Protective Parent Suzanne Dewalt Ordered to pay Restitution
Now Playing: Typical Texas Justice

A judge ordered Protective Parent Suzanne DeWalt to pay $47,480.73 in restitution to her eight year old son Jeremy and her ex-husband  during a hearing held Monday afternoon. $25,000 has been set aside for Suzanne to pay for her son’s psychological rehabilitation.

Meanwhile, her Appeal has been filed. She will remain in prison until her conviction is overturned and a new trial ordered.

A seriously uninformed jury recently sentenced Suzanne to five years in prison for fleeing to Mexico in 2002 with Jermey who was five at the time, instead of relinquishing custody of the child to her ex-husband, Michael DeWalt. Suzanne believed Michael Dewalt sexually abused Jeremy during a 2001 summer visitation. Suzanne Dewalt was arrested in September of 2005 in Zacatecas, Mexico and was extradited to New Braunfels.

Read More:

http://sanantoniolightning.com/dewalt.html 

Texas Protective Mom gets 5 years in Prison

Suzanne Dewalt was sentenced to 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine for protecting her son Jeremy from an alleged child abuser.

 

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA070106.03B.DeWalt.1bb384c.html

 

Mother gets five-year sentence, $10,000 fine for kidnapping son

Web Posted: 07/01/2006 12:00 AM CDT

 

Alexandra Berzon
Express-News Staff Writer

NEW BRAUNFELS — A jury Friday sentenced Suzanne Kearns-DeWalt to five years in state prison and a $10,000 fine a week and a half after they convicted her of kidnapping her son.

In October 2002, after losing a child custody case in the same New Braunfels courthouse, Kearns-DeWalt fled to Mexico with her 4-year-old son, where they lived for three years. Kearns-DeWalt claimed in that earlier trial that her ex-husband, Navy pilot Mike DeWalt, and two other men had abused her son, Jeremy, then 3, on a family trip to Florida. Those allegations were never proven and Mike DeWalt won the custody battle over his son. Kearns-DeWalt left the courthouse that day and escaped with Jeremy and her mother shortly after.

She now says she did not get a fair trial in that case after her lawyer missed a deadline and was barred from presenting key witnesses to the jury.

As the jury read its verdict Friday, Kearns-DeWalt stood with a blank expression. Her lip quivered slightly when she realized she had not been granted probation as she and her family had hoped. Her father, Edward Kearns, said he was "devastated" by the verdict.

Kearns-DeWalt has served eight months of her sentence and will be eligible for parole in two years. The jury could have given her life.

Edward Kearns said the family is resolved to appeal the case. "This isn't over. There has been so much reversible error," he said. Both he and his late wife served time in jail for aiding and abetting the kidnapping.

The DeWalt family said they were pleased with the verdict. "Justice was served," said Mike DeWalt, who attended the trial in his Navy uniform.

"It says a message," said DeWalt's mother, Char DeWalt. "Other parents are going to think twice before they do something like this. We don't want another little boy to go through what Jeremy went through."

In the sentencing phase of the trial, the prosecution tried to portray Kearns-DeWalt as a psychologically imbalanced, manipulative mother and ex-wife who exaggerated her son's claims of abuse in an effort to gain full custody of her son.

The defense sought to show that regardless of whether or not Jeremy's father molested him, Kearns-DeWalt had good reason to believe he had, and made the fatal but understandable mistake of escaping with her son when she faced losing him to his father.

In the sentencing phase of the trial, the jury heard the details of the abuse claims for the first time.

Both the prosecution and the defense showed the jury a series of heart-wrenching videos depicting young Jeremy, who reportedly came back from the trip with his father with a stutter he didn't have before, describing horrible acts of sexual abuse that allegedly occurred on that trip. Both the FBI and the Navy investigated those claims but no charges were brought. Mike DeWalt denied the claims and reportedly passed multiple polygraph tests.

Jeremy, now 9, lives with his father at an unknown location. Kearns-DeWalt, along with members of her family, have been barred from seeing him. He did not testify at the trial.

 

---

aberzon@express-news.net

 

Judge muzzles missing mother's attorney
http://web.herald-zeitung.com/story.lasso?-datasource=nbherald&-
table=newsb&ID=5191&-search

Published November 07, 2002

Judge Jack Robison Wednesday stripped a New Orleans attorney of his
right to practice law in the 274th Judicial District and assessed
him, and his client, fees and attorney costs more than $100,000.

