Grave Concerns for Missing Australian Boy

Global Search for Andrew John THOMPSON Update #2

Please distribute to people on your email list

If you have seen Andrew or Melinda please contact your local Police urgently who will contact Interpol - do not approach Melinda THOMPSON

It is now more than nine months since Andrew’s abduction and disappearance. In addition to enquiries being made by the Australian Federal Police, Interpol, and other Australian Government and international agencies, a global multi-media campaign was launched on 13th December 2007.

It commenced with an article in the Daily Telegraph, (http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24791815-5006009,00.html) which immediately led to extensive national media coverage and some international media/multi-media exposure. Several Australian TV news and radio networks plus A Current Affair (http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-AU&brand=ninemsn&vid=527ff575-94d4-439f-957a-f70a7c10d5e6) ran stories about Andrew and The Age newspaper in Melbourne ran a feature article on international parental child abductions in which they featured Andrew’s story. On 13th January I was interviewed by a national radio station in Canada where Andrew has also been officially registered as a missing child. Following another story in today’s edition of The Australian newspaper, mainstream media has again focused on Andrew’s abduction and disappearance. ABC TV National News presented a story about his abduction.

I am now working on getting media exposure about Andrew in Europe and Asia. Media releases (http://campaign-archive.com/?u=1fdc9e59b84b43069ccf5329d&id=b5b564d7ff&e=) are being distributed throughout Europe.

Thousands of people from around the world have responded to the call to join the Global Search for Andrew email campaign through Andrew’s Facebook (http://campaign-archive.com/?u=1fdc9e59b84b43069ccf5329d&id=b5b564d7ff&e=) site and through his Youtube site. Statistics:

There are more than 2000 people on Andrew’s ‘Global Search’ email list.

•The ‘Global Search for Andrew’ email and supporting material has been translated into 14 European and four Asian languages.

•The email and Andrew’s missing child posters are being distributed throughout the UK, Europe, Asia, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, The Philippines, Canada, the USA, South America, parts of the former Eastern Bloc, as well as Australia and New Zealand. Posters and media releases have now been translated into 16 languages.

•4280 people from around the world have joined Andrew’s Facebook (http://campaign-archive.com/?u=1fdc9e59b84b43069ccf5329d&id=b5b564d7ff&e=) site in the past month and many of these people have now joined the ‘Global Search for Andrew’ email campaign.

•Andrew’s Youtube (http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=1U5plf2eUaw) site has recorded one of the highest daily hit-rates of any missing child video posted by Forever Searching in the UK (about 200 per day).

•Dozens of websites and blogs around the world are now carrying information about Andrew’s abduction and disappearance.

•An internet company in Qld has distributed Andrew’s email to its 30,000 subscribers as well as posting the ‘Global Search for Andrew ‘ email and all the supporting material in its various translations on their website.

•An aircraft company in the US distributed the email to 10,000 employees and contractors world-wide.

•A professor at the University of Sydney sent the email to 6500 people around the world.

•A well known production company that predominantly produces programs for children in the US is distributing the email through its global network.

•An international airline is handing out a ‘Missing Andrew John THOMPSON’ flyer to all passengers on its international flights.

•On their own initiative, NSW Fire Brigade firefighters at Kariong Fire Station on the NSW Central Coast and many others within the Sydney Metropolitan area have placed a Missing Child message about Andrew on their very prominent Community Notice Boards. This is attracting more people to the Facebook site and through that to the Global Email Campaign.

•NSW Fire Brigade and NSW Rural Fire Service firefighters have been distributing the email to thousands of people through their personal email networks around the world.

•The NSW Fire Brigade Employees’ Union will feature Andrew’s Missing Child poster on the back cover of its next journal. This journal is distributed to firefighting unions around the world.

•The Australian Branch of the Institution of Fire Engineers (http://www.hkife.org/IFEHK/Upload_i/200912_News226_Andrew%20Thompson%20IFE%20Australia.pdf) distributed the ’Global Search for Andrew’ email and supporting material to each branch of the IFE around the world.

•Firefighters in New York City and in several other Fire Departments across the USA have added the ‘Global Search for Andrew’ email to their websites.

