State Senator Mark Finchem (R-Prescott) chair of the Joint Legislative Ad Hoc Committee on Family Court Orders, conducted the third of a series of hearings on family court abuses earlier this summer. Other legislators assisted him, including State Representative Rachel Keshel (R-Tucson) and State Representative Lisa Fink (R-Glendale). The groundbreaking hearings are attracting people from all over the country to testify. The main complaint is the system is set up to favor one parent over the other, imposes undue costs on parents, and ignores the wishes of the children, such as by not allowing them to testify.
Finchem said during a dramatic moment in the hearing, “I hope the bloody h*** that the presiding judge, the family court of the state of Arizona and every d*** county is paying attention, because there are changes on the horizon that are going to affect the way they operate.”
Parent Adrian Brack testified first. He said, “We have a system that perpetuates financial rewards and perpetuates false allegations against the opposing party. Those financial rewards allow the other person to get more custody, and the way that they compute, they configure the the custody, is that whoever has more time [is favored for custody].” He said the courts aren’t following the presumption to split custody 50/50 between parents. He said he was fined thousands of dollars by a judge for trying to obtain 50/50 custody. He recommended eliminating judicial discretion and mandating 50/50 custody in law.
Parent Veronica Bayez said she lives in Idaho, but traveled to Arizona to testify since Arizona is doing something about the problem. She described herself as a U.S. Army veteran with over 10 years of honorable service, and the COO for a healthcare firm, but due to the costs of family court, “I found myself working three jobs at times to afford groceries.” She spent over $200,000 related to the court battle with her ex and lost her home.
She said one court ordered specialist charged her $20,000 for 4 to 6 hours of work. When Finchem asked the other legislators if they had any questions, Fink responded, “No, I’m in the wrong profession.”
Tyler Kilabrue said he’s had difficulty getting fair treatment since his ex works in the court system. He said she tried to get their daughter diagnosed as autistic, even though he obtained a test that showed she wasn’t. He said she put their daughter in a mental hospital and claimed it was due to him. He hasn’t seen his daughter in two years, despite the fact he has a 50/50 parenting agreement. His son didn’t want to go back to his ex’s house, so assaulted her. She got his son arrested, and he begged not to go back to her but the judge made him. His son has now lived with him for the past year. He said there are police reports of sexual assault on their daughter while at his ex’s boyfriend’s house that were hidden from him, and the court didn’t do anything about it.
Kilabrue said he lost 50/50 custody a month ago and now only gets to see his son four days a month. His ex’s dad testified on his behalf that his daughter was dangerous for the children, Kilabrue said, but it was ignored. When he asked for a change of judge due to his ex knowing the judge, he said he was charged her attorneys fees of $2,400 in retaliation. He is forced to represent himself pro se since he cannot afford an attorney.
Carma Lindsay said her ex was abusive to her and their children. She originally shared 50/50 custody. Her daughter refused to go with her ex for lunch with her grandmother when she had COVID-19, since she didn’t want to give COVID-19 to her grandmother. As a result, her daughter was removed from her for 8 weeks. She now must pay $100 per hour for two hours of supervised visitation each week. Her ex reported her to the Department of Child Services (DCS), which found the allegations against her unsubstantiated, so her 50/50 custody was restored.
However, a different judge, who never spoke with their 13-year-old child, awarded her ex primary custody despite the judge finding he had anger issues and had ordered him to counseling. The judge also ordered no other adults in her home, which excluded her children who were around 18. She said her ex goes target shooting on Thursdays when he knows she drives to work later on Thursdays, holds the gun up and waves it at her.
She ran out of money to appeal, and her daughter, who is now 16, asked her to stop fighting since the retaliation is bad for her at her father’s house.
Keshel said to her, “The family courts are being used by abusers to continue to abuse their ex-spouses, 100 percent. And so I just want to validate what you're saying, I've seen it over and over again.”
