On December 16, 2013, Bucks County, PA Justice Center Judge James M. McMaster took a ten-year-old daughter completely away from her loving and protective Mother and her beloved little brother and switched legal and primary physical custody to her biological father, immediately after the young girl bravely testified in court to the judge's face of the father's abuse in the judge’s back chambers. The only witnesses allowed were the attorneys. The child’s testimony of her father's abuse was "sealed" by the judge to cover up and hide his misconduct. That day, the judge also dismissed the child’s Protection From Abuse (PFA) Order against the father, in which mother had protective custody of her ten-year-old child. The judge also dismissed father's criminal contempt charges to his violations of the Protection From Abuse (PFA) order in which father had testified and admitted his guilt to a different, senior judge. Father was also charged with criminal trespass, assault on a ten-year-old minor, and harassment. Judge McMaster dropped all of those charges. An attorney advising on the case who said he had been working in law for over 30 years, said he had never seen a judge drop criminal assault charges against a minor before. 

Despite much documented evidence – professional witnesses, photos, police and medical reports – and the child’s own testimony to her father's abuse, Judge James M. McMaster dismissed the final Protection From Abuse Order and father's Criminal Contempt of a PFA violation charges altogether, and switched custody to the child’s abusive father, completely reversing the order, ruling that mother instead was in "civil contempt" and instead of father going to jail, the Judge ordered mother to spend the next six months in jail or purge it by first paying the draconian sum of $6000.00 in roughly a week's time directly to Father, over the week of their daughter’s birthday and Christmas 2013, making an appeal impossible, unaffordable, and unconstitutional. Mother was quoted about $20,000 for an appeal. Judge ordered that Mother first pay the $6000 purge before attempting an appeal. The Judge also ordered Mother to deal face-to-face and alone with abusive Father to pay him the $6000 fine directly and alone with her baby. When Father refused to meet Mother and her baby alone for payment, Judge McMaster sided with Father again and found Mother in contempt again, and issued a bench warrant and sheriff deputies who threatened to break into Mother's home with "dogs" while Mother was holding her baby and had already paid the purge in full. 

The father has a long history of mental illness, alcoholism, domestic violence, abuse, control and anger issues--the reason for the separation in 2005 and finalized divorce in 2010. The custody hearings started in 2005, and the abuse continued to escalate.

In 2008, after a particularly violent incident of physical abuse against Mother in which the child witnessed, where 911 was called, the Mother filed for her own Protection From Abuse (PFA) Order against Father. Even that was only temporary, as Father had an expensive highly paid and manipulative attorney and Mother was unrepresented. 

In November 2012, Judge McMaster ruled Mother was in contempt for the same reason, and reversed primary custody of mother's 16-year-old son to father and ordered mother to spend over 24 hours in jail and pay the fine of $1000 directly to Father for the same thing : reporting what their daughter told her, the extreme abuse and neglect by her father. Mother is also a Registered Nurse, and therefore a PA Mandated Reporter, required by Pennsylvania Law to report abuse as soon as it is reported to her. 

This judge would not accept mother's documents, photos, evidence or witnesses, nor let her speak, berated her, screamed at mother in open court to "shut up,” threatened her over and over in open court, falsely accused mother of “alienating” her children from father. However, it is widely known that seeking the Courts’ protection is not alienation. PFA is not alienation, it is protection. Mother had not one, but two PFAs against father, ordered by the Bucks County Court. Court-ordered and paid CCES psychologists recommended to the court that Mother be the primary custody of both children, never father. They described Father in their evaluations as a "bully,” another called Father "toxic" and only "good enough for weekends." 

Despite this, Judge McMaster has made clear his obvious male gender/father bias, continued to threaten to throw mother in jail for future court appearances for "a significant amount of time." This judge also extorted expensive items from mother's home and forced mother and stepfather to meet the father alone to give them to him.  Judge McMaster has also unreasonably refused to recuse himself and ordered himself to remain on this family’s case for all future rulings, despite his obvious male gender/father bias, extreme misconduct and inability to fairly make a ruling for the children’s and/or mother’s safety. 

