Immunity Pierced: GAL Can Be Sued in Teen Suicide Case
And Surviving Sister Sues Father for Rape
In an almost unprecedented ruling, a U.S. Federal Court judge in Missouri has ruled that a lawsuit against a court-appointed GAL [guardian ad litem] can proceed to trial. This is remarkable in that it pierces the quasi-judicial immunity nearly always afforded GAL’s, children’s attorneys, and other family court appointees. In another case WCN&V covered, the mother’s lawsuit against two GAL’s was dismissed.
Cindy Randolph filed the wrongful death lawsuit against the GAL, claiming she failed in her duty to protect her daughter, Mikaela, from her father. It claims her actions and lack of actions caused Mikaela to be endangered and ultimately end her life at 14 years-old.
In denying this second motion to dismiss, Judge Abbie Crites-Leoni stated that the GAL “realized or should have realized her conduct involved an unreasonable risk of causing [Mikaela] distress…”
A related development is sure to bolster the wrongful death lawsuit. Mikaela’s older sister, Melissa, filed a lawsuit last month against the father for serial sexual assault and rape.
The lawsuit states:
The pattern of sexual assault included touching of Plaintiff’s breasts, anus, vagina, penetration, oral sex, and deviant sexual conduct.
GAL-ASSISTED COVER-UP
Cindy had two daughters when she divorced her first husband, the younger of whom, Melissa, just filed the rape tort against her father. Cindy eventually remarried and had two more daughters, the older of whom was Mikaela.
In 2013, Melissa told Cindy she was being sexually abused by her stepfather. She was 12 at the time and clearly described serial sexual assault and rape. Cindy immediately filed for divorce.
Her ex was charged with multiple felony counts, including deviant forcible sodomy of a minor. Child sexual abuse material (CSAM) was found on his computer, but he was never charged for that serious crime.
He was released from jail pending trial, apparently not considered a danger to the community since he had “just” raped his stepdaughter. Of course, child molesters don’t limit themselves to family members, and child porn victimizes countless children, but those inconvenient facts were ignored.
The GAL falsely accused Cindy of educational neglect of the two younger children. Cindy provided results of intelligence measures proving their educational needs were being met, but that made no difference.
The GAL also falsely accused Cindy of manipulating and influencing (versions of coaching/alienating) the children to report abuse by the father to exonerate him. She recommended the two younger daughters be taken away from Cindy. Because the father was currently indicted on child rape, she recommended they be placed in foster care. Which, of course, the judge did. This isolation from the mother is commonly used to compel silence about a father’s abuse.
As is often the case, foster care was just an intermediate step to getting the kids under their father’s control. This was done by the father’s mother being given custody, despite the fact that she was 90 years-old and incapable, if not unwilling, to stop the father’s sexual access to the girls.
Not surprisingly, since he was given virtually unfettered access to the girls, under the guise of supervised visits, Mikaela disclosed he was sexually assaulting her at the grandmother’s house.
Please, stop him. I am afraid. He’s in my bedroom in the middle of the night.
Her mental health deteriorated to the point of self-harming, a common child trauma response. Her trauma symptoms got so bad that she was hospitalized in a psychiatric unit for over a week. Mikaela disclosed to doctors and nurses that she was being sexually abused by her father and being drugged with sleeping medications.
But, instead of stopping the sexual assaults and allowing her mother to protect her, the GAL again facilitated placement in foster care.
BUCK STOPS WITH JUDGES
It is important to note here that, although the GAL appears to be acting independently of the court, the buck stops with the judge. She was really just doing the court’s bidding. Like most GAL’s, she was appointed precisely because she could be counted on to go along with the agenda to maintain men’s power in the family—and with it their prerogative to sexually assault their children.
It is only a judge who can take children from mothers and endanger them, not GAL’s. Judges use various appointees so they have something to hang their hat on when switching custody to fathers. Sort of like mafia dons—they keep their hands clean for the appellate courts—and for public scrutiny. The media gets diverted by this red herring and goes along with blaming GAL’s, evaluators, therapists et. al., deflecting public understanding the true cause of the crisis.
There were actually many professionals who reported Mikaela’s abuse and recommended custody not be given to the father. Judge John Shock presided over the cover-up and enabling of the rapist father. The buck stops with him.
Eventually, though, both girls were allowed to live with their mother and sisters again. They resumed thriving in her care.
IT GETS REALLY SURREAL
But then things get really surreal (as if the story is not surreal enough already). In 2018, the father finally pled guilty to rape of a minor after 5 years of delay (providing plenty of time for him to sexually assault children and use CSAM). He was now legally a child rapist.
So did that change the GAL’s position? Quite the contrary. She doubled down and threatened Cindy and the girls to not testify against the father at his sentencing hearing.
[The GAL] was threatening Mikaela and Melissa and she didn’t want me to testify against him. She’s acting more as his attorney than the children’s, who she is supposed to protect.
