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Friday, February 26, 2021

Misogyny as Diagnosis and Ruling in St. Louis County

Brian Dunlop from his law firm website
 

As my investigation of St. Louis County continues there is a name which has stayed largely under the radar, which deserves more scrutiny: Brian Dunlop. 

Dunlop is an attorney and Guardian ad Litem in St. Louis County, and he's already the subject of a critical website entitled, "My Case With Brian Dunlop".

At the site, a male litigant describes how Dunlop violated numerous procedures in a blatantly biased manner and steered the case so that his ex-wife got physical custody unfairly, while he was rendered with a custody arrangement which was impossible to manage. 

In one especially egregious event, Dunlop allowed for the man's daughter to be questioned alone by his ex-wife's attorney for a half hour shortly before a court hearing. 

Approximately 30 minutes prior to my daughter taking the stand in trial, Brian Dunlop approved a request by Mother’s attorney to question my daughter alone and without counsel (that being Brian Dunlop) present. My daughter had wanted nothing to do with Mother’s current suit. Brian fully knew this. He definitely knew that she did not want to be trapped into an interrogation by her attorney. My daughter was completely intimidated in this spontaneous interrogation. My daughter had no idea that she could leave at any time because Brian Dunlop failed to tell her. She further had no idea that she did not have to answer any of the questions because Brian Dunlop failed to tell her. Given that her “guardian” had led her into this slaughter without any advice, she had no way of knowing what rights she did or did not have. Further, it wasn’t like Mother’s attorney was some rookie that just passed the bar. Mother’s attorney had previously served on the family court bench for over 20 years and is fully seasoned at the art of intimidation. That’s right. My 13 year old daughter was left alone in a room to be grilled by one of the most experienced, ruthless, and vicious family law attorney’s Missouri has to offer right before taking the stand as a witness. All this was made possible by Brian Dunlop serving as the great protector of my children during court proceedings.

Dunlop also violated privacy laws, he alleged. 

Fact:  Brian stated to both of my children upon meeting them that whatever they chose to share with him would be privileged/confidential.  After one of our trial dates, Brian shared with me some thoughts/opinions the children had shared with him regarding me.  I would not categorize them as negative, but more of a personal nature.  Until Brian told me these thoughts/opinions that my children personally and confidentially shared with him, I had not known them.

Opinion:  Privilege/confidentiality is the foundation of our entire legal system.  Without it, we have no legal system.  This meant nothing to Brian when it came to preserving my children’s rights and the promise he made to them.  I assure you there were plenty of negative comments they had to say about their mother.  Given the open book that resulted from their meetings, I wonder what he told their mother about the discussions he had with my children.  That would not be good at all, but apparently that is no concern to Brian. 

This second violation appears to be part of another pattern of behavior by St. Louis County Deep State actors. 

In the now much talked about lawsuit filed by Evita Tolu, the lawsuit also alleges that several court actors violated privacy rights by sharing privileged information.  

In that lawsuit, Elaine Pudlowski, the GAL in that case, released without authorization a psychological evaluation.

Dunlop and the alleged Child Molestation Case

Dunlop also plays a significant role in another alleged child molestation case. 

This Dunlop case fits several emerging patterns within St. Louis County.  As in Tolu's case and several others, the child disclosed sexual abuse by her father; as in those cases, Dunlop and others covered up the sexual abuse. 

The mother was psychologically evaluated by Dr. James Reid and he diagnosed her with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and subsequently accused her of parental alienation (PA). 

That PA would take on the form of coaching her daughter to say abuse.

She told me she is one of four people, including Tolu, to be diagnosed with BPD and PA by Reid; abuse was alleged in all the cases, and the PA coaching would explain the abuse. 

Tolu's lawsuit lists nearly ten cases with a similar pattern, involving Reid.

Here is the two part interview with this St. Louis County mom.  

Part 1

 

 Part 2

 

 Dunlop used Reid's evaluation to switch custody in an emergency manner and cut off all contact between mother and daughter just as her daughter was beginning to disclose. 

