Why haven't I seen my kids for over a year? This is why.

Many people question why I haven’t had the opportunity to see my children for over a year now. The reason is Judge James D. Humphrey did not want me to see my children and Judge Humphrey actively worked to prohibit me from being able to get back with my children. The following is an explanation of why/how I haven’t even had an opportunity to comply with Judge Humphrey’s orders so I can see my daughters.

In the final decree of my divorce, filed August 18, 2009, Judge James D. Humphrey wrote:

“Respondent shall not be entitled to visitation until he undergoes a mental health evaluation with a Mental Health Care Provider approved by the Court. The purpose of this evaluation is to determine if he is a possible danger to the children, Wife, and/or himself. Further, Husband shall follow all recommendations made by the Mental Health Care Provider.”

In the summer of 2007, I participated in a child custody evaluation that was performed by Dr. Edward J Connor. Connor’s evaluation, addendum, and psychological testing made no mention of me presenting any danger to children, Wife, and/or myself. Despite Dr. Connor reporting in his evaluation report that he had no concerns about me being a “potential danger” to anyone, Judge Humphrey terminated my ability to see my children until he received a “second opinion” from a different mental health professional confirming that I do not present a risk to anyone. If Judge Humphrey, my ex-wife, or Dr. Connor felt that my mental health presented a danger to anyone, then why didn’t they attempt to review my records from the Affinity Center in Montgomery, Ohio? Judge Humphrey, Dr. Connor, and my ex-wife were well aware that I had been under the care of a doctor and therapist for ADHD at the Affinity Center since January 2002. Despite knowing that I was (and still am) currently under the care of a doctor and a therapist for ADHD, Judge Humphrey ordered me seek an evaluation from another professional and ordered me to follow all of the recommendations rather than consult with my treating therapist and doctor. [An important thing to note here is that we are talking about Attention Deficit Disorder. If anyone can provide me with information relating to ADHD causing people to become dangerous or violent, please let me know.]

On the surface, it doesn’t look so bad. People think, “So what? Just go through an evaluation.” I can’t. First I have to have a mental health provider approved by the Court before I present an evaluation to the Court. On September 8, 2009, I filed a petition for contempt when my ex-wife stopped letting me talk to my children on the phone. Judge Humphrey set a hearing for the matter but later dismissed the hearing citing that he didn’t have jurisdiction over the case while it was in appeal. On January 19, 2010, I filed a motion to release Dr. Connor’s case file to a psychiatrist in order for me to be evaluated. Judge Humphrey denied my motion because he claimed he did not have jurisdiction. On March 11, 2010, my lawyer filed a motion to approve a psychiatrist and Judge Humphrey determined that he did have jurisdiction of the case and set a hearing on the matter for June 13, 2010. My attorney had to petition the Court to set a hearing because my ex-wife did not think that the psychiatrist that I chose was qualified to evaluate me. Judge Humphrey made me wait three months for a hearing just to approve a psychiatrist. Just five days before the hearing, Judge Humphrey recused himself claiming that there was an ongoing investigation of me that pertained to him but Judge Humphrey refused to provide any details of the alleged investigation.

Following Judge Humphrey’s recusal, the matter went back to the original judge in the case, Judge Carl H. Taul, where Judge Taul arbitrarily appointed Judge John Westhafer, of Decatur County, to serve as the Judge in my case. Since Judge Taul did not follow the rules of his own court in appointing Judge Westhafer, my lawyer file a motion to correct error. Judge Taul wasn’t allowed to just arbitrarily pick who he wanted to be the next judge; he was supposed to name a panel of three judges, giving the parties an opportunity to strike two judges from the list. On July 9, 2010, Judge Taul named Judges Cleary, Todd, and Coy. My attorney had the first opportunity to strike from the panel. Considering Judge Cleary is in Dearborn County, there wasn’t much of a debate who we didn’t want to be judge. On July, 26, 2010, opposing counsel struck Judge Coy from the list leaving Judge Todd of Jefferson County. The Ripley Circuit Court did not issue an order naming Judge Todd until August 17, 2010. Judge Todd accepted the selection of Special Judge on September 3, 2010, but the Ripley County Clerk did not mail it out until September 8^th.

