False Allegations
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.
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