In the Tolu case, the lawsuit notes that her daughter disclosed the abuse to various law enforcement and authorities. Regarding Reid, the lawsuit states, "by failing and refusing to investigate and account for a well-known pattern of domestic violence abuse by {Tolu's ex}, contained in 7 DFS investigations, an Olivette Police Report, medical and therapy records."

DFS refers to the Department of Family Services, or social services in Missouri. 

In this case involving Dunlop, the child disclosed to numerous authorities including the police and DFS. 

In the DFS report, her daughter stated that, "her daddy touches her private parts. {The daughter} identified her privates as her vaginal area...{the daughter}disclosed that he touches her privates 'in the middle and all around the outside too.' with his fingers and described it as skin to skin contact."

Despite this graphic description, DFS concluded there was insufficient evidence to establish there was abuse. 

Dr. James Reid

While I and others who have examined St. Louis County have thus far placed the primary focus on Elaine Pudlowski- a prominent GAL and attorney in the county- Dr. James Reid appears to be a primary cog in the wheel which has formed to create these schemes in the county. 

He was identified as the evaluator on twelve cases also involving Pudlowski in Tolu's lawsuit. 

In Dunlop's case, the mother told me she paid approximately $1,600 to Reid in her case and that her ex paid at least that much, but Dr. Reid can make much more than that. 

In Tolu's lawsuit, Reid initially charged $30,000 for his evaluation and then continued adding charges for being deposed, producing documents, and other matters. 

In that role, he is constantly asked to cover up for abuse and instead label the protective parent- primarily the mother- with some sort of label like BPD.

He has some Modus Operandi, while at other times, he picks and chooses his tactics. 

As one example, he will ignore, misinterpret, or fail to do basic testing required for his diagnosis.

Here is part of Tolu's lawsuit, "By failing to use MMPI assessments specifically designed to account for Plaintiff's cultural background of being born and raised in the former Soviet Union. By failing to assessments specifically designed for family custody litigants with children."

In the same way, Reid ignored MMPI and other testing in Dunlop's case. 

"My MMPI and PAI- all my test scores say I'm extremely adjusted to life," The woman from Dunlop's case stated in the interview. 

MMPI stands for Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, and the right test score often is indicative of BPD. 

"On mine he listed all the symptoms of a person with BPD and said I had it, but he didn't ever connect any of the symptoms to anything I do," She said further.

The Tolu lawsuit also stated this, "On numerous occasions during Plaintiff's meeting with Reid, Reid called Plaintiff a 'drunk' and an 'alcoholic' even though Reid knew Plaintiff does not drink alcoholic beverages."

"{Reid} recommended I get counseling for alcohol abuse bc I have a cocktail about once a week." The woman from Dunlop's case stated, echoing that pattern.

The Tolu lawsuit continued, "Reid called Plaintiff 'a bad mother' and 'a liar'. Reid accused Plaintiff of 'perjuring the court', 'defrauding court', 'defrauding an adoption agency', 'misleading the court', 'lying to her attorney', being 'deceitful' and 'manipulative.'"

Also in the lawsuit, Tolu accused Reid of bullying her to the point of tears.

In other cases, he did not exhibit bullying behavior. The woman who had Dunlop said Reid never tried to bully her.

In Tolu's lawsuit, Dr. Reid was also accused of being court ordered to only do a psychological evaluation, but providing custody recommendations, making it a custody evaluation.
Reid stuck only to doing a psychological evaluation in the Dunlop case, but it was so one sided, it was all Dunlop needed to make the draconian recommendations which have totally separated her from her daughter for over three years.

Also, while Reid primarily seems to first diagnose women with BPD and then accuse them of parental alienation, even this pattern is not totally rigid.

In one case cited in Tolu's lawsuit, Reid and others, rather than diagnosing the woman with BPD, instead diagnosed her as delusional, while the rest of the pattern largely remained them same. Here is part of the lawsuit.

