| __PEERgroup __Parental Equality Enforcement Resource |
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| Comes now the Court, after having taken herein matter under advisement, and does now DENY Petitioner Father's Petition for Modification of Custody and orders that herein minor child remain in the custody of the Respondent Mother. The Court orders visitation between minor and father as follows: Father and minor shall have visitation every Saturday or Sunday (whichever is convenient for the parties) for a 3 hour block of time [PEERgroup note: The cruelness of this order is that it substantially reduces the visitation Garry Kirk was finally granted just one year ago. Furthermore, note that Garry must drive over two hours one-way to visit his child. That means that Garry will need to drive nearly six hours to spend 3 hours with his daughter. The judge issued this order knowing this. Could this be an intentional slap in the face?], to be determined between the parties, supervised by the maternal grandparents [PEERgroup note: The maternal grandparents have testified in open court that they believe all that their daughter Kathy says about the allegated sexual molestation. Coupling this with Dr. Helding forecast that more accusations of molesting are likely, Garry will need to put himself in a very dangerous and hostile environment and risk more false charges just to see his own child. Slap in the face, number two] at their home. Mother not to be present at said visits, unless parties otherwise agree to her presence. These visits shall take place in said manner for eight weeks. If parties cannot agree as to which day, then Saturday shall be the visitation day. Upon completion of visitation for said 8 week period, father shall have visitation with the minor child every Saturday, unsupervised, but in a public setting, for a four-hour block of time (or more if the parties agree). [PEERgroup note: This is a repeat of old promises that the judge has not efforced when Kathy objected. There is no reason to believe this time will be any different.] Father, mother and minor child shall engage in family counseling as soon as practical [PEERgroup note: This case is a documentary of Kathy refusing and sabotaging therapy while Teri Ann continues to suffer emotional abuse. The judge has taught Kathy that disregarding orders of therapy can be routinely ignored with impunity. Why should this time be any different?]. The parties, with the assistance of their attorneys, shall agree upon a therapist within 30 days of the receipt of herein Order and begin sessions at first available opportunity thereafter. Mother shall pay for her portion, father to pay for his portion and the parties to share equally the portion of the cost to the minor child. Because of the adverse physical and emotional response the minor child has to visitation with the father, the Court will not order overnight visitation between the minor child and her father until the treating therapist recommends such. [PEERgroup note: Dr. Helding, the most recent court appointed expert whose recommendations the judge said she would follow, HAS ALREADY RECOMMENDED overnight visitation. Helding realizes, even if Bonaventura doesn't, that healing of the relationship between father and daughter cannot take place in a hostile environment.] The visitation set forth herein is meant to be a minimum amount. Any additional visitation, supervised or unsupervised, is allowable and encouraged. Both parents are ordered not to talk in a negative manner about one another in the presence of the minor child. [PEERgroup note: There has been NO documented evidence from any professional in the entire history of this case that suggests Garry has ever spoken negatively to his daughter about her mother. Conversely, this case has been repeatedly labeled as Parental Alienation Syndrome, where deprecation of the non-custodial parent is at the very foundation. Bonaventura is blame-shifting here to be politically correct. It is tantamount to someone saying in 1943 that Nazi's and Jews should both quit exterminating one another.] SO ORDERED. All of which is Ordered this 16th day of January, 2001. Mary Beth Bonaventura Judge |
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| ORDER |
Here's the final ruling, issued January 16, 2001, over five years after this case began . The especially egregious parts of this ruling are in bold for emphasis, and PEERgroup comments are in [red]. Note that this Order is exactly what Dr. Helding said NOT to do, that is to continue with pointless therapy that invariably will be sabotaged by Kathy and offering NO sense of closure to this. Compare some of the recommendations made by Dr. Helding with Judge Bonaventura's order (NOTE: This ruling was OVERTURNED by the Appellate Court stating that Bonaventura "abused her discrection" and ignored "overwhelming evidence": The problem presented in this case is not that there hasn't been enough therapy. It is that other therapeutic recommendations like those made by Dr. Helding have been IGNORED by Miller and Bonaventura for years! The complete Order is shown below. |
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| "No additional evaluations, consultations or professional reviews should occur... the serial evaluations have most likely been harmful to the child..." "I would recommend that Mr. Kirk be awarded sole [i.e., legal] custody." "A standard liberal visitation schedule...Father should have visitation at a minimum of every other weekend from Friday after school till Sunday evening. He should also have visitation at least one evening per week from after school till 8:00 p.m." "[I]t should be made clear to Ann that her parents have authority over her, and ultimately her father is the authority that she must obey. Ann's anticipated threats to control the situation, which will likely take the form of threats to run away, to remain silent, to harm herself, etc., should all be dealt with in a traditional manner, but not by acquiescing to Ann's demand." |
