THE NEXT AMERICAN SCANDAL: SILICON VALLEY'S DESIGNER CHILD TRAFFICKING NETWORK

INTRODUCTION: While America is still processing the Epstein and Diddy trafficking scandals, a far more sinister operation has been uncovered in Silicon Valley. This investigation reveals how San Mateo County has become the command center for the most sophisticated child trafficking network in history - one that makes previous scandals look like amateur operations. Unlike Epstein's political blackmail scheme or Diddy's entertainment industry trafficking, this network has weaponized America's legal system itself, transforming family courts into trafficking mechanisms and tech platforms into exploitation engines. This isn't just another trafficking operation - it's the systematic corruption of every institution meant to protect children, orchestrated by those sworn to uphold the law. Family courts, law enforcement, and Silicon Valley's tech giants have been transformed into components of an exploitation machine that operates with industrial efficiency. Where Epstein targeted the politically connected and Diddy preyed on entertainment industry aspirants, the tech network has industrialized child trafficking through the very legal systems meant to protect children.

The scale and sophistication of this operation make previous high-profile trafficking cases look like amateur efforts, positioning San Mateo County as the most dangerous intersection of tech, wealth, power, and institutional corruption in modern American history.

WHAT IS DESIGNER CHILD TRAFFICKING? "Designer child trafficking" represents the next evolution in human exploitation - a sophisticated system where abuse is not just enabled but legally sanctioned and protected through institutional corruption. At its core, this network transforms reports of domestic violence, child abuse and child sexual abuse into profitable trafficking opportunities.

Protective mothers and fathers are both targets - but in different ways. When protective mothers report abuse, instead of receiving protection, they encounter a weaponized judicial system designed to strip them of all rights while delivering their children directly to abusers.  In a recent expansion of this child trafficking and exploitation network - when protective fathers object to child abuse in the form of gender changing mutilation, sterilization and chemical or actual castration of their children they encounter the same playbook.

The trafficking occurs through a perverse inversion of legal process: abusers are offered immunity and custody in exchange for becoming operational assets in a broader criminal enterprise. Family courts become auction blocks where children are quite literally purchased through legal proceedings, with judges, attorneys, and court-appointed experts serving as brokers in this human marketplace. Protective parents face a coordinated assault - financially drained through endless legal proceedings, psychologically devastated by forced separation from their children, and legally silenced through strategic court orders.

Unlike traditional trafficking that operates in shadows, this system functions in broad daylight, protected by the very institutions meant to prevent such crimes. Every component of the justice system becomes a mechanism of exploitation: abuse reports trigger trafficking opportunities, court orders facilitate victim acquisition, and law enforcement provides protection for perpetrators instead of victims.

THE SILICON VALLEY CONNECTION: San Mateo County's position as America's tech capital transforms this network into something exponentially more dangerous than previous trafficking operations. The United States has become the world's largest producer and consumer of C.S.A.M. (child sexual abuse material), with Silicon Valley's tech platforms serving as the primary distribution network. This creates a perfect storm of exploitation: family courts deliver victims, tech platforms facilitate distribution, and law enforcement provides protection.

The tech industry's role goes beyond mere facilitation. Silicon Valley companies have created sophisticated algorithms and payment systems that enable worldwide distribution of C.S.A.M, while simultaneously developing technologies that shield these activities from detection. The same San Mateo County network that manipulates courts to traffic children also controls the technological infrastructure enabling nationwide distribution. This isn't coincidental - it's a calculated business model that transforms child exploitation from isolated crimes into an industrial-scale operation.

What makes this system particularly insidious is how it leverages Silicon Valley's legitimate power structures. Tech executives and employees who program these systems become complicit in a network that reaches far beyond San Mateo County. Every time these platforms facilitate exploitation, they drive demand for more victims, creating a self-perpetuating cycle that fuels C.S.A.M. and child sex trafficking operations nationwide.

LAW ENFORCEMENT AS TRAFFICKERS: The San Mateo County Sheriff's Department stands as the cornerstone of this criminal enterprise, not merely through negligence but through active participation and strategic protection of child sexual abuse. Despite a grand jury investigation revealing that 76% of victims of sexual assault in San Mateo are children, the department deliberately dismantled its sex crimes unit - a calculated move that effectively provides institutional protection for abusers.