Another parent told Plaintiff that Pudlowski recommended that Court award custody to a father despite the father's record of medical abuse and neglect of the children. Pudlowski also interfered with the DFS investigation in that case and never reported to the court the scientific evidence which proved children were poisoned. Pudlowski talked about this case with Plaintiff and told Plaintiff that Reid, Van Luven, and WCPA diagnosed mother to be delusional. Pudlowski disclosed the mother's protected private medical to Plaintiff, who Plaintiff did not know at the time, in violation of the Court orders in that case.

Pudlowski disclosed private medical information in four cases cited in the lawsuit; in this case, Pudlowski used Reid's delusional diagnosis to recommend sole custody to the father, according to the lawsuit.  

Judge Mondonna Ghasedi 

The judge in the Dunlop case is Mondonna Ghasedi. She went along with everything Reid and Dunlop claimed; in an emergency fashion and without holding a hearing, Ghasedi changed custody and barred the girl's mother from seeing her daughter entirely on October 17, 2017.

She said that Judge Ghasedi referred to her as "despicable" when the court went off the record.

There is very little available on Judge Ghasedi.

The judicial rating website The Robing Room currently has no ratings. Her name comes up in a couple cases covered by the news but only in an ancillary fashion.

She is also the subject of this bit of publicity done by the public affairs arm of the courts.

The St. Louis County Circuit Court has received a three-year, $400,000 grant from the Sidney R. Baer, Jr. Foundation to expand access to justice for civil and criminal defendants with mental illness. The grant will also be used to create a new mental health resource center in the courthouse, providing access to comprehensive services for individuals with mental illness and their families.

The concept for the mental health initiative was developed by Judge Mondonna Ghasedi and Judge Michael Burton in response to the large number of criminal, civil, domestic and family law cases in St. Louis County involving individuals with mental illness.

“Our Court is passionately committed to helping those who suffer from mental illness navigate the legal system,” Judge Ghasedi said. “That process can be confusing, costly and stressful under the best of circumstances, but for those with untreated mental health issues, it is a nearly insurmountable task. With additional resources from the Baer Foundation, we will be able to help many more litigants – and their families – get the legal, social and medical assistance they desperately need.”

That bit of public relations was produced by Christine Bertelson, the public affairs officer for Missouri Courts. 

I have asked Ms. Bertelson several questions, including for this article. She initially brushed off any allegations against Pudlowski stating, "I cannot comment on blanket assertions about the court."

She has declined further comment, even as evidence has been mounting. Judge Ghasedi did not respond to an email for comment.

Dr. Reid did not respond to a voicemail; his attorney in his lawsuit with Evita Tolu did not respond to an email for comment and Dunlop did not respond to an email for comment. 

Sharon Remis

Another interesting name which pops up on Dunlop's case is Sharon Remis. 

Remis participated in the now infamous Zoom conference of- as reported in the conference- thirty-eight St. Louis County GALs; Dunlop did not participate in the call, though his name was mentioned as needing to receive a briefing of the call. The call is below.    

On the day Judge Ghasedi switched custody in that Dunlop case, Remis appears to have kept the woman and her mother in a separate room and in the dark on what was happening. 

Remis did not inform her that an emergency protective order had been granted by the judge, or that she was not even allowed to say goodbye to her daughter. 

Remis kept her and her mother in the room while her daughter was removed from the courthouse forcefully. 

Remis was an active participant in the call and one particular portion shows just how much coordination she, the other GALs, and some of the judges seem to have. 

Sarah Pleban, the most active participant, at approximately nine minutes raises "Sarah Moller's case".

This is a case that Remis appears to be familiar with.

"Larry got the call from the other attorney, so he can give you more details....Because I've been involved with Judge Burton, I put in a call to Judge Burton so he could look into that."

Judge Burton, is Judge Michael Burton of the now infamous email which he sent to Pleban and a GAL group. That email is below.  He also appears with Judge Ghasedi in her press release. 

Judge Burton's Email Ex... by mikekvolpe

Ms. Remis did not respond to my email for comment. 

Post Script

Check out the previous article I did on St. Louis County. Also, check out the crowdfunding campaign if you think more articles like these need to be written. 

