Judge Lorna Alksne in Cindy Dumas v. Eric Moelter
Written by: Chris
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Use of Our Content (Reposting and Quoting)
Update on March 31, 2010:
Eric Moelter has started to speak up a bit about what has happened in the false sexual abuse and child custody abduction case of Cindy Dumas v. Eric Moelter. He believes Cindy Dumas suffers from Borderline Personality Disorder and has been waging a distortion campaign against him for years. Please see our update in Eric Moelter Speaks Against Cindy Dumas Distortion Campaign.
2004
On January 15, 2010, there will be yet another hearing in the long-running and highly destructive San Diego family law case of Cindy Dumas v. Eric Moelter that started in 2003. In this case, Dumas has alleged for years that Moelter sexually abused their children. The children corroborated some of these claims, but were viewed as potentially repeating misinformation and opinions programmed into them by their mother. Despite investigations that don’t agree with Dumas, she would not change her opinion or reach some resolution that would allow the children safe contact with both of their parents.
This article lays out many of the reported facts and statements and observable events and artifacts such as flyers and websites. Later I’ll be writing about my interpretation of the case and some of the problems with the manner in which the courts and law enforcement are handling this case and others like it.
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Background on the Dumas v. Moelter Case
Although complete court records from the State of Hawaii are not readily available online, it appears the Moelter and Dumas family resided in Hawaii in the 1990’s and were divorced in the early 2000’s.
Despite the resolution of the divorce in Hawaii, the child custody battle ended up in the San Diego County court system. Mother Cindy Jean Dumas filed a court action against her ex-husband Eric Moelter in San Diego Superior Court case D477012 on March 27, 2003, shortly after she filed for a DV TRO against him on March 5, 2003. Starting about the same time, she made claims that he physically and sexually abused their youngest son Damon. At the time, he was 6 and his two older brothers were 9 and 10.
(Note: Normally we would avoid mentioning identifiable information on a minor child, but Damon’s name has been circulated extensively throughout the media by his father due to the child abduction and by his mother due to her public campaign to vilify Eric Moelter and alienate the children from him.)
Dumas has organized a significant number of San Diego residents and national organizations to protest what she sees as injustice against her and her sons because the police, CPS, and courts refuse to find that there was ever any abuse and because she has persisted in making accusations despite a continuing lack of evidence, the courts have found that she has disrupted the relationships between the sons and their father. Essentially, the experts and courts have come to the conclusion that Cindy Dumas is a parental alienator.
Dumas wouldn’t accept any of this. She abducted their children around November 5, 2004. An arrest warrant for her was issued on January 11, 2005. She hid from the law for three years in New York, Florida, and Colorado. She eventually reappeared with the children after negotiating that she would not be charged and prosecuted for child abduction and would cooperate with the family law court.
Dumas Went to War, Still Fighting
Since returning to San Diego, Dumas has become increasingly vocal in her opposition to the courts and intent on gathering allies to her side. She and her allies have been staging protests at the San Diego Superior Court Family Law Division on Sixth Avenue during 2009. Part of their protests is picketing. Another part is passing out flyers. Much of their ire is directed at San Diego Superior Court Judge Lorna Alksne, the Presiding Judge for Family Law who is the judicial officer handling the case after the original judge, Judge Michael Smyth, moved to the criminal courts.
Below is a video of one of these protests in the summer of 2009.
KUSI Video Story on Dumas Protests at San Diego Court
Below is the text of one flyer they were passing out in December 2009. You can also examine a scanned PDF of the flyer.
PETITION To: Judge Lorna Alksne McKellar
Cc: California Commission on Judicial Performance, Chief Justice George, Governor Schwarzengegger, Attorney General Jerry Brown, D.A. Bonnie Dumanis, Speaker Karen Bass, Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, Senator Dennis Hollingsworth, Senator Ellen Corbett, Supervisor Diane Jacobs, Mayor Jerry Sanders
Don’t ignore Damon’s courageous reports of abuse any longer!! Thousands of people from all over California and the U.S. are supporting his right to be protected after reading about his story at SavingDamon.com and StopFamilyViolence.org.