Mother was also ordered to pay father child support for years and he collects child tax refunds, and father admitted to CCES psychologists and the Judge that he is an alcoholic, binge drinker and smokes expensive cigarettes around the children in violation of the Court Order, works full time for his sister at Meineke in Doylestown, PA, and Father NEVER paid mother ANY child support even when Mother had both sole AND primary custody for years as ordered by the Court per the recommendations of the psychologists at CCES. 

This is a horrible travesty of justice and corruption in Bucks County PA.  A corrupt Bucks County Children and Youth Social Services social worker—Janeen Pironti Overberger—illegally went into the child’s elementary school – on her very first day of fifth grade – and interrogated and threatened her alone and without her Mother's knowledge or permission, causing her to come home sobbing on her very first day of school and setting into motion the trial of the child’s and her mother's life… the hearing that ultimately meant she would be taken from her beloved Mom, Stepdad, younger brother, dog, and all of the rest of her family and friends. 

Bucks County Children and Youth Social Services worker Janeen Pironti Overberger and Judge James M. McMaster acted with gross misconduct. Parts of the transcript from the court hearing the day the child was ripped sobbing from her mother’s arms were changed, a criminal act of forgery.  Records of the child’s testimony to the judge in his chambers of her father’s abuse have been “sealed.” A Woman's Place advocates, who are always normally present at all PFA hearings for the woman's support and protection, were not allowed into the Court hearing that day, even though they promised the night before they would be there. Key witnesses—including several POLICE OFFICERS—were threatened, some forbidden by the Judge to even speak and/or to attend at all. The officer who had arrested father for the contempt of the PFA Order and promised to be at the hearing was not allowed in the room. Lawyers were threatened with being disbarred if they spoke. 

The daughter’s Mom, Stepdad, little brother & sister, beloved dog, and family and friends have all been fighting for her safe return to her home, school, and community that she was ripped so heartlessly from, ever since she began reporting to her Mom, Stepdad and many others of her father's abuse--which was then reported to and documented with CPS, schools, the authorities, medical professionals, and ultimately the Court. Mother is also a Registered Nurse and a Mandated Reporter by Pennsylvania Law. 

On June 27, 2016, the vindictive father filed yet another (in a long line of) false contempt petitions, in an attempt to have the Mom--in his own words--"punished" and to unconstitutionally and abusively sever ALL CONTACT between the child’s Mother and 13-year-old daughter. 

Mother was forced back into "Family" Court by the vindictive father once again, on October 17, 2016. Father wanted the Mother punished and to cut off ALL contact with their 13-year-old daughter. What kind of Father would do this to the Mother of his child? What kind of Father would do this to his child who loves her Mother? 

According to the UN, "[d]iscrimination against mothers resulting in the loss of child custody to abusive fathers" is happening in the US, where far too often, family courts make grievous errors in judgment when deciding custody outcomes for children of battered women.

In this case, as in many others, a young girl was wrongfully and irresponsibly given sole legal and primary physical custody to her documented and identified abuser, her Mother was put on paid supervised visitation!...(paid by Mother at $60 an hour, minimum of 2 hour visits, doubled on holidays, even though the supervisor, a PhD expert psychologist hired by the Court, testified that Mother DOES NOT need and SHOULD NOT be on supervision, yet the Judge ordered Mother must continue supervision without giving any reason why!)...All documented evidence of abuse was suppressed by the Judge. Expert witnesses were disallowed, and the child’s own testimony of her father's abuse to the judge was "sealed." Both lawyers--the only witnesses--were ordered and forbidden by the judge to speak or write of the testimony or face being disbarred. 

This mom is one of an estimated 2 million mothers in the U.S. alone who have lost custody of their children to controlling and abusive men who seek to punish women simply out of spite, for leaving them--in the cruelest way possible--by completely severing all contact between the mother and her beloved children.

The daughter and Mom and her maternal family and friends have never given up hope that Justice will prevail in this case, and they will be together again. 

This daughter deserves to be reunited with her Mother, and her two younger siblings, and the rest of her maternal family and friends who miss and love her so much. 

So many others have reached out and said this Judge did the same thing to their family too! 
Please sign this important petition to remove this misogynistic monster from the bench!