1. In 2000, child abuse expert Dr. Jacqueline Kowalski determined with "psychological certainty" that Louis Thibodeaux had abused his three year old daughter and brought the allegations to Judge Ron Panioto’Äôs court.
2. Judge Panioto turned to Dr. Richard Gardner's debunked, pro-abuser PAS theory and appointed Dr. Michael Borack, a "parental alienation" expert, to investigate the abuse allegations and report his findings to the court. His old buddy, Dominic Mastruserio, who is Louis Thibodeaux's deceitful attorney, had requested a "parental alienation" expert. Good buddy Panioto replied, "I have no problem with that." The PAS fix was in. This is what they do to protective parents.
3. But Dr. Borack did not investigate the sexual abuse allegations against Mr. Thibodeaux. PAS evaluators almost always attack the protective parent and Borack did exactly that, following Gardner's methods right down to deprogramming the children and recommending full custody to Mr. Thibodeaux. Borack ignored his two court appointed deprogrammers, Drs. Boat & Olafson, who called the mother "excellent" and "honest" and like Dr. Kowalski, reported non-coached disclosures of "possible sexual touching".
4. When the mother protested to Mr. Thibodeaux in July 2000 that their 8 year old son did not like his father physically bathing him, Dr. Borack did not investigate the new allegation of abuse, but instead wrote another report attacking the mother and writing that he was of a mind to award full custody to Mr. Thibodeaux. The deceitful and opportunistic Dominic Mastruserio threatened to go to trial where he was confident that with his PAS evaluator Borack, and his old buddy Panioto, he would win custody for his client.
5. Between a rock and a hard place, the mother's then attorney, William Abernethy, told her to sign a "temporary" six month agreement giving the alleged abuser, Louis Thibodeaux, sole custody of the children and allowing for the deprogramming of the children (as if they had been brainwashed into believing they were abused) and an intervention to change or stop the mother's allegations (which they failed to investigate). Once the mother signed the coerced agreement (she was crying), Judges Panioto and Shattuck used it against her to rule again and again that she had basically turned her back on all the previous abuse allegations leveled against Louis Thibodeaux. Temporary became permanent. It was the worst thing that she could have done. William Abernethy, her attorney, failed her and the children. He capitulated to Panioto's pro-abuser court and eventually quit as her attorney with the parting words, "I need to make a living in this town."
6. When the mother attempted to appeal Judge Panioto's decision not to reverse the Borack coerced agreement, Judge Panioto then also refused to supplement the official record with Dr. Michael Borack's PAS reports for the Appeals Court to read and consider. This shocking and blatant attempt to hide material so germane and central to the case served to cheat the mother from justice as the Appeals Court decided that Panioto had given them "no choice" but to affirm him. Panioto protected himself at the expense of the children.
7. Judge Panioto squandered several months fighting off the mother's motion that he recuse himself from the case for reasons of bias. Three hours into the mistrial in February 2004, however, Judge Panioto did step aside but not for the reasons he stated. It had come to light only days earlier that his top aide, Jayne Zuberbuhler, had perjured herself in deposition testimony, and the Judge removed himself before the issue, and his personal knowledge of it, embroiled him. Zuberbuhler's office is down the hall from Panioto's. They're tight. She lied about Borack in deposition, got caught, and Judge Panioto is a witness.
Enter this website cincinnatipas.com
8. Judge Susan Tolbert recused herself because of her familiarity with this website, a public criticism of the Hamilton County Domestic Relations PAS Court. This website is a double edged sword. By exposing the Court's secret PAS world and failure to protect abused children, this website is intimidating and causes unethical people who cannot explain themselves to run. It also creates even more animosity from a morally bankrupt court system that lost its bearings the day Dr. Richard Gardner stepped into Cincinnati to train them.
9. Giving some credit where some credit is due, Judge Ron Panioto did make one attempt to correct his errors. He signed a pretrial court order allowing testimony and evidence that would include all the sexual abuse allegations going back to 1997. Never mind the coerced agreement, bring it all in. Of course that's the right thing.
10. Second trial Judge Judson Shattuck did exactly the opposite. He ignored Judge Panioto's Pretrial Order and refused to bring it all in. Erring on the side of the alleged abuser, Louis Thibodeaux, PAS Judge Shattuck used the Dr. Borack coerced 2nd agreement signed in 2000, which Judge Panioto had refused to reverse, to preclude all testimony and evidence regarding the alleged abuser's sexual molestation of the children. Judge Panioto's decision in 2002, therefore, not to reverse Dr. Borack's incompetent recommendations, ultimately led to a full pardon in 2004 of every sexual abuse allegation leveled against Louis Thibodeaux.
11. Mr. Thibodeaux was let off the hook, was never held accountable for his actions, and to the mother's horror received full custody of his alleged victims. Judge Shattuck had conducted a Sham Trial and rendered a Skyline Chili decision in favor of the alleged abuser without citing any evidence, exhibits, witnesses or trial testimony. That's because his decision cannot be supported by the evidence, exhibits, witnesses or trial testimony.
12. After the trial Mr. Thibodeaux's attorney Dominic Mastruserio was investigated by the state for lying and frauds upon the court. Judge Judson Shattuck was caught stealing money from the state in his billing on the case. Judge Ronald Panioto's real reason for recusal came to light as Ray Shannon goofed by not keeping to the story - the lie, that Panioto had a friend as witness. It was really this website that made him cut and run. Mr. Thibodeaux's second wife Kelly Thibodeaux gave up the facade that they had an All-American family and left him almost immediately after the trial, feigning a marriage until the appeals were exhausted. She left Louis Thibodeaux for good in October 2005 and apparently restricts his access to her own children. She's looking out for numbers one, two and three (herself and her two children).
13. Teresa's children are now left alone 83% of the time with Louis Thibodeaux. Nobody knows how safe they are because Louis Thibodeaux won't take them to a therapist, and the court has stopped the mother from doing so. The court has no idea whether Mr. Thibodeaux is a child molester or not? We do know that the children are desperately lonely and ache for their mother and her extended family. By incompetence, fraud and deceit, Misters Mastruserio, Borack, Panioto & Shattuck have collectively ruined their childhoods.
The organization says judges in Hamilton County's Domestic Relations Court are allowing parents who have abused children to visit, and sometimes maintain custody of, those children. "These are little lives and they're getting really messed up," said Lea Webb, president of the Cincinnati chapter.
About 50 people attended NOW's speak-out Tuesday night at the downtown YWCA. Many of the attendees were women who talked about sexual abuse of their children and how they felt they were let down by the court system.
Some audience members spoke about attorneys who feared taking cases before judges, caseworkers who are unqualified to determine what is sexual abuse and prosecutors who are reluctant to try such cases.
