Dad rescues daughter from mother’s violent boyfriend

A scared dad sought help to rescue his 8-year-old daughter from the mother’s reported violent ex-convict boyfriend. Dad had been told that the mother was living just over the Illinois border, with the reported dangerous ex-convict, and dad was worried that the mother would take his daughter from him and never return. Dad said that until recently, the mother rarely even saw his daughter, but she had been coming to dad’s home recently.

Dad was represented by matrimonial attorney Jeffery M. Leving. “I immediately designed a legal strategy to fight this difficult and hotly contested case to safeguard this little girl. I put together an elite team of lawyers to handle the case, and we jumped in to rescue this little girl,” said Leving.

The case very quickly became even more complex. Within a few days after dad retained Leving, his client was stunned to be served by law enforcement with an Emergency Order of Protection that the mother obtained against him in court, without giving dad any notice that she was even going into court. Dad didn’t even know about the court date. He was blindsided.

Leving will discuss this court case on his radio program, the Dads’ Rights Legal Hour, this Saturday, 9-10 a.m. CDT October 16, 2021, on Power 92.3 FM in Chicago.

In the mother’s Petition for an Emergency Order of Protection, she made allegations against dad that were reportedly false. The Emergency Order of Protection ordered Leving’s client to turn over his daughter to the mother, and to have no contact with his own daughter. Dad said he was scared, thinking that his little girl could be exposed to physical and emotional abuse at the hands of the mother’s live-in boyfriend, and he’d never see her again.

“This was outrageous — we had to right this wrong,” said Leving attorney Maureen A. Gorman. The Leving legal team rushed into court on an emergency basis, asking the Court to vacate the Court Order and to return the child to dad and to her home, family, school, and friends, and where she belongs. The Leving legal team argued that the Court Order should never have been ordered by the court because the mother’s allegations were not true, and because the mother had improperly used an Order of Protection to obtain custody of the child, and put dad at risk for jail time, which is unlawful. Most importantly, the Leving team argued that the child could be at risk of great harm living with the mother and her live-in boyfriend, according to court records.

The Judge agreed with dad and the Leving team. Dad won. The Judge vacated the Court Order so dad and his daughter could be reunited.

This was an important victory, modified for broadcast, to reunite dad with his daughter. “This victory rescued this little girl from a potentially dangerous environment that could have resulted in severe harm to her,” said Leving. Dad is overjoyed; because the Leving team successfully secured a Court Order vacating the Order of Protection, so dad can provide his daughter with the loving care he has always provided her, in his warm and safe home, surrounded by her extended family and friends.

On another topic, Leving said that Chicago has not only a coronavirus pandemic – it also has a gun violence epidemic. “Our leaders, as well as everyone, must do all that we can to stop the senseless, horrific gun violence in Chicago,” said Leving. Leving recently met with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, matrimonial attorney James Hagler from the Leving firm, and Celia Meza, who is the first Latina in Chicago history to serve as its Corporation Counsel. They share a commitment to finding and implementing ways to end the gun violence in Chicago.

Increasing father involvement is just one way to stop gun violence. As the statistics, which Leving set out in his first book, Fathers’ Rights, show, father absence is the single most reliable predictor of crime in America. The research is clear that father involvement will reduce crime in America. “As I’ve done for almost four decades, I urge our political, social, academic and all leaders to adopt policies, create initiatives, and enact legislation that will increase, not discourage, father involvement,” said Leving. Leving discussed this with President Obama when Leving served on his National Finance Committee.

When it comes to fighting an Order of Protection, Leving says that anyone who is served with one should not panic, but should not ignore it. These are difficult cases that can put a person and their loved ones at risk. Anyone who receives such an Order will want a strong advocate on their side, watching their back, to correctly fight the Order of Protection “because a violation of one could land you in jail,” said Leving.

Jeffery M. Leving is founder and president of the Law Offices of Jeffery M. Leving Ltd., and is an advocate for the rights of fathers. In addition to How to be a Good Divorced Dad, he is the author of Fathers’ Rights and Divorce Wars. To learn more about Jeffery M. Leving and his latest court victories, follow him on Twitter and Facebook, and view his videos on You Tube.

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Ray Hanania

Ray Hanania is an award-winning opinion columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

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Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

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