The father has been absentee all of my childs life, and was over a year behind in child support. The judge passed that debt onto me. I was not permitted to have an attorney during these hearings, but he provided the father with a court appointed attorney. The father is unemployed, and living with his girlfriend who is also unemployed. She also has three children of her own that were removed from her care by the state due to abuse. I had a order of protection against the father due to the extreme violence towards my child and myself. The judge would not allow me to present that into evidence as he said he "did not care about that". Several county agencies and child advocates wrote letters to the judge on my behalf ( they were not permitted to testify) and the judge would not accept them into evidence. He stated that " they did not matter". The father is a convicted felon and his ex wife testified that it was a violent crime. She also testified that the reason for their divorce was for domestic violence. The judge put in his finding of facts that people testified on behalf of the father that were not there. Nor did any of the so called witnesses submit anything to the court. I have not seen my son in over a month and when i went to file a contempt of court motion the court stated that i could not do so because i didnt have an attorney. The court documents state that me and the father were representing ourselves per se, however he did have counsel throughout the proceedings. It was not until the last hearing did he acctually state that father has an attorney.