•Rob Llewellyn in Victoria has distributed the email and supporting material to fire services throughout Asia through his private fire consultancy network.

•A clothing company in Europe has distributed the ‘Global Search’ email to its fire service and military customers in Germany.

•The Samuel Morris Foundation has distributed the email to more than 1000 members around the world.

•Andrew has now been officially registered as a Missing Child in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Canada, USA, UK, and parts of Europe.

•A missing child poster featuring Andrew and several other missing children has been placed on bus shelters in several major UK cities.

•Missing child posters featuring Andrew are being placed in Wal-Mart stores across Canada and at all Canadian borders.

•Andrew is listed as a missing child on Interpol’s Missing Child Website and his mother has been listed by Interpol on their website as “Wanted’.

•Interpol has issued alerts for Andrew and Melinda in 187 countries and a warrant has been issued for Melinda’s arrest. Australian and International Police The AFP is continuing with enquiries in Australia. Interpol has issued alerts in 187 countries. Australian Government The Attorney-General’s Department is continuing with its enquiries internationally. Next Steps

•Continue recruiting people from around the world to take part in the ‘Global Search for Andrew’ email campaign using whatever means are available such as Facebook, Youtube, websites, blogs, personal contacts, etc.

•Increase media exposure about Andrew in Europe and Asia.

•Increase and maintain awareness about Andrew in Australia and recruit more people to the email campaign through local newspaper articles, community radio, magazines, posters, websites, blogs, community notice boards, emails, etc. If anyone has any contacts or can offer the use of any resources in any of these areas, please let me know on either +61-417-416-024 or kenthompson@fastmail.fm

•Increase international exposure about Andrew and Melinda through websites, blogs, etc. .

•Stories about Andrew to be aired on national and international missing person/most wanted television programs.

•Continue to work closely with Australian and international authorities. Supporters/Advisors It has taken a huge effort to launch the multi-media campaign and to keep it going. In addition to everyone who is taking part in the ‘Global Search for Andrew’ email campaign, I would like to thank the following people for their incredible support, advice and assistance with the overall multi-media campaign. Robin Bowles (Victoria - Australia), Cate Dare (NSW - Australia), Michelle Cazzulino at the Daily Telegraph newspaper (NSW – Australia), Howard Gipps and the crew at A Current Affair (NSW – Australia), Carol Nader at The Age newspaper (Victoria – Australia), Kathy Atkinson and Karen Chapman at Forever Searching (UK), Stephanie Stock (NSW - Australia), Iris Bossett (Frankfurt -Germany), Nigel ‘Elvis’ Kingsley (Switzerland), Tanya (Missing Emily UK), Jacqui O’Loan (NSW - Australia), Barb Snider at the Missing Children Society of Canada (Toronto - Canada), Dan Pardey (NSW - Australia), National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (USA), Jim Middleton (Hong Kong), Nicole at the Australian Missing Persons Register, Crime Library (Singapore), Brett Christensen at Hoax-Slayer Website (Queensland – Australia); Geoff Meakin (Lote Marketing Victoria – Australia), Rob Llewellyn (Victoria – Australia), Engelbert Priwitzer (Stuttgart - Germany), and all the people around the world who have provided me with invaluable translations of the ‘Global Search for Andrew’ email and supporting material. Andrew – we’ll never give up!

I have serious concerns about what Ken Thompson is saying about his ex wife and in particular in relation to her mental status. She cannot defend herself given her current position and he knows this.

Melinda made allegations about Ken which resulted in her leaving the relationship and the court only allowing Ken Thompson restricted access to his son under supervision. Ken doesn't publish this too freely on the net though and only attempts to place the focus on his ex wife's mental capacity and  potential to harm herself or their son based on what? What he says?

Ken Thompson posted on a forum that she left the marital home without his "consent". Evidence of a bullying, domineering nature if ever I saw it.

If you read what Ken writes (and he is very prolific despite apparently having a full time job with the NSW Fire Service which is obviously funding his time on the internet) then you will read through the lines to see his true agenda.

He launched retaliatory action in court seeking to remove the child from his mother after she had made allegations against him, then she fled. Sounds like a protective mother to me.

