Using children?

I had heard bits and pieces about a 13 yr old marrying a 14 yr old in Georgia, but did not really pay attention. I just thought what mother in her right mind would drive her child to another state to marry at the age of 13?

Tonight, I heard the girl's father speaking. And tonight, I have my suspicions as to why, and it is not a pretty picture at all, if what I suspect happened is what truly DID happen.

Brandon Balch said that the last thing the mother of his child said to him was something to the effect that this would be the last time she would have to speak to him, just before she hung up on him. They were supposed to appear in court in just a few days about his petition for custody of his daughter, after several other hearings about interference with his visitation and relationship with his daughter.

Suddenly, the girl is married at age 13 (YES, THIRTEEN) to a 14 year old boy, and is an emancipated child, no longer subject to any parental authority. No longer covered on parent's insurance, though she was pregnant (or as he said, they had a slip of paper that SAID she was pregnant, but she never had the baby... Bill O'Reilly said that she had 'miscarried' shortly after the wedding..... And Dad had no idea it was a done deal. At no time did this young couple live together as man and wife, apparently.

This happened awhile ago, as he has been fighting to change the laws. I commend him, and wish him luck, and will be praying.

As to my thoughts on this, not casting any aspersions, and reminding you that this is speculation only:

To me, it sounds like mother had been playing games of 'keep the child away from Dad' for a long time, and that this was the ultimate get-even dirty trick of any that I have ever heard.

Parents do this kind of thing in divorce more often than you would ever like to think. The children are pawns, possessions, something to use to hurt the spouse with, all the while claiming that they love the child. It is cruel and inhuman, and that is NOT love. Sorry, it is not love. It is selfishness.

False allegations of sexual abuse are also a frequent form of this. A man's reputation is forever ruined by the allegations, even if disproved. People think... 'there had to be a reason that it was brought up'... and children are HURT by the one claiming to 'protect them' from the evil person.

I am NOT speaking of those honest cases that really happened. I am speaking of those that are not true, as happened to someone I know.

Another recent story was sent to me via Stephen Baskerville that had appeared in the Washington Times, and if it is true, it is another sad case. You see, some attorneys automatically get a restraining order to go with the divorce papers when they are served. In Louisiana, it is routine to have this done. There, a six month waiting period is all that is required, and a "NO CONTACT" restraining order prevents any possible reconciliation. You cannot reconcile if you cannot talk to each other!

When that no contact also includes your children, it can really cause a lot of anger, hurt, frustration. Enough violence happens after papers are served to begin with, but when the children are also suddenly gone, too, it sets things in motion, and sometimes, results in horrific things happening.

If what the author of this article says is true, this is all the more tragic.

It is called "FORUM: Death by protective order".