In Aug,2003, Melanie told me she wanted a divorce. She agreed to give me both children (my son and stepdaughter) in exchange for the mobile home and the tax return. We asked both kids and they wanted to live with me. We went to my mother's and I explained the situation and asked if we could stay there until we found a place.
Everything was going along fine. Both children were doing well, other than being angry with their mother about the divorce. In December 2004,myself
and both kids were in a car accident. All of us had to be taken to the emergency room. I talked to my mother at work. She and several family members came to the hospital. Noone contacted Melanie. It was late and
I called her the next afternoon. She became very angry with my mother for not contacting her.
I made the decision to wait until the next day. We didn't even have her phone number with us. The day after Christmas she took Madison to spend a few days at her parents. Three days later she came to get Davey to go to her parents for Christmas dinner. She walked right in the house and down to the basement, as the door was not locked. Davey was supposed to stay a few days and Madison come home. Melanie informed me that she would bring Davey back after dinner and Madison would stay the rest of the week.
This was a common thing for her parents to do. We had a heated argument and I insisted she do as originally planned. You're not even her real father. Maybe I won't even bring her back at all, she threatened. My mother heard the argument and came downstairs to get Davey out of the middle of it. Melanie pushed her and told her to stay out of it. Davey was crying
because she then threatened to not bring him back. He told her he wasn't going if she didn't promise to bring him home. About three hours later she brought Davey back, but not Madison.
The next day she left me a voice mail. I've made my decision. Madison is staying with my mother and dad. She said many other things also.
I immediately called my attorney. He instructed me not to go over there or do anything. I should wait until school starts back up, go see her there and make sure she is okay. He would immediately file for an emergency hearing. On December 29, 2004,
I received an e-mail from Melanie informing me that she told her I
was not her real father. She would be living at her parents house from now on and I could thank my mother for this. She said, grandma's reign is over. The following Tuesday, Jan. 4, (I believe) myself, mother, grandmother, aunt and son went to the school to see Madison. The principal had informed us that Melanie had instructed the school not to let any of us near Madison.
I explained the situation to him and he informed me that I could take Madison home if I chose to. He said he would stop Melanie from contacting her, as I was the acting legal guardian until he received paperwork stating otherwise. I told him we only wanted to see Madison and make sure she was okay. She would continue going with the Betushs, so as not to disrupt things further. He understood and sent for her.
Madison entered the room with her head hung low. She wouldn't look at any of us or talk to any of us. The only thing she would say is, They forbid me. They forbid me to talk to you. They forbid me to see any of you. When
we asked her who, she said, All of you. Nana says you're all evil and going to hell. When I asked her why she said that, she said, Because you
play poker and listen to bad music like Kiss and we pray to the Blessed Mother.
She told us, Nana lets me watch the christian channel. After awhile she loosened up some. I asked her if she wanted to still live with us
or if she wanted to live with nana and pap. She said, They forbid me.
I told her that didn't matter. If she wanted to come home I would fight to get her back no matter how much it cost. She said she wanted to come home. That night Melanie called and left another nasty message on my voice mail.
She screamed, Yo! What's this I hear you went to the school today. You have no rights over Madison! You only have rights over Davey and that may change soon, too! Thursday, Jan. 6, we had an emergency hearing to determine if I had standing and to get Madison back during custody proceedings, because she had been removed from the school district. It was determined that the Betush house was close enough to the township line for her to attend the same school.
The judge ruled she would remain there during custody, so not to disrupt things further. Melanie was to be living there also. She had told the judge she moved in when she took Madison there. Melanie argued that my mother was mistreating Madison. Verbally abusing her and such. I was granted standing. The Betushs were told to make visiting assignments,
starting with the upcoming weekend.
After the hearing I spoke with Melanie in the lobby. At this point she was willing to work things out. She agreed to give me custody of both children if
I moved out of my mother's house. I agreed. I had been saving money for this purpose anyway. After we finished talking, Melanie brought Madison over to talk to me. She was very beligerant. She would not speak to me. Melanie scolded her and told her to talk to her dad. He's not my
dad! When I asked her why she was treating me like this she said, You made this whole court thing happen! You made my nana cry!
The next day, Jan. 7, 2005, Friday, Madison was due to be dropped off by Melanie's parents by 5:30 PM. At approximately 3:30 PM, Madison called and asked if she could come over on Saturday instead so she could go to a
party with mama. I told her absolutely not. I said we were already going to a Christmas party at Aunt Nel's. Madison screamed, Fine! I hate you! At some point in the next 2 hours Rita Betush asked Madison if I ever touched her. She said yes.
Rita instantly called the police!(of course, I was unaware of any of this at the time) At 7PM Madison had not shown up. I called Melanie on her cell phone and informed her. Melanie was surprised. She said, That's just great. Let me call my mum and see what's going on. I'll call right back. Melanie never called back. Apparently Rita called her a few minutes
later and told her to meet them at the police station.
I called again later and Bob told me they were at the hospital and Madison had strepp throat. I didn't hear anything else over the rest of the weekend. Monday I called my lawyer. He would call their lawyer and get back to me. My brother drove to Melanie's apartment in Butler Monday night. We saw her car so we knew she was there, even though the judge ordered her to live at her parents with Madison. As of Tuesday my lawyer hadn't
heard anything.
Tuesday evening CYF came to the door. My mother thought it was about the custody. They told her allegations had been made and to get me.
I could stay and they would take my son or I could leave. I immediately went to my brother's house in Richland. CYF interviewed my son and my mother and told my mother an investigation would follow, taking approximately a month. It was a quick month, the next day the police came to arrest me.