I'm not buying it at all and am supportive of his ex wife.

I am really glad that Germany has the jurisdiction to keep her sons and herself safe from nutters like Ken Thompson.  Australia needs to stop legalizing stalking.  What man in his right mind would want to rip children away from their mother, force her into hiding and then cut off vital services by issuing a retrieval order.  They hunt mothers like animals here.

Almost every case of a mother reporting sexual abuse of her child, by the child's father, is called false by the alleged abuser and his -"followers". The mothers ALL "have a mental condition" and/ are "substance abusers" etc. The result is chilling- no-one dares report their child's sexual abuse- it is virtually a guarantee that the abuser will gain custody.The non-offending mothers who are able- sometimes flee-to protect the child and often,themselves. They are then hunted down. This societal self-destruction occurs with tragic frequency in every English speaking country and in France. Probably others-but I don't personally know.The- verbalizations of this Thompson read exactly like thousands upon thousands of documented cases. Check out Mothers on Trial by Phyliss Chesler- this man sounds exactly like the thousands of other sexual offenders.

 

MODERN DAY WITCH HUNT.  Abused mothers and children must run.  Accused fathers always retaliate by crazy-painting the mother.  Tell me, if someone had abused you and no one believed it, wouldn't you be acting a little crazy?  ABUSED MOTHERS MUST RUN.

It seems like a few people have followed me from another site (justice4mothers). I’d like to respond to their comments.

 

I did not say that Melinda left our home without my consent. I did say that she removed Andrew from our home without my consent. This is factually and legally correct. Melinda and I were living in the same home at the time and she has never had sole custody of Andrew.

 

Melinda I lived together for five years. I had great respect for her and she often said the same thing about me. There was never any suggestion of any form of abuse in our relationship by either of us. Melinda supported me in everything I did and I supported her in the same way.

 

I did not commence legal action against Melinda until I’d exhausted every other option. She made serious allegations and then refused to allow these allegations to be fully investigated. She then demanded sole custody of Andrew with no contact by me at all. Legal action was the only way I could see to resume Andrew’s relationship with me. Any responsible parent would have done the same thing. I also wanted Melinda’s allegations investigated and going to court was the only way I could see this being done.

 

Melinda’s allegations were investigated by three child protection agencies at two levels of government. Two of these were conducted by females and one was conducted by a male. Not one of them found any reason to support Melinda’s allegations. Andrew was interviewed and his behaviour was observed on each occasion.

 

Although I had serious concerns about Melinda’s behaviour towards me and Andrew in the lead-up to December 2007, it was a court-appointed psychiatrist who stated he had serious concerns about Melinda’s underlying mental state and her ability to parent effectively because of this state. He added that Melinda’s behaviour at that time was a form of child abuse. He reaffirmed this in another report to the court after Andrew’s abduction but went even further this time in terms of his concerns for Andrew’s physical well-being and for Melinda’s potential for self-harm.

 

If you take the time to read the various forums I’ve written on (yes, I am a prolific contributor – I’m searching for my son), you will soon find that I’ve made no secret about the judge ordering supervised contact visits until the results of the psychiatric report were provided to him. I objected to this requirement; expressed my concerns about the effects of Melinda’s behaviour on Andrew, and argued that Andrew should not live with Melinda until our respective allegations had been investigated. Despite my objection, the judge maintained his decision and I abided by it. Melinda did not.

 

You should also note that the judge ordered an unprecedented amount of contact visits.

 

The supervisors at the contact centre have provided the court with a very positive report about their observations of the relationship between me and Andrew. In the same report they expressed concerns about Melinda’s behaviour and about comments Andrew made to me and to them on several occasions after Melinda delivered him to the centre. These people are all women and are very experienced supervisors.

 

Melinda was given every opportunity to have her allegations investigated and adjudicated upon by the court but she decided to take the law into her own hands once the independent evidence started to appear.

