WE OWE IT TO OUR CHILDREN!

Following is a brief history of my case, showing Judge Steven Hurley's bias and possible corruption, including destruction of evidence, resulting in the physical, mental and emotional abuse of my children.

On July 15^th of 2002, I filed for divorce after I came home from helping a relative move out of state. My home was emptied of my family and many possessions, with most of the few remaining items destroyed and a nasty note left by my now ex-wife, Marie Tuttle (maiden and present name). At that time, I also filed for a restraining order to prevent her from harassing me or damaging anything I owned. This restraining order was never enforced.

After she discovered that I had filed for divorce, she returned from Florida and filed a protective order against me, effectively preventing my children from seeing their father as well as their paternal grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins. At that point, I had already gone in to hiding due to her harassment, and when a court date was finally scheduled for my restraining order and the divorce, Judge Steven Hurley was overheard discussing her relative (who is a bailiff in a neighboring court) as I arrived. She then requested a continuance, though there were signs all around the courthouse stating that any request for one MUST be filed prior to the court date, and in written form. Judge Hurley told me that if I even opened my mouth to say anything he would grant her everything she wanted AND the full protective order against me she requested. I have attempted to get a transcript of this hearing, but per the Clerk of Courts, there was no hearing that day.

As a result of her protective order and blatantly false accusations to gain it, my children were restricted to seeing me on a supervised basis. After several more continuances (in which Judge Hurley presided over both cases), it was dropped - she neglected to even show up for the fourth court date. We finally gained a court date in which the children were allowed to see me, unsupervised, at the Greene County Visitation Center. Their reports demonstrated that I was a good father and followed rules as well as court orders, but also that Ms. Tuttle was continually late, refused parenting time for no reason, and constantly insulted me to the children with false claims.

After Ms. Tuttle complained to the court that the Visitation Center was biased against her, Hurley granted her request to end exchanges there against my objections. A home study cast serious doubt about Ms. Tuttle and her continual attempts to harass me by calling and threatening me, as well as passing out my information to her friends and others for the same use; constant denial of the children's vistitation time with me, claiming abuse that was never corroborated in any way; how the reports from the Visitation Center demonstrated the children being clothed improperly for the weather, not being clean, and questionable complaints made by Ms. Tuttle to them (the Visitation Center) about me and my family.

Judge Hurley has continually ruled in court that her refusals were not a violation of his orders or a contempt of court. He has also ruled that the children were best served by staying with their mother and stated “I can't do anything about it” to the numerous other order violation contempts I have filed. He has repeatedly had a habit of questioning me heavily from the bench, but remaining silent and listening to Ms. Tuttle. He has taken several months to rule, and then using excuses like being my arrears in child support (after it had been increased and backdated) causing “hard feelings” and therefore excusing the parenting time denials, though his own reports show that she would deny the children their chance to see me whether or not I was current, and had started refusing parenting time well before I fell behind in support.

When I finally gained full legal custody of the children - after years of this kind of behavior from Ms. Tuttle - it was by agreement, and he refused to listen to our daughter, who wished to speak to him in camera (in chambers). He apparently did not want to hear her talk about the abuse by Ms. Tuttle and her live-in boyfriend (which Children's Services investigations found as indicated, although they could not do anything about the emotional and physical abuse by Ms. Tuttle since it had happened in the past). It had taken me seven years, tens of thousands of dollars, the children's younger sibling's death as an infant, the court investigations reported to Judge Hurley, my being cleared of numerous false accusations, and the abuse of our daughter being substantiated in investigations. This meaning they believed he did abuse her but lacked enough evidence to prosecute; the prosecutor would not touch the case. The past false allegations by Ms. Tuttle and her defense of her boyfriend were cited as reasons (she had ruined our daughter's credibility).

Now, our daughter, who is 14, refuses to visit her mother after this abuse. Also, Ms. Tuttle has continued to call her a liar about the abuse, claimed instead that she was infatuated with Ms. Tuttle's boyfriend, and has cost our daughter several of her friends by talking to them frequently, slandering and insulting our daughter. As a result of this, Judge Hurley, who has never enforced a single court order against Ms. Tuttle for denial of parenting time, failing to pay marital or medical bills as required or destruction of marital property, suddenly decided court orders MUST be enforced. I recently spent three days in jail for contempt of court (when both children refused a single visit), and Judge Hurley stated I was also already convicted of a second count, in which he planned to sentence me to an additional 60 days at a later hearing. When asked how far I should push to get our daughter to see and spend time with her mother and if I should file unruly charges on her, Judge Hurley only responded that she had been in control of the case too long and unless she went then it would be on the shoulders of a 14 year old - she would send her father to jail. This, after she had testified - in front of the court and her mother - that she was in fear of her mother and future abuse, but before I had been able to present a defense (before I and my daughter testified), a bailiff had been called in to the courtroom, making it clear that his decision had been made before the hearing began.

My son, though younger than his sister, has also stated that he is afraid of his mother. He told his school that his mother had punched him in the head, resulting in a visit by Children's Services; they were unable to substantiate when Ms. Tuttle denied that claim - he had no visible bruising. He is afraid that if he does anything wrong, including calling me “Daddy” instead of my given name, that she will (in his words) “beat him up”. He is very bright, but behind socially and emotionally. His reaction to any kind of stress is to pull his shell around him and ignore the outside world, resulting in few friends and inappropriate, childish behavior.

All evidence is now being put up on a website www.HurleyMustGo.com for viewing if you doubt this case (as I know I would if I didn't live it). Help me to protect two scared children from being abused again or having to go to jail trying; and also help prevent Judge Hurley from doing this to others. Call and ask him why he would endanger frightened children and refuse to hold a mother responsible for her actions. Speak out or do anything you can to bring attention to this bias. YOUR kids or grandkids could be next. When it is deemed acceptable for a mother to endanger her children or the father must go to jail, then HURLEY MUST GO!

IT IS ALL ABOUT OUR CHILDREN!