Damon in 13 years old and has been bravely reporting years of physical, sexual and emotional abuse by his father, despite his father’s threats to kill him and his mother if he told anyone about the abuse. Damon has said that he will run away or kill himself if he is forced to live with his father. You must not take a chance with his life.
Family Code 3118 states you must do a full investigation of the abuse before forcing him to go back with his father. Family Code 3027.5 states you cannot take custody away from parents who are trying to protect their children from abuse. These laws were enacted because so many judges have not protected children and have punished protective parents with loss of custody when they tried to protect their children.
Please protect Demon and allow him to return to his protective, loving mother. Your most important job is to protect children and families!
GO TO SAVINGDAMON.COM TO SIGN THIS PETITION
COURT ORDERED ABUSE
Approximately 58,000 children a year are placed in this custody of convicted abusers! Millions of children report abuse but are forced with live with their abusers.
Children rarely report abuse falsely, but family court judges, minors’ counsels and psychologists disregard their cries for help and re-victimize them.
The vast majority of parents (usually mothers) who try to protect their children in family court are placed on supervised visits and lose custody to the abuser.
Unscientific forms of mother blame such as alienation, unfriendly parent, coaching, danger to the children, etc. are used to take custody away.
Expensive attorneys and psychologists are appointed to “reunify” children with abusers using threats, fear, maternal deprivation, lies, deprogramming, coercion, and isolation — prisoner-of-war tactics.
Children and their mothers are tormented by being deprived of each other in order to silence them about the abuse.
Instead of protecting children, family courts bankrupt parents and deprived them of their Constitutional right to parent and protect their children.
WORST OF ALL: the children are hurt and damaged by continuing abuse and loss of their mother; and the perpetrators are allowed around YOUR CHILDREN.
Demand FAMILY COURT protect children!!
SavingDamon.com
Research: LeadershipCouncil.org; ProtectiveParents.com, SavingDamon.com, StopFamilyViolence.org, mothers-of-lost-children.com
Facebook: Protective Mothers Alliance
To report negligent/corrupt officials: Distinctioninfamilycourts.com
Books: From Madness to Munity, Why Mothers are Running from Family Courts and What Can Be Done About It, by Neustein and Lesher
Court Licensed Abuse, by S. Carolyn Taylor
A Mother’s Nightmare, by John Meyers
Mothers on Trial, by Phyllis Chesler
Dumas Web Campaign
Dumas has spread her campaign into cyberspace. She has the “Saving Damon” website running to publicize the case. She also has a Facebook page, a MySpace page, and others. Some appear to be published by her, others by organizations affiliated with her.
Dumas has convinced some of her friends to publicize the case and her criticisms of the San Diego courts and Lorna Alksne. For instance, one of her apparent friends identifying herself as Elizabeth Donaldson claims to have published the following blog post in 2009:
(from “It’s my heart they’re burning…”)
For all their words about looking out for the best interests of the child, reunifying family members, etc., California Family Court is not really Family Court.It’s a slave auction.
Consider: most children are placed in the custody of the parent who has/pays/donates the most money. Any attempts to uncover the ugly truth are rapidly smothered. The children in question are traumatized for years (if not the rest of their life), and little/no real effort is made to help them heal from it. They are bartered and used in threats like they are no more than cheap trinkets.
And, in the case of my friend’s children, siblings are placed in separate homes with no foreseeable reunification until they are out of the system, i.e. when they reach the age of majority.
Yes, you read that right.
Today, Judge Lorna Alksne of San Diego Family Court placed my friend’s two oldest boys (17 and 15) in the custody of their father, Eric Moelter, the man who repeatedly sexually abused the youngest boy (13 years of age), who is still in the custody of Moelter’s friend’s family. Having full physical and legal custody of the two oldest, Eric Moelter could easily hold visits with the youngest over their heads, should the boys choose to resist.
But one of, if not the, truly heartbreaking things about this is that recently, the youngest boy told the custody evaluator Dr. Breffni Barrett that he was afraid to be alone, and hated being without his brothers. And so, they have decided to continue waging war on a child, for daring to tell the truth.
