Riding crop case update

It's been a while, but the struggle still continues. After you have been acquitted in court for disciplining your child with a riding crop you are hauled through the courts again to see if you can get rightful custody of your son - without losing your daughter in the process - all thanks to the menacing Child Youth and Family.

The boy concerned was not only drugged up with risperdal, he was also given ritalin and smashed off his face when he last met his family, according to his mum. Child Youth and Family are trying to place this boy into a North Island boys home - away from his parents who live in the South Island. So that would make access hard, wouldnt it. Is Child, Youth and Family making it hard on purpose?

THe boys mothers lawyer successfully showed that the CYFS worker had outright lied in his affidavits to court but that didn't matter.

The boy, apparently under the influence of the drugs, and in an "adverse mood" told the judge that he didnt want to go home. The judge then said she didn't want to go against the wishes of that child. Yet ever since the first court case the wishes of this child, and his parents, were irrelevant. Why, now now, all of a sudden are the childs wishes relevant, yet the parents wishes are not?

His caregiver who hadn't yet given evidence, and was described by CYFS as a hostile witness, was next to give evidence and was not heard. She was going to give evidence about the effect of the drugs on his mood and how he very clearly regularly stated he wanted to be at home with his mum. The trial was halted.

When the mother said she wished to continue with the trial the judge then said if they did so based on what she had already heard matters could only get worse and she would remove her daughter from her care as she was deemed unable to keep her safe based on her partner's 30 year old incest conviction.

So, even though this woman was found not guilty of assaulting her child, the court has essentially forced her to choose between her children- sacrifice one to save the other.

This woman has broken no laws. No, this boy was not consistently beated as blogger Russell Brown seems to think when commenting on David Farrars blog. No, this woman has never repeatedly hit her child with a riding crop. No, there is no history of abuse as one commenter on Farrars blog seemed to believe. No, this boy is not autistic. This is what she said.

I have done nothing wrong and yet my child has been taken away from me and this seems to give the right to the family court to obey them or face having my other child removed.

When I walked out of the court my son was waiting there fully expecting to come home with us. He burst into tears when he was told he couldn't, because of what he had earlier said to the judge. He was crying that she had twisted his words.Our witnesses and the CYFS caregiver were all extremely upset that they had not been heard. They all fully supported us.

I cannot sleep at night. The injustice of what we have experienced is so cruel. I just want my son home with me again

Now CYFS have custody of the boy for another year. I realise this story is unbalanced and I only have one side of it. How can I get the other side when nobody will give it? It is proceding. If this story made it to the MSM and programmes like Close Up, CYFS will have to be given the opportunity for its side of the story. If it gives its side, as soon as the tape has stopped rolling they will slap an injunction of the programme. They`ve done it to similar cases, the most recent last month. And this blog incorrectly got blamed for that one.

WHy am I writng all this? This case, of all cases, illustrates how a bully boy government department can run roughshod and break up a family who has at all times upheld the law.

Its a travesty of justice. Its immoral. And yes,it sucks.