Instead of investigating crimes against children, the department has become their architect. Their most insidious strategy involves recruiting vetted criminals - particularly those facing prosecution for abuse - by offering an unprecedented deal: full custody of their victims, complete isolation from the protective parent and immunity from prosecution. In exchange, these perpetrators become operational mules in the trafficking network, creating a self-perpetuating system where each protected predator becomes another asset in the criminal enterprise.

This corruption goes beyond simple bribery or negligence. The San Mateo County Sheriff's Department has systematically transformed itself from a law enforcement agency into a trafficking operation's protection service. Rather than raiding tech companies and their employees that facilitate exploitation or investigating abuse allegations, they actively protect perpetrators while silencing and intimidating victims and whistleblowers.

THE DARK MARKETS AND CRIMINAL ECOSYSTEM: Below the surface of tech industry exploitation lies a sprawling underground operation where lower-tier mules create an interconnected web of criminal enterprises. These operations span drug trafficking, weapons distribution, money laundering, and human labor trafficking - all operating under the strategic protection of corrupted law enforcement. The San Mateo Sheriff's Department either actively participates in or deliberately ignores these criminal markets, creating a shadow economy that feeds the larger exploitation network.

This multi-layered criminal ecosystem mirrors the sophistication of Silicon Valley's legitimate business models. High-level tech industry perpetrators maintain plausible deniability while lower-tier operatives handle the dirty work of physical trafficking, drug distribution, and money laundering. Each layer of the operation is carefully insulated from the others, creating a networked criminal enterprise that's nearly impossible to dismantle.

The genius of this system lies in its recruitment strategy. By targeting individuals already compromised by evidence of serious crimes, the network creates an army of operatives who can never risk exposure. These aren't victims being coerced, but predators hitting the ultimate jackpot: a guaranteed get-out-of-jail-free card, institutional protection for their crimes, and unrestricted access to their victims. This creates a perpetual cycle of exploitation where each new recruit becomes another cog in an ever-expanding criminal machine.

THE TECHNICAL INFRASTRUCTURE: Silicon Valley's tech platforms serve as both shield and delivery system for this criminal enterprise. The United States' position as the world's largest producer and consumer of child exploitation material is directly enabled by the technical infrastructure built in San Mateo County. Tech companies program algorithms that facilitate distribution while simultaneously developing systems that shield these activities from detection.

Payment gateways, content delivery networks, and social media platforms become weaponized tools in this exploitation machinery. The same technology companies that claim to protect users are, whether through deliberate action or willful blindness, providing the technical backbone for the world's most sophisticated trafficking operation.

NATIONAL IMPACT AND REPLICATION: While headquartered in Silicon Valley, this network's impact extends far beyond San Mateo County's borders. The combination of institutional power, technological reach, and law enforcement protection has created a blueprint for exploitation that's being replicated across America. Every time Silicon Valley's platforms facilitate exploitation, they drive demand for more victims, creating a nationwide market for designer child trafficking.

This isn't just a local scandal - it's a national emergency hiding in plain sight. The San Mateo County model provides a template for corruption that's being exported to family courts across the country. The network's technological infrastructure enables instantaneous nationwide distribution of exploitation material, while its institutional protection model shows other jurisdictions how to corrupt their own systems for profit.

THE SYSTEMATIC DESTRUCTION OF PROTECTIVE MOTHERS AND FATHERS: The network's effectiveness relies heavily on its ability to systematically destroy protective mothers and fathers who attempt to expose abuse. These women, often middle and upper-class professionals, face a coordinated assault designed to strip them of everything: their children, their resources, their credibility, and their ability to fight back.

The process begins the moment a child reports abuse. Instead of receiving protection, a highly coordinated and weaponized legal system designed to bankrupt, discredit, and ultimately silence the child victim and protective parent. Court-ordered psychological evaluations, supervised visitation requirements, and endless legal proceedings drain financial resources while simultaneously building a paper trail that will be used against them. Even those with substantial evidence of abuse quickly find themselves labeled as "alienating" or "unstable" by court-appointed experts who predictably recommend custody to abusers.

These aren't isolated incidents but a calculated pattern of institutional abuse. Parents who persist in protecting their children face escalating retaliation: loss of custody, restricted visitation, mounting legal fees, and even jail time for attempting to expose the abuse. The system transforms protective parents from guardians into powerless witnesses to their children's ongoing exploitation, forced into silence through gag orders and threats of complete custody loss.

