My children were taken from me. Um, and they have denied all contact and communication for 108 days since they were taken. There's no order restricting communication, but they have denied such.
I filed a motion for contempt and a motion for psychological evaluation of the defendant. And we are asking that um Miss Hillyard be required to submit to psychological evaluation. Um this is a case I don't if you recall but um the mother moved to Tennessee.
Yeah. And I entered an order and Mr Town's founder um she took the children to Tennessee for a year and a half. He had no contact.
Didn't know where they were. We finally located them. had her served, scheduled the temporary hearing.
She failed to appear at the temporary hearing and the court entered an order giving custody of the children to Mr Towns. Mr Towns took physical possession of the children at the end of May of this year and the children have been with the father since that time and Miss Anderson was also named to guardian at Lightam. Right.
After we got possession of the children, uh, Miss Hillyard filed Miss Reired Miss Reedle who filed a motion to vacate the order. We came to the court back in June for a hearing on the motion to vacate which the court denied. And at that point in time is when you appointed Ms.
Anderson as guardian Atlanta. Okay. Okay.
And so Miss Anderson has gotten into the case since then. Um, since the children have been in the possession of my client, we voluntarily allowed some telephone contact with the mother. Those phone calls are extremely disturbing because the mother does everything in her power to alienate the children from the father.
She tells the children all s all all sorts of horrible things about the father. She talks all about this case to the children. The very first phone call, my client got possession of the children I think on May 28th of this year.
The very first phone call was on June 4th. The child starts the phone call by telling the mother that she misses her. The mother's response to that is to start telling the child about the court date, telling the child that she's sending the police over there to do a well check and that all the child has to do is tell the police that they want to go home to her mother and that that's all it'll take.
So getting the child's hopes up that she can tell somebody she wants to go to mom's and she'll get to do that. She makes derogatory statements about the father. Tells the f the child that the father's not a man.
Any woman who would take a woman's baby ain't a man. Um she tells the child that he didn't know what he's gotten himself into. That he's going to have to start coming to Tennessee and have supervised visits.
She tells the child that the father is evil. um the at the phone call lasts for I don't know 25 30 45 minutes something like that and at some certain points in time during the conversation the father comes to the child and says hey it's time to get off the phone and also tries to get Julie is the main child that this is going on with he tries to get Julie to get off the phone let the other child talk to mama okay and mama tells tells the child to tell daddy he's lying. You haven't been on the phone that long.
Tells the child to uh defy the father, tell him you don't have to get off the phone. There's nothing in that court order that says I can't talk to these children. And just on and on and on and then later in phone conversations when dad comes in again and says, "Hey, it's time to get off the phone.
" You hear the child saying, "No, I can talk all I want. You're lying. " Things like that.
So, the child's parenting what the mother has told the child to say. She talks derogatorily about um the girlfriend of my client and tells her that she has no right to tell this child anything. She the child tells the mother that she had gotten in trouble because she had bit the siblings finger and that her dad had told her that he would spank her if she did that again.
The mother tells the child he's not allowed to do that. That's illegal. Um I'm going to call the law if he touches you.
You tell me if he touches you. You know, and just on and on and on. She goes on and on in the conversations at at certain periods of time and she knows that we're recording these calls apparently because in these conversations she starts talking to me.
All right. Well, let you I got it. You're going on and on.
You do have these recorded. I have these recordings right here today. And I would I would love for the court to listen to every one of these.
It's gonna take some time because there's probably more than an hour's worth of conversation here. Um, [snorts] I could do bits and pieces, you know, to to Have they been provided to Miss Anderson? Yes, they have been provided to Miss Anderson.
Okay. And I have transcripts of them, too. All right.
So it this is the basis of why I feel a psychological evaluation is needed because this mother is doing everything in her power to to influence, manipulate and alienate these children and specifically Julie. So you're asking the court to hold her in contempt and do a psychological evaluation. Is that correct?
I want a psychological evaluation on that. The contempt um involves the payments and other things. temporary order, you had ordered the mother to pay the father's attorney's fees of $5,000.
Those have not been paid. Additionally, there was an order on the appointing the guardian of light. The original ordered her to pay $375 to Miss Anderson.
There was a second order which was an amended order which ordered 1,500 be paid. It's my understanding she's paid nothing to Miss Anderson and it's my she has paid nothing on the father's attorney's fees. So, we are asking that she be held in contempt on both of those issues.
I'm here today just as a mother to my baby girls. They object the phone conversation. That accuracy is not true.
You can go over that. Well, she says they're recorded. You You mean I'm going to sit through list for an hour and you're going to What's going to be the point if it was recorded?
for accuracy because I did not what she stated. I always when Julie even answered the phone, I would redirect her. I'm here.
