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EPO Emergency Protection Order The following is section 3 of KRS 403.270
(3) The court shall not consider conduct of a proposed custodian that does not affect his
relationship to the child. If domestic violence and abuse is alleged, the court shall
determine the extent to which the domestic violence and abuse has affected the child
and the child's relationship to both parents.
This is rapidly becoming the primary determining factor, and is often the only issue considered by the court, in determining custody of the child.
What this boils down to in most cases is the first one with the EPO wins.
By the time a low income individual with little or no court experience hires a lawyer and fights their EPO the damage has been done.
Kentucky taxpayers are footing the bill to have state agencies harass individuals targeted by EPOs based on nothing more than a false allegation.
There are no legal repercussions for filing false EPOs, and no limit as to how many times an individual may file them.
Facts About Family Violence, Fixing Only Half the
Problem : http://www.FAVTEA.com/research.html
One of, if not the most despicable weapon used by one parent against the
other. The EPO is quite often the deciding factor used by the court in
determining custody and visitation arrangements. Once an EPO is filed
the court seldom listens to the evidence, or looks for the truth. The
Defendant gets a streamlined two minute hearing where they are almost
always sentenced to a Domestic Violence Order with little or no proof of
guilt.
All that is necessary to file an EPO is the
statement "I'm afraid of _________ (the soon to be defendant)". There
are currently no legal repercussions for filing EPOs falsely, and no
limit as to the number of times a person can file them. EPOs are
becoming a convenient means for ending relationships for some. They gain
the person filing them the support of the community and the court, and
later, (in marriage and custody hearings) are an ace in the hole.
And all at the expense of every tax paying Kentuckian.
A typical scenario is as follows;
a. One Partner decides they want a divorce.
b. One Partner provokes the other partner to anger.
c. One Partner files a Emergency Protection Order using the phrase
“ I am afraid of ______”
d. The Defendant gets a two minute hearing where they
are immediately assumed guilty, and sentenced to a Domestic Violence
Order with little or no proof of their guilt.
e. If children are involved, the petitioner is immediately awarded
temporary custody and the defendant is sentenced to standard visitation
only. This begins the long term alienation process.
f. Any efforts the defendant takes to defend themselves, is then
used against them as a substantiation of their guilt, rather than
their appeal to clear themselves.
g. Through course of this process, the petitioner continues the
alienation of the children from the defendant, using the courts and the
law to support their position.
h. The cost then to right the wrong begins to mount, the defendant
has no choice but to give up, the petitioner wins, the children lose,
and the defendant gets fined and sentenced to pay child support while
suffering continued alienation from their children.
i. At this point, the defendant starts living out, depending on the
age of the children, up to a seventeen or eighteen year sentence that
was handed down by the courts and society without ever being proven
guilty.
j. At this point according to national statistics, the odds of the
above scenario playing out again years later by the children are greatly
increased. We have then added to the problem and the cycle continues.
Further, domestic violence between parents often has no bearing on
the individual abilities of each to successfully parent the child(ren).
In fact, sometimes one parent might have acted out of frustration, and
committed domestic violence upon the other parent because the other
parent was habitually abusive or neglectful of the child(ren). This is
never a consideration of the courts or any state agencies. They are
trained to accuse, blame, and sentence. The National Clearing House
for Child Abuse Neglect Information (NCCANI) statistics find that in all
child abuse and neglect reported, the mother is the guilty party 60% of
the time - more than babysitters, fathers, other relatives, teachers,
coaches, and all other adults combined. Likewise, in all child murders,
a sole custody mother was the guilty party 61% of the time - more than
gang members, kidnappers, step-parents, fathers, strangers, other
relatives, babysitters, sisters, brothers, and all other types of people
combined. So, in order to be preventive of the true nature of American
child abuse and neglect, fathers should be awarded sole custody of the
children approximately 76% of the time. Shared parenting can
significantly reduce the stress associated with sole custody, and reduce
the isolation of children in abusive situations by allowing both parents
to alternately monitor the children's health and welfare, and to thereby
protect them from serious harm.
A recent Dr. Phil show on Tuesdays were he is helping couples
who’s marriage is in trouble is a good example. One wife had issued 5
EPOs against her ex’s and boyfriends. Some women are now using EPOs as
the simple way out of a relationship. It gains them sympathy from the
community, friends, and court, and is an easy way out. Dr Phil called
her a bitc…, Kentucky court would treat her as a poor battered victim of a
violent male dominated society.
In another case an EPO was used to evict a man from his own
home. The home he built himself before ever meeting or marrying the
woman that had a affair on him while he worked night shift. He didn’t
even know anything was going on. The sheriff knocked on the door while
he was eating supper with his wife one night when he was off. He was not
even allowed to step back inside his own home. He had to spend the next
few nights with friends until he was allowed to remove his personal
things several days later. He never spent another night in his own home.
Another is the case of a newly wed couple. One month after
being married the wife spent the night with another man, and then swore
out an EPO against her new husband. The court did not hold the woman
accountable for any type of moral misconduct, even extra marital sex,
but the man did not have a right to even become angry.
In yet another case a man was found in contempt of his
EPO and sentenced to 10 days in jail for sending his wife roses.
There are currently no legal repercussions for filing EPOs
without cause or reason. There is no limit as to how many one person can
file. They have become a very effective tool in divorce and custody
disputes. And in many cases the first one with the EPO is the winner.
And it can and is used just as unfairly against women also, just not as
often.
All taxpaying Kentuckians pay for this.
In some cases the EPOs are the cause of the anger and
violence, not the prevention! Join us. Let’s fix this.
Send us your story regarding EPOs. Please include as many facts as
possible; dates, names, etc.
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