COURT-CONNECTED PROFESSIONALS AS TRAFFICKERS: The network's effectiveness relies on a carefully orchestrated team of court-connected professionals who facilitate the trafficking process. Custody evaluators, guardians ad litem, parenting coordinators, and court-appointed therapists form a closed loop of "experts" who reliably recommend custody to abusers while pathologizing protective mothers and fathers. These professionals aren't independent actors but integral parts of the trafficking machinery, each playing a specific role in transforming abuse reports into profitable trafficking opportunities.

THE MONEY TRAIL: This network's financial structure reveals its true sophistication. Unlike traditional trafficking operations that rely on cash transactions, this system launders its profits through legitimate-appearing legal fees, court-ordered services, and tech industry payments.

Protective parents are forced to finance their own destruction, paying hundreds of thousands in legal fees and court-ordered services that are merely theatrics to give the appearance of legitimacy in predetermined outcomes that ultimately serve to deliver their children to abusers.

The financial ecosystem includes:

• Exorbitant legal fees that drain protective parents resources
• Court-ordered evaluations and therapies that cost tens of thousands
• Supervised visitation requirements that generate ongoing revenue
• Money laundering through law firm trust accounts and court-ordered services
• Money laundering through irrevocable real estate trusts (untraceable)
• Forced sale of the family home to pay legal fees (San Mateo has the most expensive real estate in the country)
• Tech industry stocks disguised as legitimate business transactions
• Criminal mules serving the network through dark criminal networks and providing C.S.A.M or sex trafficking of their own children

WHITEWASHING THROUGH TECHNOLOGY: Silicon Valley's tech platforms don't just facilitate distribution - they provide the tools for whitewashing these crimes. Social media algorithms suppress abuse victims' accounts while amplifying perpetrator-controlled narratives. Payment systems process trafficking profits under the guise of legitimate business transactions. Content moderation tools selectively enforce policies to protect perpetrators while silencing victims.

SUPPRESSION OF WHISTLEBLOWERS AND WITNESSES: The network's survival depends on its ability to silence those who attempt to expose it. Whistleblowers within the system - whether court employees, law enforcement officers, or tech industry workers - face swift and severe retaliation. Those who dare to speak out find their careers destroyed, their reputations smeared, and their lives threatened. The message is clear: exposure of this system carries consequences that few can afford to risk.

Law enforcement officers who attempt to investigate abuse cases are reassigned or forced out. Court employees who question corrupt practices face immediate termination. Tech industry workers who raise concerns about exploitation material are silenced through NDAs and legal threats. This systematic suppression creates a chilling effect that ensures institutional compliance and protects the network's operations.

THE INVESTIGATION BREAKING THE SILENCE: Despite the network's power, a three-year investigation by protective mothers has begun to unravel its operations. These women, stripped of everything but their determination to expose the truth, have transformed themselves into relentless investigators and journalists. Operating at extraordinary personal risk, they've documented the network's activities, mapped its connections, and identified its key players.
What emerged from this investigation is a pattern of institutional corruption so vast it initially defied belief. The evidence reveals:

• Systematic court corruption enabling child trafficking
• Law enforcement's strategic protection of perpetrators
• Tech industry's role in facilitating exploitation
• Financial and Real Estate networks laundering trafficking profits
• Institutional retaliation against whistleblowers
• Predatory "Domestic Violence" and "Child Abuse" non-profits recruiting victims by masquerading as "hotlines" and "protection agencies" funneling "leads" to the network 

BROADER IMPLICATIONS FOR AMERICAN JUSTICE: The exposure of this network reveals a crisis at the heart of American justice. When courts become trafficking mechanisms, law enforcement protects predators, and tech platforms facilitate exploitation, the entire foundation of civil society is compromised. This isn't just about corrupt individuals - it's about the systematic weaponization of American institutions against the citizens they're meant to protect.

NATIONAL SECURITY IMPLICATIONS: The weaponization of America's legal system and tech infrastructure for child trafficking represents more than a criminal enterprise - it's a national security crisis. When foreign adversaries can potentially leverage evidence of institutional corruption and exploitation networks operating within Silicon Valley's tech giants, it creates unprecedented vulnerabilities. The United States' position as the world's largest producer and consumer of exploitation material, facilitated by its own tech platforms, threatens not just children but national stability.

