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Being silenced for standing up!
Rebecca is a17 year old who has been abused by Rhode Island courts and the Department of Children, Youth & Families.
not the beginning, but a beginning
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Imprisoned in 2022
Rebecca's story is one of countless examples that has plagued American familes for generations now. Negligence by family court, Parental alienation, false allegations, negligence and misconduct by Guardian's, Child Protective Services, Social workers, DCYF, and attorney's and discrimination against fathers. This past summer was the straw that broke the camels back, being abused by her mother, ignored by counselor's, in a case neglected by the courts she chose to stand up for herself. This led to retaliation that has resulted in Rebecca being falsely imprisoned and then institutionalized despite never having committed a single crime.
Last Year's Mistake
Rebecca has been saying that she wants to live with her dad instead of her mother for a number of years. Dad was forced to move to Texas in 2021 due to work. Rebecca visited with dad in the summer of 2021, she then reported that she did not want to return to her mother's house. After some conversations she agreed to go back and do it the right way (follow the rules the court had outlined). She returned to Rhode Island and in support of her decision she sent out an email detailing all the reasons she wanted to live with her dad. This was a mistake, the email resulted in an escalation of hostilities between her and her mother that included emotional and psychological abuse, gaslighting, using her daughter's phone and email to send hateful messages to her dad while retending to be Rebecca, as well as neglect and outright malice directed at Rebecca. Much what of took place was unknown until her Return in the summer of 2022.
A Cry For Help
After dealing with the ongoing abuse with no help from those who were supposed to be representing her, the summer of 2022 was when Rebecca finally said enough is enough. She explained what she had been through and this time refused to return, period. She filed multiple police reports, made a report to victim services, filled out a 10 page affidavit and indeed did not return to Rhode Island according with our orders. Rhode Island CPS & Texas CPS became involved and developed a good rapport with Rebecca. Inspecting thier home, confirming her complaints, being 16 and a half and, investigating their family, they could find no reason why she could not choose to live with dad or the rest of her family in Texas.
Escalation
The Goodbye
In addition to that her father asked her to talk to her mom. Rebecca instead, being a 16 year old in 2022 sent a video gram stating her grievance. In it she addressed her mom, the Guardian Ad Lituem on the case, her therapist and the judge who ignored her motion for an interview. Her guardian then called Rebecca to notify her that whould be returning to Rhode Island, that she was too immature, that the judge would not meet with her and that she basically had no say. This inappropriate phone call from the guardian put Rebecca in the suicide ward at Dell's for most of the night.
Conditional Suicidal Ideations
As things began to escalate it was determined that Rebecca had developed suicidal ideations that were conditional on her being forced to return to RI and in her mother's house. Multiple officers from the local PD, victim services and Dell's children's hospital confirmed this. They had many well check visits and spent a night in the suicide ward. As Rebecca began to realize that she would not be forced by authorities to go with her mother she began to stabilize and in turn began to thrive.
The Retaliation
The 'honorable' Judge Shilpa Naike of the Rhode Island family court, instead of being fair and objective, lashed out. She declared Rebecca a runaway and a juvenile delinquent. She then brought in the Juvenile Correction and Enforcement office and they began to brainstorm how use the Interstate Compact for Juveniles to extradite her back to Rhode Island. JoAnn Nicksa of the Juvenile Correction & Enforcement agency outlined what was to take place and was ultra clear. Rebecca was entitled due process, much to their chagrin, Rebecca would get her day in court.
Legal failures of Texas and abuse of the rhode island system
The Failure of Texas
Rebecca built her own binder, printed up her emails, made notes, underlined her talking points, brought her journals and put on her best outfit. She was assigned a public defender, attorney Sean Fifield. He reviewed no evidence, nor did he familiarize himself with the due process that was outlined by JoAnn Nicksa. They went before the Judge, Stacy Mathews of 277th district, who denied Rebecca her due process. Rebecca, her father, and yes even her mother were denied a hearing. The judge, not wanting to roll up her sleeves and go to work, Rubber stamped the requisition form and Rebecca was taken from court, crying and shouting "Why won't you listen to me" and placed in jail until Rhode Island could arrange for transportation.