Maureen Mulvaney introduced herself as a motivational speaker with a background in elementary and psychology, including teaching college psychology, a Master's degree in psychology, and drug and alcohol counseling for the U.S. Army. She said her daughter committed suicide due to the abuse from her ex, who threatened to take their children away. He severed her grandparental rights. She said, “Narcissists weaponize the court system.”
Mulvaney said she paid $5,000 for an evaluation which found that her daughter’s ex had 56 prescriptions over three years for drugs like Vicodin, Demoral, and opioids, along with 32 doctor’s appointments. He was convicted of a DUI, and Banner Health said he had a “medium alcohol problem,” she said. She concluded saying that she will be working until the day she dies to pay off the court related costs.
Camille Swanson said there are loopholes being exploited between rules and statutes, which is “textbook litigation abuse.” She was required to pay $30,000 for a case evaluation. She applied for four protective orders against her ex, and three were upheld. She said many police reports were not admitted into court, nor were her children’s school records considered.
Jason Baker said his son suffered psychological abuse, and tried to commit suicide multiple times. His son was removed from both parents and placed in a DCS group home where he was sexually assaulted numerous times. He said his ex and DCS decided not to report the crimes, so he was kept there for three more months being sexually assaulted. He only obtained full custody of his son after his ex gave up due to the boy running away repeatedly.
He said his ex requires his son to call her new partner, a transgender, “dad.” His ex is trying to regain full custody and he believes she is trying to move to Mexico using a fraudulent passport.
Fink asked if it would be helpful to have jury trials instead of allowing the judges to make all of the decisions. Baker said he knows it’s expensive, but it would be helpful to have court watchers. He said he made a movie about his situation, called Fathers, with actor Dean Cain participating, and judges tried to keep them out of the courtrooms.
Valeria Valdez said her son encountered unwanted sexual touching by her ex. She filed reports with DCS, but DCS said they wouldn’t intervene due to family court having jurisdiction over the case. She said her ex was was recently investigated by the Diocese of Tucson and terminated following complaints from parents and students regarding misconduct and sexual harassment at the Catholic school where he was teaching. She said similar complaints arose at the University of Arizona, where he was also terminated and dismissed in lieu of termination. She is on her seventh attorney and financially destitute. Since her ex has been charged but not convicted, he still shares 50/50 custody. She said she is concerned he will flee with their son to the Middle East.
Anna Leslie said her ex shattered her left ankle and abused their children. Although her address was protected, she said judges made her turn it over, forcing her to move multiple times. She expressed her concern that nothing was being done, since “I’m a nobody.”
Finchem responded, “You are somebody. We work for you. Let me be really clear on that.”
Leslie said she spent $85,000 on court related proceedings and was forced to file bankruptcy. She and her children became homeless. She was assigned to eight therapeutic interventionists (TI). She was “deemed hostile” due to running out of money. She filed a motion to restrict her ex’s “abusive litigation,” which got nowhere.
She accidentally received an email between the TI and her ex’s attorney discussing how to take the children from her. She filed a bar complaint with the State Bar of Arizona, but they told her they wouldn’t do anything until the attorney is off the case. She said one of her sons tried to commit suicide multiple times during the TI process.
Shelby Geegich said judges warn him not to file pleadings, and if he does he is sanctioned. He said the system needs to change and allow juries to decide and children to testify. His attorneys advised him not to have his children speak, since it could result in terminating his parental rights.
Finchem responded, “So what has me really confused about this situation is this group seems to fly under the radar, justifying their activity as preventing parental alienation, yet at the same time, they advocate for parental rights, which seems to me to be the ultimate in parental alienation.”
Cassandra Koontz identified herself as a nurse practitioner who finally left her marriage after violent abuse, including sexual assault and sodomy. After she left, she needed three surgeries to repair her rectum. She recovered from her last surgery living in a room with her three boys at a women’s shelter. However, a professional assigned to investigate said the injuries were due to hemorrhoids, and that she should be ashamed for not forgiving her ex.
