Response to Allegations of Custodial Interference

State of Arizona v Felicia Chew

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According to the ARS 13-1302, custodial interference is the action of taking, enticing, or keeping
a child from a person with lawful custody.

HOWEVER if the withholding is due to the need for the SAFETY of the child, then it is NOT an
act of custodial interference (ARS 13-1302, Paragraph C).

On the dates in question, Stephen was NOT demonstrating SAFETY for the minor child. He
was INTERFERING with the minor child's MENTAL HEALTH treatment plan, insisting that
services did NOT need to continue including in October/November/December 2018, and in
January 2019.

Stephen REFUSED to participate in Family Services programs for the well-being of the minor
child offered by DCS during the months of JANUARY 2019 through JUNE 2019. Stephen
REFUSED to listen to the minor child's and Mother's concerns regarding the minor child being
bullied in school.

On October 30, 2018, the minor child ran away from Stephen's home, to Mother's home. It
should be noted that there is a history of the minor child feeling emotionally UNSAFE in
Stephen's home, and Mother attempting to communicate with Stephen regarding the
situation. The minor child expressed that he was unfairly blamed, given unjust punishments,
and was made to feel bad for wanting to talk with Mother on the phone. The minor child also
stated that Stephen repeatedly told him that a boy should have a better relationship with his
Father than his Mother, and that Mother was whispering things into the minor child's ear when
the minor child was sleeping. There was no resolution. In fact, Stephen began an open
campaign of ENDING the minor child's MENTAL HEALTH services, and Stephen REFUSED
and INTERFERED with safety plans that Mother worked to put in place at the minor child's
school for the safety of the minor child, and others who interacted with the minor child.

On November 9, 2018, Mother filed a Petition to Change Legal Decision Making and
Custody. The Judicial Officer was Judge Scott Rash who had become increasingly frustrated
with Mother over the years. Every year since 2011, a Hearing had been set to revisit the
custody and legal decision making arrangements. Every year, Mother provided pages and
pages of evidence. Every year, Mother froze, as a result of PTSD from being a survivor of
domestic abuse, when it came time to present the evidence. Mother was cross-examined by her
abuser. And every year Stephen and his attorney, Buddy Mizelle, became bolder and more
accusatory of Mother's intents, including filing a request that Mother be deemed a vexatious
litigant. The Courts denied the request to deem Mother a vexatious litigant. There was no Court
date set for Mother's request for a hearing regarding Parenting Time and Legal Decision
Making. Instead, a Court date was set for January 23, 2019 regarding Mother being in
Contempt of the Parenting Time Order.

It should be noted that Mother had decided to NOT follow the parenting time Order because the
minor child's Health and Welfare were in DANGER when the minor child was with Stephen. The
minor child was clearly upset when the minor child ran away from Stephen's home, and stated
he would run away again. The minor child emailed Stephen, asking repeatedly if the minor child
could take a break from Amphi Middle School, and stay with Mother. The minor child filed a
bully report with the school. Stephen did not believe the minor child had been bullied. In
addition, Stephen convinced the minor child to report an incident to his therapist who then
reported Mother to DCS. The investigation was closed as Unsubstantiated. Meanwhile, the
minor child lost his trust in his therapist and refused to engage with her. The therapist
attempted to end services. Mother recognized that the minor child still needed services, and
took the steps to ensure there was no disruption to services. In an effort to co-parent, Mother
communicated this plan to Stephen. A new therapist was found for the minor child. Stephen
REFUSED the services. Stephen REFUSED to allow the minor child to homeschool (even
though the minor child refused to attend school). Stephen REFUSED to allow the minor child to
live with Mother. Stephen REFUSED to allow the school to hold a meeting to ensure that the
minor child would be safe at school.

The minor child ATTEMPTED SUICIDE on December 17, 2018. STEPHEN DID NOT VISIT
THE MINOR CHILD. The minor child reported to the Social Worker at the CRC on December
18, 2018 that STEPHEN MADE THE MINOR CHILD FEEL LIKE HURTING HIMSELF.

