How easy is it for an abducting parent to legally remove a child from one country to another without the child's other parent consenting to such move?
How does evil fill the hearts of an abductor, who only seeks to have an outcome they desire, no matter what the emotional, spiritual, and financial costs involved for the targeted parent and the children?
How extensive is the malice?
What I am about to share in the shortest detail demonstrates the sociopath behavior and pure malice of a parent who knows how to utilize the legal system to legally remove a child from one country to another without the other parent's consent, and then further remove that parent's access rights all because the taking parent no longer desires to live in the country of the child or children's habitual residence.
Now imagine having every part of your life destroyed in less than 24 hours. Think it can't happen? You are wrong!
So Much For The Wedding Vow - I Will Destroy Your Life - And This Is How
(Based Upon A Real Life Scenario)
- American male citizen marries French female citizen in the US three years ago.
- American citizen is a young attorney.
- French citizen does not work.
- The couple has two children, both born in the United States and under the age of 2.
- Father, though practicing law, works from home on most days in order to provide care for children.
- Mother is unhappy living in the United States and states that she wants to return to France with children. Father wants to remain in United States, where children have lived, and where he is a practicing attorney.
- Father compromises and travels for month long visit to France with wife and children in hope that continued access to wife's country of origin will satisfy her.
- Mother makes numerous threats that she is going to take children and move to France without Father.
- Father fears that children will be removed from America without his consent.
- Mother has financial wherewithall and support system to relocate to France without children's father.
- Father discovers that children's mother has been investigating how to remove children from America (abduction).
- Father discovers that children's mother has a large amount of concealed money in Europe he was previously not aware of.
- Mother hides children's US passports from father.
- Mother escalates threats to children's father that she is leaving for France with children, stating there is nothing father can do about it (all while living together. No divorce proceedings at this time).
- Father discovers children's mother has been in contact with French embassy. Father's concern that mother is in possession of French passports for children that he did not authorize or sign for increases significantly based on direct statements of mother that it does not matter if father has American passports and that nothing he can legally do will stop her from leaving America with children.
- At no time have there been any claims of accusations that father has made any verbal threats or acted in any capacity of abuse; whereas, mother has made numerous threats of abduction and has demonstrated a violent temper in front of friends and family of couple.
- Father discovers children's mother has a second phone which he was not aware of, providing mother with ability to communicate with others without father knowing.
- Then late yesterday ----- Thursday ------ Mother threatens that she is taking children and moving to France immediatly. Father informs wife he is going to file for divorce and seek court to ensure children are not illegally removed.
- Hours later, mother makes police report against children's father claiming that father made dangerous threats against her and children and that she fears for her safety.
- Father becomes aware of wife's deceitful plot and that she is at police station.
- Mother makes late afternoon police complaint against husband.
- Mother tries to lure father back to house in order to have him arrested. Unknown to wife, father is able to see police car at house waiting for him to come back via video security system.
- Mother's FALSE claim of domestic abuse sets up a 13B Hague Defense should she abduct.
- Clear intent by mother to have father arrested today by police.
- While father is arrested for domestic threats, wife, who is in possession of French passports can legally departs for France with children as father sits in jail cell.
- While in jail, mother has the opportunity to clear out all finances of partnership.
- Mother, who has means to disappear with children in France and Europe creates legal defense to have French courts sanction abduction under best interest of child due to father's arrest.
- Father faces major legal fight to reunite with children, which will take a significant toll on his professional life.
Tragically, what you have read above is not an isolated act, nor do false claims of abuse occur solely by women against men. In the world of international parental child abduction, it is the norm for an abductor to make false claims against a targeted parent.
If you noticed in the brief scenario described above, the abductor had planned her scheme carefully - from moving money to Europe, to concealed phone calls, to illegally obtained passports, to a malicious scheme that would prevent her husband to file any court action to restrain her from leaving the United States by making a false police report in hope he would be arrested and detained long enough for her to get to an airport and depart with the children of the marriage.
And in the meantime, the targeted parent has been arrested, had his children taken from him, had his assets taken, and is now Chasing The Cyclone of abduction. All in less than 24 hours.
For more information about international parental child abduction, please visit the I CARE Foundation website and the official website of Chasing The Cyclone.