08/30/08

Unfortunately, false allegations are common in child custody battles like what Kelsey was put through. The following is an excerpt from A Deadly Game of Tug of War: The Kelsey Smith-Briggs Story.

"According to Kathie, Dr. Sullivan said it was abuse that

 caused the injuries to Kelsey’s legs. However, Dr.

 Sullivan’s conclusions came after Kathie informed him

 of the previous allegations with regards to Kelsey...She (Kathie's aunt) had accompanied Kathie to take Kelsey to see Dr. Sullivan about Kelsey’s legs after Raye Dawn had them put in casts. Allegedly, Kathie mentioned to Dr. Sullivan about the abuse charges and the custody battle because they were in shock that both of her legs were broken. It was after Kathie mentioned allegations of abuse and told the doctor that Kelsey had been with Raye Dawn when both legs were injured, which was not proven to be true, that the doctor said something about the injuries being from abuse.

The doctor told Kathie and her aunt that the injuries were intentional. Again, this was after the fact that Kathie had pointed out to the doctor that they suspected Kelsey was being abused.

According to Kathie’s aunt, the casts had to come off Kelsey because she had sores under them that needed to heal, and her bones had started to heal.

Kathie’s aunt visited Kathie’s home during the time Kelsey’s legs were injured. She thought Kelsey had a sprained ankle, so they just carried her around or she played in the floor and she didn’t think anything about it. She claimed she did not witness her not being able to walk without the casts after they were off, but she had heard that after the casts went back on, her legs were going inward a little bit and she was having trouble walking then.

At this point, DHS was questioning who had Kelsey when her legs were broken. The fact that Kathie called repeatedly to report abuse against Raye Dawn, yet did not take Kelsey to the doctor when she could not walk made Kathie appear suspicious to DHS.

Kathie insisted throughout the case that she only called DHS one time. If she had actually called “one time” like she claimed, DHS would not have told her to ONLY call if it appeared that Kelsey had suffered from abuse. The simple fact that DHS had to tell her when to call and when not to call, tells me that she called them repeatedly. Kathie contradicted herself and claimed she had only made one or two reports since January.

In order to make her reports, Kathie kept record of Kelsey’s bruises and injuries when she would return from a visit with Raye Dawn. She’d write the injury in the calendar and take a picture of it. She claimed that she didn’t report them to DHS until Kelsey had a bruised nose from falling in Raye Dawn’s apartment and Kathie took Kelsey to the emergency room on March 24, 2005.

When documenting Kelsey’s alleged abuse, Kathie had three or four people look over Kelsey every time Kelsey came to her home from Raye Dawn’s for signs of abuse and they would examine Kelsey again before Kelsey left to go back to Raye Dawn’s. She did not want anyone to accuse her of causing the injuries and she wanted to document anything she saw.

Kathie took pictures and documented every mark on the child when anything happened at Raye Dawn’s. However, when Kelsey was hurt while at Kathie’s, which happened on more than one occasion, no pictures were taken and nothing was documented.

Every time Kathie called DHS, she talked to one DHS worker. According to Kathie, this person told her at first to report every mark, and then she said only report them if she thought it was abuse. Allegedly, Kathie was scolded by the worker for not calling about the bump on her nose. According to Kathie, the doctor in the emergency room called about her sprained ankle. The DHS investigator also witnessed Kelsey losing her hair to the point that she had a bald spot the size of a baseball while living with Kathie Briggs. As soon as Kelsey was taken into DHS custody in May and then placed with her maternal grandmother, Gayla, she gained weight and her hair stopped falling out and eventually began to grow back."

Kathie bombarded DHS with calls about Kelsey, but she lied on the stand at the custody hearing and said she only called them once or twice. After the June hearing and Kathie heard how DHS talked about her, Kathie never attended another supervised visitation with Kelsey. In fact, she didn't see Kelsey again until August of 2005 after Kelsey's car accident when Kathie took pictures and video of Kelsey's injuries. Those pictures have been used as Kathie's proof that Kelsey was abused and then she didn't show up for the hearing in September, 2005 to fight for visitation.

Kathie's bombarding of DHS wasn't limited to just Kelsey. After Raye Dawn gave birth to her and Mike Porter's son, Blaine, she was allowed to keep him in her hospital room for two days until DHS took him away. Afterward, Gayla was not allowed to file for custody of Blaine and Raye Dawn's visitation had to be supervised by Gayla. Remember that when Kelsey was with Gayla she became healthy. Why wasn't Gayla allowed to have custody of the child? The following posts by Kathie and her supporters explain why. They bombarded DHS, the DA, the media (Cherokee Ballard), and everyone else they could to insist Blaine be taken away. Remember in the emails that Kathie encouraged visitation with Mike Porter and his kids while he was out on bond. Nobody ever expressed concern about Mike having his children, even overnight. Why Raye Dawn?