Thursday, February 18, 2021

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Deep State in Missouri Reveals Itself: "This threatens to take down the entire system," one says.


(Elaine Pudlowski from her law firm's website)
 


The St. Louis County Deep State

The pressure has ratcheted up against the Deep State which occupies levers of power within the St. Louis County family court system.

In November 2020, I wrote about how St. Louis County was not a safe place, particularly if you are a female domestic violence victim. 

The November article primarily focused on Elaine Pudlowski, a powerful guardian ad litem (GAL) in St. Louis County. 

A GAL is appointed by the court in custody issues and is supposed to be a third party to represent the best interest of the child, which is actually already supposed to be the judge's job. 

Not only did I interview nearly ten women who stated she ignored or covered up abuse in their cases, but she was the defendant, along with four others, in an explosive new lawsuit, which also alleged that Pudlowski and others engaged in a conspiratorial cover-up of physical and other abuse and steered the case to force the child to live exclusively with the alleged abuser. I received the statement below from the Plaintiff in that case. 

Tolu Personal Statement 10-... by mikekvolpe

Pudlowski's go to weapon in most of these cases; generally, when a child reports on abuse, Pudlowski will claim that the mother is mentally ill or is making up lies. 

In some cases, she and her colleagues claim the mother has borderline personality disorder, in order to explain away the abuse. 

"My sons reported to Pudlowski and Reid that their father was physically, sexually, and emotionally abusive." stated Evita Tolu, who filed suit against Pudlowski, "Reid issued his report in which he diagnosed me with borderline personality disorder; he said that I was a narcissist and a sociopath."

Reid is James Reid, a colleague who often winds up on cases with Pudlowski. 

The Updates

Since my article, there has been progress on several matters and it seems this has raised the ire not only of Pudlowski but of many GALs who operate in St. Louis County. 

First, Tolu has filed an amended complaint in which several new cases have been added; the lawsuit now looks much more like a class action lawsuit and it alleges widespread abuse, particularly in falsely diagnosing mothers with borderline personality disorder. 

The amended complaint is below. 

20SL-CC04680 Tolu v Reid - Amended Petition Filed December 4 2020 by mikekvolpe on Scribd

Secondly, an emailed newsletter called Daily Docket News (DDN) has emerged. In my November article, I quoted from one newsletter I had received, here is part of that.

Daily Docket News is investigating the allegations raised by Tolu vs. James D. Reid, Ph.D., Elaine Pudlowski, Esq. & Jennifer Webbe Van Luven, LCSW, et al.Case No. 20SL-CC04680 filed in the Saint Louis County Circuit Court. A scandal appears to be brewing in this case, where Tolu, a former child custody litigant, is suing the court appointed forensic evaluator, James D. Reid, Ph.D. with the firm of James D. Reid, Ph.D., LLC, the court appointed guardian ad litem, Elaine Pudlowski, Esq. with the law firm of Frankel, Rubin, Klein, Siegel, Payne & Pudlowski, P.C. and the court appointed therapist, Jennifer Webbe Van Luven, LCSW with West County Psychological Associates. It is alleged that all three are involved in a horrific scheme, “Kids for Cash”, that benefited a predatory parent and exploited vulnerable minor children.


At the time, DDN had only come out once or twice. It is being sent to the network which surrounds Pudlowski. I recently received a document which appears to be a comprehensive compilation of all that DDN published. 

Daily Docket News by mikekvolpe

Finally, another case has emerged, the Van Den Bergh Case, which also involves Pudlowski as a GAL and it too involves Pudlowski covering up sexual abuse and forcing the child to live with the abuser. 

This new case was featured in DDN.

