!! There are plenty of homes here on acreage not far from where he lives where the children could play outside in privacy.
IMO, he knows he is going to get arrested and is spending his every moment hinting to the girls untrue, fictional stories of their lives in order to alienate any member of TS's family from a successful reunification with them. That is not being a "good father"! I am disgusted at his actions. This is such a pivotal time in the development of these girls and he is a selfish A...