Mum fights to keep her children in the US

A mother embroiled in a divorce tussle is fighting the forcible removal of her children from the US.

The children's father has a court order granting him sole custody and wants his three daughters back in Kenya.

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POLK COUNTY JURY RULES IN FAVOR OF FATHER AFTER MOM DEFIES COURT ORDER TO RETURN CHILDREN TO TEXAS

On May 7, 2019, the Polk County District Attorney’s Office prosecuted Elizabeth Annette Davis for the felony offense of Interference with Child Custody.  Davis was found guilty by a Polk County jury.

She was sentenced to serve six months confinement at a state jail facility of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.  Assistant Criminal District Attorney Kirby A. Wills secured the conviction for the State of Texas by focusing the jury’s attention on Davis’s actions. 

More >> POLK COUNTY JURY RULES IN FAVOR OF FATHER AFTER MOM DEFIES COURT ORDER TO RETURN CHILDREN TO TEXAS

Parents' focus on 'winning' custody battles is harming Irish children

IRELAND’S FAMILY LAW system is creating a situation where parents can be more focused on winning than on what their children want, an Oireachtas committee will hear today.

The Justice Committee will continue this morning to hear submissions on reforms to Ireland’s family law system, including recommendations from Special Rapporteur on Child Protection Dr Geoffrey Shannon.

More >> Parents' focus on 'winning' custody battles is harming Irish children

Delaware mom, 45, 'shot-dead her 18-month-old baby then turned the gun on herself' just hours before she was set to appear in family court and surrender the child to his father

A woman and her one-year-old son were found dead in their Delaware apartment in a suspected murder-suicide just hours before she was due to surrender her child to his father.

Laura B. Connell, 45, was found dead in her apartment alongside her son, Walton Connell, on Wednesday morning having both suffered fatal gunshot wounds.

More >> Delaware mom, 45, 'shot-dead her 18-month-old baby then turned the gun on herself' just hours before she was set to appear in family court and surrender the child to his father

Parents Reminded To Be Careful On Social Media During Custody Battles

Parents are being reminded of the dangers of social media when it comes to custody battles, with some cases being impacted by emotional Facebook posts and secret filming of partners and children.

One instance that has come to light in cases is where custody has been lost due to inappropriate Facebook posts seeming to joke about violence.

More >> Parents Reminded To Be Careful On Social Media During Custody Battles

Social Media Impacts Divorce and Custody Cases

Most people keep their cell phones within reaching distance, and post on social media without thinking too carefully. It can be a very risky habit; sharing pictures, personal information, and other details is often done without considering possible aftereffects. As the popularity of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other platforms grow, a new field opened that focused on using social media posts as digital evidence. This information can be legally used to prove a spouse’s actions in court.

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Men Speak Out About Child Custody Battles

In a recent report by CNN, several men came forward to share their personal experiences with child custody and child support. After losing his job, one man spent time in jail for not paying child support. Another man described how he was unfairly banned from seeing his children, and yet another father was only awarded four days a month for visitation because he was not listed on the birth certificate. In fact, fathers often find themselves granted only visitation of their own children accompanied by what may seem like insurmountable child support payments.

Does Mom Always Get Custody?

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Child custody assessments under review after complaints about former psychologist's methods

A former Vancouver psychologist who has served as an expert witness in hundreds of court cases has agreed to review his assessments in a series of child custody cases in response to complaints about his methods.

Dr. Allan Posthuma signed an undertaking with the College of Psychologists of B.C. on New Year's Day, consenting to consult with a colleague in a review of his reports in five cases concerning parenting and custody disputes. He's also agreed to accept feedback on how to improve his practice.

More >> Child custody assessments under review after complaints about former psychologist's methods

Canadian fights to see son in Japan, where legal system leaves many parents behind

A Canadian man living in Japan who has spent years trying to reconnect with his son after a marriage breakdown says under the current system, his best chance at restoring visitation would be to move — all the way back to Canada.

Tim Terstege, a 44-year-old Barrie, Ont., native, says he last saw his son during a supervised visit three years ago. Today, he doesn't know where his wife and son are but suspects they are in the city of Yokohama, about 40 kilometres south of Tokyo, where his wife took his son after the couple split.

More >> Canadian fights to see son in Japan, where legal system leaves many parents behind

Alabama Father killed during child custody exchange

A father is dead after a shooting during a custody exchange in the parking lot of a police station on Christmas day in Hamilton.

According to Hamilton Police, Joe Garcia has been identified as the victim.

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New Jersey Republican urges Trump administration to crack down on international parental child abduction

House Foreign Affairs subcommittee Chairman Chris Smith called on the Trump administration to take concerted action to stop international parental child abduction.

