Reunite Charlie and their mini
Donation protected
Hello, my name is Kieran H., I am crowdfunding on behalf of Charlie T. my partner. TL:DR; Charlie's parents are trying to remove their parental rights due to them being a member of the LGBTQ community. They are of the opinion that being gay or nonbinary means our household is highly sexualized, and unsafe for children. After much running around, and doing a ton of footwork on our own we found a lawyer willing to work with us, but we need help with affording the lawyer's services.
This is our current situation:
Charlie T. is a PhD student, and a parent of two amazing children. This summer, Charlie sent their youngest child, a 5-year-old, to live with his grandparents during the summer so that he could have a safe, enjoyable visit for the summer while the family was transitioning to their new state and the PhD program. Over the next several weeks the child began to settle in, building what was assumed to be a safe an stable environment. At this point Charlie and their former spouse were informed power of attorney only lasted thirty days in the state where the child had gone to visit, a fact that would be later discovered as false. They were both asked to sign paperwork to establish temporary guardianship, the two believing family members had their best interests at heart filled out the paperwork needed and sent it back. The two parties continued to keep contact with their child and Charlie's parents, tracking the child's progress and making sure the child felt safe and happy in the environment.
In July Charlie, myself (their current partner), and our two older children went to visit Charlie's parents while on our way to move for Charlie's schooling. When we arrived there was a confrontation initially involving Charlie and their father regarding Charlie's coming out as a member of the LGBTQ community. This was not in front of the children, and seemed to be resolved within a few hours, and while there were still some tender feelings and trepidation about whether Charlie's parents were truly understanding there was no question in anyone's hearts at that time that they were safe or loved their grandchildren.
After we arrived, got our house settled, and two older children in school Charlie's oldest (who is autistic) started to have a very difficult time adjusting. They were displaying some behaviors that were unsafe for them in our home, and it became apparent that they might need more intensive one on one care than we could provide. Again Charlie's parents stepped up, offering respite, with much more trepidation this time, due to a history with Charlie's father, an agreement was reached with much stronger limitations than before. Again we all maintained daily contact, and all agreements seemed to be on the up and up. Again the process was started with all the paperwork "to be able to establish care and schooling" for Charlie's eldest.
09/16/18: Charlie's father assaulted Charlie's oldest child, slapping them in the face hard enough to have the child hit a wall they were standing next to, while said child was in the middle of an autistic meltdown to "snap them out of it". Charlie's mother called later that day, having a full blown conversation about everything but the incident, and avoided letting said child talk to Charlie. When we were finally informed of what happened we immediately sprung into action, driving overnight without sleep to get the children out of a situation we had deemed unsafe. When we arrived (7:30 am 09/17/18) the children had been removed off property and we were informed we would not be told where they were or allowed to get them. We were also presented with paperwork for "Full and complete guardianship" for the youngest child, which was never agreed to or served to either of the custodial parents. Charlie's parents had called the police ahead of us arriving, informing them that due to Charlie's behavior and orientation they were a danger to their children. Charlie also called the police, attempting to file a complaint against the grandparents for kidnapping. Over the next hour there was an attempt to resolve the issue, this resulted in the eldest child being returned to Charlie's custody due to the grandparents not having been able to complete the paperwork and filing for the "full & complete guardianship" of that child, as hitting a child in the face is not abuse in the state in which it happened as long as no marks are left. Once it was established that they had to legally return the oldest child, Charlie's mother returned with only that child informing both the police and Charlie that she would not allow Charlie to see their own child. The younger child was left at a house of an Elder in their church. We were asked to leave or we would be arrested for trespassing, so we did.
After this we went to the court house, attempting to get a protective order for both children and Charlie against the grandparents. We were granted an order of protection against the grandparents for only the older child (due to them being autistic and being struck in the face) and Charlie, as well as Charlie being given full custody of their oldest child. But we were not ready to give up the fight, we called as many people as we could while we were there to get contacts before driving our child back home to safety.
The next day(09/18/18) we attempted to seek legal help and file reports in our state for our youngest child, but due to the child never residing in our state we had no recourse here. However, this day Charlie's parents contacted Charlie's former spouse, attempting to get him to rush their divorce and state he felt Charlie was a danger to their children. They also stated their reasoning for this was that Charlie in the last year has gotten a divorce, come out as gay, and is "getting a sex change". When he stated that he did not feel Charlie was a danger, and that he would have no problem with their children seeing Charlie the grandparent's lawyer immediately stated that he could have his counsel contact her and the call was terminated.
Wednesday afternoon, 09/19/18 Charlie drove back to the state in which we have to pursue any of this legal battle from. Charlie arrived 09/20/18 prior to the court house opening and waited. Once opened, Charlie filed for protective orders against both of the grandparents on behalf of the child remaining in their househild. Charlie also field to dissolve the guardianship. Next Charlie went to the police station of the town in which their parents reside and filed fraud charges for the guardianship which was sent off to the city attorney. The afternoon of Thursday, the judgement was returned that there was a protective order in place against Charlie's father: he is not allowed alone with the child still in their care nor is he allowed to discipline the child in any way. However no protective order was in place against Charlie's mother, nor was the guardianship disolved.
We are asking for help with legal funds at this time, the lawyer we are working with requires a retainer of $1000.00 and charges $150 an hour. This is going to be a long and hard battle for us. But we are in it for the long haul. It is not right nor fair to take someone's children away simply because they are a member of the LGBTQ community. Their stance is that our house is highly sexualized and we are SEXUALIZING the children. This is a ludicrous idea, perpetuated by their church and their prejudice. We are also aware they are receiving a significant amount of support from their community and church, as they have stated multiple times that several people involved are Elders in the church.
