UPDATE 2: A Nightmare in Oconto County

I previously posted A Nightmare in Oconto County which gave the history of what this mother and daughter have gone through in trying to free themselves from abuse.  Now the mother has been jailed because of the daughters refusal to visit her dad.  The mother has not prevented the visits, the daughter refuses.

My first UPDATE: A Nightmare in Oconto County  was a press release giving further details and announcing that Lorraine Tipton had in fact been jailed. 

As of yesterday I was made aware that Lorraine was released from jail because her daughter had went to her abuser.  This child remains, as far as I know, with her abuser now.  Their plight has not improved and is far from over.

Please include this mom and daughter in your thoughts, prayers, meditations, etc.!

UPDATE: Nightmare in Oconto County

I previously posted A Nightmare in Oconto County which gave the history of what this mother and daughter have gone through in trying to free themselves from abuse.  Now the mother has been jailed because of the daughters refusal to visit her dad.  The mother has not prevented the visits, the daughter refuses. 

Another update and discussion can be found here:  WI: Judge jails mother over daughter's refusal to visit father

Please support this protective mother by signing this petition.

The below press release has been issued by Stop Family Violence.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 19, 2009

Contact:
Irene Weiser                     
Stop Family Violence
iw@stopfamilyviolence.org

WHY IS THIS MOTHER IN JAIL?

(Oconto Falls, WI) Today an Oconto County family court judge sentenced a mother to jail because she was unable to force her daughter to court mandated visitation with her abusive father.  The daughter will be sent to foster care if she refuses to live with her father while the mother serves her sentence.

Circuit Judge David Miron sentenced Lorraine Tipton to 30 days in county jail for contempt of court, for her failure to follow the custody order requiring her daughter to live every other week with her father, Craig Hensberger.

“She’s terrified of going;  she has night terrors and severe anxiety” says Tipton, who admits her daughter hasn’t visited with her father since August. 

“I thought the court was supposed to look out for the best interests of the child, not the best interest of the father,” Tipton continued.  “I thought once I got out of the abusive relationship everything would be fine.  Instead, my abuser is continuing his abuse of me and my daughter with the help of the court.” 

Over the course of their on and off 8 year relationship Hensberger was arrested three times for domestic violence and once for child abuse.  Since their separation in 2005, Hensberger has been arrested twice for DWI, including once while the daughter was in the car. 

Although the court has ordered Hensberger into alcohol treatment and ordered “absolute sobriety” when having visitation, the daughter claims he continues to drink to excess when she is visiting.   The father told the court he had stopped drinking completely.  The mother recently had a private investigator follow the father, who found that the father drank heavily on a night he was scheduled to have visitation.  In court today the father admitted to his continued drinking; nonetheless the judge still sentenced the mother to jail. 

Hensberger achieved his local 15 minutes of fame in Oconto in March of this year, when he forced his daughter to enter 3 different fishing tournaments using the same fish so that he could collect the money - a story covered widely by local news.   While the local media angle related to his transportation of fish against DNR regulations,  Ms. Tipton’s concerns were for the well-being of her daughter, who was  being taught to lie, cheat and steal by her father.  Since this incident, the daughter’s relationship with the father has deteriorated, Tipton claims.

Additionally, the father’s employment is irregular, his house is in foreclosure and he currently resides with his mother.  The daughter claims she is forced to sleep on the floor in the living room or in the unfinished basement since there is no bed or private space for her in the small 2 bedroom house.

“Sadly, this case typifies the problems we are seeing in Family Courts nationwide,” says Irene Weiser, executive director of StopFamilyViolence.org. “Family court judges are failing to recognize signs of abuse, and are placing children in harms way.  Even worse, instead of investigating the abuse allegations, they accuse the parent making the allegations of being vindictive and punish them for taking actions to protect their children.  Often judges seem more concerned with maintaining the child’s relationship with the father than ensuring the child’s safety.”