Nobody involved in this matter, except for my attorney and me, cares about my children. The people involved just want to keep putting off the inevitable; an outside professional appearing in court and stating that there is nothing in my history or psychological makeup that would suggest that I am a danger to anyone. Now that there is a new Judge, I can petition the Court to set a hearing to approve a psychiatrist. This is what I am required to do per Judge Humphrey’s orders. If the Court approves my psychiatrist, then I can go through an evaluation and then I have to petition the Court to set a hearing to approve the evaluation. If the Court approves the psychiatrist’s findings that I do not present a danger to anyone, I still can’t resume normal parenting. I have to find another mental health professional to observe me during two, two hour supervised visitation sessions a week with my daughters in a “therapeutic environment.” Before I can undergo supervised visitation in a therapeutic environment, I have to petition the court to set a hearing to approve the mental health professional. If the Court approves the mental health professional, I may see my children for two hours, two times a week. After I undergo supervised visitation with my children in a “therapeutic environment” and the mental health professional says that I do not present an emotional or physical risk to the children, then I can petition the Court to set a hearing to approve the findings of the mental health professional and I can request unsupervised visitation with my children. If the Court approves the findings, I can have unsupervised visitation with my children granted that I meet a list of guidelines, one of which is take down my internet content regarding the whole situation. Judge Humphrey wrote, “Because of the potential danger to the children, [Dan Brewington] must remove all postings created by him from the internet concerning the children before any unsupervised visitation may commence and/or continue.” [Please note all of the “if’s” and “approve’s”. If the Court were not to approve any of the above, I would have to repeat the step. Judge Humphrey made it clear that I am responsible for paying for all evaluations, supervised visitation sessions, etc… that are “necessary” in getting back to my children.]

None of this is about the safety or welfare of my children. It’s about protecting the people who hurt two little girls because the people hated what the girls’ father stood for. Judge James D. Humphrey was mad at me because he couldn’t force me to take down my internet content. At no point was there ever any testimony or evidence that my internet content presented any danger to the children. On April 29, 2009, Judge Humphrey held a hearing on my ex-wife’s motion for protective order requesting the Court to prohibit me from posting my experiences on the internet and requested that the Court to order me to remove my prior internet writings. On May 14, 2009, Judge Humphrey properly denied her motion because my writings were not harassing to Wife and they were not dangerous to the children. If my internet writings were truly dangerous, they would be dangerous regardless of whether or not I had unsupervised visitation with my kids. Judge Humphrey was not concerned that the children would read the internet content while in the care of their father because the children were only three and five years of age and had not even attended kindergarten. Judge Humphrey used my children as a means of extortion to try to censor me. Judge James D. Humphrey doesn’t like the fact that I call him an abuser of children. He could sue me for saying that if it isn’t true.

Nobody in the system cares about my children. If they were concerned about the safety of my daughters, wouldn’t they want the next evaluator to have the information that Dr. Connor used? Judge Humphrey denied my request to appoint a guardian ad litem to represent the children. No one requested my mental health records from the Affinity Center because they did not want outside professionals to be aware of the actions of Dr. Connor and Judge Humphrey. Judge Humphrey, Dr. Connor, and my ex-wife acted as if I manipulated and misled the people who have treated me for ADHD so they aren’t qualified to determine if I present a “potential danger” to society. Why would I spend that much time and money in trying to manipulate my treating professionals when I was the one who voluntarily sought treatment for some issues regarding concentration and organization? Dr. Connor never mentioned any “concerns” about my stability until I began requesting a copy of his case file. Dr. Connor even testified, that if the Court would order another evaluation, “whoever would be appointed to conduct the evaluation, I think they should be forewarned of what he will do if you do not agree with him or if you see things differently than he does. I think this person should be warned and not go blind into an evaluation with Mr. Brewington.” Basically, Dr. Connor claims that I should not be entitled to an unbiased evaluation. Dr. Connor wants to tell the evaluator what a bad person I am and then have me work out of the hole.

So I will keep fighting. Rather than find reasons why my children should not be fatherless, these people are spending a great deal of time and money trying to find reasons why my daughters should not have a dad. The problem that the professionals and my ex-wife have is they will have two little girls to answer to when they ask why they didn’t get to see their dad for over a year. Why should I be responsible for telling them? I think Judge James D. Humphrey should have to tell them the truth. Judge Humphrey can tell my daughters, “I know that your dad was a very loving and caring father and that he never caused you any emotional or physical pain, but we had to keep him away from you for over a year just to make sure that he wouldn’t hurt you. Now we are absolutely sure that he won’t hurt you. No thanks needed girls; it’s all part of the job in protecting children in Dearborn County, Indiana."