Incarceration & Institutionalized
Rebecca was incarcerated in the Georgetown Juvenile Detention Center. She was in a cell, in scrubs and was placed on suicide watch. She refused to meet with her mother during her time there. Dad and step mom exercised every chance to see her that they could. 10-13-22 the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth &Families sent their social worker to extradite Rebecca back to Rhode Island. Her mother was refused the right to return with them on the same plane by the Department of Children, Youth & Families. She landed in Rhode Island later that night and was placed in the care of St. Mary's Home for children.
Continued Neglect and Abuse
In the weeks that Rebecca was at St. Mary's a great deal of abuse took place at the hands of her social worker and St. Mary's staff. In an email the agent and mom told St. Mary's to discontinue her vitamins in violation of her providers directions. The social worker has cited a power point presentation that mom sent as the reason. Not a doctor, a power point by mom. The social worker approved St. Mary's to punish Rebecca if she refused to see her mother, being placed on pause, she lost all privileges. She was reporting panic attacks and crying herself to sleep with no support or help from staff. She was going without food as they were careless and refused to support her doctor ordered gluten and dairy free diet. Pouring Mac & Cheese over her grilled chicken and not replacing it just to name one example. Her counselor at school continuously ignores her complaints in violation of Rhode Island mandatory reporting laws.
this social worker has made dad the enemy
Blindsided
The social worker and her supervisor have stated in communications that they are involved in all of Rebecca's issues, especially the ones at St. Mary's. This was found to be an outright lie after dad choose to file a complaint with the board of directors and the facility director herself. St. Mary's never received Rebecca's medical history, which includes advanced bloodwork, 2 genetic reports and 4 letters from specialists confirming the results. Instead they only received direction from the agent in conjunction with mom. Dad also found out that DCYF had restricted his access from speaking with his daughters educators and counselors, with NO notice, and in direct violation of court orders. We have confirmed that there is no order on the record, just a note from Rebecca's agent per communications from the school to Mr. Parker.
St. Mary's
St. Mary's has took great steps after dad contacted them. Their director, chief staff of records and head medical nurse spent collectively over 3 hours on the phone with dad and have received several documents from Rebecca's providers outlining what is needed to provide her care. They clarified that they could not cover the expense of her specialized vitamins, Dad told them he can and will cover those costs. They were going to double down on ensuring her diet is followed. They have not confirmed or denied to treatment of Rebecca by staff when they force her mother upon her in violation of recommended therapeutic processes. This is yet to be determined. Dad feels they are trying their best and were left in the dark by the social worker and her supervisor.
During a meeting with the social worker and St. Mary's, Rebecca's mother repeatedly stating that Rebecca would go to her house, or be in an institution. Rebecca's mother later claimed abuse due to dad being present at the meeting. Rebecca's mother also then refused to participate in any meetings if dad was present. During the meeting, Rebecca's mother was put on supervised phone calls. It was also noted by workers at that meeting, that mom doesn't discuss Rebecca, only herself. "MY CHILD," "MY RIGHTS," "MY WISHES." This language on her behalf has been prolific for the past twelve years as is evidenced through emails, texts, motions, and more. Rebecca's mother repeatedly claims abuse, it seems to be her buzz word. Yet, there is no evidence of abuse. Again, this is a dad who is being alienated from his child, and not sitting down to take it. One example of a hostile email from Rebecca's mother actually states "Be happy I told you anything". Additionally, she often states that she is Rebecca's mother, and she says no. Kim seems to think that she is Rebecca's only parent. These claims were substantiated via emails, text's and recordings, see below.