The implications extend beyond individual crimes:

• Compromise of critical tech infrastructure
• Vulnerability of judicial and law enforcement systems to foreign influence
• Erosion of public trust in American institutions
• Creation of blackmail networks that can influence tech industry leaders
• Systematic corruption of local government agencies that handle sensitive data
• Exploitation of Silicon Valley's global reach to export criminal methodologies

THE MOTHER-LED RESISTANCE: What makes this investigation unprecedented is its source: mothers who refused to be silenced. These women, facing the destruction of their families and careers, transformed their trauma into a powerful investigative force. Operating without institutional support and often under direct threat, they've documented a criminal enterprise that professional law enforcement either couldn't or wouldn't touch.

These mother-investigators have:

• Mapped complex criminal networks
• Documented institutional corruption
• Tracked financial trails
• Identified key perpetrators
• Connected seemingly isolated cases into clear patterns
• Built an unprecedented database of evidence

CALL TO ACTION: The exposure of this network demands immediate response at multiple levels:
Federal Level:

• Congressional investigation into San Mateo County's court system
• DOJ task force focused on institutional trafficking networks
• Federal oversight of tech platform's role in exploitation
• Review of family court practices nationwide

State Level:

• Complete overhaul of family court systems
• Independent investigation of the San Mateo Sheriff's Department
• Reform of court-appointed expert systems
• Enhanced protections for abuse reporters

Technology Sector:

• Independent audit of content moderation systems
• Investigation of payment systems used in trafficking
• Reform of algorithmic systems that enable exploitation
• Enhanced transparency in platform operations

THE PATH FORWARD:

IMMEDIATE ACTIONS REQUIRED: What makes this network uniquely dangerous is its ability to weaponize legitimate institutions. Dismantling it requires a multi-pronged approach:
Institutional Reform:

• Complete overhaul of family court systems nationwide
• Elimination of court-appointed "experts" with financial conflicts of interest
• Mandatory investigation of all abuse allegations before custody decisions
• Creation of independent oversight boards for family courts
• Reform of judicial immunity when trafficking is enabled through court orders

Law Enforcement Accountability:

• Federal investigation of the San Mateo County Sheriff's Department
• Restoration and enhancement of sex crimes investigation units
• Independent review of all cases where abuse reports led to custody reversals
• Creation of specialized task forces to investigate institutional trafficking
• Protection mechanisms for officers who report internal corruption

Tech Industry Reform:

• Mandatory transparency in content moderation practices
• Independent audits of algorithms and payment systems
• Enhanced detection and reporting systems for exploitation
• Reform of platform immunity when trafficking is facilitated
• Creation of victim-centered reporting mechanisms

Protective Systems:

• Emergency intervention protocols for at-risk children and protective parents
• Financial protection for mothers fighting trafficking through courts
• Witness protection programs for families exposing institutional corruption
• Legal support systems for protective parents

CONCLUSION - THE RECKONING: America stands at a crossroads. The exposure of this network challenges our fundamental assumptions about institutional integrity. The question isn't just how we've allowed this to happen, but how we move forward as a nation that claims to protect its children.

This investigation reveals more than a criminal enterprise - it exposes a crisis of values at the heart of American society. When courts become trafficking mechanisms, law enforcement protects predators, and tech platforms facilitate exploitation, we must fundamentally reconstruct our protective systems.

The mothers who uncovered this network have provided a roadmap not just for investigation, but for renewal. Their work proves that even the most sophisticated criminal enterprises can be exposed when determined individuals refuse to be silenced.

The path forward requires not just reform but transformation - of our institutions, our protective systems, and our collective response to institutional corruption. The children and families trapped in this network deserve nothing less than a complete dismantling of the systems that enabled their exploitation and the creation of truly protective institutions in their place.

This isn't just about punishing perpetrators - it's about rebuilding our capacity to protect the vulnerable and restore faith in American justice. The next chapter in this story belongs to all of us. The only question is whether we have the courage to write it.

After 3 YEARS of relentless investigation by MOMS, the truth EXPLODES into the light.

The Moms Report rips the mask off America's darkest secret. No more theories. No more whispers. HARD FACTS and EVIDENCE expose the sprawling network that preys on OUR CHILDREN. Silicon Valley. Hollywood, public officials. All caught red-handed in a web of TRAFFICKING and ABUSE of AMERICAN CHILDREN.

This isn't just a report. It's a DECLARATION OF WAR against those who thought they were untouchable.

