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Molester has my address

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J

Justyce

Guest
What is the name of your state? California
I recently had the pleasure of a visit through the juvenile justice system.
I am a remarried mother of four. I had two children when I remarried.
Whenever a case goes through juvenile court, all absent parents must be notified.
As soon as people started asking me for information to contact my son's biological father, I became alarmed. That man molested my oldest child, promised to hunt me down and kill me, kill the child he molested, and abduct my son. Even after I kicked him out of my home, he stalked me, breaking into my house several times and throwing my things around, just to prove he could.
I told everyone this. I also told them I didn't care how long ago this was, I still considered this man a threat to my family. I told three social workers, the court intake clerk, and the lawyer who represented me on my first court date. Everyone told me to tell my lawyer, and my lawyer told me he would take care of it. He also told me not to worry, because people like that never show up at court. But they have to be notified.
During that first hearing, my lawyer never said a thing about my concerns, and sat with his back to me during the proceedings. Afterward, when I asked him why he hadn't said anything, he said, "Do you really think it would have made a difference?"
All the information was also in the court reports, because it was part of my original deposition.
When the court notifies absent parents, they send a copy of the initial court report. This document has my full name, address and telephone number. It stated where I work and where my children go to school.
It included the telephone numbers of the family members where my children were staying until they could be returned home.
He called the home where the child he molested was staying.
And he came to court.
Everyone I have told about this says it never should have happened. All of the personal information can be, and should have been, made confidential.
My problem is, I can't find a lawyer who will touch this case.
Every lawyer I have spoken to (or assistants, for those lawyers too important to take calls) says they have no idea what area of law this falls under.
I think it's privacy, which I think is a civil right.
I'm asking questions, but I'm not getting any answers.
I'm at square one with this, and have no idea where to go for help.
Any information anyone could give me would be greatly appreciated.
 
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rmet4nzkx

Senior Member
You left out some important information, so when you fill us in with those details maybe someone can answer your question.
 
J

Justyce

Guest
Pardon

I thought I had included the important details, and I didn't want to get too lengthy.
What other information should I provide?
 

CdwJava

Senior Member
Actually, I have heard similar complaints before. However, I don't think it falls under the 'civil rights' umbrella, though it may violate some procedural rules and laws.

The problem is that there are certain requirements that must be fulfilled by the courts and social services when children are removed from the home ... one of these is to contact certain family mermbers. And unless there is a court order preventing the contact (and you did not indicate there was ... or I didn't see it in what you wrote), these agencies generally MUST make the contact.

My guess is that there is no criminal protective order or restraining order in place, or he would be in jail now for violating it. That being the case, the agencies involved did nothing wrong as they were fulfilling their legal mandate.

Carl
 

rmet4nzkx

Senior Member
Carl,
You hit the nail on the head and the gaps in the story. I was waiting for her to fill us in. With no R/O in place or parental termination of rights, the bio parent has a right to know about his children. While there may be alligations of molestation, apparently nothing prevents contact. We know the children are removed from OP custody but not why. If there was a valid reason to make the information confidential, it would have been just as she was advised, apparently there was no reason to make it confidential to the father.
 
J

Justyce

Guest
I see

You got me wrong as to what I was complaining about.
I know that all of the absent parents need to be notified. That isn't where the complaint lies.
I was told to bring my worries up to my lawyer, which I did. These would have been justified reasons to make the personal info confidential, and after the damage was done, every court document has kept all addresses and phone numbers confidential, as if it matters now.
But the lawyer would only have restated things which were already in the deposition anyway, so technically the court knew, and still gave out information that should have been confidential.
As far as the molestation accusation goes, the family court ruled that he did molest my daughter, and stay away orders were in effect as soon as we realized he had all of our personal info.
This actually happened before the next court hearing, because he called the home my daughter was staying in.
The court gave my information away to someone who is a danger. They have since kept that same info confidential because even they admit that it should have been done in the first place. They gave us ROs and stay away orders to try to cover themselves, but I don't feel any safer in my home.
If I understand you, I still don't have a case?
I don't always know the right questions to ask, so please don't assume that I'm holding out on some information.
 

