Esther Wiggins Lyles - A Problem in Arlington Virginia

Family Court Judge lied to by the father she awarded sole custody. The Child was abandonned in a foreign country for five years! Esther Wiggins continues to ignore the abuse, and refuses to acknowledge that this 8 year old child illiterate in English was abandonned in France for several years. Mother must live in France, evoke French authority because Wiggins can not admit she made a mistake.

My daughter was taken from me in 1999. She was fifteen months old....

Her father was a French expatriot residing in The United States. I met him in Houston Texas April 1997. I had just ended a relationship and was feeling lonely. Rebound relationships are like a big cushion, they give the short term protection needed after a significant relationship has ended.

When he found out I was pregnant he was very upset and wanted me to have an abortion, he went so far as to contact friends in France to obtain RU486, illegal at that time in the U.S. I do not blame the man for not wanting to have a child with a woman he knew only a few months, any man in his shoes would feel the same way. Nor do I have a problem with abortion on moral grounds, a womans body is her possession. At the time I was only twenty-two years old, young and did not comprehend exactly what I was getting myself into. I felt very strongly that abortion was something I could not do, it felt like a wrong decision and I am glad that I trusted this feelng. What made this guy different however, was that he threateded to put RU486 in my food if I did not take it willingly. As the pregnancy progressed into the third month, I began to notice his behavior became more obsessive, verbally abusive and bizzare.

He quit his job in Houston quite impulsively because he did not like the manager of the restaurant, in fact, he simply did not show up at all. I was very upset about that decison because when you have a pregnant girlfriend at home, you just dont up and quit your job. It was a very irresponsible thing to do. I never told him what I thought because he had already shown his true colors. The man would follow me around the apartment screaming at me for not washing a dish, sleeping too much, or wearing a pair of shoes he did not like. Although he pushed me only one time, the abuse was mostly verbal.

We moved from Houston to Northern Virginia because his former employer offered him a job in Washington DC. We lived with one of his friends Saeed Benani, a sleazy guy with a filthy apartment and under investigation for immigration fraud.

The Breaking Point

In 1999, I was a stay at home mom living under unbearable circumstances. The verbal abuse was so overwhelming that I became a shadow of my former self, this man would call me the most disgusting, sexist, demeaning names imaginable. When I would break down in tears, he would smile, and laugh. His greatest pleasure was seeing that he had the power to control anothers feelings, if he had the power to reduce me to tears, he would experience great pleasure. In the beginning I foolishly thought I had to stay for my baby and that she needed her father - big mistake.

Finally, I was at the breaking point. I had it with his guy, I could not take the screaming anymore. Whom ever cast Linda Blare in The Exorcist 1972 never knew my ex, that voice would send chills down my spine. My family sent me money to come home, he saw the checks in the mail and realized I was on the way out. So he decided he wanted to beat me to the punch and leave first...taking my daughter with him.

He took my daughter one morning to buy 'shoes', three hours later I was served with papers. He filed an 'Emergency Petition for Temporary Custody,' claiming I was mentally unstable, suicidal, immoral, and had physically assaulted him. I had three days to obtain an attorney.

I was a stay at home mother with no money, big mistake number two. Attornies require anywhere from $12,000 to $20,000 for an entire trial from beginning to end. At the time he had the money to pay. If he did not pay the money in legal expenses he would have paid it in child support....so what the hell right? He hired an intelligent, competent yet highly unethical attorney. I had legal aide...what more needs to be said.

The Nightmare Begins

Although I had 7 professional witnesses testify, the guardian ad litem favored join custody.....Esther Wiggins-Lyles of the Arlington Juvenile Court..(room 4B) awarded him sole custody.

Wiggins said all professional witnesses were biased because they did not have anything negative to say about me. She called me every name in the book: immoral, mentally unstable, untruthful etc.. (the most important fact to know is that in my early 20's I worked as an exotic dancer to pay my way through college, Wiggins, the religious-hypocrite type hated me for it..)

But, since there was overwhelming evidence that I was a good parent and only strings on my ex's part, she had to invent some reasons to give him custody and punish me for violating Gods moral laws. She acheived this goal by saying I harmed my daughter by exposing her to an infant stimulation cartoon 'Baby Einstein ' ....according to Wiggins "normal parents do not expose babies to foreign languages". Please not that she did not even watch the cartoon during the trial: so she made a judgement about something without even viewing it.