I love you. Just give give us time. Um Julie's very aware of everything.
So yes, I would tell her we have this court date. Everything's going to be okay. That's I would always reassure her.
Um her stating that I would make derogatory remarks towards my ex or his girlfriend, they're irrelevant. My children were taken from me. Um, and they have denied all contact and communication for 108 days since they were taken.
There's no order restricting communication, but they have denied such. Um, yes, in I'm sure on some of the occasion in the phone conversation, I'm enraged. I'm heartbroken.
Those are my babies. And he's he they're throwing all these false accusations as if I'm this monster. I'm a mother and grieving.
They took my babies and we on the move to get back to that. When I moved to Tennessee, he was very aware. He called and even stated I take I gave him the county that they were in, the physician, the school.
He is a grown adult. He could have went up there and did all this on his own and seen him. Even when I was in the same county in Terfair County, he was nowhere.
He would no show. I had to bring my babies to work because he would not show up to get them. I at the beginning when he was arrested because we you know I had to file the divorce and pay for it and all I gave him visitation.
I gave him every other weekend um spring break summer you know it was in that paper and all he would not show up and then when he slashed my tires and was arrested I even the DA reached out to me and stated do not have no contact with Robert Towns. I did so for my girls because it is in their best interest to have a father and have that um you know involvement. I would pack everything they needed, food, clothes, toys for him just to not show.
Um I was it there were several incidents this I had to bring him to work with me cuz he wouldn't show. It got to the point I said, "Okay, you can get them on Saturday morning, bring them back Sunday morning. " And that worked for me because you know that was less time that you know and so he wouldn't even show then.
Um and that's when we were in Telfare County. I have never kept them from him. I have no desire to hurt my babies.
[clears throat] They are my life. And for the last 108 days, they have not been here. I I don't know what's going on.
They won't they've restricted me from educational um all information. I've contacted Teler County Elementary. They won't give me information.
I've sent written request because he has put in a paper to deny me that information. Um I'm still their parent. I will always be their mother and I will always be here.
Um but the facts, I do object to that phone conversation. I do object to the date accuracy. None of that was correct.
Um when I moved um on I got that 32525 was the rule Nison letter stating a temporary emergency what the emergency was for because I did not move and not tell him that's false. I I'm not sure but 3:25 on 42 I went into labor early labor. It was horrific with my fifth child who I exclusively breastfeed.
I'm a stay-at-home mother because my babies are my life. Um, and yes, that does account to why I can't come up with thousands of dollars right now, but today, yes, I can make that $1,500 payment or anything that's needed. Um, I went into early labor.
We stayed in the hospital a week. Um and that and yeah, of course, I wasn't the that March May 12th um you know, appointment then totally went by me and that's when I got all those letters on that date and that needs to be looked at cuz I didn't even have time to review all those affidavits and everything cuz they literally came at my door on the court date. That's how I knew I missed it.
I immediately called Riddle. It wasn't after my children were taken. It was immediately that day.
She assured me that we would get a continuence or a motion to set aside. you made the ruling on May 16th. Obviously, that motion was never filed because my attorney was out of the country.
Um, and that's when I first got upset with her representation with me because, you know, that was horrible cuz now, um, you ruled you took the babies and all. Um, so immediately we got to that temporary hearing and even my representation had all the dates wrong. Um, he waited a week to even come get the children.
That mattered to me. um and and so forth. But I I mean I have done nothing wrong.
I have been a mother full first and foremost. I signed it to give the guardian the discretion and the authority to resolve these visitation issues. Are you do you have or are you prepared today, Mr Sanderson to give the court some sort of recommendation about how or under what circumstances to continue visitation or do you you're not prepared to make any sort of recommendation on that today?
No, you're folks. The whole reason for the court appointing Miss Anderson was to avoid exactly this me wait hold on [clears throat] is for the court to have to run your lives for you. Uh, I'm going to I have and and continue to grant that authority to the guardian elidum so that frankly I don't have to do it.
I mean, I will, don't get me wrong. Um, you probably won't like it, but in any event, uh, when [clears throat] Miss Anderson reaches out to you, you might as well consider it to be the court because that's her job. Miss here.
I don't want you to think I'm just sitting up here throwing a bunch of rocks at you, but it appears from what I've heard from Miss Anderson that you're not cooperating sufficiently for the case to move. Now, Miss Miss Shook appears to be ready for the court to string you up. And well, that's her job.
Okay. And Miss Anderson's got a job to do as well. Now, since there's no court-ordered visitation, my in my expectation was by the time we got back together that there would be something moving.
So, I'm not going to order I'm not going to I'm not going to order Mr Towns to I haven't I haven't yet ordered visitation. So, all the contact has been completely voluntary by Mr Towns up to this point. And I am I mean I could go a thousand different ways on this, but Miss Hillard, I'm going to put this burden on your shoulders and put this monkey on your back.