The Social worker
The social worker in direct charge of Rebecca's care is Lisetta Botelho. Her supervisor is Norie Sherman. This social worker is accused of abuse and neglect against Rebecca. She has told Rebecca it is her personal goal to get her back into her mother's house. Lisetta has told Rebecca that she is only going back to her mother's, or she will remain in an institution, mirroring Rebecca's mother. Lisetta had directed St. Mary's to violate her providers vitamin recommendations required to treat her MTHFR (methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase) with Comp-T (cartilage oligomeric matrix protein) and VDR (calcitriol receptor) complications. Lisetta has allowed her mother to disparage Mr. Parker's wife and Mr. Parker himself in front of staff and Rebecca, something that Rebecca has been reporting has been happening for years. She has transferred stolen goods from dads household to Rebecca's mother, giving Kim Rebecca's phone and allowing her to delete evidence that was present on the phone. Taking possession of the phone over Rebeca's objections, with full knowledge it doesn't belong to her, is legally considered possession and transference of stolen property under Rhode Island law. Mr. Parker and his wife have asked for the social worker to remedy this situation multiple times, however Lisetta and her supervisors have ignored all requests, despite the transfer being under Lisetta's supervision.
Lisetta had St. Mary's enforce visitation with her mother outside of a therapeutic environment, instead pushing her own personal agenda and traumatizing Rebecca even further. One example of the abuse that took place under Lisetta's supervision is that she blocked Rebecca from being able to speak to her school friends, her brother, her step-mom and other friends and family, essentially placing Rebecca in isolation. This was done the day after they found out that dad had begun to grievance process to bring attention to what is taking place. The reason the social worker have given is that in a communication Rebecca revealed the mailing address of St. Mary's. Dad weighed in and it was confirmed by the director of St. Mary's that we had been in possession of the address for well over 2 weeks and it was a non-issue. The solitary isolation, which robs Rebecca of all her outlets and places her in great mental health risk remains in place. Rebecca rightly believes this was punishment for reporting her abuse and neglect, and for dads actions to shine a light on the abuse with their upper echelon supervisors.
Lisetta Botehlo (DCYF), The Guardian Patricia Murray-Rapozza, and Rebecca's mother found out about the website detailing Rebecca's circumstances and attempted to get a gag order put on Mr. Parker through an emergency motion filed by Patricia Maria-Rapozza. A gag order was initially issued, but the website was already transferred to our management at that time. At a later court date, the gag order was vacated by the issuing judge after objections had been filed and upon completion of a hearing. It was found that a parent can share information about their child and is in fact protected by free speech, especially with the permission of the child. There is no law preventing a parent from advocating on behalf of their child. Mr. Parker is providing emails, recordings, photos, videos and more to show that his story is true. Kim, Rebecca's mother, is constantly pushing the court system, DCYF, the social worker and the institutions housing Rebecca to hide the truth about their coordinated abuse and deprivation of Rebecca and her father of their civil rights. Kim is doing everything in her power to prevent anyone, including Rebecca and her dad, from shining a light on her actions and behavior, the extent of which we believe is darker than even we know.
Our understanding is that the grievance process is again being followed by dad and that attorneys are being sought for litigation in higher level courts.
Welcome to Rescue Bex
The New Placement
Rebecca was moved to a new placement, NAFI (North American Family Institute), towards the end of December. At this new placement, Rebecca has reported being happier. However, it is clear that the social worker (Lisetta Botehlo, pictured here) has NOT provided the placement with all the information about Rebecca or the situation. Note that this move was made AFTER dad communicated with St. Mary's and provided them with facts and evidence. It was also AFTER mom was placed on supervision at the request of St. Mary's, the social worker and DCYF never entered an order onto the record reflecting this.