The attorney, Michael Ducote, was representing Suzanne DeWalt of New
Braunfels, who is believed to have fled with her mother and 5-year-
old son, Jeremy, after a jury awarded her former husband managerial
custody of the boy.

Suzanne DeWalt had accused Jeremy's father of sexually abusing their
son.

In a related hearing, Ed Kearns, Suzanne DeWalt's father, invoked his
Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination rather than answer a
number of questions about her location. Kearns' wife, Margaret
Kearns, of San Antonio, is believed to be with Suzanne and Jeremy
DeWalt.

New Braunfels attorney Hector Mendez sought to have Ed Kearns jailed
as a material witness in the Oct. 25 disappearance of Jeremy DeWalt.
Kearns was not jailed.

Suzanne DeWalt and Margaret Kearns are wanted for interfering with
child custody, a state jail felony under Texas law punishable by a
fine of up to $10,000 and up to two years in a state jail.

The purpose of Wednesday's hearing was to consider challenges Ducote
raised regarding the fees charged by court-appointed psychiatrist,
Maureen Adair. He also made a motion that Adair be found in contempt
of court.

The hearing opened with Ducote offering to withdraw the motions to
clear the way for Robison's final orders in the case — and for an
appeal to the Texas 3rd Court of Appeals.

Robison made plain early in the hearing that he had no patience for
Ducote's tactics.

"Your showboating is unnecessary," Robison told the attorney. "Tell
me what you're here to do."

Attorney Michael Bowles, who represents Jeremy DeWalt, asked Ducote
if he knew where the child was.
"Of course I don't," Ducote said.

Shortly afterward, Robison began lecturing the attorney when, minutes
after saying he would withdraw a motion over Adair's fees, said he
wished to protest them.

"Mr. Ducote, when you first came in here, you submitted to the
jurisdiction of this court. Then, you advised your client not to pay
Ms. Adair's fee — " Robison began.

"I object to that — " Ducote interrupted.

"You can object all you want. I was there and it's on the record.
That motion was brought in bad faith," Robison said. He accused the
attorney and his client of attempting to intimidate and harass Adair
and manipulate the evidence in the case.

Robison ruled Ducote and Suzanne DeWalt would be responsible for all
fees incurred by both sides and the court in the case. Then he went a
step further.

"You have violated the rules in this court. Your right to practice
law in this court is immediately revoked. You can take that up with
the appellate court, if they'll listen to you," Robison said.

"So the court is forbidding me to speak?" Ducote asked.

"As far as I'm concerned, I never want to hear from you again,"
Robison replied, telling Ducote to leave the courtroom, and
instructing local counsel Earl Tracy of San Antonio to handle the
remaining proceedings.

"I'm still a member of the public," Ducote said.

Robison considered that.

"I guess you can stay," the judge said. "Just don't talk."
Mendez, who had subpoenaed telephone and credit card records
belonging to Suzanne DeWalt's father, called Kearnes to the stand and
grilled him over the location of his wife, daughter and grandson.
Mendez asked how they were supporting themselves.

In response to questions about when he last saw his daughter, Kearns
repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-
incrimination.

It was the same in questions about the whereabouts of his grandson.

"Again, I will exercise my right under the Fifth Amendment not to
respond to that," Kearns said.

"Mr. Kearns, is it true or not that you knew your daughter was
planning to run away?" Mendez asked.

"I will exercise my Fifth Amendment rights not to answer that,"
Kearns replied evenly.

"We know Mr. Kearns knows more than what he suggests today, otherwise
the Fifth Amendment wouldn't have been so prevalent in his
testimony," Mendez said.

The case began when Suzanne DeWalt sought to have the parental rights
of her ex-husband, Michael DeWalt, terminated. She and her attorney,
Ducote, allege that her ex-husband and two other adult males sexually
abused the boy on a June 2001 vacation.

Michael DeWalt has not been charged with the crime, and Ducote
alleges that the man's employer, the U.S. Navy, tried to cover the
allegation up rather than prosecute it.

At the conclusion of a two-week trial on Oct. 25, a Comal County
jury, asked to consider whether to terminate Michael DeWalt's
parental rights, instead awarded him custody of the boy.