Even though Blaine has been in foster care all along, the family that has him has had four false allegations of child endangerment/abuse filed against them because they are members of the Smith family. Are you starting to smell something fishy? Me too!

      

 

I just noticed something while reading back through these posts. Look at post number 27 by Windy Nunnery. It starts out with "I agree Kelsey's mom." Was there a member on the forum going by the name of Kelsey's mom? Could that have been Ashley, Kelsey's step-mother? To me, that's DISTURBING! Many have thought that's why Kathie started bombarding DHS and wanted custody of Kelsey - for Ashley. Raye Dawn said each time she'd drop Kelsey off for visitation with Kathie, she would see Kathie drive straight toward Ashley's home and not in the direction of her own. At the February custody hearing when Kathie was supposed to have custody of Kelsey, Ashley and Lance had Kelsey almost every night preceding the hearing.

 

This is from A Deadly Game of Tug of War: The Kelsey Smith-Briggs Story:

 

Allegedly, Kathie told Raye Dawn, at one point, that Ashley said that she and Lance would not have their own children; instead, they would just keep Kelsey. This is but one example of the contributing factors creating the animosity between the families.

Ashley put a poem in her employer’s newsletter that clearly showed her love for Kelsey. During this brutal custody case, I did not question Ashley’s love for Kelsey. Following is Ashley’s poem:

Daddy Come Home?

 The day started out beautifully the morning air humid, the sun barely peeking over the sleepy clouds. The car was packed full of Army gear and gifts from family and friends. I had to face and bare the difficult task of delivering my newly wed husband to Fort Leonard Wood. We started our lives together on June 14, 2003, and I remember agreeing to the terms "for better or for worse."  But I don't remember agreeing to see him off to war.  My heart was heavy that day: we spent every moment looking deep into each other's eyes and cuddling with our baby girl. We used cameras to capture images but I remember trying to burn the image of his face deep into my memory never wanting to forget.  I wanted to keep it safe and hold on to it.  My biggest fear is what this is doing to our little girl; she is learning words that she would not normally know until late years.

 She asks, "Daddy at?"                              

"Remember, Daddy in the Army," I tell her.

"Oh, Daddy Army," she replies with a sad look in her eyes.

 She will have a new understanding of "he is protecting us." The question that takes my breath away is "Daddy come home?" She is my jewel and the reason I can continue on. So, wives and moms that are alone, continue to be brave, keep the faith, we have a lot to be thankful for.

 Ashley Briggs, Customer Service Representative

 Ashley was clearly committed to Lance and wanted Kelsey as her own daughter. However, neither family was about to give up without a fight.

 

 

 

Kathie Briggs has attracted others just like her to her group. Last fall in Kiowa County, Oklahoma there was a grand jury investigation where the paternal grandmother (who is a part of KP, surprise, surprise) was making allegations of sexual abuse against most of the maternal family of her grandchild. I researched the case and found that the abuse allegations had been turned in for the past six years. The girl was two when they started and she and her mom had practically lived with the paternal grandparents for the first two years of little girl's life. When the mom finally got sick of her husband being in prison constantly for various reasons, she left the loser and went back to her mom and dad, taking the little girl out of the paternal grandmother's control.

(These are just two of the father's 12 mugshots. You can watch his hair grow back and disappear again. That's how many times he's been in prison.)

When the mother left with the child, the paternal grandmother told her she wasn't taking "her baby" and the abuse allegations started; dozens so far. The child was put through multiple sexual abuse examinations, the DHS investigated, the OSBI investigated, the DA investigated,  and six years later there was no evidence that any of the claims were true. Of course the father is again in prison, so the paternal grandmother, like Kathie, used KP members and lies to get a petition for a grand jury investigation in which the maternal family of the little girl was once again cleared.

Now, get this - the father is once again in prison. His rap sheet includes drug charges, domestic abuse, and he's in now for getting a DUI while on probation for a DUI. While he sits in prison (not paying child support) his mother is at it again and is all over the media saying her grandchild is living a life of "sexual slavery" and she claims that DHS won't listen to her. The maternal family has been cleared by MULTIPLE agencies and a grand jury, yet the paternal grandmother is still out there babbling, ruining the child's reputation! The politicians are actually listening to her and becoming a party in the emotional abuse of this child! This family lives in a small town where everyone knows who her grandchild is!