Incredibly, the GAL told them she was going to recommend the now convicted rapist father be sentenced to probation only—and that he would likely get it. And, worse: she was going to recommend he get custody of the girls—and that he would likely get that too.
That’s when Mikaela broke.
It was just too much for Mikaela’s young, teenage self to bear. She thought not only would she continue to be raped, but her little sister would likely be next.
So Mikaela decided that ending her life was the best option—not only to spare herself from further paternal rape, but also to protect her little sister.
I can’t keep doing this anymore…
She believed that if she committed suicide, the powers-that-be would be less able to minimize or cover up the abuse and allow him to roam free on probation to prey on other children.
Mikaela was probably right—her suicide undoubtedly led to the father being sentenced to seven years in prison rather than a lesser sentence or probation. Unbelievably though, even after Mikaela’s suicide, the GAL testified on the father’s behalf for probation only.
Mikaela thanked her mother in a suicide note for all she had done to protect her.
Thank you, Mom, for making my life on this flat earth as easy as possible and always doing the best for me. You don’t know how sorry I am.
The father is still in prison but is eligible for parole in August after only five years. He is planning to file for custody of Mikaela’s little sister, the one she had hoped to protect by committing suicide.
If he’s released on parole, Cindy will be in the horrible position of trying to stop another judge from giving custody to a convicted child molester. And he will most likely be given some form of custody or visitation because: patriarchy is alive and well in family courts around the world.
A VICTORY—BUT…
Sorry to burst the bubble, but…although this ruling piercing GAL immunity is a victory, it doesn’t significantly help mothers or the cause to end the Custody Crisis.
Yes, it provides validation for the countless mothers whose children were taken with the help of GAL’s/children’s attorneys and something they can use to show their case is not an anomaly. It can also help the public understand that court-appointed attorneys do cover up abuse and spin cases to fathers. And it sends a warning to GAL’s everywhere that they can be sued.
BUT…
Even if this case is won and can be officially used as precedent, it will not significantly reduce the number of mothers losing custody to self-serving and abusive fathers.
This is because a) GAL’s can find ways around the language and grounds of the lawsuit; b) judges can use other insider lackeys to spin cases against mothers; c) most mothers don’t have the resources or wherewithal to sue their ex after their family court nightmare; and d) most importantly, judges can do whatever they want, regardless of what anyone reports or recommends.
The problem is there is no due process in Family Court.
The problem is, there is no due process for mothers in Family Court. The only thing that can possibly make any significant difference is getting cases out of Family Court and into Civil Court, where there are substantially more due process protections—one of which is that judges there cannot appoint GAL’s, evaluators or anyone to aid in switching custody.
And the only way to get custody cases out of Family Court is to unite as women—as a class—and demand it. Join The Women’s Coalition to help fight for a new system.
Watch this space for updates on both Cindy’s and Melissa’s lawsuits.
UPDATES
JULIE
Julie’s son was sent back to the U.S. and she was finally freed from detention in Canada, where she filed for asylum due to unjust and oppressive treatment in the U.S. Family Court system.
After Julie’s son ran away and applied for asylum himself in Canada, Family Court officials informed Canadian authorities she had kidnapped him, after which they arrested her. She is now free and continues with her asylum claim.
Her son’s request for asylum was rejected and it is believed he was returned to Wisconsin where he was placed in foster care.
Julie reported, “We are refugee claimants against the United States because it has ceased being a safe nation for mothers fleeing domestic abuse and those who choose to help them stay safe.”
We wish her luck and will continue to follow her case. There is one other mother known to have been given asylum in Canada after showing proof of her ex’s abuse. Otherwise Canadian family courts are the same as others around the world in oppressing women and endangering children.
Julie’s story as covered by WCN&:
Mother Wins 2 Appeals: Still No Kids
Amazing First: Teen Requests Asylum to Escape Family Court Persecution
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¡ F I N A L L Y = BREAKING that EFFING judicial immunity ... ... a wee bit ! FINALLY.
Systemic male entitlement is alive and well in family court. Mothers and children are killing themselves to escape the horror that family court judges sentence them to. Family court judges give custody to fathers that request it. They give child custody to abusive fathers. Family court judges knowingly give custody of children to rapists. Court appointees knowingly go along with family court judges. Women are discriminated against in family court. Mothers and children have no rights. There is no due process or equal protection in family court. Mothers and their children are treated inhumanely by family court judges. GALS, parenting coordinators and other court officials go along with family court judges. The rare exceptions that dare speak the truth are ignored and suppressed by family court judges. Family court judges abuse their power and lives depend on their power being removed. We need child custody cases heard by a jury not a family court judge. Mothers and their children are dying due to family court judicial abuse.
There are good men that are good fathers. My hope this Father's Day is that these good men join with us and demand this change. Our stories could be the stories of their loved ones. Their daughters, stepdaughters, granddaughters, goddaughters, nieces and their children could one day face our horror. I hope the good men out there join with us to protect women and children.