This is typical of the way abuser dads get control of their victims. A combination of mumbo jumbo legal procedures such as 1) evidence suppression and 2) accusing the the mother of voodoo maladies like "subconsciously revictimizing" the child, and 3) old-fashioned corruption and deal making between well paid attornies and judges. All three techniques are common and well publicized fathers rights techniques for gaining/maintaining custody and eliminating the mother.
http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/22786860/protestors-judges-are-putting-children-back-with-abusers
Protestors: Judges are putting children back with abusers
Posted: Jul 08, 2013 6:46 PM EDT Updated: Jul 08, 2013 7:03 PM EDT
By Jeff Chirico
ATLANTA (CBS ATLANTA) -
About two dozen protestors held signs and wore neon green shirts that read "Shame on you, Judge Goger" and "Shame on you, Judge Lane" as they marched outside the Fulton County Courthouse Monday.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge John Goger came under fire because of a recent order requiring a 10-year-old girl to live with her father, who was twice arrested for abusing her in a recent custody hearing.
CBS Atlanta News is not using the names of the parties to protect the child.
The mother of the girl told CBS Atlanta News reporter Jeff Chirico that she believes the judge did not consider the evidence and was influenced by her ex-husband's attorney.
Criminal charges against the girl's father were dropped for lack of evidence, but according to court records and the mother, five independent assessments supported the girl's story of repeated abuse.
Despite the allegations, the custody evaluator and court-appointed guardian ad litem, recommended the child be placed in the father's home because the mother was subconsciously "re victimizing" the child.
Deb Beacham, executive director of My Advocate Center, a resource group on child custody issues, said this isn't the only case in which a judge has placed a child back with his or her alleged abuser.
She said she believes judges sometimes consider their relationships with attorneys rather than what is in the best interest of the child.
"The judges are loyal to the relationships they have with attorneys and custody experts rather than heeding the evidence of the case and the needs of the children," said Beacham.
According to Beacham, the guardian ad litem in the case of the 10-year-old girl has charged the family $150,000 for his services.
"Why would a guardian ad litem make $150,000 suppressing evidence? Why would a custody evaluator make $65,000 on a case where the evidence is overwhelming?" asked Beacham.
"They don't need to make that kind of money, when they're preventing a child from being protected."
Goger's judicial assistant told CBS Atlanta News that he has no comment.
Protestors also railed Goger's fellow family court judge, Bensonetta Lane, for recent rulings that they said put children in danger and hurt relationships between children and a parent.
One father, who wanted to remain anonymous, said Lane drastically slashed his custodial time given by a judge in another state "to zero. For no reason. I didn't see my children for a whole month."
"It is strictly politics, hidden influence, backroom dealings," said Beacham.
She said she is asking Goger to sit down with the evidence and the experts that did the forensic evaluations.
"We can't hide evidence. We can't hide damage to children," said Beacham.
Showing posts with label custody evaluation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label custody evaluation. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Monday, August 22, 2011
Therapist labeled custodial dad--now accused of torture and murder--a "good father" (Crown Point, Indiana)
As if we needed any additional evidence that psychologists--with rare exceptions--are drooling idiots.
Here are the FACTS about RILEY CHOATE, the dad that therapist Angie Cleveland found "supportive" and "kind" and "patient." The father who received FULL CUSTODY based on Cleveland's delusional evaluation:
* Interviews with the children WHO ACTUALLY LIVED IN THE HOUSE said that Daddy and the step were abusive and dangerous. In fact, abuse claims were SUBSTANTIATED the YEAR BEFORE Daddy got custody. But Daddy got custody anyway! Thanks to clueless morons like Cleveland who gave more weight to spin and illusion than the parent's actual track record.
* Evidence strongly suggests at this point that this "kind" daddy kept this boy locked in a cage, cut him off from his mother or contact any other human beings outside Daddy's hellhole of a home, beat him, tortured him, starved him, and finally murdered him.
And we have the freaking nerve to bring up the mother's allleged neglect? That the father who now stands accused of murder wanted to see his children "safe" by taking custody away from her? I call bulls**t. Obviously, I am not privy to the reports generated against the mother. But I have seen many cases where charming, manipulative psychopaths--as RILEY CHOATE appears to be--were able to convince those in authority that the mother was the one responsible for the abuse, not they. The mother loses all contact. And the child goes on to be tortured and even murdered in many cases by the party who played the innocent. Dads like Riley Choate.