Mother does not recall the events of the January 23 hearing. However, a hearing was
scheduled for February 1, 2019. It should be noted that on January 31, 2019, the older brothers
(DOB 1993 and 1995) signed notarized statements, which AGREED that Stephen was
manipulative and UNSAFE for the minor child. Stephen was a NO SHOW to the hearing.
Judge Rash REFUSED to accept the testimony of the older boys. Mother was well-prepared for
the Heating on February 1, 2019. The hearing was rescheduled to APRIL 1, 2019. Mother's
anxiety increased.

At the APRIL 1, 2019 hearing, the Court Ordered that exchange location was to be in front of
Mother's home, (at Mother's request) since the minor child had attempted to exit Mother's
moving vehicle on the way to exchanges, and the CRC had been called out during one of the
exchanges at the previous exchange location.

It should be noted that Mother is a domestic abuse survivor and educator who believes strongly
in the ability of a person to learn new behaviors. It should also be noted that Stephen had been
arrested for stalking Mother and violating an Order of Protection in June 2011; and in June of
2017, Stephen was arrested for assaulting his then 13-year old stepdaughter. Stephen pled
guilty to both instances of Domestic Violence and completed the Diversion process for both. It
can be noted that between 2011 and 2018, numerous complaints had also been filed by Mother
regarding Stephen not following a telephone call Order, which was intended to help Mother
know that the minor child was safe (there had been physical abuse of the older children
previously). Because the minor child did not make the phone calls when with Stephen, Mother
called for numerous check welfares, which were made. On occasion, Mother would speak with
a Dispatcher who was rude, stating that a "lot" of checks were already made. It should be noted
that these check welfares would have been unnecessary, IF STEPHEN HAD FOLLOWED THE
ORDER. However, because Stephen did NOT follow the Order, numerous check welfare visits
were made to Stephen's residence, which Stephen stated caused stress to his new wife.

By the time APRIL 2019 came around (the first date for the misdemeanor of custodial
interference and access interference, and the felony allegations of custodial interference),
Mother, after speaking with the two older boys and completing safety planning with the minor
child, was willing to, and DID release the minor child to Stephen. HOWEVER, when the minor
child went outside to meet Stephen on the first date of the APRIL 2019 exchanges, the
experience between the minor child and Stephen caused the minor child to RETURN
immediately to Mother's home.

Mother spoke with the minor child, and encouraged the minor child to try again. Mother gave
the minor child the exchange schedule from Stephen, and Mother attempted to facilitate the
April exchanges. Mother reminded the minor child of exchange dates and times, and even left
the residence at exchange times so that Stephen could feel comfortable approaching the
house. Stephen had access to the minor child. Stephen, however, did NOT exercise his
parenting time rights. There were several times when Stephen was not present when the minor
child went outside, and several times when Stephen canceled the exchange because he stated
that he had an appointment or meeting.

Stephen demanded that Mother should be doing more, yet Stephen was not doing more. In fact,
Stephen began following his attorney's ill advice that Stephen should remain in the car and
expect the minor child to come outside looking for Stephen. Eventually, the minor child had
refused to go outside to look for Stephen. Stephen did nothing to encourage the minor child to
go with him for parenting time. However, Stephen, his attorney, and the Judge expected Mother
to FORCE the minor child to go with Stephen. In fact, Judge Rash stated at a hearing that he
did not understand why Mother did not "just lock the door" on the minor child.

Mother recognized that the situation was UNSAFE for the minor child's mental health, as the
minor child was becoming more stressed and more anxious, and began acting as the protective
parent again.

On APRIL 20, 2019, Detective Wilson arrived unannounced at Mother's home, asking why Noah
was not with Stephen, and a discussion regarding the arrest of the minor child as a runaway
(released only to Stephen) caused distress and significant concern in Mother. It should be
noted that as a survivor of domestic abuse, Mother suffers from PTSD and experiences anxiety
and panic attacks in situations where Stephen is involved. And, as a protective mother, the idea
of arresting the minor child, to be released ONLY to Stephen, who Mother recognized was a
DANGER to the minor child, resulted in Mother questioning Detective Wilson on how he felt the
minor child being arrested and forced to go someplace he felt was unsafe would affect the minor
child, and the minor child's view of law enforcement officers.

