Friday, August 22, 2014

Monsey mother loses custody battle after leaving Hasidic community

Rockland County Times   A Monsey woman who left her Satmar Hasidic Jewish community was dealt a blow Wednesday of last week, when the New York Appellate Division ruled in favor of her husband in a legal battle over custody of their three children.

The court ruled in favor of father Guillermo “Moshe” Gribeluk over mother Kelly Myzner, in spite of Myzner’s accusations that Gribeluk had sexually abused the children and the children’s stated desire to be with their mother. 

According to the Appellate ruling, religion was not the deciding factor in the decision. Myzner had contested to the court that Judge Sherri Eisenpress of Rockland Family Court had based her initial custody decision on a preference to maintain the children’s religious identity, for stability sake.
“Here, contrary to the mother’s contentions, the Family Court did not rely solely on religion and the mother’s decision to leave the Hasidic Jewish community in making the determination to award the father custody of the parties’ children,” The decision read.
The ruling in the Appellate Divison effectively affirmed a 2012 decision made by Judge Eisenpress, who concluded that though both the mother and her children wanted to stay together, taking the children from the community in which they were raised would be detrimental to their well-being.
 “The Family Court expressly stated that it passed no judgment on either parent’s religious beliefs and practices,” The Appellate Divison ruling said. “The children’s need for stability and the potential impact of uprooting them from the only lifestyle which they have known are important factors in making a custody determination.” [...]

4 comments:

  1. [The judge]... concluded the children had been coached to lie about the abuse."


    A wife who not only lies in accusing her husband of abuse but coaches the children to lie about such a claim in court, as the trial judge determined, is an unfit mother and is unfit to have custody.

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  2. David, I am shocked and sickened by your judgemental condemnation of this poor mother. Children do not lie about sexual abuse. Do you know how hard it is for victims to open up about something as ´shameful´ and painful as that? I am unfortunately all too familiar with corrupt courts and Chareidi communities who close ranks to protect the well connected abusive husband while the abused wife and children are re-victimised at the hands of the legal system. My heart bleeds for this poor woman and her children - innocent victims who have been failed by the system. Shame on you all

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  3. @Morality - while it is highly unlikely that a young child will spontaneously lie about abuse - it is not uncommon in the context of divorce for one parent to coach the children to lie. Children also make false claims after being grilled with leading by parents or incopetent investigators.

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  4. In the vast majority of divorce cases in secular courts where an injustice is being perpetuated by the court, it is the father who gets the short end of the stick whilst the mother is by default given custody even if the father is equally or more capable.


    Here you have a "mother" who committed adultery while married, discarded Torah Judaism that she agreed at the time of marriage with her husband to raise their children under and the judge found she coached the children to falsely allege abuse in order for her to alienate the children from their father.

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