Get the shrinks out of the custody evaluation game. Before more kids are killed.
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/gary/article_2b337896-14ad-5808-b7cd-dc14f2816835.html
Officials, family say Riley Choate a good father
By Lindsay Machak
Posted: Sunday, August 21, 2011 10:00 pm
CROWN POINT | Christian Choate and his father were enjoying building a positive relationship together, a local therapist reported in 2005.
"The writer feels it is in the client's best interest to be placed with his biological father," the mental health report obtained by The Times states -- suggesting Riley Choate should receive custody.
However, the relationship was doomed after Choate gained custody of Christian and his sister, Christina, six months later, family members said. Children in the Choate home allege Riley Choate locked Christian in a cage and beat him on a regular basis until his death in 2009.
Police unearthed the boy's body May 1 from a shallow grave underneath a layer of concrete and lime in a mobile home park in Gary's Black Oak neighborhood.
Christian's father and stepmother, Kimberly Kubina, were arrested and charged with the boy's murder as well as several other offenses related to his death.
Lengthy police and Indiana Department of Family Services interviews conducted with children who lived in the home depict an abusive, dangerous household.
But some officials, family members and agency documents dating back more than six years ago offered a starkly different view of the dynamics in the Choate family.
Evaluations conducted in February 2005 by former Southlake Center for Mental Health therapist Angie Cleveland reported that Riley Choate and Kimberly Kubina were supportive and patient in working with the troubled Christian.
According to the 2005 report, Choate and Kubina were providing "a safe, well-structured environment" for Christian -- despite the mental problems the boy had been coping with.
"Dad and stepmom are able to control situations, while being patient and kind," Cleveland noted.
Riley Choate's sister, Sandi Lester, recently told The Times that Choate was supportive of all children in the household -- including children that weren't his.
Lester, 46, said she had her first child when Riley Choate was young. He had helped with the baby when he was still a child, she said.
"He's always been around kids, and he's always loved kids," she said.
Choate's decision to fight for custody of Christian and his sister stemmed from concerns about abuse allegations against their mother, Aimee Eriks-Estrada, Lester said.
"He wanted them to be safe," she said.
As the custody battle brewed, mental health officials provided insight into the family's relationships. Cleveland's evaluation asked the court to consider her report when making a custody decision.
"The family seems to have a bond that is very positive," Cleveland wrote.
Despite the DCS' substantiated claims of abuse in 2004 of children in that household, Choate was granted custody of Christian and his sister in August 2005.
"He just kept saying, 'I can't believe it. I got custody,'" Lester said. "He was so excited."
The documented 2004 abuse case came from a complaint filed with DCS in August 2004. Choate admitted to DCS investigators he sometimes would use a belt to discipline Kubina's nieces.
Being hit with a belt was how Choate was disciplined as a child, Lester said.
"He just said he didn't know it was wrong to whip a child with a belt," she said.
DCS referred Choate to parenting classes and removed Kubina's nieces from the home, agency documents show.
After DCS intervened, Choate didn't hit either of Kubina's nieces again after they returned to the home, one of the girls told The Times in a previous interview.
When news of the allegations against Choate in connection with Christian's death began to surface, Choate's family was stunned, Lester said. When Choate was arrested in connection with Christian's death, his three siblings had mixed reactions, she said.
But Lester has stuck by her brother by attending court hearings and supporting him as much as she can.
"He's not the person that he's been made out to be," she said. "He's not a monster."
Cleveland resigned from working with the Choate family in September 2005. She could not be reached for comment.
Here are the FACTS about RILEY CHOATE, the dad that therapist Angie Cleveland found "supportive" and "kind" and "patient." The father who received FULL CUSTODY based on Cleveland's delusional evaluation:
* Interviews with the children WHO ACTUALLY LIVED IN THE HOUSE said that Daddy and the step were abusive and dangerous. In fact, abuse claims were SUBSTANTIATED the YEAR BEFORE Daddy got custody. But Daddy got custody anyway! Thanks to clueless morons like Cleveland who gave more weight to spin and illusion than the parent's actual track record.
