## When Judges Ignore Abuse,
Suicide Can Result

### May 2003

The story below demonstrates the urgent need for ongoing review of and punishment for judges who ignore abuse claims by children and effectively sentence the children to more atrocities. In this case, a theory by a child psychiatrist which has no merit and has been used to mete out gross INjustice to thousands of abused children, has been used by judges on an ongoing basis, corrupting case law for future cases too.

This kind of government crime is why we have badly needed organizations to monitor and protest. Here are some such organizations:

http://www.judicialwatch.org
http://www.jail4judges.org/national_001.htm
http://www.skolnicksreport.com

Even though some allegations of abuse may be spiteful, no judge has the right to ignore the allegations. This is especially true where the children involved either confirm the allegations, or get defensive and silent when asked. The case below actually had corroborating evidence and the judge STILL ignored it.

One example of how judges and other powerful people can be corrupted beyond belief, and actually have pedophilic motives and connections.

    Original link: http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/story.jsp?story=411000

    "Parental Alienation Syndrome". The theory - one of the most insidious
    pieces of junk science to be given credence by US courts in recent years"

    Dr Richard A. Gardner - Child psychiatrist who developed the theory of
    Parental Alienation Syndrome 5/31/03 (deceased 5/25/03) "In a
    contentious child custody dispute in the suburbs of Pittsburgh a few
    years ago, three teenage boys begged a family court judge not to force
    them to continue visits to their father because, they said, he was
    physically abusive towards them. Rather than believe the boys, the
    judge relied on the testimony of an expert witness retained by the
    father, a Columbia University professor of clinical psychiatry,
    Richard A. Gardner.

    Gardner insisted the boys were lying as a result of brainwashing
    by their mother and recommended something he called "threat therapy".

    Essentially, the Grieco boys were told they should be respectful and
    obedient on visits to their father and, if they were not, their mother
    would go to jail.  Shortly afterwards, 16-year-old Nathan Grieco, the
    eldest of the brothers, hanged himself in his bedroom, leaving behind
    a diary in which he wrote that life had become an "endless torment".

    Both Gardner and the court were unrepentant even after the suicide, and
    it was only after an expose in the local newspaper that custody
    arrangements for the two surviving boys were changed.

    This "threat therapy" was part of a much broader theory of Gardner's
    known in family courts across the United States as "Parental Alienation
    Syndrome". The theory - one of the most insidious pieces of junk science
    to be given credence by US courts in recent years - holds that any
    mother who accuses her spouse of abusing the children is lying more or
    less by definition. She tells these lies to "alienate" the children
    from their father, a shocking abrogation of parental responsibility
    for which she deserves to lose all custody rights in favour of the
    alleged abuser. This is not only tawdry logic, guaranteed from the
    outset to protect the interests of divorcing fathers, by far Gardner's
    most enthusiastic constituency, but it has also destroyed the lives of
    hundreds, maybe thousands, of American families over the past 15 years.

    In state after state, courts deferred to Gardner's academic credentials
    and put children in the custody of their alleged abuser, even in cases
    where police records, medical records and testimony by teachers and
    social workers supported the mother's accusations. By now, the concept
    of "parental alienation" has entered case law and swayed thousands of
    disputes in which Gardner himself played no part. Yet it has no
    scientific basis whatsoever. It is not recognised by the American
    Psychiatric Association or any other professional body."

    An obituary for Richard A. Gardner, MD:

    Richard Gardner, 72, Dies; Cast Doubt on Abuse Claims By Stuart
    Lavietes "His theory has provoked vehement opposition from some mental
    health professionals, child abuse experts and lawyers. Critics argue
    that it lacks a scientific basis, noting that the American Psychiatric
    Association and the American Medical Association have not recognized
    it as a syndrome. They also say that the theory is biased against
    women, as allegations of abuse are usually directed at fathers, and
    that it is used as a weapon by lawyers seeking to undermine a mother's
    credibility in court."

    http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/09/obituaries/09GARD.html

    Selected Quotes from Richard A. Gardner, M.D.

    "At the present time, the sexually abused child is generally
    considered to be the victim," though the child may initiate sexual
    encounters by 'seducing' the adult."

    Gardner, Richard A., _Child Custody Litigation_ (1986), p.93

    Sexualizing children can have procreative purposes, because a
    sexualizedchild is more likely to reproduce at an earlier age. "The
    younger the survival machine at the time sexual urges appear, the
    longer will be the span of procreative capacity, and the greater the
    likelihood the individual will create more survival machines in the
    next generation."

    Gardner, Richard A., _True and False Accusations of Child Sex
    Abuse_ (1992), pp.24-25

    "It is of interest that of all the ancient peoples it may very well be
    that the Jews were the only ones who were punitive toward pedophiles."