It’s been a while since I’ve felt so powerless, and hated every moment of it.
If you remember nothing else from this post, remember this: Judge Lorna Alksne, Dr. Breffni Barrett, and Eric Moelter are part of the evil that fuels California’s injustice system. Remember those names. Tell everyone. These vampires operate best in secrecy; exposing them to the world will weaken them like sunlight does others of their kind.
UPDATE: March 30, 2011:
To the best of my knowledge of this case, there are a number of very strong reasons to doubt many of the claims of Cindy Dumas. For one, her pattern of behavior viciously attacking Moelter for years despite major holes in her stories looks an awful lot like the actions of a person suffering from a personality disorder. Despite this, or some may say because of the intensity associated with such behaviors, she is clearly able to motivate many people to help her viciously attack Eric Moelter.
While many of Donaldson’s comments above about the San Diego family court system have significant cause, her allegations that Eric Moelter “repeatedly sexually abused” Damon is likely grounds for a defamation lawsuit against her. She is now complaining about the attributed quotation of her writing above despite it falling under the fair use doctrine. Perhaps she realizes that she has defamed Eric Moelter and does not have the honesty to admit it?
Moelter Appears Quiet Publicly
There are signs that Eric Moelter may have tried to both find the kids after Dumas abducted them and to counteract their mother’s public attacks on him by using the Internet. The remnants of a mostly defunct website at http://ericmoelter.com still show content tags for related keywords in the HTML source code, but the page appears as almost blank with virtually every link to a file or image broken.
Aside from this, there’s nothing obvious on the web that appears to be coming from Moelter. It seems he’s not interested in slugging it out in public, or has realized that all it accomplishes is to further aggravate Cindy Dumas into further hostilities.
Lorna Alksne Delayed Hearings Yet Again
Judge Lorna Alksne has been delaying hearings in this case as she’s done in many others she is handling (see Unjust Delays in San Diego Family Law Courts). It appears Alksne lacks the commitment, resources, and/or judicial expertise to ensure reasonably speedy justice, especially in cases like this one.
While for many types of court cases it may not particularly matter if resolution is achieved in one year or two, in child custody cases the time delay is a serious problem. Years of childhood can race by while corrupt and inept courts fail to do their jobs. Children can miss out on having one or both parents, grandparents, and other relatives in their lives because of abusively slow courts.
The Dumas case is near the end of its seventh year in court. While Cindy Dumas is partially at fault for that herself because she ran away with the children for three years, the courts do bear substantial blame for delays like these. They are happening not just in this case but also in cases in which litigants haven’t run away with the children and there is no excuse for the years of delay in resolving child custody questions.
It appears the latest hearing now rescheduled for Friday, January 15, 2010 will finally move forward according to the San Diego Superior Courts calendar on their website on January 11, 2010:
Dept. F5: Judge LORNA ALKSNE 1555 Sixth Avenue, San Diego
09:00AM D477012 OSC DUMAS, CINDY . vs MOELTER, ERIC
DUMAS, CINDY . (P) PRO PER
MOELTER, ERIC (D) HENRICH, WILLIAM M.
MINORS, COUNSEL (D) PLAVNICK, GARY S.
MINORS, COUNSEL (D) SMITH, TIMOTHY N.
MINORS, COUNSEL (D) SCHULMAN, DAVID S.
Further Reading
Judge Lorna Alksne On The Way Out After Home Picketed
Judge Lorna Alksne Eager For New Weapons For Judicial Abuse
Eric Moelter Speaks Against Cindy Dumas Distortion Campaign
Jason Fontaine Speaks Up About Child Custody Murders
Killer Bonnie Hoult Made False Abuse Allegations Against Ex
Eileen Lasher on San Diego CPS/Family Law Court Misconduct
Flyer Protest in San Diego Family Law Courts
San Diego Courts Cover Up Missing Forms and Psych Evals
Stephen Doyne and San Diego Family Law Courts Under Fire
RateTheCourts.com: Judge Lorna Alksne
Child Trafficking: San Diego Family Law Courts
Family Law Courts Injustice: San Diego
| Child Abduction, Child Abuse, Child Custody, Children, Courts, Divorce, Domestic Violence, Family, Government Abuse, Legal, Parental Alienation, Psychology |
I hope you don’t consider Ms. Dumas’ flyer and website content facts. Many of your statements are misguided at best and outright incorrect at worse (see below). How can you comment on a case and make judgments about a Court system for which you only have the assertions of a mentally ill woman?