She said I was immoral for working as a dancer...(note: they accidentally on purpose did not tell me that there is no court reporter until after the fact, so they were very careful about what they put in writing). Even though I met her father at the club where I worked.

 

One must ponder, would she say that a male dancer is immoral?

I told the Esther Wiggins very clearly that the father never wanted our daughter, did not spend any time with her, worked 50 plus hours per week, and would rely on other people to raise her. He subjected me to horrific verbal abuse, I would have to sleep on the bathroom floor just to escape that voice screaming at me. He would hold me down on the floor and spit on me, humiliate me in public by screaming at people for any minor infraction: for example he would scream at a waitress because his steak was not cooked.... just right, (that just reminded me of goldie locks and the three bears)...he would screaming at someone for taking his parking spot...he screamed at me if I left a book on the floor.. Esther Wiggins reduced the abuse as a 'cultural misunderstanding'.....after all, I only expect to be treated like a human being because I am an American. French women put up with this crap all the time don't they...So, she believed every piece of unmitigated crap that came out of his mouth....and refused to say anything negative about him.

The whole purpose behind his Emergency Petiton for Custody... apparently I was suicidal.. In short he testified I tried to slit my wrists once in Texas, three times in Virginia. In his evaluation, he claimed I tried to slit my wrists only twice all together. In the interrogatories...twice in Texas and twice in Virginia. Hence: three different stories.

I have never had the pleasure of seeing someone try to kill themself - but I imagine the memory would be etched in my brain for eternity. Furthermore: no hospitilizations, no previous history, no 911 calls, psychiatrist evaluated me and testified on my behalf, no scars on my wrist...plus no one had even heard of these alleged suicide attempts until after he petitioned for custody.

Now, most reasonably intelligent people would find this to be just a little odd. Unfortunately, we are not dealing with reasonably intelligent people.. When one makes a HUGE allegation like...."Emergency! Jon Doe tried to Kill Himself Several Times over Two Years...", first, it wont take two years to take action, secondly there will be some empirical evidence somewhere to support it......

So, Judge Wiggins found that since I had worked as a dancer..I must be mentally unstable...ergo..these allegations must be true. It's not like she would need one shred of concrete evidence or anything. : )

Now I get to sound like an infomercial...But Wait - there's more! She ordered us to take parenting classes through the county. I completed two parenting classes, Infant/Child CPR through the American Red Cross, and Six Credit Hours in Child Development and Child Psychology at my college earning an A in both course. Esther Wiggins said that I do not have the mental capacity to learn from classes or apply my knowledge appropriately...I think it was the Baby Einstein Cartoon thing again. I think it might be the dancer thing again too, after all, I am an attractive female, it's not like I could have a brain or something. The father, who did not read one child development book in his life or even finish the court ordered parenting class....yes....he certainly knows more about child care than I do....

Six Years Later.......

I am now living in France. Brace yourself...this will be a shock..... her father abandonned our daughter in France with his mother over five years ago. While maintaining a bizzare, compounding lie, pretending our daughter resides with him in Washington DC to collect child support. $$$$ Who could see this coming a mile away?

Unlike Esther Wiggins, the French are not complete idiots nor are they Jesus freaks. We will have the testimony of all my daughters teachers. Suprise, surprise, they have never even met my daughter's father. The French Judge will have over 5 years of medical records showing doctors appointments and dentist visits at times of the years when her father claimed she was in the United States! He will have all the letters the father sent to Esther Wiggins, claiming 'a vacation here' and a 'vacation there'. We have the father on tape saying that Wiggins went to his restaurant......and used it to intimidate me. ( Hello: Virginia Judicial Review Commission).

The French Judge will be able to hear the horrific messages this guy left on my voice mail, saying "if you do not give me money, you will never see X again!" Then, we will point out how Judge Wiggins said in the custody order, 'the verbal abuse is a cultural misunderstanding.' Now.......is it me........or did she just slap 66 million people in the face and call French men bastards? (FYI: the judge in France...he is French...and might be just a little offended.)

Her father continues to live in Washington DC and exercise no rights of custody what so ever. But, we do not have to feel too sorry for him because I have been paying thousands in child support.. In fact, I have paid him nearly $12,000 in child support.

So everything I said came true.....Wow......I must be psychic. : ) ....God I hate being right...... Maybe I should change my name to Ms. Chloe and get a job on the psychic friends network. "Call me fo ya free readen !" Everything I said came true, down to the very last detail.

