Courtesy of Ally Toyos.
Ally Toyos tells her story on TikTok. When she was 16, an expert witness whom she had never met convinced a family court judge that Toyos’s mom had brainwashed her and her 14-year-old sister into lying about their dad’s sexual abuse. He was given full custody of the girls until they turned 18.
This article is adapted from an episode of our podcast “Civic.” It is the third in a series about the way family courts adjudicate cases involving domestic abuse and child abuse. Click the audio player below to hear the full story.
It’s been four months since a viral video exposed the violent court-ordered removal of two Santa Cruz children from their father’s family home. The disturbing scene prompted protests on courthouse steps demanding “justice for Maya and Sebastian” and “free Maya and Sebastian,” as well as calls for action by local elected officials. But the children have yet to return.
Maya, 15, and Sebastian, 11, told a family court therapist that they were being sexually abused by their mother. They were removed from their father’s custody in October after their family court judge ruled that the children were lying and that their father was the actual child abuser because he manipulated them into making the false allegations. The judge also ordered the children into a program that would convince them to recant their allegations and reunite with their mother. Their father, Justin Laing, is unable to comment due to a gag order.
Disbelieving a child’s...
Patricia White, 70, of Old Greenwich, received a nine-month prison sentence for submitting false claims for unclaimed properties to around 30 state treasuries. HARRISBURG, Pa. — Months after her br...