Tennessee Father and Mother are divorced. Father and Mother have two daughters together.

Mother allegedly shoots Father in the leg. In the presence of their two daughters.

If for no other reason, Father wins temporary custody of their two daughters.

And Mother is charged with attempted murder and reckless endangerment of the children.

Although there is probably little need for it for the foreseeable future, Father plans to seek an order or protection or injunction for protection against domestic violence against Mother.

Read more in this [Chattanooga, TN] WTVC-TV News Channel 9 NBC TV News article: Signal Shooting Victim Granted Custody Of Children.

Abductions of children across international borders continue to increase.

In the UK, the number of such cases (and some cases involve more than one child) has risen from 488 in 2006 to 554 in 2008. It is likely that not all abductions are properly reported.

Most such abductions are by one of the parents of the child.

The most common places that children are abducted to from the UK are:

1. Pakistan
2. USA
3. Spain
4. Ireland
5. France

A Canadian man searching for his missing daughter in the UK has been searching for … sixteen (16) years.

Even with the existence of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and similar bilateral treaties.

Not the typical case perhaps but …

A British jurist acknowledges that some parents willfully disobey the law, but others don’t even realize that what they are doing is illegal.

Law enforcement tends not to want to get involved in family abduction cases, referring people to family court attorneys.

Unfortunately, the resulting delay can make all the difference in whether an abduction can be stopped or the perpetrator caught.

Potential abduction scenarios are increasing in part because so many people work abroad in this day and age, and form relationships with people in the country where they are working. But they aren’t necessarily educated about the law and the dangers inherent in such situations.

The misled children are the victims in these scenarios. Eventually, they find out the truth and are robbed of their trust.

Most abductors are mothers. Some are fleeing domestic violence. Others just want out.

Read more in this BBC News article: ‘I’ll never end hunt for my girl’.

New York state boyfriend (Man) and girlfriend (Woman) break up.

Man allegedly kicks Woman’s puppy to death.

Man says it was “looking at me like it didn’t like me.”

Man is charged with felony aggravated cruelty to animals.

Man eventually pleads guilty to disorderly conduct and agrees to make financial restitution to Woman, take anger management classes and undergo a mental health evaluation.

Judge enters an order of protection, or injunction for protection against domestic violence, barring Man from contact with Woman for three years.

Early warning signs of domestic violence include attacking or killing the pet of the true targeted victim.

Read more in this Niagara Gazette article: TOWN OF TONAWANDA: Reduced charges for accused dog killer.

Parental Alienation. Syndrome. Or not.

Whether one accepts it as a legitimate diagnosis of a psychological condition or not, there can be little doubt that the term describes a pattern of behavior that some parents actively engage in.

Willfully or unwittingly.

To their children’s detriment.

Numerous organizations rally against it, including:

1. A Family’s Heartbreak
2. Hostile Aggressive Parenting
3. Hugs to Heartbreak
4. Keeping Families Connected
5. Overcoming Parental Alienation
6. Parental Alienation Awareness Organization
7. Parental Alienation Awareness Organization – US
8. Parental Alienation Canada
9. Parental Alienation Hurts
10. Solutions 4 PAS
11. Split n Two
12. Stop Parental Alienation
13. The Rachel Foundation for Family Reintegration

Read more in this Tampa Bay Examiner article: Parental alienation information and support.

Tennessee Wife obtains order of protection against Husband.

Husband violates restraining order by going to Wife’s house.

Husband is arrested for violating injunction for protection against domestic violence.

Police free Husband.

Less than half an hour later, Husband returns to Wife’s home.

And threatens to kill her. With his arms on her throat.

And warns her “she’ll never get rid of him”.

Police come and arrest him again.

This time, police charge husband with violation of an order of protection, resisting arrest and domestic violence with aggravated assault.

Husband is even confined this time, pending posting of bond.

An isolated occurrence?

No. Husband has been charged with aggravated assault of Wife four other times, although Wife ultimately dismissed all of them.

Read more in this Blount County, TN Daily Times article: Knoxville man arrested twice in one day by Blount Sheriff’s deputies.

A financial advisor dispenses some financial advice to guide those going through a divorce:

• get a handle on your finances – hire a professional if cost-effective and necessary
• split assets equitably – take relative degrees of liquidity of various assets into account
• divide and conquer your debts – block incurring further debt on joint accounts
• pay attention to taxes – be aware of tax impacts which can tip seemingly equal divisions of property
• determine alimony and child support before the courts impose a number on both parties and consider the benefit of insurance, and
• plan for your future – with or without a financial professional

Read more in this [Southgate, MI] News Herald article: SHAWN BUMGARDNER: Steps should be taken to preserve one’s self during divorce.

Wife obtains injunction for protection against domestic violence, or order of protection, against Husband.

Husband violates restraining order by repeatedly stalking Wife.

Husband admits to stalking Wife and loitering near her home.

Husband may be sentenced to up to five years’ incarceration for aggravated stalking. He could have faced an additional five years but for the prosecution dropping three additional felony stalking counts.

Husband plans to request probation without confinement.

Read more in this Chicago Daily Herald article: Carpentersville man admits stalking estranged wife, now faces prison.

Two hundred thousand American children are abducted from the US each year, most often by a parent or extended family member.

Such abductions are federal crimes.

But in too many of those cases, the child ends up being raised in a country foreign to them by the abducting family member.

Even when the country the child is abducted to is a party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

An international lawyer traveled to his wife’s native Switzerland with her and their one year old son. Switzerland is a party to the Hague Convention.

At the airport for their return trip, his wife refused to give permission for their son to board a plane to the US. The authorities there would not help.

The lawyer later obtained a US judgment awarding him sole custody of his son, and filed an application for return of the boy to the US under the Hague Convention.

Four years later, the man has spent a total of five hours with his son – all in Switzerland – since the abduction and he is no closer to bringing him home.

That is one many such cases, some receiving considerable media atttention, others barely any.

Read more in this Voice of America News article: Where in the World Are America’s Missing Children?

Illinois Man is incarcerated for about a year for a violation of an injunction for protection against domestic violence, or order of protection.

Man has history of other criminal charges of domestic battery and other violations of restraining orders against other victims.

While Man is confined, he allegedly makes nearly three (300) hundred phone calls to a different victim who reportedly also has an injunction for protection against domestic violence against him.

Calls in the corrections facility are monitored.

Man is convicted of a felony over the stalking phone calls made from jail and sentenced to another five years’ incarceration.

It is unclear why, since the calls were monitored, law enforcement took no action until nearly 300 unlawful calls had been made.

Read more in this Pekin Daily Times article: Man gets five years for telephone calls.

Global Positioning Systems (GPS) are proliferating, and not just for guiding drivers.

As I’ve previously posted, some states use them to track movements of people subject to orders of protection.

And in some states, one divorcing spouse is increasingly likely to be planting one in or on the other spouse’s car.

And police in some states are using them in criminal cases.

However, constitutional and other privacy issues may impact admissibility in court of information from these devices.

Read more in this Ogden [UT] Standard-Examiner article: Issue to track.