Kids kidnapped

[jlo25th]

my step kids were recently kidnapped by there mother. My husband has legal sole custody of his children and the mother took the kids to NY and filed domestic abuse charges on my husband and i both because she didnt want us to have the kids, she never showed for court to fight for them. She is currently inccarcerated for felony kidnapping, but she put a protective order on the children in NY and which even though he had legal custody cps would not lift the order. The alleged abuse if there was any would have taken place here in virginia and not NY, but NY is trying to take jurisdiction over the case and not transfer the case to VA where the alleged allegations are, now the kids are in foster care and being manipulated to say certain things by there mom. who can we speak to about getting this case sent back to VA where jurisdiction is, and get my kids back? please any help about NY laws and jurisdictional laws would be great. we cant afford a lawyer.

 

[mightymoose]

First of all, your husband will have to take action, not you. You may feel attached to the kids, but you don't have any legal say-so here.

The children will not be returned to you until the allegations of abuse are investigated, and then it would depend on the results of the investigation. Most times the allegations are unfounded, but you must allow for the process to take place. Nobody wants to be responsible for returning children to an abusive environment.

If you can't afford an attorney then see if you can find someone that will give you a quick consult to push you in the right direction. There may not be much to be done here. Once CPS does its investigation the children are likely to be returned to the father unless they find good cause not to.

It sounds like mom doesn't have access to the kids right now, so she isn't manipulating anything.

I'm guessing this has just happened... be patient.

 

[jlo25th]

Thanks for the advice, and yes this did just happen, and i agree with you 100% on my husband taking action, believe me, i am pushing him to do so. The problem about the allegations is that they are being investigated in the wrong state. We are not from NY, and have never been to NY, and i agree no one wants to be responsible for returning kids to a "possible abusive environment" My husband is willing to go through the necessary actions to get the children back and face this, because he is in no way shape or form abusive, and i have to understand that reported alleged child abuse allegations does have to take its course, we just want it to take its place in the state that it "would have" happend. And as far as the manipulation by the mother, she has contact with them by way of phone calls, she calls her partner who makes a 3 way call for her to the children, and we know this because the children text and call on a daily basis telling us things to the extent of their mother telling them what to tell CPS in order for them to stay with her. We do have a local detective that is working on the criminal aspect of things, and in the mean time, she is sticking her neck out to work on the civil side of things and she has ordered recorded calls from the jail in NY, and there are numerous calls of manipulation. CPS did one interview with my husband which required us to travel to NY, and the children expressed their desire to be back home with him, but CPS is basing everything off of what the mother said. The order of protection that the mother placed was not served to our home, and by law according to NY, he was supposed to be served, The order is set to expire on feb 2nd. There was also a court date 2 days ago in which we were not served with a summons, nor did CPS notify my husband by phone or letter about the court date. CPS is aware that he has not been served anything, yet they are preceeding. meanwhile, the children are in foster care wanting to come home. My husband has been making numerous phone calls to the CPS workers to know whats going on with the case. its been a week and no word from the worker or the supervisor. The only reason we know about the court date was because the CPS worker called the detective back, and told the detective that she would call my husband, but never did. so we are left in the dark, and decisions are being made behind his back by a government agency. My husband even called virginia CPS, and virginia wants to take the case, but cant until the kids are returned and the case transferred. NY is not the home state. My husband understands that because of the allegations that the kids may not come back to his immediate care, and he is fine with the kids being in a temporary placement until all the allegations are fully investigated, but they should be done in VA.

 

[Proserpina]

That's not how it works.

An ex parte petition can be filed on an emergency basis no matter which state holds jurisdiction.

I'm sorry, but your husband NEEDS an attorney immediately. His situation is far too complex for a message board.