BlondeIntel

Registered User
Future Reference

I am posting this information in case you need it in the future.

California has a Confidential Address Program called "Safe At Home" which is free to victims of domestic violence.

You can read more about it at this link:

Safe At Home

You can enroll in this program at one of the agencies listed at this link:

Safe at Home Enrolling Agencies
 
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CdwJava

Senior Member
There is a cross post by the same person with much of the same information in the Juvenile folder ... apparently teenage son (with many alleged problems) and step dad got into a tussle and both ended with bruising ... step dad got hooked and all the children got taken away. Apparently only the teenage son has not been returned home, and he refuses to return home while her husband is there ... I can only suppose that bio-dad is the dad of this teen.

Carl
 

CdwJava

Senior Member
Justyce said:
If I understand you, I still don't have a case?
Maybe not. While I am certainly not up on all the nuts and bolts in this area of law, I am going to guess that has not risen to the level of gross misconduct or negligence. And if there were no TROs or CPOs in place BEFORE the social services intervention, how would they have known?

And you say a family court judge found that the molestation had occurred ... uh ... what does that mean? That's not a conviction for child molestation. So, all that it means is that a family court judge found there to be sufficient cause to support a case against allowing him unsupervised visitation or any visitation at all (or something to that effect). A Family Court is not a criminal court ... it decides civil matters, custody issues, etc.

Anyway, ask some lawyers. If they feel you have no case, then it's likely one of those cases that has either a minimal chance of being remotely profitable, or, there is no legal grounds to support any lawsuit.

Carl
 

rmet4nzkx

Senior Member
Justyce said:
You got me wrong as to what I was complaining about.
I know that all of the absent parents need to be notified. That isn't where the complaint lies.
I was told to bring my worries up to my lawyer, which I did. These would have been justified reasons to make the personal info confidential, and after the damage was done, every court document has kept all addresses and phone numbers confidential, as if it matters now.
But the lawyer would only have restated things which were already in the deposition anyway, so technically the court knew, and still gave out information that should have been confidential.
As far as the molestation accusation goes, the family court ruled that he did molest my daughter, and stay away orders were in effect as soon as we realized he had all of our personal info.
This actually happened before the next court hearing, because he called the home my daughter was staying in.
The court gave my information away to someone who is a danger. They have since kept that same info confidential because even they admit that it should have been done in the first place. They gave us ROs and stay away orders to try to cover themselves, but I don't feel any safer in my home.
If I understand you, I still don't have a case?
I don't always know the right questions to ask, so please don't assume that I'm holding out on some information.
Like I said, you were leaving out some significant information, Carl also noted that as well as your other post which should have gone here making sense of it easier. Without this information, it appeared that you had made unsuported allegations against your ex and possibly using that as an excuse to hide your children away, a very comon tale along with no one beliving you, also no restraining orders only raised the red flags and why you were so unnerved with the bio father being contacted. Confusion about the confidentiality was not intentional, try to look at it in a positive way, with all the attention and the court issuing the restraining orders, will have more impact than if you had applied for them and I'm sure you will notify everyone, the police agencies, schools friends to they can be enforced. Contact the county victim-witness advocate for assiatance. It's not that we didn't want to answer, we were missing some big chuncks of information, most likely because of your stress. I wish you well.
 
J

Justyce

Guest
many thanks

I know family court counts for nothing as far as criminal cases go. I only mentioned that so people wouldn't assume that I was making things up.
I've definitely found the right place to find my answers though.


CdwJava said:
Maybe not. While I am certainly not up on all the nuts and bolts in this area of law, I am going to guess that has not risen to the level of gross misconduct or negligence. And if there were no TROs or CPOs in place BEFORE the social services intervention, how would they have known?
Carl
They would have known because before they ever contacted any absent parent, I told every single person who asked for any information about how to find him the whole story. He has a criminal record, including the detention for the crime I was telling them about.
Before any contact was made with this person, social services and my lawyer knew there were safety concerns.
It was also present in the court documentation.
My initial questions still remain.
If this isn't a privacy issue, does anyone have an idea of what kind of lawyer I should be looking for?
Again, I'm not trying to hide anything, if there are holes in the information provided, it is only because I'm trying to keep things brief.
And thank you to everyone who has donated their time and information to me. I do appreciate it.
 

