healthy family
A Father's Story
Author Anonymous to Protect the Safety of his Son
Imagine being a loving responsible parent and your child is taken away from you through false allegations and manipulation of a badly broken and overwhelmed family court system.
This is my story:
I am a victim of Hostile Parenting or Parental Alienation. By the time my ordeal was over, my divorce took over 4-1/2 years. It involved a divorce and juvenile court in two states, four judges, four police jurisdictions, six divorce and one criminal attorney(s), two social workers, two court appointed divorce mediators, a Guardian Ad Litem and legal costs of over $200k - an amount that would have been better spent on my son’s college education.
My ex-wife made claims of child pornography on our family computer - which was in her possession – and even after these attempts failed, she continued to file similar and embellished versions with numerous police stations. People were told I was gay, a gambler, and an alcoholic as well as that I abused my child - all lies. My son was bribed, threatened and eventually coerced into supporting her story. She manipulated social workers, law enforcement agencies and other individuals until she succeeded in blocking my visitation rights thus cutting off all communication with my son for nearly nine months. This allowed her the opportunity to begin an alienating process against me with my then 8-year old son. Two videotaped interviews with him failed to support her stories. Her attorney worked the family court system in a masterful way, employing unethical, even illegal, tactics to ‘win’.
Who would ever think something like this could happen in America? I voluntarily took a polygraph test by Wisconsin’s leading authority as well as numerous psychological evaluations to prove my innocence. Her constant attacks succeeded in keeping the system off-balance. Having missed an entire summer and desperate to get a message to my son that I loved him, I paid a local business owner to post a sign on my son’s first day of school. I had NO voice.
One evening, six armed policemen searched my home and ceased several boxes of personal items – including my work computer. I felt violated. After several weeks at the state crime lab and nothing questionable found, my things were returned with a weak apology. My ex-wife was never held accountable or punished for her false claims against me. My first five attorneys failed to represent me, causing me and my son great harm as well as delaying the process. They were never held accountable either but gladly took my money.
After 9 months of absolutely NO contact with my son, the court finally allowed supervised visits but we could not discuss the case. After 4-1/2 years of anguish and heartache, I was awarded joint legal custody and placement – which was what we had to begin with. Though my son’s trust and safety has been compromised, we are both working to heal from this battle. If divorcing parents were held accountable for false claims and emotional manipulation of their children to win custody, Parental Alienation could be greatly reduced, if not eliminated.
Today, I am grateful for every moment with my son. Regardless of what his mother has done to hurt us, I still believe my son needs both of his parents in his life.
Author’s identity is anonymous to protect the safety of his son.
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