Daily Docket News’ investigative team has an explosive update on a case we reported on last month as well as November and December of last year. Van Den Bergh vs. Van Den BerghCase 15SL-DR05021-01 filed in the Saint Louis County Family Court on 10/10/2016. Elaine Pudlowski, Esq., with the law firm of FrankelRubinKleinSiegelPayne & PudlowskiP.C., who was the court appointed guardian ad litem, was fired by Plaintiffs new attorney on November 5, 2020. We previously reported that the Petitioner’s minor child disclosed to a therapist that she was molested by the Respondent, but Pudlowski, with the court’s blessing and having the best interest of something other than the molested minor child in mind, reunified the molested minor child with their molester. Petitioner filed an Emergency Motion for Recusal of Judge Bruce F. Hilton, who was the presiding Judge in this case, and had been allegedly accused of BiasPrejudiceHarassmentDiscriminationThreatsIntimidationDenigration and Hostile Acts, to name a few, toward Petitioner.  Our legal team reports that Judge Bruce F. Hilton has in fact recused himself on January 12, 2021, with no explanation for his outrageous behavior, in a family court. Why do you think Judge Bruce F. Hilton recused himself? Do you think Judge Bruce F. Hilton and Pudlowski sleep at night knowing that this child is being molested every day on their recommendation? Do you think either Judge Bruce F. Hilton or Pudlowski really cares about what you think? You be the Judge.
I spoke with Ann McGuire of Wings for Justice, an advocacy group. She has been advocating on behalf of the mother in the Van Den Bergh case; she told me Wings for Justice advocates for protective mothers, who are abused by courts after their children disclose abuse.

She said her organization has advocated for approximately three hundred women around the country. 

She said Pudlowski's behavior in the Van Den Bergh case fits a pattern in which judges and those assigned to cases cover up for abuse in an attempt to steer cases so that the abuser gets custody. She described the Van Den Bergh case below

My Name is Ann Maguire by mikekvolpe

That case has had a recent interesting update. The judge, Bruce Hilton, recently recused himself, but in his recusal, he spoke glowingly of Elaine Pudlowski. 

"This Court finds that Ms. Pudlowski has tirelessly served the Family Court of St. Louis County as a Court Appointed Guardian Ad Litem for over two decades with the utmost integrity, professionalism and numerous instances without compensation," Judge Hilton stated in his recusal. 

The full recusal is below. 

Recusal - Judge Hilton - January 12 2021 (1) by mikekvolpe on Scribd

The problem is that Ms. Pudlowski was never mentioned in the motion to recuse himself. That is below.

Emergency Motion to Force R... by mikekvolpe

Judge Hilton did not respond to an email for comment.   


The Deep State Reveals Itself: The Zoom Call on January 27, 2021

All of this seems to have put not only Pudlowski but other prominent GALs into a siege. Thirty eight, according to one, recently participated in a Zoom conference which was surreptitiously recorded and given to me, in which they all schemed and strategized about Pudlowski's case; they appeared to discuss a potentially tax evasive scheme to help Pudlowski fund for a forensic examiner to determine who is behind DDN.

"This threatens to take down the entire system," said Sarah Pleban, another St. Louis GAL in the Zoom, "Judges are in on it."

The video is below, and this conference occurred on January 27, 2021. 

 
Pudlowski talks about the lawsuit; while she said it was meritless, she is initially asking to have it dismissed through the quasi-immunity she enjoys as a GAL. 

I talked about the corrosive effect of near total immunity that judges enjoy and this is similar though not as sweeping.

"They made up a whole bunch of things in the lawsuit against Elaine {Pudlowski}," said Sharon Remis, another St. Louis County GAL on the Zoom call. "Some of the allegations aren't even legal theory, but they still said it." 

Remis did not respond to my message for comment. 

Pleban also jokes that the supposed scheme dubbed "Kids for Cash" by DDN which Pudlowski, Pleban, and others are accused of participating in, does not exist.

"I have taken Elaine to task for this original Kids for Kash scheme that I was named in; I haven't received a penny." Pleban stated.

Pleban was highlighted by DDN in a case.