Mother thinks she informed Detective Wilson that she has PTSD. It can be noted that Mother is
lead on Transcend Tucson, a CIVX Project working to bring trauma informed Courts, and
trauma informed Officers of the Law to the Tucson and the County.

It should be noted that Mother presents well in times of stress. This survival behavior served to
ensure that no one would be wiser to the dangers the family was facing, and upset the already
precariously balanced apple cart. While Mother recognizes that this survival behavior is
detrimental to healthy healing, Mother also recognizes that the instinctive, uncontrollable
survival behaviors kick in during potentially dangerous situations. In this case, Mother knew,
and it had been confirmed by experts in the field (and common sense), that arresting the minor
child would result in further trauma to the minor child, including a distrust between the minor
child and law enforcement (who it was necessary to maintain a healthy relationship with, since
their role was to protect and serve).

Mother felt that Detective Wilson did not understand what she was trying to convey, and was
concerned that he was going to arrest the minor child, so she asked for his name, badge
number, supervisor's name and number. Mother called his supervisor, Sergeant Pettey, and
spoke with her briefly. Mother was able to come out of Survival Mode after speaking with
Sergeant Pettey. It should be noted that because Mother did not take notes, nor record the
exchange with Detective Wilson, Mother cannot say with certainty what happened
next. However, Mother can say that most likely, she thanked the Detective for his time and
stated that she was acting as a protective parent and would not be releasing custody of the
minor child to Stephen.

The Court Ordered Supervised Therapeutic Parent Visits between the minor child and
Stephen. Mother DID take the minor child to the supervised therapeutic parent visitations. THE
THERAPIST CONCLUDED STEPHEN SHOULD NOT HAVE UNSUPERVISED VISITS WITH
THE MINOR CHILD, pending a mental health evaluation of Stephen.

The time with DCS was coming to a close, and the case manager ended services, and
encouraged Mother to continue supporting the minor child on his journey. DCS DID NOT
FORCE THE MINOR CHILD TO GO TO STEPHEN'S HOME.

It should be noted that the DCS Case Manager, Tammy Warren, spoke with the minor child
several times regarding taking the minor child to visit Stephen. The minor child refused. The
Case Manager offered Family services to Stephen. Stephen REFUSED. Mother invited
Stephen and the older boys to participate in Family Services. The oldest son connected with
Family Services. Stephen and the second son did NOT connect with Family Services.

Regarding the allegations of custodial interference in JUNE 2019 and AUGUST 2019, nothing
had changed regarding behaviors from Stephen, thus Mother continued to act as a protective
parent (paragraph C).

Despite the Court ordered Therapist recommendation that the minor child have NO
UNSUPERVISED VISITS WITH STEPHEN, Judge Rash upheld the Orders for the
unsupervised weekend visits with Stephen. On the first Friday that the visit was to be begin, the
minor child had an anxiety attack. STEPHEN MADE NO EFFORT TO VISIT THE MINOR
CHILD.

Regarding the allegations of NOVEMBER 2019, it should be noted that a YEAR had passed
since Mother's request for a hearing to discuss a change in parenting time and legal decision
making. No hearing had been granted, Judge Rash had taken to yelling at Mother in the
Courtroom, and laughing and joking with Stephen and Stephen's attorney (Buddy Mizelle). Law
enforcement officers continued to telephone and come to Mother's home unannounced.

It should be noted that the concept that if you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to
worry about, does not apply to PTSD survivors. When faced with similar situations, a PTSD
survivor returns to survival mode.

It should be noted that Judge Rash gave Stephen direction to contact law enforcement to
ENFORCE the Order of Parenting Time. It should be noted that it appears that Judge Rash
was never a family law attorney. It should be noted that Judge Rash was observed LEAVING a
training regarding Domestic Violence, while in his capacity as a Family Law Judge. It can be
noted that Judge Rash was moved to the Criminal bench on January 1, 2019, and is being
considered for a Federal appointment. It can be noted that a group has brought concerns
regarding Judge Rash's unprofessional behaviors to the Judicial Review Board.
At the November 21, 2019 Hearing, Buddy Mizelle, counsel for Stephen, asked the Court to
take Mother into Custody, and have DCS pick up the minor child, and take him to Stephen's
home.

