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Michael Volpe Investigates follow up: an interview with Kenton Girard

His fight to save his daughters continues.
The explanation for Dr. Phyllis Amabile’s inclusion in the witness list for the custody trial which has since been postponed

Kenton Girard can’t think of any logical reason why his child custody case with ex-wife, Jane Girard, continues.

Both his daughters turned seventeen in February. They’ve refused all contact with their mother for almost three years, describing her home as a house of horrors.

Furthermore, the case has a longstanding child custody order- with both parents getting equal time- which no one has followed for years.

Earlier this month, a new custody trial was scheduled before being scuttled, but Kenton believes another will be scheduled soon.

A clue for what’s happening lies in the now obsolete witness list for that trial.

One of the witnesses was Dr. Phyllis Amabile. She did the custody evaluation, called a 604.10B in Illinois.

Amabile finished her evaluation in late 2023- making any recommendations stale- and, while she detailed the allegations Kenton’s daughters told her, she recommended they be shipped to separate boarding schools.

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The girls currently go to New Trier, one of the best public schools in the country.

Kenton fears that any new custody trial would grant Jane legal custody, giving her the power to fulfill Dr. Amabile’s wishes.

Dr. Amabile is not the only court appointee on this witness list. Also on the witness list is Joel Levin, the former child representative.

I reached out to Levin by email, but he didn’t respond.

Like Dr. Amabile, Levin’s knowledge is stale, he left the case in September 2024.

Furthermore, when Kenton’s daughters- Gwen and Grace- spoke with Richard Luthmann and I, they described all the court appointees this way, “Every time we talk to them, it seems like they’ve already made their decision before we even open our mouths.”

As Kenton explained to me, the crux of the problem is that none of the court appointees believe his daughters when they insist their mother has abused them horribly.

The court, rather than focusing on that abuse, believes that Kenton has been alienating his daughter. The abuse allegations- false in the court’s mind- are manifestations of that alienation.

The court believes two seventeen-year-olds, who have never been accused of lying before, have created this abuse whole cloth against their mother.

Another feature of the witness list is that most of the witnesses have had little to no contact with his daughters for years. Even Jane, a witness, has barely seen her two daughters since 2022.

Jane’s sister, Caroline Kinahan, is also on the witness list.

Kenton told me that it’s been years since he’s seen Caroline, so any “observations of Kenton and Marissa Girard with the minor children,” would be years old.

I sent an email to Caroline, but she didn’t respond. I also sent an email to her husband, John Kinahan, but he also didn’t respond.

Kenton told me that Jane’s side of the family largely abandoned his daughters after they disclosed their mother’s abuse in 2022.

I reached out to Fran Manley, Gwen and Grace’s grandmother on their mother’s side, but she didn’t respond to my email.

Only Kenton and his current wife Marissa can testify about anything recent.

Both are on the witness list as well. This is a feature in family court which differs from criminal cases. Kenton cannot refuse to testify.

Kenton told me the trial makes no sense, “No one will tell me what I’m charged with.”

It only makes sense when you follow the money. One person who won’t testify is Vanessa Hammer, the former guardian ad litem. She left the case in 2023, shortly after my first article.

She was immediately replaced by Levin. Along with Dr. Amabile, reunification therapists, and other therapists have also been appointed.

When Jane comes to court, Kenton told me she normally brings two or more lawyers with her.

This case has churned out hundreds of thousands in fees for many who practice in the Cook County, Illinois court system, where this case is tried.

The insidious truth is that the court system will continue to charge until the law stops them, in February 2026, when the girls age out.

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