Daily Docket News’ investigative team just discovered another sickening story that has a terrible ending like so many others. Vandenbroucke v. Pilipenko, Case No. 16SL-DR05904, filed in the Saint Louis County Circuit Court on 10/27/2016. Sarah Pleban, Esq., with the law firm of Grant, Miller & Smith, LLC, was the court appointed guardian ad litem. James D. Reid, Ph.D., was the court appointed forensic psychology evaluator. Respondent’s child, who was sexually abused at the hands of Petitioner according to Respondent and her child, was handed over to the alleged abuser, by Judge John N. Borbonus, on the recommendation of Pleban and Reid, with full custody rights. Why did the County Prosecutor refuse to file charges? The Respondent was left with only the shirt on her back, after spending her last dime in family court to save her daughter failed. Currently, Respondent is court ordered to visit with her daughter for only forty-five minutes, once a month under strict supervision, at a cost to the Respondent of nearly two hundred dollars per visit. The court appointed supervisor sits on a bench between Respondent and her child, as they are forbidden to touch. Respondent is court ordered to not speak to her child in Respondent’s native language of Russian. Respondent’s child, who is currently nine years old, tells Respondent that Petitioner continues to sleep in the same bed with her every nigh  How can Judge John N. Borbonus, Pleban and Reid sleep at night? 

In general, this Kids for Cash scheme involves Pudlowski, Pleban and others ignoring abuse in order to get favored status and be chosen prodigiously to be a GAL.

Indeed, most if not all of the thirty-eight who participated in the call have received favorable status with the court. 

Judge Michael Burton

Shortly before this Zoom conference, Judge Michael Burton sent Pleban an email which she forwarded to a GAL group. That email is below. 

Judge Burton's Email Exhibit by mikekvolpe on Scribd

In it, he states, "As judges, we cannot comment to the public about pending litigation that is pending on our docket," but then proceeds to do just that by talking about litigation to these GALs.

(Judge Michael Burton)



Pleban mentions this email in the Zoom conference.

I reached out to Pleban, Judge Burton, Pudlowski, and Christine Bertelson, a spokesperson for the court, but received no response. 

Patty Fish was featured in the original November 2020 article; she was defrauded by St. Louis civil courts and then crimes were not prosecuted by St. Louis law enforcement. 

She told me Burton was recently assigned to her case, "that should be interesting," she said. 




The Interviews

I was able to speak with three of the GALs on the call- Kelly Chevalier, Venus Jackson, and Mary Davidson.

All acknowledged being on the call and GALs in St. Louis County. Full conversation with Chevalier is 
below.
    


(Kelly Chevalier)
 
Davidson laughed when I asked if she was participating in a scheme to target a member of the media. 

Chevalier said that rather than targeting media, the group was concerned that personal information from cases involving may be being released by lawyers or other court officers illegally. 

"There was private undisclosed information that was in the newsletter," Chevalier said, "I work in juvenile court. That's all confidential, and all the GAL stuff is confidential." My interview with Mary Davidson is below. 

 

 Venus Jackson Targets a Protective Mom

"I wasn't scheming to do no such thing," Jackson told me, "I haven't contributed to anything."

Jackson said she has not given any money to the pool which was discussed to hire a forensic investigator. 

My conversation with Jackson took place on Thursday February 11, 2021.

The day before she did appear to participate in a scheme to jail a mother because her daughter refused to see her father who her daughter accused of abusing her. 

The mother's name is Angela Freiner, and she told me that in a hearing on Wednesday February 10, 2021, she was jailed for criminal contempt after her daughter refused to see her father. 

She was released on Friday, Freiner told me. 

But her daughter had plenty of reason to avoid her seeing her father. Here is Jackson telling the court about the abuse Freiner's daughter told to Jackson; Jackson also mentions the father hadn't been in any contact with his daughter since the previous March. 
 

But the judge, Nicole Zellweger, with the recommendation of Jackson insisted on reunifying father and daughter, leading to the confrontation in court February 2021. 

Indeed a GAL report filed in November 2020, portended this situation.

"Mother alleges Domestic Violence, but did not present any evidence of said violence...Father does have disorderly conduct for an incident that occurred at his home...Mother has repeatedly violated the Court’s orders she failed to do drug drops, has interfered with custody exchanges, the Court had to threaten jail time just so she would comply. Mother has not encouraged the child to speak to her Father, I do believe that she has actively alienated the daughter towards her Father."