“San Diego County, California, mother Cindy Jean Dumas filed for divorce against her ex-husband Eric Moelter in San Diego Superior Court case D477012 on March 27, 2003, shortly after she filed for a DV TRO against him on March 5, 2003.”:
Mr. Moelter sued for divorce in mid 2001 in the state of Hawaii well before there were any allegations of abuse by Ms. Dumas. The divorce was finalized in mid 2002 well before she filed the DV TRO. Check out these articles on this very website that speak about parental alienation that sometimes occurs during high-conflict divorces including false allegations of child abuse against fathers by mothers: http://angiemedia.com/?page_id=72 and http://angiemedia.com/?page_id=54
“Dumas has alleged for years that Moelter sexually abused their children. The children corroborated some of these claims…”:
Ms. Dumas has only ever officially alleged that Mr. Moelter sexually abused the youngest. This is Ms. Dumas’ method of expanding her claims to evoke outrage in her audience. Furthermore, the boys, including the youngest, only corroborated the official allegation after spending 3-1/2 years sequestered with their mother with almost no contact with the outside world. Statements from the boys before they were abducted – documented in minors’ counsel report of 2005 – reveal a loving and trusted relationship with their father.
“Damon’s name has been circulated extensively throughout the media by his father due to the child abduction…”:
The only “media” involved was the “National Center for Missing and Exploited Children” – a common forum for parents to try to find their missing children, many of whom have been kidnapped by the other parent; and a website the father kept to let the boys know they were missed by family and friends and that he loved them and hoped they would be home soon. Mr. Moelter took down the site at the request of the judge who also wanted Ms. Dumas to take down savingdamon in order to protect the children from unwanted publicity. Ms. Dumas has continued to ignore that request. Mr. Moelter NEVER went to the media. He has been very sensitive to the privacy of his sons and the potential damage of having their awkward and difficult situation exposed to their friends and classmates. It has been Ms. Dumas who has used the media in her ongoing attempts to bring public scrutiny to this case that wildly misrepresent the truth. This is just one example of how Ms. Dumas does not have her sons’ best interest in mind.
“Essentially, the experts and courts have come to the conclusion that Cindy Dumas is a parental alienator.”:
This is correct. This was the conclusion the first time around in 2005 and this round. Read minors’ counsel report of 2005. You’ll see the progression of alienation of the boys against their father over a period of just a few months. Can you imagine what happened after 3-1/2 years of total isolation of the boys with Ms. Dumas? During that period the boys had virtually no contact with the outside world isolated from their family, friends, school, a normal life, and were subjected to the constant insistence by Ms. Dumas that the molest happened and that their father is a monster who wants to kill them.
“Judge Lorna Alksne has been delaying hearings in this case..”:
This proves that you are only getting your information from Ms. Dumas. There have been over 30 hearings on this case since Feb 2008. The boys have each been represented by their own attorney. There have been four psychologists who have evaluated the boys and provided ongoing therapy. Vast resources have been brought to bear on this case by Judge Alksne to ensure that it has been fully vetted and that the boys were represented and heard. Ms. Dumas doesn’t like the findings of Judge Alksne’s Court or Judge Smyth’s which were tellingly identical.
“…time delay is a serious problem…”
On the contrary, the time has been necessary and good for the boys. Per the above the judge was very thorough and careful about fully vetting the case. The boys have had time to recover from the years of psychological abuse from their mother and have had time to come to know and love their father again – that he is not the monster that Ms. Dumas had created him to be in their minds. They now have normal lives again going to school, spending time with family and friends, playing sports, etc. Sometimes children do need to be separated from their abusive parent; and sometimes that parent is their mother.
Carol,
Thank you for pointing out what you believe are some areas in need of factual correction.