Margaret Kearns and the boy were not found when deputies went to pick
him up late on Oct. 25.

The following day Jeremy's mother disappeared. Authorities have been
unable to locate them.

Bowles Wednesday afternoon said the Comal County jury discounted
claims that Michael DeWalt had abused his son, and appealed for the
boy's return.

"I've got no axe to grind. I just want that child back. He needs
parents and he needs four grandparents — without felonies," Bowles
said.



© 2002 Herald-Zeitung. All rights reserved

Mom termed 'parental alienator' wins rare vindication in courts
Mood:  happy

Mom termed 'parental alienator' wins rare vindication in courts

BY TROY ANDERSON, Staff Writer
LA Daily News

Former San Fernando resident Irene Jensen battled the family court and child protective systems for 13 years to save her daughter from an allegedly abusive father.
But the system turned the tables on her: Jensen found herself accused of making up the allegations and in the glare of the national spotlight when she was labeled a "parental alienator."
Her daughter, Tiffany-Ann Carver, now 17, spent years in the custody of her father, a Hawthorne city employee who denies Jensen's claims.
Tiffany eventually ran away and sought the assistance of the Alliance for Children's Rights, which helped place her in a foster home. Late last year, a Los Angeles judge returned Tiffany to the custody of her mother, court records show.
Experts said Jensen is believed to be the only mother accused of "parental alienation syndrome" who has regained custody of her child before age 18.
"It took half my life away from me," said Jensen, now 51. "I felt like a prisoner of war. I've never had anyone terrorize my daughter, an innocent child, myself and my family the way (my ex-husband) and Los Angeles County did."
Now, Tiffany and her mother said they feel free to tell their story.
"What I've gone through was hell," Tiffany said in a recent interview. "I went there and back again."
Rachel Allen, spokeswoman for the California National Organization for Women, said Tiffany's case illustrates flaws in California's family court system.
"We have hundreds of similar cases reported to us, with the majority of them going on for years and years, costing mothers hundreds of thousands of dollars ... and robbing them of their relationship with their children and their ability to protect their children," Allen said.
But Redondo Beach attorney James Crowell said his client, Richard Edwin Carver Jr., 43, denies ever abusing his daughter.
"I know Irene claims she was the victim, but there were two psychological evaluations done and both of them concluded the child should be with the father and that the mother was a parental alienator," Crowell said.
The controversial parental alienation syndrome, which arose in the family court system in the early 1990s, holds that a parent brainwashes children into believing that the other parent has abused them and makes false allegations to authorities in custody cases.
"All of the processes we went through concluded he did not abuse her," Crowell said. "There were allegations of abuse raised in Utah. But Utah basically rubber-stamped what the mom said and didn't check with anyone (in L.A. County)."
Crowell said Tiffany was happy for years with her father - a softball coach - and ran away because her father wouldn't let her stay out late and go to parties.
"It was a typical father-teenager battle," Crowell said. "(She) did not want to live under the discipline of her father."
Carver declined to be interviewed.
But Tiffany said she wasn't happy in her father's home.
"My father would blame the bruises and cuts on me on the sports," Tiffany said, adding that he threatened that if she told anyone about the abuse, he would prevent her from seeing her mother or sister.
"I knew I was going to continue to live my life in misery. I packed up my things one day when I was supposed to go to summer school and fled," she said. "I ran for eight months. I was safe with numerous different people in safe houses. I had to cope with a lot, but I was better off on my own."
Court records show incidents began to occur in June 1993, when Carver was arrested on suspicion of spousal battery. The charges were later dismissed.
The couple filed for divorce and Jensen was granted primary custody of Tiffany. The father was given monitored visitation.
A few months later, after a visit with her father, court records show Tiffany told her mother that her father had physically abused her. Jensen reported the incident to sheriff's officials, who found a "lack of sufficient evidence to prove a crime," according to records.
In March 1994, Jensen took her daughter to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, according to hospital records. At the doctor's office, Tiffany reported that her father had sexually abused her, according to court records.
The medical examination report did not rule out sexual abuse and recommended further investigation.
Three months later, Crowell wrote in court documents that Jensen was alienating her daughter from her father by telling her daughter that he had abused her and by making repeated reports of abuse to child protection and law enforcement officials.
Nearly a year later, Crowell asked the court to give physical custody to Carver, noting that two psychological court evaluators had found Jensen was a parental alienator and would continue to make unfounded allegations against Carver.
Tiffany wrote to the judge, saying that she wanted to live with her mother, and doctors filed reports of suspected child abuse, but a court commissioner granted Carver physical custody of the girl in 1995.
While child protection workers in Utah substantiated Tiffany's allegations of physical and sexual abuse in 1996, during a visit by Tiffany to her mother's home in that state, Los Angeles County child protective and law enforcement officials ruled that more than 100 reports of abuse were unfounded.
Despite efforts by judges and the California Judicial Council to eradicate the use of parental alienation syndrome in custody cases, it's still cited in family courts. Now, however, it's simply described as alienating behavior, experts say.
"Basically, it recast the abuser as the victim," said Syrus Devers, an attorney and former consultant to Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Los Angeles, who sponsored legislation to address problems created by use of the legal tactic.
"To everyone's shock, it was extraordinarily successful in litigation," Devers said. "It all begins with the original finding that the person raising these allegations is for some reason not credible. As it works its way through the system over the years, it becomes an invincible opinion that is never reversed."
Many legal experts say the syndrome is merely a theory by psychiatrist Richard A. Gardner, who wrote a book about it before he committed suicide in 2003. The American Psychiatric Association does not recognize it as a mental disorder, according to court records.
In 1999, Los Angeles Superior Court Supervising Judge Paul Gutman wrote that the syndrome is "largely considered by authorities as scientifically unsupportable."
David L. Levy, chief executive officer of the Children's Rights Council, an international father's rights organization in Hyattsville, Md., disagreed that the syndrome is not real and said he "tends to believe" Tiffany's story.
"Parental alienation is as bogus as child abuse," Levy said. "They both exist, whether you want to call it a syndrome or not."
Now that she's living with her mother, 9-year-old sister and stepfather in Utah, Tiffany says she is much happier.
"(She) seems to be doing really well now," said Natasha Frost, a staff attorney at the Alliance for Children's Rights. "She seems to be healthy and happy and excelling in school."
Tiffany recently graduated from high school and said she plans to go to college this fall.
"I'm going to be studying criminal justice in college so I can help shape the future. I want to teach other girls and women what I went through and what they can do in situations like mine. I see the day coming when no child is in fear to speak the truth."
troy.anderson@...
(213) 974-8985

