‘I want to visit my child’

Sherica Listock* is a broken woman, a desperate mother, and a citizen who has lost all faith in the justice system.

For more than a year, she has not seen her six-year-old daughter, allegedly barred by the child’s father, who is bent on severing all ties despite visitation orders from the courts.

Listock’s battles started in 2019 with a nasty separation. Since then, she said the child’s father has been fighting for sole custody.

Her case took a massive blow, however, when she said she caught her then four-year-old son, who is of a different father, peeking into her then two-year-old daughter’s underwear.

Despite scolding the boy and trying desperately to keep the incident hushed, her daughter’s father soon caught wind of the incident. This was prime ammunition for him in court, she said, as the father told the court that the four-year-old boy had been sexually molesting his daughter.

Things only got worse from there.

Listock said the judge, upon hearing the sex assault allegations, ordered a probe by the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA), and that her then four-year-old received counselling. The judge also ruled that her daughter be placed in the father’s custody in the interim.

The orders were that she sees her daughter every other weekend, and half of every holiday.

Because her son was still living with her, these visits must be supervised by an adult deemed trustworthy by both parents. Settling on an appropriate adult has been particularly challenging, she said, adding that her co-parent always objects to suggestions.

“We lived in a two-bedroom; they (children) shared one room and the two babies were in there playing. I was in the kitchen cooking at the time,” said the remorseful mother. “I heard them get quiet and automatically I knew that they were doing something rude. So I got up and looked.

“I was just in time to see my son on his knees looking, and I grabbed them both. I was so frightened. I have never dealt with anything like this in my life, and my son’s father is a law enforcer. He had also never seen anything like it before,” she said matter-of-factly.

She said that her son later told her and CPFSA investigators that he looked at his baby sister after being asked whether he “knows how to touch a girl” by a friend at his school.

The incident and the subsequent court proceedings have floored her, and she is further drained by the need to see her daughter. Listock said she has not set eyes on the child since January 2022. Video calls ended last summer.

“It started to become a case where whoever reaches the school first gets her. Then he would take her for a week, then a second week. Then he finally told me that she was not coming back home. I used to be able to video call her sometimes until that started to become a problem,” bemoaned Listock last Wednesday, her eyes flushed with tears.

“I went to court and I told the judge everything, and I still couldn’t see my child. The judge didn’t even address the matter,” fumed the mother. “The CPFSA came to my house and said I must turn my living room into a bedroom. I did that, and I still can’t see my child.

“She loves yoghurt, so I will buy yoghurt and tell him to pick them up. He doesn’t want to pick them up. If I ask him what she wants, he tells me she doesn’t want anything,” wept the mother.

UNKNOWN WHEREABOUTS

Listock said she has no idea where her daughter lives or which school she attends. Now eight, her son, she said, carries around the guilt that his actions caused his sister to be taken away. He blames himself, Listock cried, recounting her many breakdowns in front of the boy.

Since all matters involving children are heard in-camera and confidential, an update on the CPFSA’s investigations was not immediately available last week.

Sexual abuse matters, one CPFSA investigator explained to The Sunday Gleaner, are usually expedited, but can be stalled by unexpected variables, including difficulty to locate victimised children. The officer explained that it is uncommon that the CPFSA will object to a court’s ruling. One example is if a child threatens to harm themselves if placed with a court-ordered parent.

“In that case, we may have to ask the court to change the order. Our responsibility is ultimately the care and protection of that child,” he offered.

The Sunday Gleaner made several attempts to contact the girl’s father last week, but he did not answer his phone nor respond to messages sent to him requesting an interview. In the meantime, Listock said she has secured the services of a lawyer and has opened a new custody case, hoping to have the previous orders changed.

Last week, lawyers explained that failing to uphold the court’s orders can be regarded as common-law contempt of court, noting, however, that cases involving child sexual abuse, especially where custody is involved, are particularly challenging.

“This case is a bit more sensitive because the court has to be balancing so many interests: that of the little boy, that of his sister, the interest of the mother and the father,” offered attorney Shauna-Gay Mitchell on Friday. “Of course, the father cannot break the law, but he does have a vested interest in the matter. He wants to make sure his child is not being abused. And at the same time, the mother has a right to see her child as well.

“These cases can get very messy because it is not as if they are fighting over money. They are fighting over a child, which is regarded as something very precious,” she said, adding that feelings of resentment after break-up tend to be common in custody proceedings, and often the child is the most affected.

*Name changed to protect identities.

corey.robinson@gleanerjm.com