This is our current situation:
Charlie T. is a PhD student, and a parent of two amazing children. This summer, Charlie sent their youngest child, a 5-year-old, to live with his grandparents during the summer so that he could have a safe, enjoyable visit for the summer while the family was transitioning to their new state and the PhD program. Over the next several weeks the child began to settle in, building what was assumed to be a safe an stable environment. At this point Charlie and their former spouse were informed power of attorney only lasted thirty days in the state where the child had gone to visit, a fact that would be later discovered as false. They were both asked to sign paperwork to establish temporary guardianship, the two believing family members had their best interests at heart filled out the paperwork needed and sent it back. The two parties continued to keep contact with their child and Charlie's parents, tracking the child's progress and making sure the child felt safe and happy in the environment.
In July Charlie, myself (their current partner), and our two older children went to visit Charlie's parents while on our way to move for Charlie's schooling. When we arrived there was a confrontation initially involving Charlie and their father regarding Charlie's coming out as a member of the LGBTQ community. This was not in front of the children, and seemed to be resolved within a few hours, and while there were still some tender feelings and trepidation about whether Charlie's parents were truly understanding there was no question in anyone's hearts at that time that they were safe or loved their grandchildren.
After we arrived, got our house settled, and two older children in school Charlie's oldest (who is autistic) started to have a very difficult time adjusting. They were displaying some behaviors that were unsafe for them in our home, and it became apparent that they might need more intensive one on one care than we could provide. Again Charlie's parents stepped up, offering respite, with much more trepidation this time, due to a history with Charlie's father, an agreement was reached with much stronger limitations than before. Again we all maintained daily contact, and all agreements seemed to be on the up and up. Again the process was started with all the paperwork "to be able to establish care and schooling" for Charlie's eldest.
09/16/18: Charlie's father assaulted Charlie's oldest child, slapping them in the face hard enough to have the child hit a wall they were standing next to, while said child was in the middle of an autistic meltdown to "snap them out of it". Charlie's mother called later that day, having a full blown conversation about everything but the incident, and avoided letting said child talk to Charlie. When we were finally informed of what happened we immediately sprung into action, driving overnight without sleep to get the children out of a situation we had deemed unsafe. When we arrived (7:30 am 09/17/18) the children had been removed off property and we were informed we would not be told where they were or allowed to get them. We were also presented with paperwork for "Full and complete guardianship" for the youngest child, which was never agreed to or served to either of the custodial parents. Charlie's parents had called the police ahead of us arriving, informing them that due to Charlie's behavior and orientation they were a danger to their children. Charlie also called the police, attempting to file a complaint against the grandparents for kidnapping. Over the next hour there was an attempt to resolve the issue, this resulted in the eldest child being returned to Charlie's custody due to the grandparents not having been able to complete the paperwork and filing for the "full & complete guardianship" of that child, as hitting a child in the face is not abuse in the state in which it happened as long as no marks are left. Once it was established that they had to legally return the oldest child, Charlie's mother returned with only that child informing both the police and Charlie that she would not allow Charlie to see their own child. The younger child was left at a house of an Elder in their church. We were asked to leave or we would be arrested for trespassing, so we did.
After this we went to the court house, attempting to get a protective order for both children and Charlie against the grandparents. We were granted an order of protection against the grandparents for only the older child (due to them being autistic and being struck in the face) and Charlie, as well as Charlie being given full custody of their oldest child. But we were not ready to give up the fight, we called as many people as we could while we were there to get contacts before driving our child back home to safety.
The next day(09/18/18) we attempted to seek legal help and file reports in our state for our youngest child, but due to the child never residing in our state we had no recourse here. However, this day Charlie's parents contacted Charlie's former spouse, attempting to get him to rush their divorce and state he felt Charlie was a danger to their children. They also stated their reasoning for this was that Charlie in the last year has gotten a divorce, come out as gay, and is "getting a sex change". When he stated that he did not feel Charlie was a danger, and that he would have no problem with their children seeing Charlie the grandparent's lawyer immediately stated that he could have his counsel contact her and the call was terminated.
Wednesday afternoon, 09/19/18 Charlie drove back to the state in which we have to pursue any of this legal battle from. Charlie arrived 09/20/18 prior to the court house opening and waited. Once opened, Charlie filed for protective orders against both of the grandparents on behalf of the child remaining in their househild. Charlie also field to dissolve the guardianship. Next Charlie went to the police station of the town in which their parents reside and filed fraud charges for the guardianship which was sent off to the city attorney. The afternoon of Thursday, the judgement was returned that there was a protective order in place against Charlie's father: he is not allowed alone with the child still in their care nor is he allowed to discipline the child in any way. However no protective order was in place against Charlie's mother, nor was the guardianship disolved.
We are asking for help with legal funds at this time, the lawyer we are working with requires a retainer of $1000.00 and charges $150 an hour. This is going to be a long and hard battle for us. But we are in it for the long haul. It is not right nor fair to take someone's children away simply because they are a member of the LGBTQ community. Their stance is that our house is highly sexualized and we are SEXUALIZING the children. This is a ludicrous idea, perpetuated by their church and their prejudice. We are also aware they are receiving a significant amount of support from their community and church, as they have stated multiple times that several people involved are Elders in the church.
Organiser
Kassandria Hatfield
Organiser
Tucson, AZ