She said all of her children submitted written statements detailing abuses they endured at the hands of their father. Based on those stories, the forensic psychologist recommended supervised visitation for her ex. She said there were also four separate cases against her ex brought on by third party witnesses who observed him choking their children. She spent $60,000 and was forced to sell her house. However, she said he still wanted $12,000, so she sold her car. She emptied out her entire savings, living off of food boxes for three months, and couldn’t pay rent.
The professional assigned to the case recommended they go to reunification with her ex and made her pay for it. She pointed out that the professional benefited financially from the reunification. Even though her children’s assigned “best interests” lawyer heard that their father had kicked and punched them, the lawyer failed to advocate for them. She said her ex was charged multiple times for breaking into her residence.
Finchem responded, “I'm very sorry that you've been put through this. Quite frankly, at the hand of the state of Arizona, it is one of those things that makes my blood boil.”
Keshel noted that she and Zink weren’t allowed into a family court hearing to observe.
Koontz said her address was released, violating confidentiality, so she was forced to move again. She said her ex refuses to pay for the forensic psychologist or her children’s attorneys, so only she is paying. She was accused of parentally alienating her kids since they didn’t want to go with their dad.
Finchem responded, “So much for the presumption of innocence.”
Stacy Ross introduced herself as a retired master sergeant for the U.S. Air Force. She said her situation involved child abuse and domestic violence. She said she was sexually assaulted at Fort Bragg, where her former spouse raped her, leaving her permanently disfigured and incontinent. She said he threatened her at gun point in front of their children.
She filed a complaint about child abuse at the military childcare center regarding one of her children, but no action was taken. However, she said the state of Kansas substantiated sexual abuse of her autistic son. Due to substantiated findings following internal military investigations, she received an expedited transfer from Washington state to Arizona. She said the military claimed they’d investigated the abuse — but they said the investigation was conducted 14 months before the abuse occurred. She also believes her ex gave their youngest son a traumatic brain injury.
Ariana Askew said she was a “17-year-old survivor of child abuse and witness to domestic violence.” She said her mom was “wrongfully and illegally” thrown in the Coconino County jail for five days. Askew said she “gathered all of our evidence that the family court has refused to consider and put it in a hard drive.” She said she and her sister recorded bad behavior by their stepfather but it was ignored.
Askew said her father attacked her mother and her brother when her mother went to check on him. Her mother was put on probation for a felony count of trespassing. She showed up without representation, and even though the younger Askew testified in her defense, her mother’s request for an order of protection was dismissed. Opposing counsel filed for an order of protection against her and it was upheld.
Her mother spent over $200,000 on the court related proceedings, and after being told it would cost over $40,000 to keep going, she gave up and let her ex keep their son. She said her brother came home with a bruise on his stomach from his dad after he told her in his words, “you're not my mommy.”
Askew said her father made a false police report claiming that her mother followed him around, “despite 20 people who would say otherwise.” Her father reported her mother for having a firearm, since she was on probation for trespassing. However it was an old malfunctioning, unused gun in the family with no ammo.
Samantha Gibson said she was a victim of domestic violence, but doesn’t reveal that she has developed complex PTSD since “it also means I could lose my kids.” Although she has 50/50 custody with joint legal decision making, she pays child support. So far, she’s spent $105,000 for her case that doesn’t include the cost of the divorce. She was forced to sell her house and represents herself in court since she can’t afford an attorney, and is about to lose her house again. One law firm estimated $100,000 to represent her plus another $100,000 for trial.
Gibson concluded, “I have 11 more years to go with this, and I want to talk about mental health. I don't want to unalive myself to a point where you start weighing how much more can I take, I stay for my kids…”
Keshel responded to her, “I just want to thank you for coming. And I just want to tell you, your kids need you so you keep fighting, and we'll do our part.”
Erin Gearlach said her case involves domestic violence and child abuse with her daughter. She believes her ex gets away with things since he is a police officer. She said he lied to obtain court orders, and so the judge issued warrants for her, resulting in criminal charges for custodial interference merely for keeping her daughter safe. She said he continues the abuse by getting police reports filed against her. He is trying to force her to return to Arizona with her daughter, Gearlach said. The judge saw photos and videos of the abuse but nothing happened. She lost a second child at 20 weeks pregnant due to the abuse.