Names. Dates. Money trails. It's all being revealed here, meticulously documented by moms whose AMERICAN children are being trafficked and abused by a powerful network. These criminals thought they could engage in kidnapping, extortion, and exploitation with impunity. They assumed moms would be intimidated into silence while their children suffered.

They were DEAD WRONG.

These moms aren't just refusing to back down. They're on the offensive, armed with irrefutable evidence. The corrupt system is cracking. The so-called untouchables are running scared.
This isn't just exposure. It's the beginning of their downfall.

READ IT. SHARE IT. BE PART OF THE RECKONING.

The Moms Report: Because some truths can no longer be buried.
The Moms Report: Because child predators deserve NO MERCY and NO HIDING PLACE.
The Moms Report: Because corrupted power CRUMBLES in the face of MOTHER'S FURY.
The Moms Report: Because preying on innocent children earns you a ONE-WAY TICKET to HELL.
The Moms Report: Because these bastards fucked with the WRONG MOMS.
The Moms Report: Because those who profit from innocent children will be EXPOSED.
The Moms Report: Because silence ENDS where a mother's RAGE ignites.
The Moms Report: Because those who profit from children's pain will LOSE EVERYTHING.
The Moms Report: Because no badge or robe can shield CHILD EXPLOITERS from JUSTICE.
The Moms Report: Because the truth hits harder than any gavel ever could.
The Moms Report: Because moms armed with truth will DEMOLISH corrupt empires.
The Moms Report: Because determined moms will RECLAIM the safety of American children.
The Moms Report: Because we're coming for our children, and NOTHING will stop us.

Excerpt from the Mom's Report: " "The next shockwave across America exposing the epidemic of yet another highly organized and sophisticated "designer child trafficking", sexual abuse and racketeering network - headquartered in Silicon Valley.  ​

​The low estimate is 1, 115 ONE THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN AMERICAN CHILDREN a WEEK bought, sold and trafficked to be further abused, exploited and profited from by this network. - Silicon Valley, Hollywood, Corporations, STATE officials, Judges, Attorneys... all tangled in this racketeering web.

Well known victims of this network include Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Sharon Stone, Angelina Jolie, Brody Dalle, Alexandra Gucci and many others. The dots connect far and wide from Silicon Valley to LA to Florida, from "The Twitter Files and Yelp to Balenciaca, Ashton Kutcher, tech executives, SYNANON Cult, to the death of politicians who tried to expose this like Senator Nancy Schaefer and Judge Malanie Andress-Tobiasson and so many more...

Buckle up butter cups because truth is stranger than fiction and this rabbit hole is like if the Hunger Games and the Handmaids Tale had a baby - in real life. "

Read The Moms Reports and Investigation

Armed with truth, the moms have become relentless investigators and journalists. Driven by the deafening silence surrounding the trafficking of AMERICAN children - THEIR children - they're exposing what no one else dares. Silicon Valley, Hollywood, public officials...all tangled in this racketeering web of abusing children for profit and power - and enabled by a handful of corrupt Judges in our American Courts.

These moms aren't just speaking up; they're screaming from the rooftops. Names are being named. Every dark corner illuminated. Consequences be damned.

With nothing left to lose and everything to fight for, they're battling for their trafficked and abused AMERICAN children's lives.

No more silence. No more cover-ups. These women are tearing down the curtain on a system that preys on the innocent. From courtrooms to boardrooms, no stone left unturned. The truth is coming, and it's going to shake the foundations of power across the nation.
Read: The Moms Reports and Investigation

We first published this article on 09/25/2022 and promised an update.  Will Kevin Karne's protect women and children victims of abuse in Lee County, Florida? Answer: emphatically NO - even worse yet, an investigation shows Karne's actively obstructs victims from obtaining access to Courts, law enforcement protection from the Sheriff's and services from CPS.  Karne's is well aware of the designer child trafficking and child abuse cover-ups as an epidemic in his court.  Protesters claiming Lee County Court is corrupt beyond repair have been a regular event outside the courthouse - the protesters represent a wide variety of litigants, encompassing every range of legal issues - not just family court victims.

In wake of the Federal Investigation into Karne's close associate Sheriff Carmine Marceno for money laundering and accepting bribes, victims reports have been flooding in about connections between child trafficking in the family courts overseen by Karen's and cover-up's of child-abuse and domestic violence by the Marceno's Sheriff's office. 