| "Father, mother and minor child shall engage in family counseling as soon as practical" Bonaventura "orders that herein minor child remain in the custody of the Respondent Mother" "Father and minor shall have visitation every Saturday or Sunday...for a 3 hour block of time to be determined between the parties, supervised by the maternal grandparents." Bonaventura's ruling keeps Kathy as the ultimate authority and complies closely to Teri Ann's request regarding visitation made in the December 21, 2000 in-camera interview when Teri Ann suggests to "see him [Garry] with my grandparents supervised for two hours." (page 19 of transcript) |
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| Dr. Helding's Recommendation |
| Judge Bonaventura's Ruling |
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| "All the cards were marked in advance. The trial was a pig-circus, he never had a chance." - Bob Dylan, Hurricane |
| Summary Despite all the evidence collected since 1995 by nine court appointed professionals, including this final report provided by Dr. Helding, Bonaventura decides to leaveTeri Ann in the sole physical and legal custody of Kathy. Bonaventura refuses Dr. Helding's request to at least allow Garry 'legal' custody which would grant him legal authority to make some of the parental decisions regarding her upbringing. Bonaventura has repeatedly disregarded recommendations by many professionals to removeTeri Ann from Katy, even on an interim basis intended to safeguard the mental health of Teri Ann and promote reunification with her father. Teri Ann is the victim, but she needn’t have been. It is an outrageous failure of our courts to allow a child to believe emotionally destructive lies about herself and her father. Moultrie stated it best when she wrote in 1997, "The need for professional intervention is severe and of utmost importance to the future development of this child in general, and specifically to work through the child-father and father-child relationship healing." Since all therapy intended to bring out the truth in this case and reunite Garry and Teri Ann has been sabotaged by Kathy without any accountability by the courts, Teri Ann still believes the malicious brainwashing that the court has allowed for over 5 years. Teri Ann believes she's been molested and she believes her father is the one who has molested her. Bonaventura and every professional appointed in this case knows this is not true, yet Bonaventura's rulings have allowed Teri Ann to continue to believe this. This is a miscarriage of justice that carries with it a death sentence for the relationship between Teri Ann and her father. Miller and Bonaventura could have helped this innocent child years ago, but they chose to ignore the emotional abuse that was being reported to them. The recommendations made by those who are professionally trained in psychology and mental health were supplanted by the untrained political and personal views of these judges. This is especially troubling since these professionals were appointed by the judges themselves! If Miller and Bonaventura did not intend to follow the recommendations of these professionals, why did they appoint them in the first place? It seems clear that Miller and Bonaventura only intended to adhere to the recommendations if they coincided with their own personal and political worldviews, which would have favored the mother. The father and the child lost by default, regardless of the facts or the best interest of the child. The following are a few quotes from reports to Bonaventura that relate specifically to Teri Ann’s residential setting and Kathy’s parenting skills. Bonaventura disregarded them all even though there were several qualified alternate residential placements offered to the court throughout this case: 1996 - Marguerite P Rebesco, Ph.D. (concerning reunification therapy between Terry & Teri Ann ):“If such cannot reasonably occur within in fours months...an alternate residential setting that would promote Teri Ann’s health may need to be considered.” Also, “If remediation appears unlikely by this more conservative means, a caretaking reorganization that would allow Teri Ann the opportunity to develop independent perceptions should be considered.” And, “The hallmark of a competent parent is the ability to support his or her child in a relationship with the other parent. Kathy Kirk lacks this ability.” 1996 - Cheryl Moultrie - Guardian Ad Litem (concerning reunification therapy between Garry & Teri Ann): If reunification therapy “cannot reasonably occur within four months, an alternate residential setting for Teri Ann shall be determined by this court to promote Teri Ann’s health;”... “This is very pathological, destructive parenting between mother and child which impedes any true individuation of the child.” 1997 - Ronald Ruff, Ph.D. “I recommend that serious consideration be given to removing Teri Ann to a neutral residential placement.” 1998 - Douglas W. Caruana, Phy.D. “Kathy will need to demonstrate the necessary willingness to resolve her pathological contribution in this case while supporting her daughter with a healthy and accurate effort. Without this, she should not be allowed to continue in the role of custodial parent.” And, “In summary Kathy presents as an individual with very firm views, rapidly shifing emotions, and serious gaps in her understanding and healthy ability in the area of parenting.” March 1999 - Carole Dougherty, ACSW/LCSW (working under the supervision of Dr. Caruana) “I believe that the time has come to place Teri Ann in a residential environment away from her mother’s full-time influence. Teri Ann is a victim of severe Parental Alienation Syndrome.” October 2000 - Phillip Helding DO/MBA, Diplomat, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Executive Medical Director Behavioral Health Services Saint Margaret Mercy Healthcare Centers “Kathy Kirk is a severely narcissistically disordered women. She is involved in an enmeshed relationship with her daughter wherein the self-other boundary does not exist. She is involved in manipulative, deceitful, and exploitative behaviors in an effort to preserve her pathological enmeshment with her daughter.” |