Gearlach said she knows she’s going to be retaliated against for speaking out at the hearing and will end up back in jail. “If I can’t save my own child, at least I can help save someone else’s.” She said there is a civil restraining order against her which says that filing complaints and talking to legislators is considered harassment.
She recommended defunding “these organizations that aren’t doing anything,” such as the
Commission on Judicial Conduct and the State Bar of Arizona.
Danielle Encantro said during the hearing she has watched 40 percent of those speaking physically shake due to knowing they will face retaliation.
Finchem responded, “We work for you. You put us here. We work for you. And when the other branches of government don't work for you, we're the ones that are supposed to hold them accountable … not the behavioral or psychobabble, none of that. Ultimately, it's our responsibility.”
Encantro said she is from California and used to work for the district attorney’s office and is connected to law enforcement. “I'm also a domestic violence advocate, so I have witnessed other cases extensively within the family court system.”
She said a big problem is the training that is provided to family court judges is from inside sources. “They cannot just keep bolstering each other and patting each others’ backs. It's not going to work.” She said “abusers” manipulate the legal system, and “once they get that custody, they'll flip it and they'll do it the other way. … They hit them with that ‘vexatious litigants’ is what we call it in California, and wall off that parent from ever regaining any sort of relationship with their child.” She said it is unfair to “be at the discretion of one judge, who already doesn’t like you, that's a problem.”
Sawyer Encantro identified himself as a 15-year old from California. He said he was “speaking on behalf of silenced children” and that “no one has forced me to be here or to speak. But I'm sure it'll be twisted and your way, and I'll be content to be punished for speaking out, like many others.”
“When I told the truth to Child Protective Services about what was happening, what would have been done to me and what I've seen, I wasn't met with compassion. I wasn't even met with neutrality or humility. I was asked questions that seem more like accusations,” he said. “They didn't see a child asking for help.”
The younger Encantro said he was separated from his sister. He found that in the court system, “instead of being allowed to speak freely, I was interpreted for over six hours in front of the very person I was terrified of.”
He concluded, “And I want to thank you today for the first step for the systems to start being forced to listen, as a child who has been silenced and hasn't been listened to, ignored it. It's very valid that our voices are being heard.”
Elizabeth Davis, a former U.S. Navy pilot with a degree in electrical engineering, said she
hadn’t seen her children in over a year, because she was trying to protect them from her ex-husband who they saw harm her. She took classes and followed orders, but the forensic psychologist went to school with her ex. She was diagnosed with trauma from years of abuse.
Davis said she submitted information to charge her ex with felonies, “but he has friends in law enforcement.” She said “allegations without evidence matter more than the facts.” She said she is “now a convicted felon since I dared to beg my daughter not to surrender her siblings to an abuser.” Her daughter wrote a six page letter listing her ex’s abuse that was ignored, and her daughter was labeled “indoctrinated.” Her daughter is a 16-year old, straight A student, scholar, athlete, soccer player for four years, who was in AP Psychology.”
She went on, “He still has custody despite threats and putting a gun in his mouth.” She said he made false allegations that she threatened to kill him and the kids with no evidence, yet got an order of protection against her.” David said her ex stalked her, and she reported it 13 times to law enforcement. When she asked him when he was going to stop stalking her, they arrested her for violating the order. She thought self defense would trump the order.
It has cost her $400,000 far. “The courts pick their favorite and they go with it. We have to fight and then we’re villainized for it.” She said her ex has no job, drinks, and used to cheat on her.
Martin Lynch, from We the People Court Services, said a solution is a court of equity, where a jury can address the conflicts instead of a judge.