Who can really blame the father for lying to Esther Wiggins for all these years? I do agree with him about one thing: he always knew after she awarded him sole custody that she would continue to believe every piece of unmitigated crap that came out of his mouth.

If he said..."Evil Naomi is doing stem cell research in her basement!"...Wiggins would say.."oh, that is a horrible thing for Naomi to do...Naomi! you must stop this secret stem cell research immediately...you are interfering with Gods master plan!"

I find it amazing that this woman called me immoral....yet the father stuck a knife in her back, exploited the very woman who gave him sole custody on a silver platter..........yet I am immoral.....hmmmm....I think I might be the only one in that court room who knows what moral is.

I am asking a French judge to award me sole custody of my daughter. Two days ago, I notified my ex and his attorney that if he removes her from France without my consent, he will be committing and international child abduction. I have already initiated action in France....If the French issue a warrant for his arrest guess what, not a citizen...uh..oh....deported. But seriously, many people in France do not understand why I can not easily win this in the United States...why must I be an expatriot? Because, after my experience in Virginia, our family courts seem to make 'Dumb and Dumber' look like a documentary.

May 6 2005

My last court date in Virginia was to transfer to jurisdiction to Washington DC. I hired a court reporter.... I sat there quietly, not a peep out of me. Wiggins started rambling on and on saying: "the father has been so honest with me about every vacation...the mother just disappered and ceased all contact with her child...."


He defended himself, stood up, and once again his elaborate lies flowed effortlessly from his mouth to her ears. It was an amusing surprise to learn that I disappeared and could not be located for years. Apparently, I also paid a large sum of child support January 2004 solely to obtain a U.S. passport and travel internationally....who knew? He also claimed that our daughter does not have a valid U.S. passport because I did not sign the passport application. Everything he said, I can prove through concrete evidence, are lies, lies, and more lies. Fortunately for him, Esther Wiggins does not need any....proof? What kind of judge would actually need evidence before making a determination....obviously not her.

After all...if he chopped down the cherry tree...by George he would admit it woundn't he? I often think, in her warped mind, does she think that when he speaks, the clouds part, a ray of sun light shines on his gaul-like visage..and then Suddenly...angels start to sing. . "Hallelujah!..Halleluha..." We should give this guy a bowl of tomato soup and see if he can part it with his hands like Jim Carrey in Bruce Almighty.

Esther Wiggins replied, once again, without one shred of empirical evidence to support her conclusion: "I just dont understand why the mother wont sign the passport application...what is wrong with her...! This child needs to re-enter the country! " She was smiling, joking, behaving in such an arrogant manner. Others in the room knew my daughter was abandonned for several years in France, we all just stared at Esther Wiggins because it was like looking at a car accident. Or that episode of South Park "Cripple Fight", somethings in this world just require one to stop and take notice. For a couple of seconds, I actually felt bad for her because she looked so incredibly stupid.

The following statement is directed specifically to Esther Wiggins-Lyles....

"NEWS FLASH YOU MORON! He has sole legal custody - you gave it to him....remember...he does not need my signature to obtain our daughters passport. Read the State Department Website! In fact, I will make it easy for you...if you have a computer click on this link to the State Department Website. If you don't know how, just take the mouse, point and click. If you can't figure it out, I am sure you can find someone in your office who knows how to use a computer."

http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/minors/minors_834.html

"If a parent is deceased, has no rights of custody, in a coma in a persistant vegitative state...Then they do not need the signature of the non-applying parent."

He lives in Washington DC, can walk to the State Department, open his mouth and ask - how hard is that really? This is not rocket science. I would like to know how this woman become a judge let alone manage to pass the bar? Any dumb-dumb knows that SOLE LEGAL custody means something. Thank goodness I hired the court reporter to document that insanity! Some of the things that have come out of that woman's mouth is just baffeling - how on earth could a FAMILY COURT JUDGE not know basic information about children's passports? Call me crazy, but is that not like a medical doctor not knowing the heimlich maneuver? Arlington Virginia...seriously now...do something about this woman.

I dont know if I will ever be able to return to my country, because judges like Esther Wiggins can be about the stupidest people on earth...Agents with the State Department think she is an idiot. The French are dumbfounded...and parents should not feel safe with their children in Arlington Virginia as long as she works there.

So, my advice to mothers without custody is to have strength...the pain and anger will never really go away, but it will become managable. It is a nightmare, but patience, courage, and faith brought me through the darkest years. After I lost my little girl I enrolled in GMU, the courses gave me an opportunity to focus on something else. Think about the injustice all the time will destroy one's spirit.