* Evidence strongly suggests at this point that this "kind" daddy kept this boy locked in a cage, cut him off from his mother or contact any other human beings outside Daddy's hellhole of a home, beat him, tortured him, starved him, and finally murdered him.
And we have the freaking nerve to bring up the mother's allleged neglect? That the father who now stands accused of murder wanted to see his children "safe" by taking custody away from her? I call bulls**t. Obviously, I am not privy to the reports generated against the mother. But I have seen many cases where charming, manipulative psychopaths--as RILEY CHOATE appears to be--were able to convince those in authority that the mother was the one responsible for the abuse, not they. The mother loses all contact. And the child goes on to be tortured and even murdered in many cases by the party who played the innocent. Dads like Riley Choate.
Get the shrinks out of the custody evaluation game. Before more kids are killed.
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/gary/article_2b337896-14ad-5808-b7cd-dc14f2816835.html
Officials, family say Riley Choate a good father
By Lindsay Machak
Posted: Sunday, August 21, 2011 10:00 pm
CROWN POINT | Christian Choate and his father were enjoying building a positive relationship together, a local therapist reported in 2005.
"The writer feels it is in the client's best interest to be placed with his biological father," the mental health report obtained by The Times states -- suggesting Riley Choate should receive custody.
However, the relationship was doomed after Choate gained custody of Christian and his sister, Christina, six months later, family members said. Children in the Choate home allege Riley Choate locked Christian in a cage and beat him on a regular basis until his death in 2009.
Police unearthed the boy's body May 1 from a shallow grave underneath a layer of concrete and lime in a mobile home park in Gary's Black Oak neighborhood.
Christian's father and stepmother, Kimberly Kubina, were arrested and charged with the boy's murder as well as several other offenses related to his death.
Lengthy police and Indiana Department of Family Services interviews conducted with children who lived in the home depict an abusive, dangerous household.
But some officials, family members and agency documents dating back more than six years ago offered a starkly different view of the dynamics in the Choate family.
Evaluations conducted in February 2005 by former Southlake Center for Mental Health therapist Angie Cleveland reported that Riley Choate and Kimberly Kubina were supportive and patient in working with the troubled Christian.
According to the 2005 report, Choate and Kubina were providing "a safe, well-structured environment" for Christian -- despite the mental problems the boy had been coping with.
"Dad and stepmom are able to control situations, while being patient and kind," Cleveland noted.
Riley Choate's sister, Sandi Lester, recently told The Times that Choate was supportive of all children in the household -- including children that weren't his.
Lester, 46, said she had her first child when Riley Choate was young. He had helped with the baby when he was still a child, she said.
"He's always been around kids, and he's always loved kids," she said.
Choate's decision to fight for custody of Christian and his sister stemmed from concerns about abuse allegations against their mother, Aimee Eriks-Estrada, Lester said.
"He wanted them to be safe," she said.
As the custody battle brewed, mental health officials provided insight into the family's relationships. Cleveland's evaluation asked the court to consider her report when making a custody decision.
"The family seems to have a bond that is very positive," Cleveland wrote.
Despite the DCS' substantiated claims of abuse in 2004 of children in that household, Choate was granted custody of Christian and his sister in August 2005.
"He just kept saying, 'I can't believe it. I got custody,'" Lester said. "He was so excited."
The documented 2004 abuse case came from a complaint filed with DCS in August 2004. Choate admitted to DCS investigators he sometimes would use a belt to discipline Kubina's nieces.
Being hit with a belt was how Choate was disciplined as a child, Lester said.
"He just said he didn't know it was wrong to whip a child with a belt," she said.
DCS referred Choate to parenting classes and removed Kubina's nieces from the home, agency documents show.
After DCS intervened, Choate didn't hit either of Kubina's nieces again after they returned to the home, one of the girls told The Times in a previous interview.
When news of the allegations against Choate in connection with Christian's death began to surface, Choate's family was stunned, Lester said. When Choate was arrested in connection with Christian's death, his three siblings had mixed reactions, she said.
But Lester has stuck by her brother by attending court hearings and supporting him as much as she can.
"He's not the person that he's been made out to be," she said. "He's not a monster."
Cleveland resigned from working with the Choate family in September 2005. She could not be reached for comment.
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