Nastara Barrari, who taught Political Science at the college level, said she experienced “financial marital abuse, domestic violence, medical abuse” which her children witnessed. She said a therapist diagnosed her ex as “psychotic.” She said he engaged in “excessive drug abuse.” The therapist and lawyers advised her to file for an order of protection. Despite her ex’s background, he was awarded 50/50 custody with her. She said he filed 31 false police reports against her. He will not give her permission to take their children home on a visit to the Netherlands.
Mary Dalton, who has worked as an assistant fire chief, said she is a domestic violence survivor, but the family court disregards domestic violence. She said her ex strangled her son, but the court awarded 50/50 custody of their twins. Although her ex hit her daughter with a broom, DCS
said it was a custody problem and issued an unsubstantiated report. She accused her ex of
shooting a gun through the ceiling and cutting the roof of their son’s mouth with a box cutter.
She said he strangled their daughter and pleaded guilty and was criminally sentenced for it, and she filed for divorce. She said her ex filed a counterclaim for parental alienation. Their children were sent to multiple providers to retell their stories.
Dalton said the reunification therapist ignored everything and said the children weren’t abused.
Multiple therapists found no parental alienation. She spent over $225,000 on the proceedings and lost her home. She said all of her children have PTSD. The only reason her ex no longer has joint custody is because he was sentenced to 28 years in prison.
Cammy Denny said she has suffered domestic abuse from her ex, who she has a 20-month old child with. He said he forcibly impregnated her, leaving her bleeding while he continued drinking. She had a miscarriage. The judge allowed him to have overnight unsupervised visitation, and her daughter ended up with a “swollen purple nipple.” She has spent $30,000 and cannot afford an attorney so represents herself pro se. She said her ex skips court ordered sobriety tests and there is no recourse.
Teresa Mangus said a judge ordered her to sell her home to pay for reunification therapy. She said her ex pursued a civil action to have her evicted, by portraying himself as the landlord. However, she’d already paid the house off and removed him from the mortgage. Finchem responded and said he committed perjury.
Mangus said a sheriff forcibly removed her and children from their home at gunpoint, and her home was ordered to be sold before a hearing started to address it. She said the judge assumed wrongly that it was jointly owned. The home was in a trust under her mother. Her ex wasn’t awarded any custody, so the reunification therapy was ordered so he could try to regain some.
Selena Meadows said she was testifying for her friend Rachel Cardona as a domestic violence advocate. She said her ex admitted to attempted murder of their son and admitted to attempting to murder her in front of the kids, tortured dogs and killed their family dog. “I also provided proof that he was a diagnosed psychopath and had failed two psychological evaluations while in the military … he had explosives and a lot of weapons missing and unaccounted for.”
She concluded, “At this point, there is no formula. All of this discretion is insane.”
Bandy Lee introduced herself as a forensic psychiatrist who has participated in family court cases, with personal experience in New Jersey. She is president of the World Mental Health Coalition, co-founder of the Violence Prevention Institute, and a research fellow of the National Institute of Mental Health. She taught at Yale for 17 years before transferring to the Harvard program in psychiatry and the law.
“I work in maximum security prisons, treating some of the most violent individuals our society produces, yet nothing prepared me for family court,” she said. “I have testified before the legislatures of Colorado, New York, Louisiana, Tennessee and Washington, and I'm very honored to be here.” She went on, “Family courts are a danger to society.”
Lee relayed what happened to her sister, who didn’t see her children for four years. The court claimed she was mentally ill, but Lee said there was no evidence. Subsequently, her sister “has been evaluated by 11 world renowned psychiatric experts, some of them consultants to the United Nations, the U.S. Supreme Court, and the International Criminal Court, who all unanimously said she had excellent mental health and exceptional talent in parenting, but none of this mattered. Only one unlicensed and unqualified associate counselor with a master's degree contradicted them all, and this is one report the family court judge would accept.”
She is now pursuing impeachment of the judge, who she said always appoints the same guardian ad litem.
Finchem told her he believes the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts is “driven by profit motive.”
Lee said out of 50 cases she observed, “only one went the right way.” She said “no amount of evidence matters.” She said her sister provided “evidence of rape and burn marks,” but they were ruled unsubstantiated.