Is Marceno the tip of the iceberg of a larger operation? Multiple Lee County public officials financial disclosures, including Marceno, include exorbitant amounts of "gambling winnings".  Videos have now surfaced of Marceno accepting large stacks of cash, receiving lap dances in his patrol car and much, much more.  For the record, multiple request were sent to Kevin Karne's regarding serious cases of child abuse and domestic violence requiring his urgent attention and asking for comment. He has never responded. 

Part of Karnes Job is listed on the Lee County website as: "Enhanced guardianship audits and investigations help to protect those served by Florida Guardianship Law, such as the elderly, incapacitated adults, and minor children."   AS A TOTAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST...and "CONVENIENTLY " he is another job too...INVESTIGATOR OF CORRUPTION - Karne's oversees the Inspector General Office and is an elected official.  His financial disclosures upon request are "locked" and the public is being denied access...  Things that make you go hmmmmm.  
​
Click Read More below to view the original article and how "Amanda's" 5 year old is being severely abused and continues to be silenced and retaliated against by Karne's, the Sheriff's Office and other Lee County, Florida "public servants".

A recently uncovered report from 2013 reveals an interstate child trafficking and racketeering syndicate run through the Family Courts - a rich source of qualified leads for predatory "professionals" who view abused children as highly profitable. The enterprise uses the court to identify, target and exploit American children and parents who are easy prey through a complex scheme between state actors and private contractors and known pedophiles.


CLICK READ MORE TO DOWNLOAD THE ENTIRE REPORT
​...spoiler alert it gets worse!

A Federal Lawsuit filed in San Francisco claims San Mateo County and Santa Cruz County in Silicon Valley are the headquarters of a state run child trafficking operation that is supported, facilitated and protected by Judges, attorneys, police, "mental health" and other private contractors of the County. 

Click Read More To Read and Download the Federal Lawsuit

The Santa Cruz County, California Board of Supervisors and City Council have refused to help the Mother of one of the three family court kidnapped children who were all violently kidnapped in the same neighborhood directly by the Santa Cruz Police Department or facilitated by the Santa Cruz Police Department. This Momma Bear has been showing up to meetings and making public comments.    Her Instagram handle is @ForensicMomma and her youtube channel is also ForensicMomma. Capitol "M". She will be posting all her public comments to follow document the complicity of elected politicians in Santa Cruz, California who have not kept their word to dole out "serious consequences" to the 8 police officers who violently injured she and her daughter.

MetooMoms National Spokeswoman Talks About The Epidemic Of Family Court Corruption And Her Own Personal Story Of Being Terrorized By San Mateo County Family Court In Silicon Valley. Click on the image to visit DeAnna Lorraine's Show "Shots Fired" On The Stew Peters Network or click here  INTERVIEW STARTS AT 31 minutes.

CLICK READ MORE FOR FULL STORY

For a year and a half, Franchetti had been trying to warn a Long Island court that Rumsey was unstable and violent and should not be allowed unsupervised time with their daughter. But the judge granted him time alone with Kyra while they awaited the custody trial. Had her concerns been taken more seriously, Franchetti believes her daughter would be alive today.
Jacqueline Franchetti with her daughter Kyra in 2016.Jacqueline Franchetti"I did everything I was supposed to do. I left the abusive relationship. I came forward with as much as I possibly could," she said. "Kyra's murder was 100 percent preventable."
​CLICK READ MORE FOR THE FULL STORY

Sunday, October 18, 2020
by Tesha M. Christensen
Monitor, Saint Paul
Voices Against Violence Series
Because fit mothers are losing custody and children are being harmed, supporters of Safe Child Act want to make sure family court focuses on child safety over parents rights...Of the moms she knows who lost legal custody and got reduced parenting time, none had criminal convictions or had been in criminal court. There was no determination of negligence or endangerment. “They hardly had a speeding ticket,” said Roy.
“People just assume lawmakers and judges are looking out for children – and they’re not.
“The public needs to get informed.” Evidence ignored as ’heresay’
What is the contributing factor to women losing custody? Not being heard on the evidence they have, according to Roy.
She pointed to cases like that of her friend, Leigh Ann Olson Block, whose evidence of domestic violence was ignored by the Ramsey County Family Court. Having been given joint legal custody and over 50% of the parenting time, Highland High School graduate John Tester murdered their daughter Mikayla the weekend before she would have started kindergarten in September 2004.
This isn’t an isolated case. Since 2008, the Center for Judicial Excellence has identified 748 children who were murdered by a divorcing or separating parent. 
CLICK READ MORE FOR FULL STORY...

