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Judge Esther Wiggins-Lyle is a danger to innocent families in Northern Virginia. She has put the well-being of children second to the interests of people like lawyers with money and political influence
Because of Judge Wiggins-Lyle, my daughter Sabrina and I will never be able to see each other until after she turns 18. She is five years old now, and my husband and I have not been allowed to see her for the last two and a half years
My baby girl Sabrina lost about 10 ounces after birth, within the 6 to 10 per cent weight loss that is NORMAL for a newborn. As a first time mother, I expressed concerned to my doctor, who admitted me with my baby to Arlington Hospital. In 5 days at the hospital, my baby gained 11 ounces, then at home with me, gained 12 ounces in 4 days, before Judge Lyle accepted the false statement of Arlington CPS that I was "starving the baby".
Judge Wiggins-Lyle signed an Emergency Removal Order, presented to her by Arlington Child Protective Services without allowing my husband, myself or any legal counsel to be present to challenge the removal order.
Judge Lyle then placed Sabrina in the custody of an assistant federal prosecutor for the Department of Justice and his wife.
Arlington CPS leveled a charge of the highest level of child neglect against us. This charge, however, was later overturned upon appeal to a hearings officer in Richmond, who stated that CPS lacked evidence for this charge
Nevertheless, the series of court trials we went through with Wiggins-Lyle to try to regain custody of our child were always rigged against us. She showed favoritism toward Sabrina's foster parents, allowing them to show her photos they had taken of Sabrina, but not allowing Kit and I to do the same. She had no objection to the fact that early on, the foster parents were referring to themselves as “Mommy” and “Daddy” to Sabrina, or to the fact that they presented her with a videotape they made of Sabrina, in which they bragged that they would show the video to Sabrina on her wedding
When Arlington CPS alleged that I suffered from a learning disability and a form of autism that presented me with challenges in interpreting non-verbal cues from an infant, Judge Wiggins-Lyle did nothing to compel the agency to comply with the American with Disabilities Act by providing me with services to help parents with disabilities
Throughout our year-long series of hearings before Judge Wiggins-Lyle, she acted in an unprofessional manner. For example, she would always allow witnesses for Arlington County to go on the stand first, whereas our own witnesses would be put on last, thus causing them to have to charge us more money for their time in court. In some cases, she would swear one of our witnesses in, then leave her on the stand for a long time before being interviewed while she casually discussed procedural issues with County prosecutor Mary Craig.
Judge Wiggins-Lyle was continually rude to myself throughout the hearings as well. On one instance, she accused me of “lacking maternal instinct”. At another hearing, she asked my to respond to charges made against me by CPS. I stated that I loved my daughter, and wanted her returned to me. In response to this, Judge Wiggins-Lyle rudely said to me “Well, this isn't about what you want, it's about what's best for Sabrina”. On another occasion, she asked my lawyer “what makes you think that Sabrina should be returned to Kit and Nancy
Esther Wiggins-Lyle has shown a clear bias against the birth parents of children. She should be removed from the bench before her decisions tear apart yet more loving families.
Yes, it is a mild form of autism and a learning disability, but it should not have been used as a reason for refusing to return my daughter to my custody, as many parents with vari0us kinds of learning disabilities are still able to be good parents to their children.
Actually, no, she did not continue to lose weight, although the doctor became concerned that she had "plateaued", ie. being slow to regain her birth weight. However, I believe that the only reason for this was that I was having trouble with breastfeeding, and her pediatrician recommended that I supplement each breast feeding with formula, but did not recommend a sufficient amount of formula. CPS kept alleging that my learning disability was what caused Sabrina's failure to thrive by preventing me from "instinctively" knowing that I should supplement more than what the pediatrician recommended, but that is pure speculation on their part, and just did not take into account the fact that I did not receive good advice and guidance from medical professionals regarding her care.
Zachary S., it was rude because her implication was that I did not care what was in the best interests of my child, which I did. All first time parents need help and guidance from professionalsregarding the feeding of a newborn, especially those who are breastfeeding.
Also, at the time Sabrina was removed from me she was under my supervision, and was a proper weight, and was gaining weight properly. Her life was not in danger, and so there was no need to remove her from my care.
Thank you, molliewollie . Unfortunately up to now, none of the disability rights groups have come to my aid, I think they are afraid to confront CPS and the family courts, which have a lot of political clout in VA. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, CPS should have been required to provide me with services to assist parents with disabilities, but they did not. Unfortunately, CPS gets federal funding for placing children in foster care or for adoption, but not for reuniting them with their biological families.
I gree, Brenda, it seems they are just buying and selling children for money much like slaves with little regard for the actual welfare of the children.
but like other injustices of the past, the corruption would end if enough people spoke out against it.
After having tried to file for divorce based on Domestic Violence and years of restraining orders, arrests, and paperwork, I ended up staying because my husband is a lawyer. He attained an expensive legal team shelling out $500/hr on lawyers for his case and met with other attorneys so that I could no longer hire them. I was not able to afford the attorneys he was, although employed, because months earlier he skipped out on us, didn't contribute to rent or any bills, did not pay for our child, and I was evicted. At this point he had already killed my credit so I could not obtain loans or credit cards. I could only pay a lawyer what I could earn along the way, which meant no retainer. His lawyer scared away my first lawyer, and the second did a half @ss job. I had a restraining order and had custody of my son for a year before the divorce date. Regardless the first lawyer kept scaring me that I would lose custody. I had to watch everything I do while he broke into my residence, ditched visitation, and withheld child support. Ultimately even with a second lawyer, I could see it was a never ending battle and I could not win. VA judges and lawyers should ALL be FIRED. The court system here is more corrupt than anything I have ever seen. I gave up fighting my ex, though I haven't moved back to live with him. How can you love someone who put you through that? It's an empty love. It's a court system that protects abusers, abuses mothers, and reeks of corruption. Virginia might as well be stuck in a warped 1800's!
Sabrina´s parents were not even given a fair chance. If weight loss is a reason to take custody of a child, then we can count tens of thousands of American parents who would lose custody of their children. Judges should terminate custody rights only if there is good evidence that a parent poses a serious psychological or physical danger to a child. There needs to be good reasons for taking this action. Nancy will never be able to have more children. What happened to her is nothing short of evil.
The problem is that there are too many Arlington County DHS workers, GALs, psychologists (including some not licensed in Virginia), and others who are making money off the suffering of children and their parents. The Judges go along with this and have become part of it...because these "bottom feeders" are the one's who will be there to support the reappointment and advancement of those judges. Corruption? You bet it is.