Texas Protecting the Molesters as usual
Mood:  sad
Now Playing: Suzanne Kearns DeWalt's lawyer will not be allowed to argue a "necessity" defense in her kidnapping trial this week
Comal mom's defense tossed in kidnapping trial

Web Posted: 04/04/2006 12:00 AM CDT
Roger Croteau
Express-News Staff Writer

NEW BRAUNFELS — Suzanne Kearns DeWalt's lawyer will not be allowed to argue a "necessity" defense in her kidnapping trial this week, state District Judge Gary Steel ruled Monday.

DeWalt, 43, is accused of kidnapping her son in 2002, when he was 6, and fleeing with him to Mexico after losing custody to ex-husband Mike DeWalt.

Suzanne DeWalt believed her ex-husband and two other men molested the boy on a trip to Florida. Her husband was investigated by two agencies, but was not charged with a crime.

She went to court to terminate Mike DeWalt's parental rights, but the jury sided with him, awarding him full custody. But instead of turning the boy over, Suzanne DeWalt fled to Mexico with him. Her parents were both jailed for helping her.

Suzanne DeWalt was arrested in September after she and her son were found living in Zacatecas, Mexico. The boy was then turned over to his father.

Defense lawyers Phil Watkins and David Wilborn intended to argue that Suzanne DeWalt had a reasonable belief that the boy would be harmed if she followed the court's order, thereby justifying her actions.

Steel said that "to allow such a defense would be to allow the jury to decide whether this defendant is above the law."

During Monday's hearing, Suzanne DeWalt testified about why she feared for her son's safety if her ex-husband gained custody. She said she could tell something was wrong as soon as her son returned from the Florida trip with Mike DeWalt.

"The first thing I noticed was when we exited the plane area, he could not speak," she testified. "He was just making animal sounds. It was horrible. I knew instantly something was wrong."