I would like to personally thank all my readers, this is a complicated situation and a lot of information to digest. I am currently working on user friendly manuels for lawyers and parents informing them on: The Hague Convention, significant rulings from our District Courts, how this treaty is implemented in The United States and Foreign States. Concerned parents and lawyers will be informed on how certain nations implement the Treaty, the role of The State Department and information on how to prevent international child abduction and abandonnment.

Naomi Parrish

International Custody - Spring 2006 Update

May 25, 2005

We appeared before the Court in Washington DC, this was a status hearing. My daughters father wanted to send our daughter back to France after her summer vacation in the States, I did not want my daughter to go back to France. We previously asked the court to see the facts of the case: my exes attorney did everything within his power to make sure she did not see any of the facts. So, the DC judge did not read the letters he had been submitting, review the court transcripts, or verify that our daughter has ever lived in DC with her father.

It should be mentioned that I find the new judge in Washington DC to be reasonable, even in retrospect she did not do or said anything that would make me think she is exactly like Esther Wiggins. This court date was my last effort to take action in The United States of America, I knew that the end was near and that it would be time to move to France.

We asked her to not allow my ex to send our daughter back to France because the father left our daughter in France for years and has been sending Esther Wiggins fraudulent letters claiming our daughter would take a vacation to France once a year. My ex and his attorney both swore up and down that he has always been honest with Wiggins about every "vacation" our daughter has taken to France.

I do not know if they were planning on playing the old Bill Clinton Game (Sorry Bill, I love you but I have to say it!) "It depends on the definition of the word, alone...it depends on the definition of the word...vacation." He said that she was going to school in France and that Wiggins knew about it.

His attorney presented "proof" that Esther Wiggins knew she was going to school in France: a letter he composed and submitted to Wiggins dated May 11, 2005....five days AFTER our last hearing in Virginia...five days AFTER she relinquished jurisdiction to Washington DC.

My ex's attorney was in Virginia May 6, heard every word that came out of Wiggins mouth, and knew the same thing everyone else in the room knew - Wiggins had no clue my daughter has been living in France for years or ever went to school there. He read his clients file, in five years school in France was never mentioned. The father's attorney did admit May 25, 2005 that our daughter could not speak English. Ergo, if there was one ounce of truth behind the fathers fraudulent letters, one would know immediately that it does not make sense my daughter can not speak a word of English.

What I find particularly appalling is that his lawyer knew his client was lying about something very important and he fabricated evidence which served no benefit to the Court in Virginia. Rather, the May 11 letter served one purpose alone - and that was to trick the DC Judge into believing something that he knew was not true and ship a little girl off to a foreign country.

In stead of being abandoned in France four and a half years, now the French see five and a half years. A lawyer's responsibility is first to the Court - then to their client - not the other way around. For that matter, any lawyer practicing family law must be familiar with The Hague Convention. There is a twelve month window period to initiate judical or adminiatrative action in the requested State, if he suspected my daughter had been in France for more than twelve months, he should have known that either parent may initiate custody proceeding in France and U.S. courts can do nothing about it. Major Mistake.

The DC Judge allowed my ex to send our daughter back to France understanding it was only for "school". The reasoning was that my ex was always believed in Virginia, winning sole custody - so why not believe him now? After all, he did "promise" to bring her back to the states.

December 2005

Legal services in France - now I must turn to a foreign government and ask them to see the common sense fact that a man who gives his child to relatives, abandonnes his daughter for YEARS, writes fraudulent letters claiming our daughter vacationed in France once a year to collect Thousands in child support, while exploiting the very Judge who trusted him is not someone who should have custody. As Americans - this is shameful.

I gathered evidence and started preparing my case against the father for custody. The Judge in France is in the best position to determine custody because he will have a wealth of evidence that DC courts will not have available. Five and a half years of school records, medical records, testimony from teachers, school employees and financial records. The point - he can not lie to them!

February 17, 2006

Another status hearing, I returned from France February 13 to appear at the Feb 17 hearing. The Judge in Washington DC, at my request, dismissed my action to acknowledge that jurisdiction is Washington DC rather than Virginia. We informed her that my daughter has resided in France for 5 1/2 years.

The ex and his lawyer did not even respond - they were completely silent. Then something amazing happened, his lawyer realized after reading this blog that he should not lie to the court anymore for his client. Judge Vincent is a sharp woman and the lawyers are intimidated by her, I love that.

This was the first time I saw my ex actually nervous.