###

StopFamilyViolence.org is a national activist organization that works to ensure safety, justice, accountability and healing for victims of family violence.   Irene Weiser coordinates the Family Court Reform Coalition, a coalition of advocates, professionals and organizations formed in response to the national crisis in the custody court system, where all too often, judge’s order children to live with abusers and punish, silence, or jail the parent who tries to protect the children from harm.

Irene Weiser

Executive Director

StopFamilyViolence.org

331 W. 57th St #518

New York, NY 10019

iw@stopfamilyviolence.org

Update: What a mother goes through to save her child from neglect and abuse

As an update to the blogs posts Butterflies & Hurricanes and What a mother goes through to save her child from neglect and abuse

I just received word from the mother in the above two posts.  She was told by the judges assistant that the court appointment for Sept 24th has been cancelled and is NOT going to be re-scheduled.  The assistant told her that the reason for this is because she was not served in a timely manner.  The ex husband had the papers signed by the judge on August 12th and failed to serve them according to the five day notice required by Wisconsin State Law.

Now, the ex husband must re-file and re-serve in order for this to be taken into the courtroom.

This is only a small victory here, since this mother knows that he will not give up.

Please keep this mothers daughter in your thoughts and prayers!

What a mother goes through to save her child from neglect and abuse

I received this email from a mother that is desperately trying to free her daughter from an abusive father... I posted yesterday on this case as well:  Butterflies & Hurricanes

I have done nothing wrong, but try to protect my daughter against a flawed system and now I am prepared to be possibly jailed for my crime,  "protection". If I am incarcerated for this I want to bring awareness to the Family Court system by standing up against it, I need help.

I have been involved in several groups of other mothers who have been in my same situation and some that have lost more horribly than I, with their children dying at the hands of their father. We have a common thread of nightmares of cold, uncaring court officials.

Family Court throws women and children off of the sinking ship of custody disputes with an abusive man. They continue to make the wheels of abuse go round and round. I have been ignored, chastised, intimidated and now I am not going to take it anymore. I will not allow my daughter or I become a statistic.

All my friends and family will agree with me that the characteristic I most employ is strength and the will  to do what is right.

I am a mother who is helping her child in pain, to comfort my child and keep her safe, I am no different than any other loving mother who would also never allow their child to be hurt  or tormented by a man who is suppose to love and protect her or anyone else for that matter.

I have been stalked in Family Court by my ex abuser, Craig Hensberger. His court actions against me have escalated since I met and married my best friend, the man of my dreams, my husband, Chad Tipton. Now that I have found true happiness I am certain that my ex abuser is not as happy and since he can no longer abuse me the way he use to, he now resorts to several devious tactics towards our daughter, Michaela.

My ex abuser has now taken another action to  have me jailed for contempt as our daughter does not want to live with him and his mother. My child has admitted that they make her sleep on the floor in the living room or the basement. My daughter is 11 yrs old who is leaving adolescence, she is a pre-teen, she is a young woman who needs to have her own room and bed, like she does here. 

My ex abuser continues to accuse that I have "brainwashed" our daughter against him. That all the abuse she witnessed against her and myself are a distant memory. That the time that she was videotaped by a child advocacy center and told about the way that he would touch her inappropriately and where and how many times is just a lie.

This man has done nothing but lie, cheat and steal to make my life and his daughter's living hell. Including fraudulently signing her up to win money in a fishing derby.

I intend to stand up once again in Marinette County Family Court with presiding Judge David Miron. I am hoping that my plea for the court to help protect my child from the ongoing harassment and abuse.

She does not want to be forced to live with her abuser, I do not blame her, I've been there.

I intend to expose the insanity of Family Court and how a mother can be jailed or punished for allowing my child to stay in a stable, sober, loving environment.

All that know me I mean what I say and I say what I mean. If on September 24, 2009 at 10:00am I am required to appear before Judge Miron to answer why my daughter has once again refused visitation I will, with dignity and respect, fight for what is right.