‘It takes two’ is a myth. There is the idea in family court that there are two equal parties in a divorce. “The mantra is that it takes two,” observed Richards, and that both parties are engaged in conflict. These are then termed “high conflict” cases.
That doesn’t factor in the reality of domestic violence. Where there’s intimate partner violence, one person is exerting power and control over the other and is engaged in manipulating the system. “If you have a father who has been engaged in coercive control, they’re highly skilled in using these same tactics in the family court system,” said Richards.
“The general presumption is that moms get custody in divorce cases,” observed Richards. While that may be true when you look at all of divorce cases, those where couples can agree on what to do about their kids, it isn’t true when domestic violence is a factor. “If you look at the contested cases with domestic violence against the mother or child abuse by the father against the child, fathers are more likely to gain custody,” said Richards.The study looked at more than 2,000 custody cases involving child abuse, domestic violence, and parental alienation nationwide. There is no study specific to Minnesota and no state agency that looks specifically at domestic violence, but Richards believes that Minnesota mirrors what has been found at a national level.
“When there are contested cases and domestic violence, fathers are receiving custody more frequently,” stated Richards.
​CLICK READ MORE FOR THE FULL STORY

by Naomi Cahn, Senior Contributor
Forbes.com
Emma (name and identifying details changed) was married to a man in the military for many years. During that time, he repeatedly abused her and their children. She reported the abuse to the police and to the military. 
When she went to court, she had recordings of her husband’s threats against her. But a court decided to award custody of their children to the father. 
Why? The father claimed parental alienation, that Emma was alienating the children from their father by false claims that he was abusing them. 
The term “parental alienation” comes from the work of child psychiatrist Richard Gardner in the 1980s to explain what he saw as a shocking number of child sexual abuse allegations in custody litigation. Gardner claimed that many of these abuse allegations were fabricated by vengeful or pathological mothers. 
But his theory has been subjected to strong criticism, such as that from Jeffrey Edleson, former director of the Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse and professor and director of research at the University of Minnesota School of Social Work, who said in 2009 that, “PAS is essentially composed of unsubstantiated claims; there’s no science behind it.” 
Nonetheless, it survives in a gender-neutral form as parental alienation. But, that too has been discredited, and as the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, explains, it “also diverts attention away from the behaviors of the abusive parent.” 

​CLICK READ MORE FOR THE FULL STORY

By Samantha Schmidt
Washington Post
July 29, 2019
​Hera McLeod pleaded with the family court judge to keep her 15-month-old son, Prince, away from her abusive ex-boyfriend. The mother, along with many other witnesses, told the court about the man’s fits of rage, the night he threatened to kill her at gunpoint, the times he allegedly abused his older son and allegedly raped McLeod’s sister.
But the judge said there was insufficient evidence of the alleged abuse by the father, Joaquin Rams. “There’s a lot of smoke,” said the family court judge in Montgomery County, Md. “With all that smoke, I can’t see clearly.”
The court initially ordered supervised visits with the baby’s father, but just months later allowed Rams to keep Prince for unsupervised, all-day visits. Then on the fourth visit, on Oct. 20, 2012, Rams drowned the toddler at a friend’s home in Manassas, Va. He was found guilty of capital murder in 2017.  CLICK READ MORE FOR THE FULL STORY

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by Laurie Udesky (an award-winning investigative reporter) 100Reporters
EXCERPT: In family courts throughout the country, evidence that one of the parents is sexually or physically abusing a child is routinely rejected. Instead, perpetrators of abuse are often entrusted with unsupervised visits or joint or sole custody of the children they abuse, putting children in danger of serious, often life-threatening harm, according to children’s advocates.
Our two-year investigation – which includes interviews with more than 30 parents and survivors in California, Ohio, North Carolina, New York, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, Maryland and New Jersey – uncovered stories of children consigned to suffer years of abuse in fear and silence while the parents who sought to protect them were driven to the brink financially and psychologically. These parents have become increasingly stigmatized by a family court system that not only discounts evidence of abuse but accepts dubious theories used to undermine the protective parents’ credibility.
CLICK READ MORE FOR THE FULL STORY
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