Fink responded, “They're trying to change the mindset of the children … when I first heard of it, I thought of re-education camps like North Korea.”
Lee said the concept of parental alienation is a problem. “It's not taught in any mental health educational program. It only exists in family courts and the cases that are labeled parental alienation. If they were to come out of family court, they would just be clear cut child abuse, domestic violence, without any ambiguity, and they would be adjudicated in a matter of weeks.”
She said her sister’s ex had a restraining order against him for slamming his 7-year-old son against a window, but a SWAT team seized the children from her sister.
Tiffany Bring said she was testifying for her son who could not leave work. She said he found his 22-month old dead. However, when the police arrived, his ex told them that their father
was not in their lives. They had to get emergency custody orders to get his daughter, who was 4 at the time. The county attorney declined to prosecute, despite the fact the autopsy report revealed 26 injuries to the body.
Despite the fact her son has custody, he is required to pay $1,000 each month for half of his ex’s supervised visitation. DCS investigated and found texts between his ex and her new husband about the new husband spanking the baby. DCS expressed concern for the baby’s safety and cut off the new husband from being around the child, but allowed unsupervised visitation with the mother. However, DCS unsubstantiated the charges after the county attorney declined to prosecute.
Her son was ordered to attend six meetings of forensic informed therapy. However, the therapist was only a licensed professional counselor. The child’s attorney recommended that the new husband be allowed around their remaining child. The child says she does not want to be with her mother, but the judge ignored the child, saying they’re pressuring her. The mother has been charged with assaulting him.
Finchem said there is case law that says you don’t have to follow the law if there is a temporary order in place.
Lori Schlinger told the panel how her ex thought they were “contaminated,” so he made them use Pine Sol and take long “sanitizing showers.” She said he kept their boys wearing nothing but underwear in one room. He made them stay on the couch and not go anywhere else in the house. She told DCS, but when they called back, he was there so she had to retract her story in front of him.
At one point, he chased them around with a dart gun, so she got temporary restraining orders against him. When she was pregnant, he kept her in a hotel, where he made her swim for hours due to the alleged contamination. She said the showers lasted an hour and a half to two hours. She said his first wife “lived with no furniture” due to his fears of contamination.
Schilinger said her ex was “diagnosed with narcissistic abuse, severe borderline personality disorder, possibly bipolar and severe OCD.”
However, the judge ordered that he share joint decision making with her. Their son hasn't seen him in two years, but he is allowed to call twice a week. Her son, who is now 6, wets the bed when he calls. Her son needs therapy, but her ex won’t give permission. She said he doesn't pay child support, so she has to pay an attorney to get it from him. He was ordered to pay attorneys’ fees but he never paid them. She is now in debt $50,000.
She concluded, “Stop putting parental rights before the children’s.”
Janell Collins informed the panel that the Sojourner Center acts as “legal lay advocates” that can help litigants. She said her ex threatened her that if he told anyone about him hitting her in the stomach when pregnant, or suffocating their child, that the child wouldn’t remember that she was his mom some day, and he would also turn everyone against her. She said he
would ground their son for over a month with no toys over minor offenses.
Richard Bring said he was the sister of Tiffany Bring, who testified previously about her son. He said his nephew’s ex has four attorneys. He said the judge admitted she doesn’t read their motions — doesn’t read filings with a certain person’s name on them. He said he has paid
$31,000 since May 23 for an attorney to represent his nephew. Despite the murder trial starting against his nephew’s ex, she still has unsupervised visitation.
Rachel Cardona, who testified at the previous hearing, said her ex-husband strangled their children, calling it a game. As a result, she said her son has developed thyroid issues. Her ex waited for her outside a school with a loaded gun. However, the court admonished her for trying to obtain an order giving her custody, and instead ordered her to return their children to him. She said all four children were diagnosed with PTSD, but her ex gets final say and will not approve treatment.
Finchem responded and labeled it “court sanctioned child abuse.”
A previous hearing was held in May.