 

I don’t know about the countries each of you live in, but in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />Australia (as with every other developed country) we have a legal system that is based on a presumption of innocence until proved otherwise. The approach each of you is advocating is based on a Kangaroo Court model of justice where the person who makes the allegations conducts the trial and decides on the penalty. This is called anarchy or dictatorship and I’m sure you wouldn’t like to live in these types of societies, and nor would you like your children to live like this either since they would never have any protection from false or mistaken accusations.

 

The only reason Melinda is being “…. hunted down”, is that she has committed a serious criminal offence. The law is treating her in exactly the same way it would treat anyone else who committed a serious crime.

 

You are correct in using the term “….being ripped away...” Andrew has been ripped away from his father; his grandparents; his friends, and his country based on nothing more than Melinda’s unsubstantiated allegations. This is legally and morally wrong.

 

I’m sure that if I’d made serious allegations about Melinda and then abducted Andrew, you would be demanding I be found and punished, and that my allegations be investigated. I am not personally seeking any punishment for Melinda. However, she has broken the law and when she is taken into custody and returns to Australia she will have to face the consequences of her actions if the authorities here decide to prosecute her.

 

I’ve done everything I can to help Melinda find a way to return without any serious consequences for herself but she has refused to respond other than by writing to a newspaper claiming she and Andrew are victims of the legal system and claiming there is a growing bias towards men in the Family Court. This is incorrect and can easily be proved by even the quickest glance at the statistics. Even many women in Australia have rejected Melinda’s claims in public forums such as newspapers, blogs, and talk-back radio.

 

I am not biased towards one gender or the other. Any form of child abuse is unacceptable whether it is carried out by a male or a female. If you saw an article in yesterday's Daily telegraph (Sydney) you would have seen my comment that I would not condone any form of child abduction. This was in response to the abduction of an Australian child in the US by his Australian father after the child's mother refused to allow him contact with his son.

 

There was also an interview on national TV a few days ago with an Australian woman who had been abducted by her mother when she was a child. She had been told her father was dead and is now extremely distressed and disturbed by her mother’s actions. She never stopped searching for her father. No child should ever be put in this position.

 

As for my professional role, I do not work a 9-5 job. I’m on a performance-based contract. I’m paid for outcomes and if I don’t deliver I don’t get paid. It’s that simple. My work hours extend well beyond what most people do and I post messages about Andrew at various times of the day and night. For example, this post is being done early on a Sunday morning. Once this post is completed I’ll be turning my attention to my work again.

 

People’s patterns of behaviour emerge over time. I had observed many other instances of Melinda forming incorrect beliefs over a period of more than five years. Unfortunately, I didn’t realise the significance of what I was seeing until it was too late for Andrew.

 

How long have you lived with her for?

 

Regards.

 

From all I have read about this case in the Australian media and in forums such as this Ken has at all times given a detailed and open account of the situation that lead up to the abduction of this child by the mother.

He is prolific in his communications and writes passionately in an attempt to find his son.

I suspect that if he sat back and did nothing he would be accused of being a uncaring, terrible father who has something to hide. If he tirelessly searches for his son he is demonised, he if did nothing he would be demonised.

Again from what I have read it would appear that many attempts have been made by both Ken and authorities to engage Ms Stratton's family in finding a less traumatic way to bring Andrew home than having the authorities 'hunt her down.' It would appear that they have not responded and some comments allegedly made by her brother about Ms Stratton's behaviour in relation to the abduction of Andrew have been very disturbing to say the least. They lead me to suspect that they have no real interest in her and even less interest in Andrew. I get a sense from following this case that having Ms Stratton and Andrew returned to Australia may not be in the brother's best interests. It may be easier for him if she just disappears.

Ken is right if he had kidnapped his child and left the country all hell would have broken loose and then it would be a different story wouldn't it? The problem is people think ' oh well , the child's with his mother, it's ok'. It's not OK! that's the problem ... this child is with his mother! Why is it so hard to accept that people, woman and men can have psychological problems that impact on how they think and behave. I guess that these things just don't happen in the Stratton family.

Why can't people start thinking about this child instead of themselves. This child is being used by the mother as a weapon ... that's child abuse. Parental child abduction is never about 'in the best interest of the child' it's about possession, power and control and about inflicting pain on others.

