Carolyn Warren's battle with Fresno County's Child Protective Services ended Thursday when a judge ruled she could have her grandson back.

          "I'm very happy, but I'm still in shock," she said in a telephone interview while tending to her grandson, Jason, in the comfort of her Fresno home. 

          Warren, 44, has taken care of Jason since his mother died in a car accident in 1990, when he was 9 months old. But on May 14, CPS officials removed 8-year-old Jason and placed him in a foster home after Warren spanked him with a belt.

          About 30 people clapped and cheered as Warren walked out of Fresno Juvenile Court with her lawyer, Ernest Kinney, who raised his right hand and gave a "V" sign for victory. 

          Her case has made newspaper headlines and has been the subject of television reports and radio talk shows concerning the power of CPS, a county agency charged with protecting abused children. Because of confidentiality laws that protect children, CPS and County Counsel officials have declined to comment on her case.

          Kinney praised Judge Denise Whitehead for returning Jason to Warren, then quickly criticized CPS "for trying to make [Warren] out to be a criminal." Warren, a single mother, has no criminal record and works as a billing clerk for a trucking company. The Fresno County District Attorney's Office initially charged her with misdemeanor child abuse for spanking Jason, but dismissed the charge in June for lack of evidence.

          Warren got in trouble when she took Jason to school on May 14 and told his teacher she had spanked him for misbehaving. The teacher said she didn't see abuse, but another staff member reported Warren to CPS. A Fresno police report said the spanking left marks and bruises on Jason's arms and leg, and an imprint of the buckle on the boy's thigh.

          Warren told police she intended to spank Jason on his buttocks, but the boy wriggled in an attempt to avoid the spanking. She denied hitting him with the buckle. According to Kinney, seven of eight police photographs taken of Jason showed no signs of abuse; one picture showed a slight mark. He also said Jason's teacher, Barbara Belcher, testified that Warren was a good mother to Jason, provided a good home, and ensured he did his studies.

          The judge ordered Warren to take parenting classes and allow CPS workers visit her home for routine checks on Jason's welfare. Kinney said Warren agreed to the terms because "she would do anything to get Jason back." 

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