Too many children are falling through the cracks of the legal system. One child in our community has senselessly lost her life and another, my niece, is being abused while with her father and NONE of the authorities are helping!! 

Here's my sister's story...

Normally I do not post such personal things, but I am outraged, do not currently even know where my child is and will not keep silent any longer...so this is what’s going on with Zoey. In November of 2019 my 4 year old daughter disclosed abuse taking place during visitation in her Father’s home. So immediately I reported it and withheld further visitation. I then discovered that her Father had moved twice without proper notification, as well as, in violation of a court order that stated he was to be living in his Mother’s home until further ordered by the court. After the Judge ruled visitation should continue without the accused to have any contact with her, I started sending her back. Then Zoey would come home telling me she had been around her abusers. I reported it each time to the authorities, as well as, her GAL. No one involved even attempted to verify this until months later when her Father held her from me for 2 weeks. Authorities caught her Father with her abusers in her presence. Upon another hearing he was found guilty of contempt on several different showcauses but then still granted unsupervised visitation. Apparently, without a “smoking gun” the disclosure of a 4 year old child and proof that her own Father isn’t taking her safety seriously is not “sufficient”to keep her adequately protected in the Commonwealth of Virginia. He immediately appealed everything to circuit court. Following the order my child continued going to visitation, then 2 months later Zoey made another disclosure and told me about domestic abuse going on between her Father and his girlfriend. I was able to file a FOIA request and have proof of what she’s told me to be true. I filed another report and withheld visitation again waiting to present new evidence in the circuit court hearing. Her Father failed to appear to that hearing so now we have to wait until it is remanded back to JDR court before we can even have another custody hearing. A few days after we were supposed to have the new custody hearing we had a showcause hearing in which the Judge ruled it was reasonable for me to have withheld his visitation again. But that I should grant Zoey’s Grandmother (her Father’s Mother) reasonable visitation and so I did. Her Grandmother admitted to me that she had allowed Zoey’s abusers to visit with her. So I told her she could only visit with Zoey in a public setting after that. On Thursday a close friend of mine took Zoey to Applebee’s to eat with her Grandmother during which her Father showed up and carried Zoey out. Now, even if it had been found unreasonable for me to be withholding his visitation, his next court ordered visit would not have been until Christmas Day. Authorities were contacted and the Wytheville PD told me it was a civil matter and all they could do was a well check. So I requested an officer assist me with speaking to a video Magistrate. The responding officer tried to discourage me from this, saying that it was a civil matter and nothing could be done. But since I had a right to do so he assisted me. The Magistrate issued a warrant for Zoey’s Father’s arrest for abduction. The officer told me that once he was in custody they would contact me to pick up Zoey. But several hours later after he was in custody they refused to tell me where my child was. Currently they still have only told me that she is with her Father who was released. My question is at what point will the Judge put his foot down. Every time I have been ordered to send Zoey for visitation something else occurs. And now I do not even know where she is. I pray and am asking all of you to do the same, for her safe and timely return. This scenario of Police not enforcing custody orders is the very one that lead to the death of two year old, Harper Mitchell. Please continue to pray for Zoey.

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