Will Kevin Karenes Protect Abused Children And Domestic Violence Victims? Reporter For MetooMoms Of Lee County Florida Issues Emergency Alert.

Kevin Karnes, Clerk Of Court And Comptroller in Lee County Florida Email: [email protected]

What is wrong with Lee County Florida Family Court? Metoo Moms are asking Kevin Karnes, Clerk of The Court and Comptroller to protect child abuse and domestic violence victims in his jurisdiction. 

"Amanda" (name changed for safety) is a mom in Lee County who has reported abuse of her son for YEARS. "Amanda" reports she has not only been ignored by the county, her son (age 5) is in danger and she has been punished for her attempts to protect him. She reports not only that her child has endured bruises from CHOCKING by the father, who is abusive, violent, and a drug addict - Lee County has done NOTHING to protect her child despite video and audio evidence (read full story below).

We have sent a request for information as to how this could happen in Lee County to Karnes and are awaiting his reply.  We are hoping he will take immediate action to get to the bottom of this and we can connect him with "Amanda".  We will keep you updated.

​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."  

Karne's also oversees the Inspector General Office and is an elected official.

Please read "Amanda's" story and contact Lee County officials to demand immediate action for the safety of "Amanda's" son.   Phone numbers and emails are listed at the end of this article.

"AMANDA'S STORY"
My story started in March of 2020 when I finally escaped my abusive, violent, drug addict husband...  (READ MORE AND TAKE ACTION)

---

I discovered he was a heavy drug user 1 week after my son was born upon finding the paraphernalia in our house. This could have explained some of the extreme violence we endured, but ultimately, he went to a 30 day rehab (didn't graduate with high likelihood of recovery because he didn't stick with the post rehab plan of therapy 5 days a week) and came right back out abusing me & our newborn. I recorded him being verbally abusive to my son on the baby monitor at 2am blaming him for ruining his life and the reason he went to rehab as our baby would cry for us to nurture & hold him. There had been multiple police incidents, EMT records-one incident he almost killed our son putting him on a 4 foot tower at a toddler play gym and he fell and hit the concrete, knocked unconscious. I have endless photos of bruises & holes in the walls/doors of the home along with horrific audio/video recordings of the abuse. I was forced to quit my job as the breadwinner to take care of my son as he was also born with major birth conditions requiring several surgeries.

His father began direct depositing all his money into his personal account so we had no funds to escape or for bills (the mortgage) which were in my name. His goal was to ruin my credit making it impossible for me to get an apartment to escape. Once I was able escape after being forced to put the house on the market, he began threatening and stalking me-telling me he would gain access to his child no matter what and began seeing our son alone 2 days a week. A month later, my son began reporting sexual abuse by his father at the age of 3. I called DCF and have the interview recording where he told them his father was "peeing in his mouth". DCF did nothing and claimed the father told them I was "coaching" the child-even after I had showed them all the previous evidence. 

I filed an injunction for protection and he agreed to supervised visitation, but the injunction expired in Dec. 2020. During all of the non stop abuse chaos coupled with Covid pandemic, I had been laid off and evicted and homeless. I was forced to borrow money to move to Lee County, FL from Palm Beach County, FL in with family temporarily. I filed for divorce and he still has not filed his Mandatory Disclosures (after 3 years) to avoid paying child support-the judges in Lee County continue to allow his motions for extensions despite my begging for child support assistance as my son had always lived with me and saw his father 2 days a week. He then filed for 50/50 timesharing to avoid paying support.

In Dec. 2020, I discovered he had moved here and began picking my son up from his school while I was in nursing school. There was no court order stopping him and he again threatened me with legal action (he has a VERY wealthy family and is given a regular supply/allowance of funds every month on top of his income to fight). He has kept 2 attorneys on retainer the past several years, yet can't afford to pay me support owed and went 5 months without giving anything.

I paid over $2k for my son's therapies the past several years despite his father's refusal to sign consents and take him or pay even after he was diagnosed with severe PTSD & anxiety from the trauma. He told his therapists he was told "not to tell" of things happening.

