Court holds that hiding of abducted child is parental neglect

You may recall that in early September 2009 I wrote about the recovery of a child who had been abducted by his mother after the father was awarded custody by the trial court. Immediately after that court decision, the mother took the child and, with her mother’s help, hid him for nearly two years. The earlier post and details of the case are found here on the post “Parental Kidnapping | Effective response”. http://tinyurl.com/yjth6j7

An Illinois court has now decided that the mother’s hiding of her son for nearly two years in his grandmother's home, often in a crawl space behind a wall (in a space that was roughly 5 feet by 12 feet and about the height of a washing machine), amounted to neglect. The judge’s ruling, according to an AP report, was based partly on her agreement with a counselor's belief that the seclusion left the boy, now 7, with post-traumatic stress disorder. The judge’s ruling clears the way for a possible decision at a Jan. 8 hearing on custody or visitation arrangements for the boy, who now is in the temporary custody of a relative. The father, Michael Chekevdia, 48, is seeking custody.’
You may read the entire AP report here. http://tinyurl.com/yjv28kh

You'll find many other valuable resources on my website http://parental-kidnapping.com. If your child is missing, please contact me to see if I can assist you or your attorney in recovery. I've consulted in many interstate parental kidnappings -- 7 in the past 12 months alone -- and can walk your attorney through the process even if Michigan is not one of the states involved. You can email me [email protected] or call me at 231-223-7864 or 231-649-2140.

Comments

[Jeanne M Hannah]

Thank you Ms. Cynwyd for your comment. It is very important for me to know that I am achieving my primary goals of making new developments accessible to family law attorneys to help them serve their clients better. In addition, I am gratified that parents, as well, get the empowering information that they need to help their lawyers help themselves.

[Jeanne M Hannah]

Thank you Ms. Cynwyd for your comment. It is very important for me to know that I am achieving my primary goals of making new developments accessible to family law attorneys to help them serve their clients better. In addition, I am gratified that parents, as well, get the empowering information that they need to help their lawyers help themselves.

[Bala Cynwyd Divorce Lawyer]

I recently came across your blog and have been reading about Child Custody. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often..

[carlos]

I'm trying to reconcile that court's judgement with the US State Dept's formal written policy of hiding abducted children with very little success, but then I've never found that policy to be consistent with that beaucracy's, oftentimes grandiose, claims of fighting hard and advocating for abducted American children and their left behind parents (something that I like to say adds insult to injury).

Protecting the "privacy" of child abductors:

From the State Dept's official Foreign Affairs Manual dealing with international child abduction:

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7 FAM 1713.3 Protecting Information About the Taking Parent

Often during a child abduction, retention, or custody case, you will come to know certain information regarding the Taking Parent (TP) (location, workplace, telephone number, etc.). The Left Behind Parent (LBP) may ask you to divulge this information. The factors to consider before sharing information about the TP with others are the nationality and immigration status of the TP, and the source of the information.

(1) If the parent with physical custody of the child is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident alien (LPR), the Privacy Act protects the parent’s right to privacy relating to records about him or her.

NOTE: In such cases, you need to obtain a written Privacy Act waiver from the Taking Parent BEFORE information about the Taking Parent, or information that relates to both the child and the Taking Parent, can be disclosed.

...

(3) If the LBP requests information about the child and obtains a U.S. federal court order requiring the release of such information, forward any such requests and orders to the Department (CA/OCS/CI and L/LM) for authorization to release the information.

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Even if you get a US federal court order requiring the release of such information the OCI requires you to go through them to get their "authorization"

The LBP parent having full and legal US custody of the American child has no bearing on the above policy. The same Foreign Affairs Manual also stipulates (section 1 is the most pertinent):

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7 FAM 1713.2 Refusing the Release of Information To A Parent About the Location of a Minor

You should refuse to release information about the location of a minor when:

(1) In your judgment, doing so could endanger the minor or other people.
(2) Disclosing the location of the minor will violate the privacy of a U.S. citizen or legal permanent residence parent who has physical custody of the minor (5 U.S.C. 552a(a)(2), also see 7 FAM 1721(b)).
(3) The minor asserts his/her own rights under the Privacy Act and objects to the release of the information.
(4) The parent requesting the information has had his or her parental rights terminated in an earlier judicial proceeding by a court of competent jurisdiction.

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If hiding an abducted child by a parent is parental neglect what should we call hiding of children by the USCA charged with helping abducted American children navigate through their "parent's private civil affair"?