Update on Van Den Bergh Case

The St. Louis Record publishes its second article.

Caroline Less from the St. Louis Record

The notorious Van Den Bergh case is now taking over the St. Louis Record.

The case was first featured in Daily Docket News in 2020.

Daily Docket News’ investigative team has an explosive update on a case we reported on last month as well as November and December of last year. Van Den Bergh vs. Van Den Bergh, Case 15SL-DR05021-01 filed in the Saint Louis County Family Court on 10/10/2016. Elaine Pudlowski, Esq., with the law firm of Frankel, Rubin, Klein, Siegel, Payne & Pudlowski, P.C., who was the court appointed guardian ad litem, was fired by Plaintiffs new attorney on November 5, 2020. We previously reported that the Petitioner’s minor child disclosed to a therapist that she was molested by the Respondent, but Pudlowski, with the court’s blessing and having the best interest of something other than the molested minor child in mind, reunified the molested minor child with their molester. Petitioner filed an Emergency Motion for Recusal of Judge Bruce F. Hilton, who was the presiding Judge in this case, and had been allegedly accused of Bias, Prejudice, Harassment, Discrimination, Threats, Intimidation, Denigration and Hostile Acts, to name a few, toward Petitioner.  Our legal team reports that Judge Bruce F. Hilton has in fact recused himself on January 12, 2021, with no explanation for his outrageous behavior, in a family court. Why do you think Judge Bruce F. Hilton recused himself? Do you think Judge Bruce F. Hilton and Pudlowski sleep at night knowing that this child is being molested every day on their recommendation? Do you think either Judge Bruce F. Hilton or Pudlowski really cares about what you think? You be the Judge.

It’s also noteworthy for several audio recordings, particularly one in which the former guardian ad litem, Elaine Pudlowski, makes light of child molestation allegations.

“Did he stick his finger up her butt? She says he did; he says he didn’t….I don’t know. I won’t guess.”

In another, Pudlowski tells mom that dad, despite these allegations, will see his daughter so, “get over it,”

I have written about the case multiple times as well.

Now, the St. Louis Record- the St. Louis area newspaper for lawyers- has picked up the case.

On September 8, 2022, the Record wrote about a new motion filed by mom, Caroline Less, which asked that several people associated with the case be excused like the current GAL, Robert Hamilton, and the current judge, Robert Heggie.

In the most recent article from earlier this week, the Record details the response from Hamilton, who claims the motion was not properly filed.

The newest article features Ann McGuire from Wings for Justice. I previously interviewed Ann about this case and others.

In the article, Ann responds to the assertion that Caroline did not file in time by stating she was not properly served.

Hamilton’s motion further states the following arguments.

Less’ motions were not authorized post-trial motions.

“Caroline didn't know that the trial had ended because they didn't send her the final order after the trial they had sneakily without noticing her,” Maguire said.

Less’ motions were not filed for the purpose of correcting errors of fact or law at trial.

“That is absolutely false,” Maguire added. “Her motions are filled with errors done at trial and errors of fact. They were illegally quoting transcripts wrong that she had already had on the record. She has all kinds of due process violations. It's just filled with error after error. She lists all of that. So, for him to say that is totally disingenuous.”

This latest article continues a string of coverage for the last year by the Record on the Missouri family court system.

The Record also interviewed Kenneth Rosa about Elaine Pudlowski and has covered the Haynes case and Evita Tolu.