My concern is that this girl is now approximately eight or nine years old. Her grandmother is wearing a button with her picture on it and is on TV making these apparently false claims and she's talking to newspaper reporters about her allegations that have all been unfounded. I'm sure other families from that small town are seeing what she's saying because witnesses told me that the grandmother has threatened to kill herself and the child if the child isn't taken from her home. What happens in three or four years when this little girl gets her first crush? The boys in her town are going to think she's been living a life of "sexual slavery" and they're not going to treat her with respect. They're going to assume this girl isn't innocent and they're not going to treat her like any other girl. And what about the other little girls? We all know how mean girls can be. What kind of future does this child have with those accusations being said about her on television and everywhere else?

This paternal grandmother stated on television she loves this child. How could she love the child and do this to her? She's no longer just hurting the other family, which has apparently been her intent. Now she's going after the little girl!!!!

The protective order against this grandma has recently expired and she's been seen stalking the child like she did before it was put in place. Again, the child is the one suffering. This grandmother is abusing the child via the media and with allegations against the girl's family. That family has to be living in hell! The child's father has been in prison for most of her life. The child was kidnapped at one point during all this by co-conspirators of this grandmother and mutual acquaintances of Kathie Briggs. Yet the maternal family has and continues to have a spotless criminal record and no charges have been filed against them. The paternal grandmother makes it sound like the maternal family is made up of beer drinking rednecks who are taking their turns with the child. From what witnesses have told me, the maternal family doesn't drink, goes to church, is well-respected in their community, and are good, hard working people who have to work even harder to pay their mounting legal expenses because of the allegations. The little girl is active in her church, community theatre, and sports and is said to be outgoing and confident. Does their description match that of what the paternal grandmother is trying to convey? Does the paternal grandmother mention her son's prison record when speaking to the public? No! But she tries to make the maternal family seem like they are in and out of prison.

Why hasn't the media and the public weighed the allegations and the outcome of each investigation and realized that they're being used for this grandmother's gain? In my opinion, she just wants custody of the child and she'll stop at nothing! But again, the child is the one who is ultimately made to suffer. How sad!

There is a snippet of the grandmother in the following video where she's sitting beside the politician who is giving her a platform to abuse the child, Representative Morisette. Allene, the grandmother, states that DHS failed her grandchild over and over and over. But she doesn't mention that DHS isn't the only entity that's investigated her claims. The DA, OSBI, and a grand jury have all found them  unwarranted as well.
 

Here is one of many articles where the grandmother makes her claims. Why hasn't Representative Morissette researched the case and the facts before being a party to the abuse of this child?

Tuesday, April 8, 2008; Posted 9.43 pm (CDT)

Rep. Richard Morrissette, D-Oklahoma City, says he had the hearing in order to learn what to do next. Former Department of Human Services workers, grandparents and many more came hoping to bring strong reform to what they call an empire they fear.

"The average Oklahoman is petrified when you mention DHS," says Allene Hebensperger a speaker at the forum. "The state of Oklahoma has taken a little girl, a three-year-old girl from everything she knew and loved. She was nurtured, protected, taught and appreciated and [DHS] handed her over to three pedophiles."

Strong words and even stronger feelings were relayed to anyone who would listen.

"She was diagnosed with PTSD at age four," says Hebensperger. "She's living in nothing less than sexual slavery in her own home, thank you DHS."

Hebensperger has a nine-year-old granddaughter she says has been sexually abused since the age of three. The nine-year-old lives with Hebensperger's daughter-in-law, and Hebensperger says the evidence of sexual abuse is shocking. But she says DHS isn't acting.

"You just get to the point where you go through the meltdown and the crying, and you just come to a place you're the only voice she's got," says Hebensperger.

She says the only thing DHS has done is continue to put children at risk. At the forum the biggest complaint against DHS was that the only thing they worry about saving is themselves.

"I was told that if you can't stand the sight of your own blood, don't get involved in politics, and I want to tell you right now that I would rather cut my arm off and lose all my blood rather than have to go through and see my granddaughter go through what she's been through," says Hebensperger.

The director of DHS attended part of the forum, but KSBI was told he had to leave early for another meeting. We were unable to reach him for comment specifically on the forum. Earlier he did tell us that child death due to abuse or neglect has dropped by 37 percent compared to two years ago. He says that's progress.

Morrissette has asked anyone affected by DHS to submit their story and comments to his office along with contact information.
He's asking for no more than two pages per person and to receive all of them within seven days to begin reviewing.

After knowing some of the facts and reading this article, have you come to the same conclusion as me? Why is an Oklahoma lawmaker participating in this abuse and when will it end?

If the maternal family sees this site, I can't give you legal advice, but I would say your best bet is hiring an attorney to represent the child. I know you've probably suffered from all this more than we could ever imagine, but the child's interests could possibly be protected through her own counsel. God bless you and your family. My prayers are with you.

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