C.S. v. M.S.
Page 2
February 27, 2007
way that led to the breakdown of the marriage and to vindicate the position of one or the other of the parties on every incident. It was as if I had the job of determining, as of the separation morethan four years ago, who was to blame for the separation and who was fit to have custody of thechildren. However, the custody issue was not before me, not even for the youngest child. Themother long ago gave up on custody of the three oldest children, knowing that they were beyondthe reach of any legal remedy. They have not even seen her for two years (except when two of them testified at the trial). At trial, the father too conceded custody of the youngest child to themother. The only remaining issue about the children was access by the father and the threeoldest children to the youngest child, a 10 year old, who has not seen the father or the otherchildren for a year.[3]
The mother characterized this case as an extreme example of parental alienationsyndrome, in which the three oldest children have been recruited by the father, one by one, to join him in an aggressive campaign of demonization of the mother, to the point that the threechildren have adopted his view of the mother as a person unworthy of affection, respect or evencivility. The father said that the mother is mentally ill, emotionally unstable and prone toirrational outbursts; or in the alternative, a liar who has vilified him without justification; orboth. As a result, the father said, the children have independently and with cause decided toreject her.[4]
At the separation some four years ago, when the father left the home, the oldest childwent with him, almost from the start refusing to have anything to do with the mother. Later thesecond and then the third child moved out of the mother’s home and eventually stopped seeingher. The father said all three children were driven away by the mother, who falsely accused himin the children’s presence of various kinds of misconduct, blamed him for the separation andtried to enlist the children in her battle with him. The mother admitted she told the children toomuch in the early days of the separation, but said that she had to, in order to defend against thethings the father was telling the children about her. She said the father was a relentless, angry,violent and vindictive man who recruited the three oldest children in his campaign to punish herand poisoned them against her, and that if given the chance, he would do the same to theyoungest child and use the older children to help him do it.[5]
The case has been fraught with tension. The police have been involved with this familyon numerous occasions. Criminal charges were laid against the father arising from three separateevents, but he was not convicted on any of them. For a time, there was a child protection case aswell, but it was ultimately withdrawn, without a finding in need of protection. While it wasgoing, one of the children was placed in the care of a children’s aid society but ran away and hidfor months. The father was accused of helping to conceal the child’s location. He was found incontempt of court. Right after that, the child returned to the care of the CAS.[6]
The father has involved Canada Court Watch Project in his cause. Court Watch is alobby group whose stated aims include bringing “an end to the needless injustices beingperpetrated against many innocent children and families by institutions such as our family courtsystem and branches of the Children’s Aid Society.” Much information about the family andvarious professionals associated with it was posted on the Court Watch website and others.Because of the potential harm to the children and others associated with publicity in this case, I
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