The "counselor" at NAFI is not licensed, she hasn't taken her test yet. While dad reports he has no ill will towards her, he does feel that Rebecca's mental health and physical safety requirees a licensed and more experienced counselor is needed due to the complexity of the case. When dad questioned this, the social worker, Lisetta, claimed that he was being difficult and making threats. We have read all communications, and do not believe anything was threatening. We have listened to all phone calls and also do not feel that anything was threatening. We hear a concerned father, trying to help his daughter, and questioning the ability of those on the case to do so. Dad attempted to speak with the unlicensed counselor's supervisor, to experience one of the most callous, uncaring counselor's we have ever heard. The licensed counselor, Cindy Livsey was rude and condescending, it also appeared she didn't care about his concerns, and we believe that her conversation following that call was inaccurately relayed to the executive director of NAFI Lynn Bishop and the social worker. To say she was unprofessional is an understatement. It has been learned that despite the fact that Cindy Livsey indicated on the call that NAFI and the unlicensed clinician would not be treating Rebecca, they have continued to do so. While also treating Rebecca with her mother. This, according to all ethics organizations for counselors, is an ethical violation on multiple fronts, by all parties involved. That "counselor" has not reviewed any of the history, because Lisetta has not supplied it.
Dad reports that at the last hearing, it was shared by the DCYF worker that Rebecca has been working with a different counselor, but the social worker NEVER provided dad with the information on this counselor. And it has now been verified with the counselor that this was in fact false. We feel this shows evidence of a clear and present bias on the part of the social worker Lisetta Botehlo and her supervisor, Norie Sherman. They seem to be communicating with mom, but leaving dad in the dark. They are also falsifying information and blatantly lying to dad. This is in violation of court orders, and Rebecca's wishes. Any counselor working with a child should be talking to both parents, not just one. That puts the counselor at a disadvantage, and immediately creates bias on their part. According to the website, Good Therapy, bias is defined as " a tendency to favor one explanation, opinion, or understanding over another perspective that is potentially equally valid." When a counselor is working with a child in a highly contentious custody dispute, but only talking to one parent or party who is presenting one side of a story, the counselor is likely to lead to confirmation bias. This is defined as " The tendency to notice information that supports one’s beliefs and ignore information that does not." A counselor who hears only one side, will, without doing so intentionally, look for signs that what they have been told are absolutely correct, and there is not another explanation or reason that is being missed. Additionally, a counselor who is working under the assumption of bias is likely to direct their interactions with the minor child, with these bias's in mind. Unfortunately, once this ground work is laid, additional biases can present themselves. For instance, they may have a negativity bias towards the parent they are not talking to, because the parent they are talking to has described them in a negative light. This then leads the counselor to dismiss any positives or indicators that show that the reporting parent is not being truthful, or has twisted a story. This is also an ethics violation on the part of the participating counselor. This arrangement seems to be intentional on the part of DCYF.
A few other things were discovered during this hearing as well. First, Rebecca has met with her CASA (a court appointed special advocate) attorney and stated clearly, and plainly, she wants to live with dad in Texas. Now, mom continues to claim that dad has somehow brain washed Rebecca and is manipulating her. We find it interesting that this is even said, as he is not being afforded phone calls now (even supervised), barely talked to her while she was with mom the two years prior due to mom monitoring her calls and texts and yelling at her about them, and yet here is Rebecca. Still saying she wants to live with dad. After being in a group home since last October. She continues to stand her ground. Rebecca has made it clear that she would rather stay in a group home until she is a legal adult, than go back to living with her mother.
The social worker, Lisetta Botehlo, "doesn't like" that Rebecca continues to say she wants to live with dad and wasn't aware that Rebecca was still saying this. To support this statement the social worker was also not aware that Rebecca's primary care physician is on the record, supporting Rebecca in this decision. It appears she is not meeting with Rebecca, or at best, not listening to her. Her personal agenda remains, return Rebecca to her mother. The social worker also falsified facts in not just one report, but two. Her phone calls and communications with dad have all been recorded, and she is leaving out facts about mom's behavior, and lying about dad's behavior.
