Today is November 29, 2011, it has now been over 6 months since I have last seen my 8 year old daughter. Thanksgiving break has come and gone and as typical the flurry of emails and text messages that precede a visitation period have ceased from my daughter's mother. Until the next visitation period, which is suppose to be this upcoming weekend.
I have been documenting the ordeal for a number of reasons but one of the biggest reason's is to try and bring some awareness to the apathy from the judicial system about this very real and all too common problem in our society.
This case has been in the court systems for 2 years. I filed a contempt of decree charge almost 2 years ago because I was denied my visitation rights for the 2009 Christmas season. I was then denied weekend visitations beginning in January of 2010 and that is when I contacted a lawyer and started the process. I had no idea it would turn into this long arduous battle not only with my X-wife but the entire judicial system of Georgia.
The case has been stalled out in the court systems since the early part of 2011. That was the last I have heard of any court time or information about where this is in the courts. I have been denied 2010 summer weeks of visitation and now the last time I have laid eyes on my daughter was 2 weeks before Father's Day 2011.
I have been at my daughter's mother's house every time I was suppose to get visitation rights over the last 6 month's. She has not been there each and every time. I have a series of videos documenting many of the attempts at visitation.
When I went to get my daughter most recently for Thanksgiving Break I arrived at the mother's house at noon on Wednesday. I had sent an email Tuesday at 1:00pm stating that would be the time I would pick her up for my holiday visitation period. At 11:33 am on Wednesday I received an email, this is very typical of the process, telling me all the reason's why I was not going to get my daughter. I went to the house anyway as I usually do and went through the motions of ringing the doorbell and waiting for a 10 - 15 minutes and then left.
My sixteen year old daughter was visiting for the holiday as well and desperately wanted to see her sister, she has not seen her for over 6 months either and so I decided to go to the police station and see if there was anything that could be done. I had already had a police officer meet me at the house about a month prior but she was not home then either and so nothing was done.
I was curious as to what would happen at the police station and armed with my decree and my sixteen year old daughter I entered the police station. When I finally got my turn to talk to an officer I was not surprised when he said there was not a lot they could do. He took the decree, filed a complaint, gave me a card with the case number and told me I could come back next week and pay the money to get the report. I asked him if there was not the possibility of having an officer escort me to the door and help me get my daughter during the visitation time that was clearly laid out in the official decree issued by the Superior Court of Georgia.
He said I would be better off contacting the Sheriff and see what they could do for me. Later that night I put my current wife and my daughter in the car and started driving to my daughter's mother's house. I called the Sheriff and got a lady on the phone that started asking all of the usual questions and when she understood what I was trying to do said I needed to get a "Keep the Peace" document. I told her I had never heard of this. She proceeded to tell me nothing could be done until I got that document and then the Sheriff would be able to meet me and retrieve my daughter for me. I talked to her a while longer, begging her to see if there wasn't something that could be done now so I could get my daughter for the break. She put me on hold.
A few minutes later she asked if there was a number to call me back on and that she would have a Deputy Sheriff call me and talk about what could be done. About 30 minutes later I received the call. I talked in length about what was going on and yet again was told there was nothing that could be done and since the courts are closed for the holiday I would have to wait until Monday to get the document and start that process. He told me I would be able to get that document at the North Fulton Annex building.
I went into the North Fulton Annex on Monday following the Thanksgiving break and asked the front desk where I needed to go to get this "Keep the Peace" document and sure enough, they have never even heard of such a document. Unbelievable. I was told I could go to the Superior Court office within the North Fulton Annex building because this was surely something that needed to be done at the Superior Court level.
When I got to talk to the lady in the Superior Court office and went through my story again I was given the same run around. She has never heard of it and there is nothing that can be done to help me. She makes a phone call to some person who might have an answer and when the phone call ends it's the same thing. Nothing can be done and you need to go file a contempt charge.
I have been denied priceless time with my daughter, I am a good father that continues to pay his child support, I have filed a contempt charge, I have been on time and at the pick up spot every time my legal visitation was suppose to occur for the last 6 months. I have been in conversations with police officers, court clerks and lawyers and nothing has happened. This is a hopeless situation in our society and in our modern day with all of the focus on poor parenting and dead beat dads and child abuse and neglect when a father who has been blatantly and supposedly unlawfully denied his precious time with his 8 year old daughter you would think someone would step to the plate and advocate for this ongoing unspoken tragedy of our modern family.
My Thanksgiving was a mess but we made the best of it. It's like having one of your kids held hostage. I was not even allowed to talk to my 8 year old on Thanksgiving day. I just don't have words to describe the helplessness that comes with this ordeal. If you do, please leave your comments below.
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