Mother had just secured a pro bono attorney an hour before entering the Courtroom. The
request from Mr. Mizelle was not granted. Judge Rash Ordered that Mother be sanctioned
$50/day for each day that the minor child was not with Stephen. Judge Rash also stated that a
lien could be placed on Mother's home.

On November 22, 2019, Mother brought the minor child to the exchange so he could speak with
an officer. Stephen arrived at the exchange location, and the minor child left with Stephen. The
next day, the minor child returned to Mother and refused to go to the exchange location. Mother
was in the process of trying to manage the minor child's concerns, when Officer Boschee called
Mother, asking where she was and began yelling at her on the phone, shouting that he "was not
buying that protective parent" bit. Mother fell silent, and Officer Boschee continued shouting
into the phone: "ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME, MS. CHEW?!? ARE YOU LISTENING TO
ME?!?" Mother, in distress, had texted her attorney, and was texting her attorney when the call
disconnected.

That evening, the second oldest brother picked up the minor child from Mother's residence and
took the minor child to his home. The minor child stayed with his brother for several days. The
minor child and the older brothers stated that Stephen was okay with the minor child staying
with them, or with Mother. The minor child moved between Mother's home and the brothers'
homes. The brothers spent time with the minor child and Stephen. The minor child recognized
he had fun with Stephen, but did not want to live with him. Stephen did not agree.

Unfortunately, unknown to the minor child, Stephen and his attorney were continuing to file
complaints against Mother and a felony case was in the works. The information was sent to the
Grand Jury who indicted Mother on four felony counts.

It was advised that Mother comply with the Court Orders. Mother recognized that the minor
child was safety planned, and that the family was working to keep the minor child safe. Mother
had to manipulate the situation to get the minor child to the exchange location, where, after four
patrol officers surrounded the vehicle, and the minor child cussed out Mother (twice), the minor
child -- defeated -- left with Stephen.

This incident contributed substantially to the poor relationship that now exists between Mother
and the minor child. The minor child ran away from Stephen on December 21, 2019. The minor
child called his brothers, and one of the brothers' girlfriends responded to get the minor
child. They were approached by law enforcement officers, who were unfriendly toward the
girlfriend.

A strained relationship now exists between Mother and the minor child. The minor child calls
the Mother paranoid and speaks condescendingly towards her. The minor child has informed
Mother that he does not want to spend parenting time with her. Upon questioning, the minor
child expresses hostility towards Mother, while stating he wants to spend more time with his
friends and with Stephen. Mother communicated her concerns with Stephen and filed a report
of custodial interference by Stephen regarding her parenting time on February 8, 2020.
The minor child has missed at least three of his therapy appointments with his therapist since
returning to Stephen's care.

Stephen has taken the minor child to a Christian therapist for Father-Son reunification therapy,
in spite of Mother clearly stating that she did not want a Christian therapist working with the
minor child. Despite this, Mother did ask for the contact information of the therapists and
reached out to the therapist the weekend of February 8, and has not received a response.
Stephen reports that the minor child thought the therapist "was nice". In a candid conversation
with a friend, the minor child referred to the therapist as a "boomer" (using the term
derogatorily), and commented condescendingly on the therapist's opinion of witches.

Stephen has NOT been pro-active of the minor child being with Mother during Mother's
parenting time, as he expected Mother to be pro-active of his parenting time.

Mother is currently facing two misdemeanor charges at the City Court level, and four felony
charges with Domestic Violence involvement at the Superior Court level.

Mother is represented pro bono by attorney Terry Pones, in City Court. Mother is represented
in Superior Court by Public Defender Rachel Stewart.

The events have been extremely taxing on Mother's physical and emotional health. Mother's
grandmother passed on January 25, 2020. Mother had to attend Court on February 7 to
request permission to attend her grandmother's funeral the following week. The Court
appearances have been taxing on Mother's emotional and physical health. The relationship
between Mother and the minor child has been severely damaged.

Mother's next Court Appearances are on February 27, 2020: 9am at Superior Court for Case
Management; 2:30pm at City Court for Pre-Trial.