CdwJava

Senior Member
Having a "safety concern" does not necessarily obligate anyone to act upon your concern.

Additionally, has he made threats toward you as a result of his newly discovered information? Has he violated any restraining orders? How have you been 'harmed' by the revelation of the information (for which there was not likely a legal obligation to withhold in the first place)?

These are questions that you will have to answer before any attorney might even consider looking at your matter ... and to me, having seen this sort of thing many times in my career, I just do not think you will have a cause for any civil action here unless you can cite a legal process that they knowingly violated ... and I just don't see it.

Carl
 
J

Justyce

Guest
CdwJava said:
Having a "safety concern" does not necessarily obligate anyone to act upon your concern.

Additionally, has he made threats toward you as a result of his newly discovered information? Has he violated any restraining orders? How have you been 'harmed' by the revelation of the information (for which there was not likely a legal obligation to withhold in the first place)?
Carl
Of course no one has to act on my concern. Especially in family court, where the protection of the children (including my daughter) is paramount. Where they can take children away from parents because there is the outside possibility of harm, like the possibility of harm from a person who has sworn to hunt someone down and kill them.
But I'm not bitter. :rolleyes:

And I have no idea if he has acted on anything. We received an abnormal number of hang-ups for a while, but since we got caller ID, that has stopped.
I don't know if he hangs out at my children's schools. I don't know if he's sitting across the street in his car right now. What I do know is that any and all of those things are possible, and I shouldn't have to wait until he hurts someone.
When I first asked about ROs just after the molestation, the officer I was speaking to told me they were a waste of money and time. I could get one, and it would go against his record, and the police would come straight out if he violated it. But if he was serious in his attempt to harm us, by the time the officers arrived at my door, the only difference the RO would make was transporting warm bodies instead of cold ones.
I moved.

What kind of lawyer would take a case that concerns what should have been done in good conscience instead of what is required by the book?
And for that matter, why do absent parents EVER have to have all the personal information included on the front of court reports? Every case should be confidential exactly BECAUSE social services and the courts never know what kind of people they are contacting.
 

CdwJava

Senior Member
What that officer told you about ROs was irresponsible and reprehensible. If it had been one of my officers, he would be facing some serious discipline up to and including days off without pay. An RO can make the difference between life and death. Without it, the stalker/molester could come and go as he pleases and do what virtually what he wants around you and your family. This way, he can go to jail if he violates the order. Is it perfect? Heck no. But without it, calling the police might be a waste of time because they would not be able to do ANYTHING.

And I can't imagine that you will find an attorney that would take a case to sue a government agency for what they SHOULD have done "in good conscience". If they violated a procedure, or some requirement of law - sure. But I do not think they did. Thus no cause for action.

I suppose you've talked with attorneys already? And they have denied that you have a case? And if you haven't spoken to any attorneys, you might want to do so ... if there IS a case here, they'll likely leap at the chance to take it as government agencies almost always pay tens of thousands of dollars just to make lawsuits go away.

Carl
 
J

Justyce

Guest
Thanks again

Allow me to restate, because it has been lost in the shuffle.
Every lawyer's office I have contacted has told me they don't even know what area of law it would fall under. But their firm didn't handle that sort of thing. I started with a criminal lawyer, just to get his referral to someone else, then that person (personal injury type) just said they didn't do that kind of stuff. Since then I've tried a few other lawyers by referral from people who have listened to my concerns. Finding a needle in a haystack feels about right. I don't mind searching, but can someone at least point me to the appropriate haystack?
Before I can find a lawyer who can help me, I need to know which type to look for.
I thought civil, but from the responses in this thread, I think I may have been wrong.
I am more than willing to contact a lawyer. I'd LOVE to get some legal advice. But I'm not asking the right people my questions.

And don't be so hard on the officer. His advice was the best I've ever had concerning this person. He told me I could get the RO anyway, even if I moved. At the time, I lived in a small town, with no PD, and even with the RO, the response time would have been poor. I appreciated his honesty.
 

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