New York Father and Italian immigrant Mother battle for custody of Son.

Mother accuses Father of child abuse.

But police and psychologists see things differently.

Mother is diagnosed with various psychological disorders and is found to have alienated Son from Father.

Father is awarded sole custody of Son and Court prohibits Son’s removal from US.

Nonetheless, Mother gets Son at school and abducts him to her native Italy.

Where she continues to accuse Father of abuse.

In time, child welfare authorities in Italy discredit Mother’s allegations and remove Son from Mother’s custody …

And place Son in an orphanage. Two years ago.

While Father is denied any contact with Son at all.

Father has finally been allowed supervised visitation.

But the Italian courts won’t allow him to take Son home.

And Italy is a party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Read more in this West Palm Beach Examiner article: American father Michael McCarty fights to rescue his son from an Italian orphanage.

Asylum will be available to foreign victims of domestic violence who show 1. that domestic violence is socially acceptable in their own country such that safety would always elude them there and 2. that their social standing in their own country is inferior to their abuser’s.

Re-consideration of standing policy is prompted under the new administration by the application for asylum of a Mexican woman who was beaten, raped and imprisoned by a man who set her bed on fire while she was in it.

It remains a government concern that this new protected class of asylum applicants not “open the floodgates”.

Read more in this New York Times editorial: Asylum for Battered Women and this New York Times article: New Policy Permits Asylum for Battered Women.

Colorado Husband and Wife have two young children.

Couple fear two year old Boy might have ingested some medication, after finding part of a pill on the floor.

Couple call a local Poison Control Center (Center), allegedly not for the first time. The Center recommends keeping an eye on the Boy and taking him to the hospital if he shows symptoms.

Center reportedly suspects child abuse or neglect.

Center contacts police.

Police arrive at the couple’s home and insist on taking Boy to the hospital.

A drug test shows that the Boy does not have any drugs in his system.

Then the local child welfare agency removes the couple’s two children anyway and places them into temporary protective custody.

The children are in foster care for five whole days before a hearing is held.

At the hearing, the children are placed into the temporary custody of their grandparents … pending the results of a second drug test on the Boy.

Read more in this [Denver, CO] Fox KDVR-TV 31 news article: Poison Control Center responds to child custody case and Family loses custody of children after calling poison control.

Illinois Woman obtains order of protection or injunction for protection against domestic violence against her ex-Husband, Man.

Man violates restraining order and is jailed.

While in jail, Man allegedly forms plan to hire hit man to kill Woman.

Man allegedly offers undercover police officer money to kill Woman.

Man is arrested for solicitation of murder.

Read more in this CBS WBBM-TV 2 new article: Prosecutors: Man Tried To Have Ex-Wife Killed.

If you’ve ever wondered whether or how divorce (or death of a spouse) affect a person’s health, a recently published study on mature singles sheds some light on the subject.

The study finds that the Single Again population experiences a lasting decline in health and/or mobility, even if they marry again.

Interestingly, never-marrieds tend to have fewer chronic health and / or mobility problems than those who are widowed or divorced.

The study attributes the statistics to the effects of the stress associated with the death of a spouse or figurative death of a marriage.

But the statistical correlation does not prove causality.

On the other hand, according to other experiments, marital strife also tends to weaken a spouse’s immune system – rather dramatically.

So staying together does not necessarily improve health at all…

Read more in this New York Times article: Divorce, It Seems, Can Make You Ill.

Tennessee Father and Mother are divorced. Father and Mother have two daughters together.

Mother allegedly shoots Father in the leg. In the presence of their two daughters.

If for no other reason, Father wins temporary custody of their two daughters.

And Mother is charged with attempted murder and reckless endangerment of the children.

Although there is probably little need for it for the foreseeable future, Father plans to seek an order or protection or injunction for protection against domestic violence against Mother.

Read more in this [Chattanooga, TN] WTVC-TV News Channel 9 NBC TV News article: Signal Shooting Victim Granted Custody Of Children.

Abductions of children across international borders continue to increase.

In the UK, the number of such cases (and some cases involve more than one child) has risen from 488 in 2006 to 554 in 2008. It is likely that not all abductions are properly reported.

Most such abductions are by one of the parents of the child.

The most common places that children are abducted to from the UK are:

1. Pakistan
2. USA
3. Spain
4. Ireland
5. France

A Canadian man searching for his missing daughter in the UK has been searching for … sixteen (16) years.

Even with the existence of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and similar bilateral treaties.

Not the typical case perhaps but …

A British jurist acknowledges that some parents willfully disobey the law, but others don’t even realize that what they are doing is illegal.

Law enforcement tends not to want to get involved in family abduction cases, referring people to family court attorneys.

Unfortunately, the resulting delay can make all the difference in whether an abduction can be stopped or the perpetrator caught.

Potential abduction scenarios are increasing in part because so many people work abroad in this day and age, and form relationships with people in the country where they are working. But they aren’t necessarily educated about the law and the dangers inherent in such situations.

The misled children are the victims in these scenarios. Eventually, they find out the truth and are robbed of their trust.

Most abductors are mothers. Some are fleeing domestic violence. Others just want out.

Read more in this BBC News article: ‘I’ll never end hunt for my girl’.

New York state boyfriend (Man) and girlfriend (Woman) break up.

Man allegedly kicks Woman’s puppy to death.

Man says it was “looking at me like it didn’t like me.”

Man is charged with felony aggravated cruelty to animals.

Man eventually pleads guilty to disorderly conduct and agrees to make financial restitution to Woman, take anger management classes and undergo a mental health evaluation.

Judge enters an order of protection, or injunction for protection against domestic violence, barring Man from contact with Woman for three years.

Early warning signs of domestic violence include attacking or killing the pet of the true targeted victim.

Read more in this Niagara Gazette article: TOWN OF TONAWANDA: Reduced charges for accused dog killer.

Parental Alienation. Syndrome. Or not.

Whether one accepts it as a legitimate diagnosis of a psychological condition or not, there can be little doubt that the term describes a pattern of behavior that some parents actively engage in.

Willfully or unwittingly.

To their children’s detriment.

Numerous organizations rally against it, including:

1. A Family’s Heartbreak
2. Hostile Aggressive Parenting
3. Hugs to Heartbreak
4. Keeping Families Connected
5. Overcoming Parental Alienation
6. Parental Alienation Awareness Organization
7. Parental Alienation Awareness Organization – US
8. Parental Alienation Canada
9. Parental Alienation Hurts
10. Solutions 4 PAS
11. Split n Two
12. Stop Parental Alienation
13. The Rachel Foundation for Family Reintegration

Read more in this Tampa Bay Examiner article: Parental alienation information and support.

Tennessee Wife obtains order of protection against Husband.

Husband violates restraining order by going to Wife’s house.

Husband is arrested for violating injunction for protection against domestic violence.

Police free Husband.

Less than half an hour later, Husband returns to Wife’s home.

And threatens to kill her. With his arms on her throat.

And warns her “she’ll never get rid of him”.

Police come and arrest him again.

This time, police charge husband with violation of an order of protection, resisting arrest and domestic violence with aggravated assault.

Husband is even confined this time, pending posting of bond.

An isolated occurrence?

No. Husband has been charged with aggravated assault of Wife four other times, although Wife ultimately dismissed all of them.

Read more in this Blount County, TN Daily Times article: Knoxville man arrested twice in one day by Blount Sheriff’s deputies.