Keep on being 'prolific' Ken, keep on getting the message out there, keep the pressure on those who are assisting her to continue commiting a crime, never loose sight of this little child........

the fact remains that in modern day society we have laws and laws should be obeyed or you suffer the consequences. If you read the Australian newspaper and media articles the mother was examined by an independent psychiatrist and when shown a copy of the report she decided to take matters into her own hands. If she had turned up for her court hearing instead of skipping off with the child the court might have sided with her or made a joint custody agreement. Problems cannot be solved by running away from them and depriving the other parent of all access to the child.

Happy pair: Distraught dad Ken Thompson with Andrew before his wife fled the country   April 18th The Sunday Telegraph Sydney Page 36

It was on April 24 last year that, out of the blue, his wife Melinda Thompson boarded a Singapore Airlines flight out of Sydney with Andrew, then aged four.

Four months earlier, she had walked out of what Thompson, the deputy NSW fire chief, had considered a happy marriage, taking Andrew with her.

In the two weeks it took to find out where his family was, they had already disappeared.

‘‘ My biggest concern is of course Andrew,’’ says the father who has kept his son’s bedroom exactly as it was a year ago as he waits . . . waits for him to come home.

‘‘ He will be experiencing enormous emotional damage. Unless we find him soon he will end up forgetting all about me and living a lie. Did I ever dream or ever imagine that my son would be kidnapped? Never. It still seems surreal to me.’’

Last year more than 120 children were abducted by a parent and spirited overseas and three-quarters of the abductors were women. As with Melinda— who also uses her maiden name of Stratton— and Andrew, most of those women are now international fugitives.

Stratton and Andrew are the subject of an active investigation by the Australian Federal Police and Interpol, with alerts in 187 countries.

In December, the Family Court lifted a reporting ban on Andrew’s identity so his father could launch an international publicity campaign to track him down.

The English charity Forever Searching helped plaster large-sized posters of Andrew on bus stops across Britain. There is a Facebook site, YouTube and blanket worldwide email coverage: one man sent on the appeal for help to 30,000 people; a company sent it to all 10,000 of its customers; a university professor passed it on to 16,000 computers.

A website— www.findandrew.com— will be up and running within days. Anyone with information can contact Thompson at kenthompson@fastmail.fm.

Just this week, word came out of Norway of an English-speaking mother with a son in daycare. After initial excitement and a flurry of phone calls, the lead fizzled out. Again.

The only word from Stratton has been in a letter she sent earlier this year via intermediaries to a Sydney newspaper. In it she blamed the Family Court. She had no option but to flee, she said, because the court had become biased against mothers. She believed fathers were winning the custody battles and she had lost faith in the justice system.

Andrew’s custody case had barely made it on to the court calendar before she fled.

Says Thompson: ‘‘ I could hear men laughing all over the country when they heard that. I’m sorry, that sounds flippant and I don’t mean it to. I never thought I would ever be involved with the Family Court but I have to say there is no way it is biased towards men.’’

Stratton was a successful businesswoman as international product manager for a medical company. She speaks German and French and has lived in Germany, France and Dubai.

But the court has allowed Thompson to reveal that just before she disappeared, a psychiatric report found she was suffering from a mental condition that affected her judgment and her ability to parent effectively.

The court has warned that Stratton is not to be approached but should be reported instead to the Australian Federal Police.

‘‘ People say, ‘ Don’t you hate Melinda?’, and I say, ‘ No’. I hate what she has done and what she is doing to Andrew and my family. My mother is 88 and has lost her only grandchild,’’ Thompson says.

‘‘ But I want Melinda to accept that she has a problem and come back.’’

While he has sympathy for Sydney dad George Betsis, Thompson says he cannot condone any parent abducting their child.

Yet after a year without Andrew, he can understand it, saying: ‘‘ I can’t condone what he has done but I can understand the huge emotions that drove him to it.’’

It was in the psychiatrist’s rooms that he last saw Andrew. The psychiatrist wanted to watch how father and son interacted. He got them to play games including hide and seek.

‘‘ The psychiatrist said that during the game, it was obvious that, every time, Andrew wanted to be found,’’ says Thompson.

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