The social worker, after Rebecca's move to the NAFI group home, allowed mom unsupervised calls and visits. Rebecca is having to go to her mother's house for a party this week. We find that interesting as she wasn't allowed to visit with people on her birthday, even virtually, on dad's side. The guests were told they had to leave or the birthday party and the virtual room or the birthday party would be ended. Until the newest report from the social worker there has been nothing inappropriate in dad's conversations with Rebecca, yet they are continuing to keep him on supervised only. Recently, Rebecca had begun to blame herself and began to believe that she deserved this punishment, dad chimed in immediately, providing her with comfort and reassurance that she was not at fault, that she was standing up for herself and the only people who were at fault were the ones who chose to pursue this avenue against her. In the phone call with dad discussing the upcoming visit, to her mothers house, Rebecca was against it, but is required as the social worker has transformed this case from an investigation, into reunification therapy being directed by herself in accordance with goals she set back in October of 2022. Given the reported behavior of her mother's entire family, there are concerns regarding this visit. Dad did voice these concerns with DCYF via email and was ignored. Completely. A copy of that communication will also be provided.
Christmas
Rebecca has family in Connecticut, her step mothers family. They had offered to care for Rebecca for Christmas and provide her with an amazing holiday, outside of the group home. Lisetta, the social worker, had promised Rebecca and notified dad, that this was going to happen. Then on the Friday before Christmas, her mother, her mothers attorney and the CASA worker at the time, Laurell Ferrelli, argued that Rebecca should not visit with them. Her grandparents have always shown love for Rebecca and treated her well. Kim, Rebecca's mother made clear to DCYF as a whole that Rebecca must stay in the group home for Christmas and all the present parties went along with her demands. Note that her mother had previously said "my house or an institution." Rebecca did get to visit with her grandparents, who decided to travel so Rebecca would not be alone for Christmas, but they were restricted to Rhode Island, and only for a short time on Friday. Her grandparents showered her with gifts and she had a truly wonderful day based off the pictures that were sent after the visit.
Her grandparents have also offered their home to Rebecca as a safer, more loving environment for a teen girl, without a behavioral history, having never committed any crimes, Rebecca doesn't belong in a group home. Per supervisor Norie Sherman, they cannot place her there due to the state of Connecticut being concerned about "Rebecca's reported needs." Unfortunately those needs have not been clarified. It is more likely that this is because Rebecca's mother continues to argue about it. Kim continues to follow through with her threat of "my house or an institution. During discovery, as it is clear this case HAS to go to trial, it will be quite interesting to gather all of the emails, texts, phone calls, and more between DCYF, the social worker, mom, NAFI, the counselor, and all other parties involved.
Rebecca's birthday
**Under construction**
Rebecca having to visit with mom/ bias by DCYF
**Under construction**
New CASA worker
Rebecca's previous CASA attorney, Laurell Farelli has since retired and new Casa attorney, Meagan Durigan has taken over Rebecca's case. According o Rebecca, Laurell Farelli met with her, but only after meeting with her mother and determining what was going to happen. She did not listen to Rebecca and Rebecca had asked for her to be removed or replaced. Laurell Farelli refused to meet with dad, despite multiple attempts to communicate with her. She ignored him and only met with mom and repeated in court mom's version of events, without facts or evidence to support anything she was saying. It is clear that mom doesn't have to provide any evidence of her claims in Rhode Island family court. This case will not stay in family court for much longer. We see a very large civil suit that Rebecca, Mr. Parker, Ms. Parker, and her children who have been impacted by this case can file. Evidence will have to be provided in higher courts. That's when Kim's story will fall completely apart. Each and every person who has participated in this case and allowed Rebecca's mothers behavior is also culpable and will likely be included in this suit.
The new CASA attorney has spoken to Rebecca. She has listened to Rebecca and is reporting to the court what Rebecca wants. Not what the social worker wants. Just Rebecca. We are hopeful that she continues to do so.
DCYF worker improper conduct
It has been learned from Rebecca that Lisetta Botehlo, the DCYF social worker, has been talking bad about her father and telling Rebecca that living with dad will never be an option. Despite the fact that none of dad's concerns have been addressed, and Lisetta has ignored all evidence. The social worker appears to be improperly, unethically, and immorally using her position of authority to influence a child who is under durress and in distress.
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