“The Trump administration can and must use current law, especially the tools embedded in the Goldman Act, to more aggressively bring American children home to their families,” Smith (R-N.J.) said at a hearing on Monday that featured testimony from parents whose children were abducted abroad.

More >> New Jersey Republican urges Trump administration to crack down on international parental child abduction

Judge orders phone visits for father, son in custody battle

A judge ordered parents embroiled in an interstate custody battle to begin the process of setting up telephone visits between the father in Massachusetts and the child, who lives with his mother in Normal, after consultation with the boy's counselor.

In his first hearing after being appointed to the case, Judge Charles Feeney told lawyers for Michael Cadena and Amber Buck on Wednesday that he expects progress in the case that started four years ago when Cadena filed for custody of Mikey, now 4.

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An understudied form of child abuse and 'intimate terrorism': Parental alienation

The scene: a bitter divorce, and a custody battle over the couple's 7-year-old son. Awarded full custody, the mother -- perhaps seeking revenge? -- sets out to destroy the son's relationship with his father. The mother tells the son lies about the father's behavior, plants seeds of doubt about his fitness as a parent, and sabotages the father's efforts to see his son. The son begins to believe the lies; as he grows up, his relationship with his father becomes strained.

More >> An understudied form of child abuse and 'intimate terrorism': Parental alienation

Is there gender bias against men in Mississippi child custody cases? These dads say yes.

Former Hinds County Constable Jon Lewis leaned forward in his chair, tears welling in his eyes, as he discussed not having seen his two teenage children over the last two years.

“I love my kids and I want to see them,” Lewis said in an interview last week.

More >> Is there gender bias against men in Mississippi child custody cases? These dads say yes.

Judge Humke temporarily suspended pending charges for allegedly mishandling cases

Washoe County Family Court Judge David Humke was temporarily suspended after he was again accused of mishandling child support and custody cases within in his department.

Humke, who’s served on the bench for about three-and-a-half years, was suspended with pay last week pending formal charges from the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline.

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McLean County Judge Faces Threats After Ruling In Viral Custody Case

McLean County has heightened security for a judge who has received more than a dozen threats following her ruling in a child custody case.

Associate Judge Lee Ann Hill awarded custody of 4-year-old Mikey Cadena to his mother in June in a case that has sparked lots of attention on various social media, blogs and YouTube.

More >> McLean County Judge Faces Threats After Ruling In Viral Custody Casea

The Terrifying Rise of the Father's Rights Groups

Early in December 2017 the Texas Attorney General’s Office held a private meeting with a group from the Texas Father’s Rights Movement (“FRM”) at the Capital B Room E1 012 from 9 am- 12pm. The meeting was called to discuss "how destructive the collection process child support is" and that it is damaging men and their "new families". To conceal the event from public view the OAG requested that the FRM group remove an outreach video that it had posted on the internet as an invitation to the enthusiastic fathers of their base, who wish for and are in search of legal methods to prematurely end and decrease support to their minor children. They needed the meeting be an invitation-only affair. The press was not to be invited. The public was not to be invited. It was made clear that this was NOT to be an open meeting.

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Foreign divorced parents fight in vain for child custody in Japan

Emmanuel, Stephane, Henrik and James come from very different backgrounds, but they share the same painful experience of battling Japan's legal system -- in vain -- for access to their children after divorce.

Once married to Japanese women, they say they were prevented from contact with their children when their relationships disintegrated, sometimes even after court rulings in their favor.

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AP: Michigan foster parents won temporary custody of girl without notifying deported mother

As the deportees were led off the plane onto the steamy San Salvador tarmac, an anguished Araceli Ramos Bonilla burst into tears, her face contorted with pain: “They want to steal my daughter!”

It had been 10 weeks since Ramos had last held her 2-year-old, Alexa. Ten weeks since she was arrested crossing the border into Texas and U.S. immigration authorities seized her daughter and told her she would never see the girl again.

More >> AP: Michigan foster parents won temporary custody of girl without notifying deported mother

• More Than 200 Immigrant Children Remain Separated From Their Parents
• Senators grill DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen over child detentions under ‘zero-tolerance’ policy at border

Mom Accuses Ex of Child Abuse Then Gets Arrested For Not Paying Child Support

A Mt. Juliet mother, who reported her ex-husband for child abuse, has been accused of not paying child support.

Nia Celine Snow, 27, was booked into the Wilson County Jail on Oct. 3.

More >> Mom Accuses Ex of Child Abuse Then Gets Arrested For Not Paying Child Support