Neglectful dad convicted of abducting two children during court-ordered visitation and taking them to Mexico (Winnipeg, Canada)

Mothers who are accused of abducting their kids often due so in order to protect them from abuse and neglect.

Dad KEVIN MARYK abducted the kids, then proceeded to abuse and neglect them. Exposed to a life of booze, drugs, prostitution, stolen cars, guns, no schooling for four years....

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/canada/archives/2014/06/20140630-115444.html

Dad who abducted kids faces sentencing Monday

11:54 am, June 30th, 2014 QMI AGENCY

WINNIPEG -- Two Winnipeg children abducted by their father and kept in Mexico for years spoke about hookers, guns and drinking alcohol, according to their mother. An emotional impact statement by Emily Cablek was played in court Monday at the sentencing hearing for her ex-husband, Kevin Maryk.

Maryk pleaded guilty last week to two counts of child abduction in a case that attracted international headlines. Maryk had three additional charges stayed by the Crown on Thursday, including charges stemming from his attempts to make contact with his children while incarcerated.

Dominic and Abby were seven and five, respectively, when they went missing following a court-ordered visit with their father in August 2008.

Police tracked Maryk down in May 2012 when a tip from a neighbour led Mexican police to a heavily fortified home in Guadalajara where the kids were found. Cops raided the home and arrested Maryk and co-accused Robert Groen, then reunited the kids with their mother shortly thereafter.

Groen was sentenced earlier this month to one year in jail for his role. A third suspect, Cody John McKay -- Maryk's nephew -- has yet to be apprehended.

Cablek said Monday her now 13-year-old son is terrified when people come to the door unannounced, is withdrawn and has had difficulty making friends since his return to Winnipeg.

Her now 11-year-old daughter, who the court heard curled up into a ball when asked to make an impact statement, has blocked out some of the details of her time in Mexico and has "put it behind her instead of dealing with it," she said.

The Crown told the court, according to statements by Cablek, the children make references to stolen cars and hookers. Her son has referenced shooting guns. Both children, who did not attend school during those four years, said they had tried tequila.

The Crown also read two letters sent by Maryk while in prison.

The first, sent to the family of McKay, asked them to find McKay and help Maryk get back to Mexico.

"You need to do this because there is no better life than Mexico. The fun, the sun, the girls," he wrote.

He also wrote that McKay traffics cocaine and crystal meth across the border and is worth $2 million, last he heard. "Help me and you will live debt-free for many years," he wrote.

The second letter was to his adult daughter and detailed his time in a Mexican prison, where he said he was tortured, shocked with a Taser and beaten.

Last week, the Crown said they would be seeking five years' jail for Maryk, while the defence would ask for two years with credit for time already served.

Maryk spent five months in a Mexican jail and 20 months in jail in Canada.

The case against McKay's parents, Darlene and Bradley, remains before the courts. The couple were charged months after the kids' safe return with abduction by concealment and obstructing justice in connection with the case.

The judge was prepared to make his decision over Maryk, but a dispute over evidence led to adornment until July 7.

TIMELINE: AUGUST 2008: Kevin Maryk fails to return his two children, Dominic and Abby, to their mother, Emily Cablek, following a court-approved two-week vacation.

SEPTEMBER 2008: Cablek speaks publicly about her kids -- of whom she has full custody -- going missing following a court-approved two-week visit they had with Kevin Maryk, her former common-law husband. "I have no idea where they are. I wish I had even a clue where they'd be," Cablek says. "I just hope that they are safe and they will be returned or found."

OCTOBER 2008: Winnipeg police reveal that they had, in late September, recovered a car that Kevin Maryk had rented. The car was found in a Winnipeg parking lot. A Canada-wide warrant has been issued for Maryk, while the Canada Border Services Agency keeps watch for him. Meanwhile, Child Find Manitoba hopes that a public appeal it has issued will bring the kids home.

APRIL 2009: Cablek says she's growing more worried about her children after still no sign of them or her ex-husband. "It doesn't get any easier," Cablek says. "If anything, it gets harder. Some weeks I can get through the week pretty well, and other weeks I am a basket-case."

AUGUST 2009: Police say they suspect that Maryk might be with his nephew, Cody McKay, who could have helped him abduct the children. Around the same time, popular U.S. television show America's Most Wanted adds the case of the Winnipeg brother and sister to its website -- but does not include it on its actual program.

SEPTEMBER 2011: Police publicly name a third suspect, Robert Groen, and issue a Canada-wide warrant for him after long having issued such a warrant for McKay. Officers describe Groen as an associate of Maryk, and say he's suspected to have fled the country. Also, Crime Stoppers releases a video in hopes of generating tips on the children's whereabouts. "I miss them so much. I've been trying so hard to find them," Cablek said. "I miss seeing their smiles, I miss taking them to school, I miss not knowing if they're going to enjoy what I put in their lunches. I miss hearing them argue, (because) to hear their voices even arguing would be a blessing right now."

DECEMBER 2011: Det.-Sgt. Shaunna Neufeld of the Winnipeg police missing-persons unit says the case is "extreme," and adds that "the stakes are even higher as we have very real concerns for the safety of Abby and Dominic."

MAY 2012: Police in Guadalajara, Mexico, acting on a tip, raid a home in that city and remove Dominic and Abby Maryk, aged 11 and nine, while arresting Kevin Maryk and Robert Groen. Cody John McKay, Maryk's nephew and alleged accomplice, remains on the loose.

SEPTEMBER 2012: Darlene and Bradley McKay, Cody's parents, are charged with abduction by concealment and obstructing justice in connection with the case.

NOVEMBER 2012: Maryk is chargd with five sex-related offences involving a Winnipeg woman, alleged to have occurred between January 2004 and May 2006.

JANUARY 2013: Maryk is charged with one count of criminal harassment, with court documents alleging he tried to enlist a female family member to watch his ex-wife's Winnipeg home. The woman did not carry out his alleged wishes, documents stated.

JUNE 2014: Maryk pleads guilty to two counts of child abduction. Sentencing is set for Monday.