Parental Alienation

As with many cases around the world, when there is abuse alleged, court officers like Jackson will spin the abuse and say it's all part of a campaign of alienation. 

I recently wrote about Barbara Burkhard of Suffolk County New York, who runs a similar scheme there: accusing the protective parent of being an alienator.

In Dakota County, Minnesota, Julie Friedrich, another corrupt GAL, has done something similar in many cases: primarily the Rucki case. 

I did not get a chance to ask Jackson about parental alienation, but Ms. Chevalier did respond, "There's no diagnosis to it, but there's a lot of reference to it," she said. 

Parental alienation has been rejected repeatedly from inclusion in both the American Psychological Association's Diagnostic Statistics Manual (DSM) for Diseases and Disorders and the World Health Organization's International Classification of Disorders (ICD)

WHO recently stated, "Parental alienation has been removed from the ICD-11 classification as it is a judicial term and issue. Its inclusion for coding purposes in the ICD-11 will not contribute to valid or meaningful health statistics."

As I've documented, starting primarily with the article "Making Divorce Pay", this has not stopped corrupt court professionals from labeling parents, primarily the mother, with parental alienation, particularly when a child discloses abuse. 

The article, "Making Divorce Pay", was about the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC), which led the way in the last four decades and more in pushing forward the perverted use of parental alienation. I stated in part. 

By the time the AFCC had begun promoting PAS, the group had dropped the descriptor “syndrome” and merely referred to the problem as parental alienation—a group of behaviors by one parent designed to alienate the child from the other parent—which is far less controversial. Gardner had originally based his research on prior research done by longtime AFCC member Joan Kelly and psychologist Judith Wallerstein, and in 2001, Kelly published, along with AFCC member Janet Johnston, “The alienated child: A reformulation of parental alienation syndrome” in the Family Court Review, the AFCC’s newsletter

The AFCC is named in DDN and that is because several members of the Zoom conference are members of the local Missouri Chapter, referred to as MO-AFCC.

Those tied to MO-AFCC who were on the call include: Art Nissenbaum {a past president}, Bruce Hilton {who spoke at a conference}, Pudlowski {lists her membership in her biography}, Cynthia Albin {hosted an event}, Michael Burton {received an award}, Hank Miller {presented on a panel with Pudlowski}, and Patricia Susi {panelist at 2018 conference}.

I was unaware of the Freiner case when I spoke with Ms. Jackson, but she and Judge Zellweger did not respond to a follow up email for comment. Here is my interview with Ms. Jackson
 

Conclusion:

In the teleconference, Amy Diemer, asked rhetorically if this- meaning the campaign by DDN- is connected to former State Senator Doug Libla, "He's the one that constantly introduced bills that were taking away powers of guardian ad litem, or adversely affecting our ability to do our work."

Diemer noted that Senate Bill 623, which can be found here, did pass. Diemer did not respond to a message for comment. 

Libla is no longer in the State legislature.

I favor the total elimination of GALs, but laws which limit their power also help. 

It's clear that these GALs don't like anything which limits their power, be it a law, media attention, or the email campaign by DDN. 

The DDN campaign is reminiscent of Los Pepes, the drug traffickers who turned the tables on Pablo Escobar: fighting as dirty as he did- killing his lawyers, business partners, and others close to him.

Los Pepes fought as dirty as Escobar.

Pudlowski also fights dirty, using her power and influence to sway court cases by making sure any evidence contrary to her narrative never gets into court, DDN is fighting dirty, using email lists which target her friends, family, work colleagues, and members of the media. 

Pudlowski called it, "cyber-stalking."

This has turned into a unique threat to their power base and one they've never faced before. 

Other GALs who were on the call who I reached out to but did not receive a response include: Luke Stobie, Greg Brough, Leigh Carson, Sarah Wittrock, Cynthia Albin, Deborah Henry, Rachna Lien, , Shevon Harris, Ann Bauer, Dave Betz, Jennifer Piper, Justin Ruth, and Mark Kieseweter. 

Post-Script

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