Rape victim loses custody of child to Rapist; also ordered to pay child support

[Foosters 17922]

Nice system you got there Louisiana:

https://www.wbrz.com/news/investigative-unit-rape-victim-ordered-to-pay-her-abuser-child-support/

Quote

 It's one of the most egregious cases victims' advocates tell the WBRZ Investigative Unit they have ever seen, after a judge awarded full custody to a woman's abuser and forced her to pay child support.

This story dates back decades and involves a woman who was raped at the age of 16 by a man almost twice her age.

 

Quote

Court records in the Tangipahoa Parish courthouse show Barnes admitted he's the biological father of the child. This year, he was granted custody of that child even though a criminal complaint was filed in 2015. Mysteriously those records are under seal, hidden from public view.

Stacie Triche works for the non-profit organization Save Lives. She's helping Abelseth through this tangled web that allowed her perpetrator to get custody of the child.

"When I found out she was a rape victim, and this rapist could potentially get full custody, that's when I stepped in and said something has to be done about this," Triche said.

Things took a dramatic turn this year when a judge granted Barnes full custody. It happened after Barnes alleged Abelseth gave her daughter a cell phone. Abelseth said she was also ordered to pay Barnes child support.

"She's been forced to pay her perpetrator," Triche said. "Forced to pay her rapist child support and legal fees and give up custody of the child that's a product of the rape. It makes no sense."

The WBRZ Investigative Unit discussed this case with the Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assault (LFASA). Their lawyers said not only is this egregious, but they've never seen a case like it.

"It seems pretty straight forward that not only did a crime take place, but as a result of the crime, this person should not have custody of the child," Attorney Sean Cassidy with LFASA said.

 

[SquishMitten 10463]

There's got to be more to this story, but I don't see any obvious holes in the report. Only thing I can think is that the custody battle was due to something entirely different than giving the kid a cell phone. By my math, the kid is 16 or 17...conveniently, the same age the mother was when she was raped (either forcibly or statutory)...and that's certainly not a reason to lose custody of a child. 

[crash_davis 23158]

Coming to a state near you. Make victims of rape have the baby and then give the baby to the raper. 

 

[Schulz2.0 29042]

Louisiana!

[mchookem 16525]

[RPM 26430]

15 minutes ago, SquishMitten said:

There's got to be more to this story

Louisiana, it sucks to live there.

[El Tri 412]

republicans are all like, "what's the problem here?"

[JBJ 3684]

1 hour ago, SquishMitten said:

There's got to be more to this story, but I don't see any obvious holes in the report. Only thing I can think is that the custody battle was due to something entirely different than giving the kid a cell phone. By my math, the kid is 16 or 17...conveniently, the same age the mother was when she was raped (either forcibly or statutory)...and that's certainly not a reason to lose custody of a child. 

LA laws seem to be pretty clear according to a random sexual assault website I googled.  LA even includes statutory and non-felony sexual assaults, and you don't need a conviction.

 

There's certainly more here:

1) The timing is off.  It looks like the guy was a custodial parent 4-5 years before she filed a criminal complaint, and that was 6-7 years before she is seeking a termination of parental rights.  She hasn't been acting urgently to change the situation.

2) The phone thing is obviously a half-truth.

 

[Braff Zacklin 13672]

2 hours ago, crash_davis said:

Coming to a state near you. Make victims of rape have the baby and then give the baby to the raper. 

There's already a noun for this.

[UT_OB1 2227]

1 hour ago, JBJ said:

LA laws seem to be pretty clear according to a random sexual assault website I googled.  LA even includes statutory and non-felony sexual assaults, and you don't need a conviction.

 

There's certainly more here:

1) The timing is off.  It looks like the guy was a custodial parent 4-5 years before she filed a criminal complaint, and that was 6-7 years before she is seeking a termination of parental rights.  She hasn't been acting urgently to change the situation.

2) The phone thing is obviously a half-truth.

 

To point #1, I bolded some of the article. She was raped, didn’t go to police when she was a kid and let people assume father was some other kid, real father found out when baby was 5, she didn’t know she could still file charges if she didn’t do it immediately until 2015, she filed charges, case for some reason is sealed and is never assigned, and she claims the father has said he’s well connected and can get custody. 
 

It does seem like maybe something could have been left out, but it’s also Louisiana, and the rape charges not getting assigned and then getting sealed make the part about the rapist father pulling strings with his good ol boys seem plausible.  

Quote

 

Abelseth met John Barnes in the City of Hammond back in 2005. She says he offered to take her home after a night out at a local restaurant with friends.

"Instead of bringing me home, he brought me to his house," Abelseth recalled. "Once inside, he raped me on his living room couch."

Abelseth did not know Barnes before that night, but came away from 

Everyone assumed it [the pregnancy] was from a boyfriend, and I let them believe that," Abelseth recalled.

Abelseth had a healthy baby girl, and everything was fine until John Barnes learned sometime in 2011 that he might have a daughter.

"When my daughter was five years old, he found out about her, and once he found out about her, he pursued custody and wanted to take her away from me," Abelseth said. "They granted him 50/50 custody despite the fact that [the child] was caused by rape."

…

Abelseth said she waited to file the police report because she did not know the law.

"I thought if I didn't do it the next day, there was nothing I could do about it," Abelseth said. "I went to a trauma counselor, and he said, 'No, you have 30 years after you turn 18.'"

From 2015 until now, nothing has happened with the report. The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office says an investigation is still open.
…

This year, he was granted custody of that child even though a criminal complaint was filed in 2015. Mysteriously those records are under seal, hidden from public view.

…

He's well connected," Abelseth said. "He's threatened me multiple times, saying he has connections in the justice system, so I better be careful and he can take her away anytime he wants to. I didn't believe him until it happened."