In Dec. 2021, I picked my son up from school and he had red marks on his neck. Later, he told me that his father choked him and he couldn't breathe. I video taped his response, took photos of his injuries, and called DCF in Lee County. He told DCF and sent him to CPT where he stated in a recorded interview the same thing. In the DCF report, they stated "positive findings for physical abuse" and closed out his report. I filed an injunction again, and DCF was subpoenaed by his father and told the court there was "no safety issue" and that "they had the whole story". Judge (name redacted due to ongoing hearings) denied all 3 of my requests for continuances for CPT witnesses, then attacked me for "filing out of spite and ruining my child's mental health." She dismissed the case without allowing me my 14th amendment right to due process.

Law enforcement in Lee County sent the child abuse case to the state attorney, Michael Curley, who then stated DCF closed multiple investigations and since they use DCF as a witness, they would not pursue it. There have been other abuse investigations opened up by DCF that were not called in by me and I'm unaware of details.

In May of 2022, my child began reporting physical and sexual abuse to multiple therapists. They called DCF. My son also came home with another injury I asked him what happened and he said he "fell down stairs and didn't want to talk about it. " He later admitted his father pushed him up a flight of stairs causing injury to his right shoulder. I reported the incident to DCF. DCF opened investigation combining all 3 cases and sent him to CPT. At CPT, they made him wait 2 hours before his interview and did an invasive sexual abuse medical exam on him while I was interrogated by CPT in another room with law enforcement and DCF present. The DCF caseworker refused to give me his last name (so I couldn't subpoena him), his supervisors contact and refused to speak to me the entire investigation despite daily communication attempts.

I filed another injunction as I assumed DCF would close it out-like they always do.

After his interview, CPT said DCF would call me with their plans. DCF never called me. I reached out to law enforcement and who told me DCF would call me. DCF told me they would be doing supervised visits at the DCF office and I needed to complete parenting services. I asked for an explanation as to all of this and received nothing. I was demanded by DCF to bring him to the office according to the father's schedule and they refused to care or ask about mine. Once there, they took my son upstairs with his father and the caseworker, and wouldn't allow me past security to see where he was being taken. One day, I waited downstairs and it was 10 minutes past the time I was ordered to pick him up. Security refused to let me upstairs or even call to see what was happening. He told me to call the supervisor and I told him the caseworker refused to give me the supervisor's contact, so how would I do that? After they gave me the number, I called and my son came downstairs 5 minutes later with a massive EGG on his HEAD! I was LIVID AND SHOCKED! The caseworker was no where to be found, and instead was replaced with a "family watcher" and I asked what happened??? My son was in pain and begging to go to the DR. They claimed he fell on a puzzle box. I was forced to rush him to the ER as nobody even gave him ice or seemed to care he received an injury. While at the ER, the supervisor called me back and I let him have it. He threatened me that if I didn't stop, "things would be going a different way". 

At my injunction hearing, DCF caseworker was again subpoenaed and told the court my child was "coached" by me and that both parents were a problem. The judge again, dismissed the case.

My son is now suicidal at age 5 and self harms almost every week, multiple times as his abuser gained more timesharing. He now receives behavior notes at school almost every day as he is completely unregulated and traumatized.  I am still homeless, broke, sold my car, quit nursing school to use student loans for the last attorney and have been representing myself at every hearing. 

Metoo Moms can contact Lee County and demand action for "Amanda" and her son.

Kevin Karnes, County Clerk & Comptroller
Email: [email protected]
​Instagram: kevin_karnes_yr
​Inspector General Whistleblower Anonymous Hotline
Phone: 239-337-7799 
Talk to an Investigator 
Phone: 239-533-5480 
Email: [email protected]

​ABOUT THE AUTHOR: ​MetooMoms is an independent journalism, watchdog and whistleblower group that conducts investigative and undercover reporting  on the Family Court and associated private and public institutions - exposing corruption, dishonesty, self-dealing, fraud, and other misconduct that results in the violation of the legal rights of women and children. Independent media is an imperative to achieve a more ethical and transparent Family Court.  Contact us on Instagram or email.