I obviously wasn't there since CYF told me they would take my son if I
reentered the house. My mother and aunts were there. They told the detedtives where I was and my aunt called me to tell me they were searching the house. I called my lawyer, at this point he referred me to a more qualified lawyer. The new attorney told me that white women make these types of allegations all the time during custody battles. He told me what to wear and to stay calm and wait for the police.
He told me not to say anything to them. My aunt called me back and said the police were on their way to pick me up. The Richland police picked me up and took me to their station to wait for the county. The county police picked me up and took me to their station. On the way, one detective drove and the other sat in back with me. He began to tell me the allegations.
She said I had these sex dice I bought at Spencer's and I kept
them in a purple bag. We had just scene these dice in Spencer's a few weeks earlier while Christmas shopping. She had wanted to go in Spencer's. She had just turned 13 and that is the age you are allowed to go in the store, so I let her go in. As we were walking through, she spotted these dice that said "kiss boobs".
She pointed to them and said "kiss boobs!" loudly and started laughing hysterically. We immediately left Spencer's with me extremely
embarrassed. I never bought these dice and the puprple bag she mentioned was a satin Oakley sunglass bag which hung from the shelf in my office.
Next she said I had a fake penis and I made her wave it around. There was a fake penis alright and someone waved it around. Not her though and I wasn't there. Friday evening in Oct. or Nov. of 2004, Melanie had picked up the kids for the weekend. When they got back to her place,
she called me on the cell to ask me something. There was hysterical laughing in the background and Madison saying, gimmee that. When
I asked her what was going on she said Davey had gotten ahold of her ***** and was waving it around. That is where she saw the fake penis. Her
mother also had Playgirl Magazines, which Madison saw.
She said I shaved her legs and her vagina. I did show her how to shave her legs and helped her. She was getting picked on at school and she asked me to help her. My mother was at work and I didn't see anything wrong with it. She was fully clothed in shorts. When my mother got home she told her I shaved them. My mother said, I told you I would do it for you Monday when I'm off. She said she forgot. I didn't know this at the time, until after the fact.
Then my mom told her she would buy her an electric razer for Christmas so she could do it herself, which she did. On another occasion Madison cut her pubic hairs herself with scissors. Davey saw her and told my mother. My mother scolded her and told her not to do that. She said that I beat her up and took her money. A few weeks before Christmas myself, Madison and Davey went to the mall. I had been low on money. I asked Madison to lend me some of her Christmas shopping money so we could stop for dinner on the way home.
She had a fit. She refused to let me borrow any money. I wouldn't give it back etc.,etc.,etc. I told her she was selfish and we were going home
and I wasn't buying her a computer for Christmas. After a few minutes she settled down and lent me the money. I gave it back the next day. She said
I made her look at porn magazines. She did get in trouble at least twice for getting in my desk and looking at them. Her brother also caught her reading them and told on her.
She also on at least four occassions had been
grounded from the computer for having sexual conversations with boys
on a game site. Her brother also told on her for touching herself. She said
I made her watch porn movies. There was a time when we still lived at the trailer that Melanie and I were watching a movie. The kids were in bed, Madison came out and walked in the room. I sent her back to bed and quickly turned off the tv. She said I bought her a computer as payment for doing these things.
I did in fact buy her a computer, but it was for Christmas and it was all she was getting. She had asked for one the year before and I told her when she was 13 and her grades were good. She actually asked for a laptop, but I couldn't afford it. She knew that I would have all her passwords and access or she couldn't have. I also told her she could wear makeup when she turned 13. She talked me into that about 2 weeks early.
She said I told her I would beat her up and run away if she told anyone. Not sure where this one came from since I haven't told anyone I
would beat them up since I was about 8. Her brother however has told her that several times. She said I would make her look at naked men and women on the computer. I don't look at porn on the computer, I play poker.
Occasionally I play a game such as Simms City. I also monitor daily what sites the kids go into. No one has ever looked at porn on my computer. However, Melanie looks at porn and I suspect she saw it when she was there. She said I took Polaroid pictures of her naked and my brother paid me to see them before I burned them. She also said that we did all of these sexual acts in a secret clubhouse. The secret clubhouse is under my mother's pool table, which ALWAYS has stuff under it. Even if it didn't, it only has 29inches of clearence with 2 support braces up to the
middle.
I couldn't figure out where the last 2 allegations came from until the trial. The DA showed me a photo from one of my magazines that were in the desk. It had a photo of a naked woman with Polaroid pictures scattered around her. This was also an article titled My Secret Clubhouse. When the detective finished going through the allegations he said something like, I know these things happened. She's not making this up. I sarcastically answered something like, Oh there's some truth to it alright or not all of
it.He asked me to tell my side of the story.
I said,I'd like to but my attorney advised me not to. He said, Well,
you probably have a family lawyer. It's probably not in your best interest to listen to him. After trying several more times and me saying myattorney advised me not to, finally he said, your going to regret those words. At the Prelim Madison's story changed several times. She had said I penetrated her and they added another rape charge. During her testimony she recanted this and the charge was dropped.
She also testified that she walked in on me watching a movie and I turned it off. There was a custody hearing of Davey in June 2005. Davey had to live at the Betush's for several months. At the hearing both children were interviewed and sealed. Davey told the judge Rita hit him in the head, Madison hit him with a board and twice stuck her finger in herself, then in his mouth.
These sealed files were viewed by the judge only. The tapes with Melanies threats were taken, perjury on all 5 witnesses, magazines included several playboy that were 10 years old and only 2 newer magazines; 1-2003 and 1- early 2004. After Madison read her letter at sentencing she walked away laughing and so did Rita. She referred to Davey as her stepbrother, which is what Bob told her.