A Madison County man has filed a $15 million lawsuit claiming that his son was taken for adoption against his wishes.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court by Matthew "Larry" Ashby of Meadow Grove, alleges that his ex-finacee and a welfare worker were part of a conspiracy to keep him from gaining custody of his son.

The child was adopted by an Alabama couple while Ashby maintains he was attempting to take custody.

"They ... just stole the kid," said Ashby's attorney, Herb Friedman. "This is a very upsetting case."

Ashby alleges that Mary Dyer, an adoption specialist with the state Health and Human Services System, failed to check or ignored records when she allowed the child, now 17 months old, to be taken by Douglas and Tammy Black of Montgomery, Alabama.

According to the lawsuit, Ashby and Monica Kilmer were engaged to be married and were living together when she became pregnant. Two days before the wedding, according to the lawsuit, Kilmer broke off the engagement at the insistence of her parents.

Kilmer also decided that she did not want to keep the baby, according the lawsuit. Ashby told Kilmer that he planned to file for custody of the child but Kilmer refused to communicate with Ashby during her pregnancy or tell him when the child was born.

The Blacks took the baby to Alabama but in April 2004, Madison County Judge Richard Krepala awarded legal custody of the boy to Ashby and issued an order demanding that the Blacks return the child. They have not complied.

The baby's adoption is pending and an Alabama court has awarded temporary custody of the boy to the Blacks.

"They are ignoring the Nebraska court," Friedman said. "For some reason or another, the Alabama court is refusing to permit even the registration of the Nebraska order. It's just an awful thing."

Kilmer, who lives in the Lincoln area, does not have a listed telephone number and could not be reached to comment.

HHS spokeswoman Kathie Osterman said that Dyer, the state adoption specialist, did everything by the book, including informing the Blacks that Ashby still had a window in which to file for paternity. She also said the agency informed Alabama officials when Ashby filed for paternity.

Also named as defendants are the estate of Kilmer's late lawyer, his law firm, three adoption agencies that worked on the case, the Blacks and their lawyer.

Kilmer's parents, David and Michelle Taylor of Humphrey, also are named as defendants.

"The baby should stay where he is," Michelle Taylor said. "He has a healthy happy home with two loving parents that are very capable of supporting him."