If you want to get a visitation schedule in place, you're going to have to get with Miss Anderson and get it straightened out. I'm not going to just do it. That's what Miss Anderson is for.
All right. So, I am not going to order any mandatory visitation or contact. If you want to get a schedule, Miss Harrier, you're going to have to get with Miss Anderson and get this matter resolved.
Get her what she needs so that Miss Anderson can report back to me with a recommendation. And if that's objected to by Miss Shook, then we'll have a hearing. I'm going to take Miss Anderson's uh recommendation about the middle evaluation.
I I'll be fair. be both sides, both parties. But the burden is going to be on you, Miss Hillyard.
If you want visitation and contact with your children, as you tell me that you do, then you're going to have to contact Miss Anderson and get it straightened out. Miss Anderson will contact me. And if we need to get back together, we'll get back together and we can even do it in another county.
It doesn't have to be here. I got six counties and I'm in one or the other of them almost every day. So, we'll get together.
Don't worry about it. But not until you get Miss Anderson what she needs so that she can make a recommendation. You understand that?
Now, all these other issues of the funds and all that sort of stuff, I'm not going to get into that today. I'm going to reserve those and let's just see how you do, Miss Hillary. Now, if you don't cooperate, then things will start moving quickly.
You understand that, Miss Hillary? You have any questions? Is the case still open?
Oh, yeah. It's it's open. I mean, I'm not going to kneecap you, Miss Hill.
You're I mean, not today, but as long as you cooperate with Miss Anderson, then we'll get this thing moving and get some sort of schedule in place till we get a final resolution of the case. We're just spinning our wheels. We're not getting anywhere.
Well, I mean, under the home state law, us being resate law. Home state law. I have no idea what you're talking about.
I filed it in one of those motions. Um, let me see. just before they he filed, you know, we was residents of Tennessee for over six months.
Well, and I was really here. You may be exactly right about all that, but I'm that's not before me today. And until you hear from me otherwise, you're going to have to deal with Miss Anderson.
You've gotten my full attention now, Miss Harrier. So, I'm I'm going to expect things to happen to get this visitation going so we can move to a final hearing. I mean, this case is not old.
I don't want anybody think I'm particularly fussing. It's not old, but I want to get it moving. I don't want to wait another 3 months and nothing happened.
The judge's ruling was pragmatic, measured, and loaded with conditional warnings. He declined to order mandatory visitation, noting that all contact between the mother and children to date had been entirely voluntary on the father's part. He placed the burden squarely on Miss Hillyard, telling her that if she wanted a visitation schedule, she would have to cooperate with Miss Anderson, provide the guardian ad lightum with whatever information she needed, and allow Miss Anderson to develop a recommendation.
He took the guardian ad lightums recommendation regarding psychological evaluations, ordering them for both parties, a decision he framed as fairness rather than punishment. He reserved the contempt issues related to unpaid fees, choosing not to address them that day, but making clear they remained on the table and he told Miss Hillyard directly, "If you do not cooperate, things will start moving quickly and you will not like how they move. " This case represents one of the most consequential dynamics in family law.
A parent who took children across state lines without authorization, disappeared for a year and a half, lost custody through a default judgment after failing to appear, and is now attempting to regain access while simultaneously engaging in conduct during phone calls that is actively harmful to the children. The recordings that Miss Shook described and offered to play in their entirety depict a mother who is using every moment of contact not to comfort her children but to recruit them as allies in her legal battle. Telling a child that the police will take her home if she says the right words.
Telling a child her father is evil. Instructing a child to defy her father's reasonable parenting directives. These are not the actions of a mother who is focused on her children's well-being.
They are the actions of a parent who is so consumed by her own grief, anger, and sense of injustice that she cannot separate her emotional needs from her children's developmental needs. The judge recognized this, but chose a path of conditional opportunity rather than immediate punishment. He did not terminate contact.
He did not impose sanctions for the unpaid fees. He did not rule on the jurisdictional challenge. What he did was create a clear road map, cooperate with the guardian ad lightum, submit to the psychological evaluation, and allow the professional appointed to protect your children to do her job.
If Miss Hillyard follows that road map, she will eventually get a visitation schedule, the case will move toward final resolution, and she will have demonstrated to the court that she can prioritize her children's stability over her own grievances. if she does not, if she continues to obstruct, to refuse cooperation, to use phone calls as weapons of alienation. The judge made clear that the consequences will be swift and severe.
He told her he was not going to kneecap her today. The word today was doing a great deal of work in that sentence. The guardian ad lightum is watching.
The recordings exist, and the court's patience, while generous, is not infinite.