She said that within days, her son made an outcry of sexual abuse to her, doctors and investigators and that he claimed he was threatened that he would go to jail and never see his mother again if he told what happened.

Though Suzanne DeWalt cannot use the suspicion of abuse to argue her innocence, this can be used during the punishment phase of the trial, if she is convicted.

She faces up to 10 years in prison on a kidnapping charge and interfering with a court order.

Jury selection will begin at 9 a.m. today.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
rcroteau@express-news.net
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Online at: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/crime/stories/MYSA040406.3B.dewalttrial.cc460c5.html

Suzanne Dewalt remains jailed on $1 million bond
Mood:  irritated
Now Playing: Another mother's story
Thu Oct 13, 3:38 PM ET http://news.yahoo.com/s/ksat/20051013/lo_ksat/2995410 A New Braunfels mother accused of fleeing the country with her non-custodial son waived her arraignment in court Thursday. Suzanne Dewalt arrived in a sheriff's unit at the Comal County Courthouse, but she never appeared in court. Dewalt, who remains jailed on $1 million bond, is charged with two counts of interfering with child custody and one count of hindering apprehension. She was arrested in September after being on the run in Mexico for three years with her son, Jeremy. Dewalt claims she fled the country because her ex-husband, who has custody of their son, was sexually abusing him. Dewalt's ex-husband, a Navy pilot based in Corpus Christi, has never been charged with a crime. Relatives of Dewalt, who gathered at the courthouse to offer support, said that Jeremy's reunion with his father will harm the boy. "Jeremy is affected," said Peggy Kearns, Dewalt's mother. "He's very unhappy what it will do to him." "We're really fearful of what he's being exposed to," said Ed Kearns, Dewalt's father. Dewalt's next court appearance is scheduled for late November..............

Here's Suzanne's side of the story. http://sanantoniolightning.com/dewalt.html The only place that seems to be willing to tell it. The press is making dad out to be the hero.

It's funny how this article misleads people to believe that Mike had custody of Jeremy. Suzanne had been the custodial parent all along and Mike had little interest in seeing Jeremy on a regular basis until Suzanne accused Mike Dewalt of sexually abusing Jeremy. Then Suzanne was accused of being a vindictive crazy woman and lost custody of Jeremy.

I think she was accused of suffering from-MSBP-. The newest tactic used in court against protective parents (usually Mothers) since Richard Gardner took a bunch of pills and slit himself up with a knife, his PAS theory can't be taken seriously anymore.

A few psychologists and mediators have had their licenses suspended over utilizing the PAS theory.--THANK GOD--

It is commonplace for Mothers to lose custody in family courts in the US and in Texas especially for some reason. Judges seem to be extremely father biased here in hickville. About 85% of the time dad will get custody in a contested custody case and 90% of the time when abuse of any kind is an issue. Most people don't know this fact and assume mom is a nut or drug addict.

The misinformation about how mothers end up without their children is unfortunate for the children mostly. They are the ones that end up hurting in the long run and grow up into hurting adults who go on to hurt others.

There's going to be a PBS documentary on how abusers gain custody of kids airing October 20th.

http://www.batteredmotherscustodyconference.org/
Breaking The Silence: The Childrens Stories chronicles the impact of domestic violence on children, the systemic failure of family courts across the country to protect children from their abusers, and the legal injustices encountered by protective parents.

Another good link is: Small Justice

More Suzanne Links: http://sanantoniolightning.com/dewalt5.html
Suzanne Speaks from jail: "I would ask him to trust in God..that..uh...I know God's got a plan...in all of this...and...uh not...not to lose his faith...and to know that his Mommy is here...and I love him... and I'm doing everything I can to help him ...(sobbing) and to be strong..."Hear the MP3

This really annoyed me....Mikes Family Speaks "Visitations were made difficult and at times impossible depending on Suzanne's mood. When we did have him it was such a joy." ====This is a flat out lie.=== Suzanne Never made visitations difficult. The only time I know that there was an issue was when she had summer visitation modified due to Jeremy's age. He was just 3 at the time I think and 6 weeks was a long time for a little guy to be away from home. So it was broken up into 2 week intervals. It was settled without going to court

I recall Suzanne's regrets that Mike did not take more of an interest in Jeremy and how he needed and wanted his father around more often. Funny how things get twisted and memories are selective.