Two guests joined me on the latest podcast: Ann MaGuire and Gina Fischer of Wings for Justice.
Wings for Justice, they explained, started with several ladies from Ottawa County, Michigan who were falsely accused of parental alienation after abuse was disclosed.
This is something I have been writing about for nearly a decade, including this recent article on the Substack.
One place where their group has seen a lot of cases is Orange County, California.
Ann was very familiar with Brady Conley’s case; I previously interviewed Brad and his sixteen year old son: find the podcast here.
“They are literally denying due process rights- procedural violations. They keep kicking the same motions down the road. Twenty three times, in one of his motions.” Ann said.
Ann further explained that one of his motion was scheduled to be heard and then not heard twenty three times.
“They won’t even let him {Brad} talk in court,” Ann continued. “They don’t look at the evidence. He doesn’t even get to present in his motions- so the procedural violations are horrific.”
She continued, “They don’t look at the charges against the abuser parent- where CPS has written them up multiple times.”
Brad talked about this in his interview as well. Here is part of an email Brad sent.
The point about CPS’s two visits on 1/3/2018 is that when CPS CJ Wilkerson returned, she told UC Irvine that I was the protective parent and to keep her away (at least for the night). But when she wouldn’t leave the home, CPS & UC Irvine Police (especially Ofc. Scott Bessolo) told me to: 1) take the children to a hotel for the night, 2) take them to school in the morning, and then 3) “GO DIRECTLY TO FAMILY COURT TO GET A PROTECTIVE ORDER - THAT’S WHAT WE NEED TO PROTECT YOU & THE CHILDREN - WE CAN’T MAKE HER LEAVE THE HOME WITHOUT IT.”
What happened?
A judge I never saw denied my request.
Brad has a notorious minor’s counsel in his case named Steve Dragna, and Ann spoke more about him.
“It’s pretty typical with the guardian ad litem. They know which they’re protecting, and they are not advocating for the best interests of the children. They don’t typically don’t even interview the children, and then they don’t present what the child said.” Ann said, including Dragna in this description.
A minor’s counsel is what a guardian ad litem is called in California. Brad’s son described Dragna similarly.
“With Dragna, the easiest way to say it is misrepresentation. I don’t think my brother, my sister, or myself are being represented properly in court.” Brad’s son said in his podcast. “I don’t think our voices are being heard, which is- his job is to make sure our voices are heard, and that we get what we need in family court- the kids who can’t speak for themselves.”
I’ve also discovered a pattern of the false label of parental alienation against parents- primarily moms- who report abuse in Orange County.
I previously interviewed both Donna McCracken for a podcast and did a story about Christie Black. Both were falsely accused of parental alienation after their kids reported abuse.
Ann is aware of a third case, that of Anne Tammel. I hope to finish Anne’s story soon, but she too is an Orange County victim falsely accused of parental alienation after bringing forward evidence of abuse.
Ann said that in Anne Tammel’s case she saw something which is a larger pattern.
Her attorney falsely billed Anne Tammel- over $10,000 according to Ann MaGuire- and this sort of false billing is something she sees all around the country.
“One thing I can say is that she has had attorneys fraudulently billing her,” Ann MaGuire stated. “I’ve seen that in Ottawa County; I’ve seen it in quite a number of cases, where attorneys are fraudulently billing for services they have not provided- up to $12,000 in Anne’s case.”
We also talked about another case we’ve all been following: the Van Den Burgh case from St. Louis County, Missouri.
Find Ann’s narrative on that case.
Ann was blunt in the podcast, saying that crimes have been committed in covering up sexual molestation in that case. The daughter has disclosed eleven times, Ann mentioned.
“They’re breaking the law by not providing protection for that child. There has been eleven hotline calls against the father for molesting the daughter. It was even CPS found it to be accurate with the forensic report and they have these fake witnesses- these fake experts that you can pay to present against the {findings}.”
In the Van Den Bergh case, Ann Duncan Hively played the role of this fake expert, and I covered that more in-depth here.
Dr. Hively was also on that case; she was retained as an expert by the father in that case, according to her testimony in a deposition.
In that deposition, Dr. Hively admits to interjecting herself in the case far beyond her authority as father's hired gun. That deposition was taken on August 24, 2017.
Dr. Hively did not act merely as the father's hired gun; she reached out to the Child Abuse/Neglect (CAN) office in the Department of Social Services to try and sway their determination.
Both Ann and Gina stated that a key to any reforms would be the end of immunity. I spoke more about this topic with attorney Connie Reguli; find that podcast here.
Find more on the series on Orange County: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, and Part 8.
For more stories on Orange County, support that fundraiser found here.
Michael Volpe Investigates Podcast The Impromptu: Episode 23 an Interview with Ann MaGuire and Gina Fischer of Wings for Justice