He files a motion to modify child support - the guy wants more money! Actually, he just wanted to cripple me financially so that I would not be able to evoke French Authority.

My exes attorney spoke with my attorney in the hallway. He said that he knew I was planning on taking action in France and would fight. I wish I could personally say to that dumb ass that you can not ask a family court judge to interfer in the domestic affaires of a foreign government. Diplomatic relationships always take precident over individual citizens, 5 1/2 years places this case under their authority. Respect is a two way street my dear.

February 23, 2006

I notified my ex that I was living in France and initiating custody proceedings. If he removes her from France without my consent or the Judge, both he and his mother will be committing an international child abduction. He left a message on my voice mail and said our daughter is moving back to Washington DC immediately. He notified the director of the school that she is not longer attending school there and that she will start school in March 2006.

That same day, I sent a letter to my ex and forwarded it to his attorney notifying them that international child abduction is a crime and they are facing some serious trouble. Particularly, since he is not a citizen of the United States if the French Government want him - we must send him back.

Feb 27, 2006

I receive another message on my voice mail. He said do not bother calling our daughter in France because she is not there. His mother removed her from France, back to Washington DC and he will see me in court for child support May 2006

Evidence:
There is a lot of it: Most I will not be posting on this blog

My daughter was interviewed August 2005 by a French interpreter in New York City during our one week vacation, this was the first long vacation we had together in over two years. The interview was conducted in a very ethical manner, we paid special attention to the ethics particularly because this will be used as evidence in France, and the French are very particular about the indoctrination of children. I must establish something before I continue. 1. I have never said anything negative about my ex or his mother to my daughter. This means - never in six years. 2. She did not know she would be interviewed until one hour before the interpreter came over. 3. I did not meet the interpreter face to face until the day of the interview. 4. The questions were simple and straight forward - not one leading question. 5. I did not tell her what to say - only to tell the truth. 6. I was in the room during the interview but did not participate in the interview process. 7. She demonstrated emotion, and expressed herself very poinantly. This poor little girl is afraid I could be dead, her grandmother will die and that she will be alone. This is horrible.

My daughter can not say..."See Spot run..see Spot catch ball....My name is..." She can count to ten in English and say a few nouns. One of the many benefits of hearing this case in France is that she will have a guardian ad lit em and child psychiatrist she can communicate with. She will be able to speak with the judge with ease in her own language. We can not do this for her in the United States. In the interview, she indicated clearly that she has never lived with her father in Washington DC. She said she never went to school in Washington DC. Her grandmother did not want her to see me - ever. The most surprising.....brace yourself because this is going to be the shock of the millennium.....ready?........okay.......My daughter finds her father to be - verbally abusive. Oh My God!......That came right out of the left field! In fact, this is verbatim, "It is horrible being with him....he said I am a monster."

Thank You for reading. This is a lot of information to process and I am confident most of you are shocked something like this could happen in america. Questions or comments: send me an e-mail or visit any of my other personal sites.

E-mail: naomilynnparrish@yahoo.com

Personal Web Sites: Myspace and Mypage

If you would like to ask Esther Wiggins-Lyles to resign as family court judge, send an e-mail to the following address. jdrcourt@arlingtonva.us Let her know that my daughter did not deserve to be abandoned in France for 5 1/2 years. Wiggins should have known, or at least suspected that something about the father was not right. This shows a lack of insight, and absolute incompetance on her part. She was trusted by the people of Arlington to protect the best interest of children and failed miserably. There are more qualified Arlington residents who can take her position.

 

May 2006, Interesting development,

the father has been committing tax fraud all these years.

He declaired only $16, 900 income in 2005, that is a drop in $50,000 per year! (in spite of having purchased a large house in Maryland and spending tens of thousands having it renovated last year.)

He lied on his taxes to maximize the amount of child support he could collect from me, knowing that I make more that than $16,900 per year.

His attorney also planned on telling the court that I worked as a prostitute! Although I hesitate to even dignify this allegation with a response, apparently they located old ads, cashed, and current circulating very tasteful photos taken six years ago. As I said earlier, I worked as a dancer when I was younger and ran an agency for about 10 months. Absolutely no prostitution involved, Disgusting. What I find even more repulsive is that this guy stoops so low that he will go to a court of law and call the mother of his child a prostitute!

June 2006 documentation was sent to the IRS prooving massive tax fraud (under-reported,declared our daughter as a dependant when she never lived with him, taking money from the federal government in child tax credit).