I don’t take everything propounded by Cindy Dumas as factual. I’m planning to write more about this story as I have time. From an outsider’s point of view, it is very clear this is a story about which it is quite difficult to know what the truth is but which feature severe claims that seem consistent with the pattern of manipulation by parental alienators and mentally ill people with personality disorders. However, the general public generally tends to believe the allegations because they are easily snowed by people who make false allegations and lack an understanding of child abuse, personality disorders, and illegal tactics frequently used in child custody battles.
I aimed to first paint a picture, then planned to go back and show how that picture may not be what it seems from a couple of different angles. Unfortunately, time to write about it isn’t unlimited so I haven’t gotten to posting more on the story yet.
Alksne has sealed records in court cases in the past. It would surprise me if much of anything in this case which would be useful to understanding it would be accessible to the public via the court record given the claims made by Cindy Dumas and the government agencies and “experts” which have been involved. At a minimum, psychological evaluations, CPS and police records, and other files involved in these types of cases tend to be held in confidential portions of the court files and the entire file may be sealed. If the entire case is sealed, then there is very little opportunity for anybody to independently verify anything from documents submitted to the courts.
What you point out about the divorce being filed in Hawaii isn’t reflected in any way in the California court records that are accessible online. Those records make it appear that Cindy Dumas filed a court case in California after making allegations of child sexual abuse. I did make a mistake in reporting the case she filed was a divorce as that would have been shown differently in the court records. I have corrected that in the text of the article.
The court records in Hawaii available online are incomplete. I did find a case 2SP94-0-000026 regarding what appears to be a “special guardianship” matter involving Eric Moelter and Cindy Dumas in 1994. Thus there is clearly basis to believe that they were in Hawaii at one point. Nothing shows up in terms of a divorce case via their court system’s public database, however I don’t discount what you are stating. It is more a reflection of the inadequate job the government does in making records available.
I stand by the statements regarding Lorna Alksne delaying court cases. That she’s delayed hearings in this case appears to be factually accurate based upon the court’s own calendar.
However, in this case these delays may not have seriously impacted the matter, especially compared to the years of delays she and other San Diego judges have allowed, encouraged, or caused in other cases. They have delayed hearings and trials in other cases for multiple years, sometimes leaving children deprived of one or both parents for nearly their entire lives. These delays have caused very serious adverse impacts on the people involved.
The courts have an obligation to ensure that they provide a reasonably speedy resolution to litigation and to ensure that children have significant time with both of their parents without a compelling case that shows the children are at immediate risk with one or both parents. But the courts have failed to do that far too often.
The San Diego courts contribute to parental alienation and child abuse. These judges should wake up and realize that they are accomplices in parental alienation, child abuse, and criminal actions in many cases and they and their incompetent and corrupt system are contributing to severe damage to many people who have done nothing to warrant such abusive and even illegal mistreatment.
I hope when the sons are older, they may consider working with people like Dr. Amy Baker and others who are working to further the public’s understanding of parental alienation, false child abuse allegations, and how the courts fail to address these problems competently. Even if they eventually “get it right”, the number of years it takes for them to do so usually results in severe damage to the children and the parents, damage that should never have occurred were it not for incompetent judges operating in a perjury-safe environment which encourages lies, manipulations, distortions, and devastating damage to everybody in the family while the lawyers and courts enrich themselves at expense of the parties, children, and public.
Thanks again for your input.
Chris
Don’t you realize that by publicizing her petition and website you give credence to her campaign? Do you think people will scroll to the comments to read the truth of the matter? No, they will be outraged by her claims and assume that the father is guilty, link to her website and sign the peition. You are just aiding and abetting her vilification campaign.
I also disagree that Alknse purposefully delays cases. In my observations she has to work with all parties to find a time when everyone is availble and allow sufficient time for court-ordered psychological reviews to be completed, reports to be written, etc. Ms. Dumas has been responsible for many of the delays in insisting on additional evaluations (none of which have been in her favor), filing motion after motion, etc. To Alkne’s credit she has involved a large number of resources to ensure that this case has been properly vetted (3 attorneys to represent the minors, 3 psychologists to do evaluations, 1 therapist to support the boys, etc.).