If this judge follows through with his threat that the next time a motion of contempt was brought before him I would be "put in jail" and that if our daughter was so stressed and having emotional problems that maybe she does need to be placed in foster care.

If jailed I will not take food until the judge releases me, I will hunger strike for justice.

I hope that my family, friends, and other advocates will also help expose by contacting local Green Bay TV media as well as national.

My husband, Chad, can be reached at ottobooboo@yahoo.com or (920) 785-0328. He is in possession of several documents and recordings proving the corruption of a small county with a God Complex, which is also a non-clinical term that does not appear in the DSM but neither does the pseudo scientific theory, Parental Alieanation Syndrome (PAS) or "brainwashing" from which I am accused.

I thank each and everyone of you that have advocated for me in the past and hope for your continued support as I face a fight for life, me and my daughters'.

With Good Grace,
Lorraine Tipton
a.k.a. Mama Liberty

Oconto County Case #99-PA-06
Judge David G. Miron
1926 Hall Avenue
Marinette, WI 54143-1717
(715) 732-7655

BUTTERFLIES & HURRICANES

Cross-posted from Mama Liberty 

“Children say that people are hung sometimes for speaking the truth.” St. Joan of Arc

“I AM NOT AFRAID, I WAS BORN TO DO THIS”

St. Joan of Arc & Mama Liberty

“My child and I have been threatened and intimidated by the possibility that I may go to jail and be held in contempt due to my child refusing to have visitation with her abusive father and she may go to foster care.” Her father has told her this over and over again, as well as Judge David Miron.

This is not the first time that this mother has had to protect her child from the father. Oconto County CPS did substantiate sexual abuse allegations against the the father, he found a loop hole and had the recused Family Court Commissioner, Frank M. Calvert unsubstantiated the sexual abuse allegations.

The system has failed my child, from Oconto County and its CPS worker, Carrie Silbernagel-Burke to Marinette County Circuit Court Judge, David Miron.

This father does not have the means to care for her. She has no bed or a bedroom due to the fact he lives with his mother who only has two bedrooms.

The 11 yr old child is given the choice to sleep either on the floor in the living room or down in the basement. She has no privacy or space to call her own while she is in her fathers care. She is continually tormented and tortured by both her paternal grandmother and father, this is nothing new.

This child has been exposed to domestic violence by her father towards her mother several times. She was also a passenger in his car when he was arrested for driving drunk in the middle of the day. The CPS worker, Carrie Silbernagel-Burke told the mother:

“drinking and driving with his daughter did not make him a bad father, he made a bad choice.”

This was nothing compared to the sexual abuse my child endured and other court ordered abuse.

My child has taken her stand against her abuser, the court ordered abuse and threats of foster care by Judge David Miron.

My child is not an empty vessel, she KNOWS where she is safe. She has not lied to social workers, even with her father prodding her to.

All her needs are provided by her loving Mother and she knows that

“I am not going to shut up, give up or go away!”

“My only wish is for my daughter to be safe and sane.”

If this mother is jailed for doing what any mother would do for her child

the consequences to my accusers and judges will be as follows.

There will be a hunger strike (Troscadh), and all the battles up until now were training for we intend to win the war and expose the dirty little secrets of family court and the criminals that run it.

Change
Everything you are
And everything you were
Your number has been called
Fights, battles have begun
Revenge will surely come
Your hard times are ahead
Best
You’ve got to be the best
You’ve got to change the world
And use this chance to be heard
Your time is nowChange
Everything you are
And everything you were
Your number has been called
Fights and battles ‘ve begun
Revenge will surely come
Your hard times are ahead

Best
You’ve got to be the best
You’ve got to change the world
And use this chance to be heard
Your time is now

Don’t
Let yourself down
Don’t let yourself go
Your last chance has arrived

Best
You’ve got to be the best
You’ve got to change the world
And use this chance to be heard
Your time is now

BUTTERFLIES & HURRICANES « MamaLiberty’s Weblog