From Victim to Advocate: A Mother's Fight Against Family Court Corruption Sparks a National Movement

Christine held her son as he was sobbing uncontrollably. “I don’t want to go Mama, please Mama, why are you forcing me?” he pleaded, clutching her tightly. For ten agonizing years, Christine was forced by the court to hand over her crying child to the very man she fled, a man who had subjected them both to domestic violence. Christine’s decade-long legal battle exposes the deep, systemic failures of America’s family court system, a system that too often protects abusers and forces children into unsafe living environments.

A Mother’s Desperate Fight

What began as a mother’s desperate fight to shield her child from domestic abuse, backed by court findings of neglect and repeated head and facial injuries, spiraled into a harrowing nightmare. The very institutions designed to protect children instead turned a blind eye, becoming complicit in the ongoing abuse.

Christine’s case was thoroughly investigated by ProPublica in 'Both Parents Agree: The Child is Being Harmed. Which One Will the Court Believe?’ which exposed the harrowing reality within Colorado’s 7th Judicial District. It stands as a damning indictment of a family court system that not only failed to protect Christine’s child but perpetuated the very danger she sought to escape. These failures led to the forced separation of a child from his protective mother, despite overwhelming findings of safety concerns with the father.

Following the national exposure of her case by ProPublica, judges in Colorado’s 7th Judicial District retaliated against Christine, stripping her of any hope for a fair trial, justice, or the safety her son so desperately needs. In a desperate attempt to expose to the collusion in the District, Christine filed a Motion for Change of Venue, and presented extensive evidence of deeply conflicted relationships between judicial officers and experts who testified in favor of the father. She uncovered the unilateral suppression of her case file following the ProPublica article’s release and revealed personal ties between the father and county caseworkers, as well as law enforcement officers assigned to investigate allegations of abuse and neglect. The Chief Judge, who had long presided over Christine’s case, ultimately recused himself, admitting he could no longer "set aside knowledge and understanding of the parties' credibility developed over the course of this case." Then, because of this startling admission, Christine sought to move her case out of the District. She filed a Motion for a Change of Venue which was denied without any legal justification. Seeking higher intervention, Christine filed a Petition to the Colorado Supreme Court, only to have it swiftly and summarily denied, leaving her child’s safety hanging in the balance.

Recently, renowned investigative journalist Wayne Dolcefino launched a new investigation to uncover why nothing has changed since the ProPublica exposé and what he uncovered is even more alarming. His report exposes a deeply corrupted system, raising urgent questions about judicial integrity, the influence of personal relationships on legal decisions, blatant violations of due process, and a system that rewarded a documented abuser with full custody despite his own admissions of past child sexual assault and over 35 warnings from medical professionals sounding the alarm on the child’s safety.

Institutional Betrayal: When the System Protects Abusers

Christine’s story follows a chilling pattern seen in family courts across the nation of severe gaps within all of the institutions: when medical providers, therapists and school officials make mandatory reports over their concerns for a child, if the case is in family court, law enforcement and Child Protective Service (CPS) often dismiss the abuse without investigation. Family court evaluators take it a step further and accuse protective parents of “coaching” their children, “weaponizing” allegations, and engaging in “parental alienation,” which is a discredited theory condemned by the United Nations and World Health Organization. Courts often overlook a parent’s history of violence and the potential dangers to children, prioritizing parental rights over child safety, even in cases of severe abuse. This often results in children being wrongfully removed from the protective parent and placed with the abuser.

ProPublica’s investigation exposed a deeply entrenched web of corruption and collusion. Law enforcement officers refused to investigate credible disclosures of abuse, even after forensic interviews and multiple mandatory reports from medical professionals. Child Protective Services (CPS) dismissed the medical providers' warnings outright. Behind closed doors, CPS caseworkers appear to have colluded with professionals closely connected to the District Chief Justice, some of whom were married to court officials. It appears that some of those same professionals were paid by the father. Christine’s case is not merely a 'small town' injustice, it is a glaring example of a national crisis infecting family courts across the country.

A Mother’s Fight Sparks a Nationwide Call for Justice

After being driven to bankruptcy and stripped of legal representation—a common fate for parents desperately trying to protect their children in family court—Christine refused to give up. The injustice her child endured ignited a relentless drive within her, transforming her pain into a powerful mission to reform a system that has silenced and punished vulnerable children for far too long.

While listening to gut-wrenching testimony from parents during hearings for three separate legislative bills in Colorado, Christine recognized a painful truth: these stories of suffering could not be allowed to fade away. Determined to give these families a voice beyond the walls of the statehouse, she took action. Christine spearheaded a groundbreaking statewide family court survey through Project Justice Colorado, gathering citizen-driven data to expose what so many already knew but had never been quantified.

But Christine didn’t stop there.

Determined to push the fight beyond Colorado’s borders, her work caught the attention of Tina Swithin, founder of One Mom’s Battle and a leading national voice for family court reform. Together, they conceived Project Justice USA, a groundbreaking, first-of-its-kind national survey designed to capture the voices of thousands of parents who have been silenced and severely harmed by the very system sworn to protect their children.

What began as one mother’s battle for her son has ignited a nationwide movement. Advocates, survivors, and researchers across the country have rallied behind Project Justice USA, uniting to expose the systemic abuse and corruption that devastates families coast to coast. The goal is clear: to shatter the wall of silence surrounding family courts, demand accountability, and protect the most vulnerable; our children. 

An Urgent Call to Action

With Wayne Dolcefino’s investigative report exposing deeper layers of corruption and conflicts of interest within Colorado’s 7th Judicial District, the need for action has never been more critical. The public must demand judicial accountability and legislative reform, not just for Christine, but for every child sacrificed at the hands of a broken system.

In Christine’s case, justice can no longer wait. The only acceptable outcome is to bring her child home to safety, before the cycle of abuse, enabled by both his father and the family court system, inflicts irreversible damage. 

But this is not just Christine’s story. 

Her case is a mirror reflecting a nationwide crisis, a blueprint of institutional betrayal that has played out in courtrooms across the country. It is a system where credible evidence of abuse is dismissed, protective parents are discredited and punished, and children are routinely placed in the custody of their abusers, all under the false banner of “parental rights,” while child safety is treated as an afterthought.

This is a crisis hiding in plain sight. And it demands urgent action.

How You Can Help: Take Action Today

This fight cannot be won in silence. Christine’s child and countless others are depending on us to speak out. Here’s how you can help:

1.     Spread the Truth: Share Wayne Dolcefino’s Investigation

Use the hashtags #BringHimHome and #InvestigateThe7th to amplify Christine’s story and expose the corruption within Colorado’s 7th Judicial District. Every share raises awareness and fuels the pressure for change.

2. Demand Justice: Contact Colorado State Leaders

Raise your voice and demand action. Urge state officials to:

• Return this child to safety with his protective mother.

• Investigate the corruption and conflicts within the 7th Judicial District.

• Move Christine’s case out of the 7th Judicial District and into Denver County to restore her constitutional right to a fair trial.

Messaging to use in your outreach: “Bring Him Home. Investigate the 7th.”

Together, we are stronger and together we can make a difference.