Please make any comment or feedback as maybe this will lead to a proactive campaign to get legislative attention. The names have been changed for obvious reasons.
California Superior Court -Trial starts this week for custody and visitation of minor daughter.
John Roberts, 43, was released from prison again within the last two years. He was sentenced on June 23, 2005, in Placer County, serving 6-7 years for threats to commit a crime resulting in death against Cari, and her parents. Roberts was sent to prison for threatening to have Cari's father killed at Pelican State Prison, where her father worked, as well as threatening Cari's mother, who at the time worked for Folsom State Prison. Roberts also left death threats to other family members which is on tape and filed with the District Attorney’s office. Roberts was convicted of Penal Code 422, threats to commit a crime resulting in death; and PC 1170.12 (A,D); PC 667 (A1) and PC 12022.1.
Since Roberts was released 1-2 years ago, Cari and her daughter, 15, have gone into hiding, in fear of their lives.
Cari married John Roberts in November,1996, and during the first few years of marriage, realized her mistake and began enduring a life filled with Robert's conflicts with law enforcement, previous prison incarceration, domestic violence and drug abuse.
April, 2005, Cari was divorced from Roberts and received full legal and physical custody of her daughter and two months later, Roberts was sentenced to prison. The minor child never wanted any association or contact with her Roberts, never wrote a letter and never visited her father in prison. Since this time, Roberts never paid child support and the family has no desire to collect this money, they just want to be left alone. They are afraid Roberts will find them and harm them. There is evidence in the case file that Roberts has stolen the minor child twice and law enforcement was involved.
In March 2009, when Cari started receiving notices of hearings regarding child visitation from Roberts (mailed to her parents residence), she filed for a permanent restraining order to stop Roberts and his attorney from trying to find her and her daughter. In these subsequent hearings, Roberts and his attorney have been given permission by the Judge to hire private investigators to locate Cari anyway and even granted this ex-con permission to subpoena her parents phone records looking for phone numbers and/or calls made to Cari by her parents.
Cari filed Declarations to the court for each of these hearings, stating repeatedly she will not allow her or her daughter to show up for any court hearings as they are afraid of Roberts. Cari believes Roberts only wants to use the judicial system to harass her family and force his daughter to see him. Cari and her daughter participated in a court mandated mediation where this mediator confirmed their fear and confirmed the daughter wants nothing to do with her father.
Besides the death threats, over the years Roberts anti-social behavior has taken a toll on the family. This includes instances of borrowing a family car, "to look for a job", when actually he was gone all day and in the middle of the night, the Sacramento City police called stating Roberts needed a ride from the police station. Roberts confessed he was making a drug deal and some “men” took him and the car but he was able to "get away". Two or three days later, the police department called stating they found the car, that Roberts had given the car to some drug dealers because he had a drug bill with them and that was the only way he could pay them.
Prior to 1996, Roberts kept losing his jobs and engaging in more illegal activity, one time some men kidnapped him and beat him up. When the family went to pick up Roberts, he was found in a cane field facing drug dealers. These drug dealers threatened Cari telling her if Roberts tried to sell drugs in their territory again they would kill him.
Through the years Roberts was arrested for possession of meth and under the influence. He took money from family banking accounts, bought drugs, then the court ordered he attend drug reversion, which he never finished.
Roberts assaulted Cari three times by either pushing her into a hallway cabinet, or choking her and throwing his wallet in the back of my head, causing minor injuries. After contacting WEAVE, Cari finally started divorce proceedings. He was arrested a while later on a domestic violence call when the police found out he had a warrant for not attending his court order drug reversion program.
In 2001, another incident included a SWAT showing up at Cari's residence where Roberts was arrested for extortion regarding some business deal. Around this time he beat up a neighbor, and at different times he would lock up Cari in her home taking away her car and telephone. Around November 2001, Roberts took his daughter out of school, against a court order, and took her to a physician so he could accuse Cari of molesting her daughter. The police were then involved, all charges were unfounded and the matter dropped, leaving the daughter traumatized again.
June 2001 to January 2002, Roberts called CPS at least three times making false allegations concerning the treatment of his daughter. Specifically, on December 25, 2001, the charges were found to be false. The police told Roberts that he is to stop making these false reports or he would be arrested.
In the summer of 2002, Roberts refused to obey a court order regarding visitation, and failed to return his daughter home. Cari again went to court obtaining an emergency court order, then the police went to Roberts home and picked up the children.
Spring 2003, Roberts walked up to Cari's car with his daughter in it, threatening to kill her while pushing the car door and yelling. Her daughter was screaming and crying.
Around the spring of 2004, Roberts refused again to abide by a court order regarding returning his daughter after visitation. The daughter called her mother saying they are at a meth house where her father left her alone while he and his girlfriend went to a casino. Roberts also made constant phone calls day and night to speak to his daughter, and when the phone was un-plugged, he would call the police and demand a welfare check resulting in this incident being just another false allegation made by Roberts.
April 2005, Cari was divorced with full legal and physical custody and in June 2005, Roberts was sentenced to prison. The daughter wishes to never have any contact with her father again. She never wrote a letter and never visited her father in prison.
Roberts never paid child support and the family has no desire to collect this money, they just want to be left alone. They are afraid he will find them and harm them. There is evidence in the case file that Roberts has stolen the minor child twice and law enforcement was involved.
Why would the court go to this length of “justice” for an ex-con who threatened to kill his daughters family, who never paid child support and who has a long history of endangering his daughter? Courts have no choice; there is no law in their favor to do otherwise.
So, Roberts is awarded a trial this week. Justice in family law continues to be a crap shoot. How many other families out there face harm and brutality after courts issue custody orders? How many children have been killed in the last year by a disgruntled spouse who lost custody? Who would approve a restraining order taking away custody from a father who gets wind of this order while he is actually at the time, with his daughter? (Fay case) This was just plain sad timing.
UPDATE:
The Judge, during the trial stated to Roberts (who several times interrupted the Judge and stated "this court is a joke") that he cannot extradite Cari and her daughter as this does not follow under the court's laws regarding family law". It was ruled that the mediation report stays as an order meaning Roberts cannot get his daughters contact information from the court, that this is to remain confidential, but the Judge did tell Roberts he could write letters to his daughter via an attorney, but warned him that if Roberts hires PI's to try to find his daughter, this could result in stalking, and that Roberts already has three strikes.
So today there was Justice against this monster. The family will have to continue to keep their guard up in case Roberts snoops around looking for them or if luck has it - maybe he'll just do another dumb thing and go back to prison.
Here's a thought how about a law with THREE STRIKES if a person endangers his child with an unsafe environment of drugs, domestic violence and repeated criminal activity? He then loses all custody and visitation permanently. I like it.
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