Utah Protest: State Capitol
PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Lisa Hadley
801-683-1165
tybrynstrong@protonmail.com
www.tyandbrynsarmy.com
CHILD SAFETY MUST BE PARAMOUNT IN FAMILY COURT PROCEEDINGS
Ty and Brynlee Larson’s Desperate Plea For Help
[PROVO, UTAH] February 1, 2023 -- The Utah County 4th District Court is ordering 16-year-old Ty and 12-year-old Brynlee Larson into the custody of their father, who the children say abused them, and the Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) affirmed. The children have refused to go to him for fear of being further harmed, and have barricaded themselves in their room at their mother’s home, taking to TikTok and social media to plead for assistance. They have expressly stated that they want to remain safely with their mother. Their custodial status is in limbo as of this release. Child advocates are joining together across the country to implore Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes to intervene.
In 2018, Utah DCFS substantiated reports of sexual, emotional, and physical abuse and lewdness against the children by their father. It was described as chronic and severe. For the children’s safety, overnight visits with their father were terminated due to these DCFS determinations. From 2018 to 2021, the children safely lived with and thrived under the care of their mother.
“Experts” entered the case in 2021, and began to allege a discredited concept known as "parental alienation." This allegation is frequently used in custody litigation by accused abusers to diminish abuse claims and regain access to their child victims, making it “worse to accuse than abuse”. These “experts" recommended the children enter an unregulated “reunification” camp in another state called Turning Points. The methodologies employed by Turning Points are not supported by valid scientific evidence. They are not found to be beneficial for vulnerable and abused children by anyone other than the proponents profiting from them.
Out of fear for their safety, and to comply with her children’s wishes, their mother refused to send them to visitation with their father which resulted in a contempt hearing.
On Monday, January 23, 2023, during the contempt hearing, Judge Derek P. Pullan made a sudden and unanticipated change in custody – without notice to the parties – and ordered removal of the children from their mother and into the custody of their father, for 90 days, under the following conditions:
(1) The children are to be housed separately at the home of one of their uncles or their paternal grandparents (where their father also lives unemployed in the basement);
(2) Father will not participate in overnights with the children;
(3) The father’s time with the children will be supervised until further order of the court;
(4) They are to have no contact with their mother for the first 90 days. And once the 90-day period expires, their mother will get statutory parent time pursuant to Section 30-3-35. This ruling is contrary to Utah law and disregards DCFS findings and the facts of the case.
Nowhere in his order did Judge Pullan discuss the custody factors as required by Section 30-3-10. Judge Pullan failed to consider the best interests of the children, merely stating that the order would serve each child’s best interest. He didn’t explain how removing them from their safe home is in their best interest. Judge Pullan made an order that is not only contradictory and impossible to fulfill, it is bound to cause undue trauma and fear, and potentially additional abuse.
In his order, Judge Pullan said, “The only way to recover the children from this psychological battlefield is to remove them from their mother and place them in the custody of their father.” He did not consider Ty and Brynlee’s point of view. According to Joyanna Silberg, PhD, Psychologist and President of the Leadership Council on Child Abuse & Interpersonal Violence, "Forced reunification against a child’s will and without taking into consideration the child’s point of view and emotional well-being can be expected to reinforce a sense of helplessness and powerlessness in an already vulnerable child. Such ‘treatment’ can be expected to do more harm than good, and rather than helping their well-being, it could cause lasting psychological harm, particularly when imposed upon children who claim the parent they are being forced to reunify with is abusive.”
While still frequently used in the family courts, the “parental alienation syndrome” concept has been debunked and rejected by many credible organizations and institutions, including the American Psychological Association (APA), American Medical Association (AMA), and the World Health Organization (WHO).
A for-profit, unregulated industry, which exploits vulnerable children and their protectors, should not be allowed to continue to interfere in custody cases where children’s safety is at risk. The safety of children must be the court’s number one concern.
A peaceful demonstration is scheduled for February 17, 2023 from 10:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Utah State Capitol, 350 State Street, Salt Lake City. This event is a collaboration between supporters of Ty and Brynlee and the group, 50 Protests 50 States which works to raise awareness on the shortcomings of the family court system.
For more information on advocacy efforts and the peaceful protest, go to www.tyandbrynsarmy.com. To follow Ty’s story on TikTok, visit @stupidflipper289.