    Ibid. pp.46-47

    Many child advocates are "charlatans, and/or psychopaths, and/or
    incompetents."

    Ibid. p.526

    "It is _extremely_ important for therapists to appreciate that the
    child who has been genuinely abused may _not_ need psychotherapeutic
    intervention."

    Ibid. p.535

    "There is a whole continuum that must be considered here, from those
    children who were coerced and who gained no pleasure (and might even
    be considered to have been raped) to those who enjoyed immensely (with
    orgastic responses) the sexual activities."

    Ibid. p.548

    "Older children may be helped to appreciate that sexual encounters
    between an adult and a child are not universally considered to be
    reprehensible act. The child might be told about other societies in
    which such behavior was and is considered normal. The child might be
    helped to appreciate the wisdom of Shakespeare's Hamlet, who said,
    'Nothing's either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.' In such
    discussions the child has to be helped to appreciate that we have in
    our society an exaggeratedly punitive and moralistic attitude about
    adult-child sexual encounters."

    Ibid. p.549

    "If the mother has reacted to the abuse in a hysterical fashion, or
    usedit as an excuse for a campaign of denigration of the father, then
    the therapist does well to try and 'sober her up'... Her hysterics...
    will contribute to the child's feeling that a heinous crime has been
    committed and will thereby lessen the likelihood of any kind of
    rapproachment with the father. One has to do everything possible to
    help her put the 'crime' in proper perspective. She has to be helped
    to appreciate that in most societies in the history of the world, such
    behavior was ubiquitous, and this is still the case."

    Ibid. p.584-585

    "Mothers who have been sexually abused as children may have residual
    anger toward her molesting father or other sexual molester, and this
    may be interfering with her relationship with her husband. This should
    be explored in depth, and she should be helped to reduce such residual
    anger... Perhaps she can be helped to appreciate that in the history
    of the world his behavior has probably been more common than the
    restrained behavior of those who do not sexually abuse their
    children."

    Ibid. p.585

    "It is likely that the mother has sexual problems... In many cases she
    herself was sexually molested as a child... She may never have
    achieved an org@sm -- in spite of the fact that she was sexually
    molested, in spite of the fact that she had many lovers, and in spite
    of the fact that she is now married. The therapist, then, does well to
    try to help her achieve such gratification. Verbal statements about
    the pleasures of orgastic response are not likely to prove very
    useful. One has to encourage experiences, under proper situations of
    relaxation, which will enable her to achieve the goal of orgastic
    response... Vibrators can be extremely useful in this regard, and one
    must try to overcome any inhibition she may have with regard to their
    use... her own diminished guilt over masturbation will make it easier
    for her to encourage the practice in her daughter, if this is
    warranted. And her increased sexuality may lessen the need for her
    husband to return to their daughter for sexual gratification."

    Ibid. pp.584-585

    "If he [the molesting father] doesn't know this already, he has to be
    helped to appreciate that pedophilia has been considered the norm by
    the vast majority of individuals in the history of the world. He has
    to be helped to appreciate that, even today, it is a widespread and
    acceptedpractice among literally billions of people. He has to
    appreciate that in our Western society especially, we take a very
    punitive and moralistic attitude toward such inclinations... He has
    had a certain amount of back [sic] luck with regard to the place and
    time he was born with regard to social attitudes toward pedophilia.
    However, these are not reasons to condemn himself."

    Ibid. pp.593

    "Of relevance here is the belief by many of these therapists that a
    sexual encounter between an adult and a child -- no matter how short,
    no matter how tender, loving, and non-painful -- automatically and
    predictably _must_ be psychologically traumatic to the child... The
    determinant as to whether the experience will be traumatic is the
    social attitude toward these encounters."

    Ibid. pp.670-71

    "I believe it is reasonable to say that at this time there are
    millions of people in the United States who are either directly
    accusing or supporting false sex-abuse accusations and/or are reacting
    in an extremely exaggerated fashion to situations in which _bona fide_
    sex abuse has occurred."

    Ibid. p.688

    Mandated reporting of child abuse has resulted in the "reporting of
    the most frivolous and absurd accusations by two- and three-year-olds,
    vengeful former wives, hysterical mothers of nursery school children,
    and severely disturbed women against their elderly fathers."

    Gardner, Richard A., _Issues in Child Abuse Accusations_, 5(1),
    p.26

    "We need well-publicized civil lawsuits against incompetent and/or
    overzealous psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, child
    protection workers, 'child advocates,' police, and detectives whose
    ineptitude has promulgated a false accusation."

    Ibid. p.26