April 27, 2016

Utter, Eerie Silence

I'm appalled and heartbroken. A lot has happened since my last post. Please read on. (This post is taken from my Facebook page.)

COURT ORDER APRIL 13TH:
I'd like to back up for just a second. There was a TRO signed by the 4th District Court at the end of March, a short time after the Juvenile Court ordered them to Kansas. In this TRO, my father had asked for no contact for 90 days between my mom, me and any other family here in Utah. It had also asked for them to be placed in a reunification program or an "educational process" that is extremely controversial; the Pruter program that we've talked about before. This is what the following hearing was about:
In court on Wednesday the 13th, the 4th District Court dismissed the TRO that was previously signed, and ordered the girls to immediately be placed in the care of a different home and immediately be taken out of the Dorcy Pruter program. The TRO was dismissed on the grounds that the court was not given proper information by my father when it was filed (information such as the fact that he has a recent DCFS finding of abuse). Additionally, my father did not follow the plan that was meant to be followed through Utah and Kansas DCFS with the determination in the ICJ case in Juvenile Court and this was also noted.
As I stated before, the court ordered that Sydney and Dani be immediately removed from our father's unsupervised home and placed with a neutral home that has been background checked. The court also ordered that the girls should be removed from this controversial program right away and meet with an agreed upon, legitimate therapist in order to determine if they even need alienation therapy (which should have happened in the beginning). It was ordered that my mom and I should have supervised supervision/phone calls. I was grateful for this order because it showed that the court was looking out for the best interests of the children.

WHAT'S HAPPENED SINCE:
Complete and total silence on our end. We haven't heard one word from my sisters, and my dad is fighting extremely hard to keep it that way. I'm not trying to talk badly about him; the facts speak for themselves:
There was a supervised phone call organized last week for my mom to talk to Syd and Dani, in which my dad's attorney filed a motion to intervene and wouldn't allow it.
My dad is in contempt of court. He has kept them in the Pruter program, refuses to allow the GAL access to my sisters, won't let us talked to them supervised, and has filed a motion to remove the GAL.
Additionally, Sydney and Dani had left certain belongings at Slate Canyon which they specifically informed the workers they wanted to give to my mom. Under no circumstances did they want these items to go to my dad (they included sensitive journal entries). My dad's attorney picked them up and they are in his possession.
Why are children treated as possessions, and not people?? Sydney and Dani are being silenced by their abuser right now. They are 15 and nearly 17. Sometimes I cannot believe how much their voices have been stripped.

April 13, 2016

Life Since They Were Found

I posted the following in my personal blog in a post titled "Life in General", and decided it would be applicable/good for Sydney and Dani's supporters to read. I invite you to follow my other blog if you so desire. Most of what I write here is factual, including hard evidence and testimony of our father's abuse that has never been heard in court. My other blog has been (and will continue to be) a place where I collect things that I appreciate and value: family, faith, fitness, lifestyle and inspiration. Sometimes I feel prompted or inclined to write about my family's plight, and yesterday was one of those times:

To tell you the truth, I stopped writing here because of some very harsh judgments and internet bullying. It was getting so horrible that anytime I posted something, I was ridiculed and jeered at by my dad and his supporters. I was also simultaneously being physically stalked and cyber-stalked by some of his supporters to the point where I hated going outside because I knew someone was parked watching me and keeping tabs on our cars. It was a difficult time, to say the least... but I'm back and here to stay.

It's a lot of work to keep up on my sister's blogFacebook page, and also run my own social media platforms while working multiple jobs, but I need to start focusing on my future. My future involves advocating for children's voices in the legal system, continuing to pursue a career in modeling and fitness, focusing on my husband and family, building my art business, and so much more. And much of my future starts here, with this blog. Today I'm writing about something you all know about. Except this time, I'm writing completely from my emotional aspect instead of mostly factual. I'm writing from a point of view that is raw, exposed, and real.

I don't know where to begin. Life has been insane, intense and incredible all at once. In 2015, the Dr. Phil show aired, I started my teaching and art business, married the love of my life, and took a few months off to breathe. It seemed that there was nothing more I could do legally except prepare and wait. I began to think that Sydney and Dani wouldn't be coming back until they were eighteen. There were still a few people set on stalking and accusing me (the Orem Police Dept. storming my wedding, for example), but for the most part life began to feel more normal than I'd ever expected it could. 

The third day of 2016 began very early and alarming, as my husband and I awoke to a call at 3 A.M. informing us that my sisters and mom had been found. A family member of someone they were staying with had made a call to the police. They ended up being right here in a neighboring city, Pleasant Grove. We sat outside the Orem Police Dept. where they were all being held, after having been mocked by the detective on the case in a very unprofessional and horrible way. He told me there was "no way" he would allow me to see them because "I could have visited them whenever I wanted to". He smirked at me when I told him DCFS needed to be involved, and the girls should not be interrogated (and whatever else he was doing) without an attorney or case worker present. So there we were, sitting in our car for hours outside the building where my mom and sisters were being detained. I called DCFS at about 5 A.M. to make sure they were aware of the situation. The sun rose while we waited, while my heart ached so bad wondering if they were O.K. and how they were being treated. It was time to keep fighting for my sisters.

My husband is Diabetic and we needed to go somewhere to grab food. As we ate, we received a call from the Spanish Fork Prison. It was my mom. It had been so long since I had heard her voice, I didn't recognize it at first. Then the tears came flooding down my face as I realized it was her. I cried in happiness and relief because she was back and alive. I also cried because of the injustices she was suffering. She was in prison, prison because she chose to protect her daughters (I now know that she chose to meet up with them after a month when they contacted her in August 2014).  Through the salty tears and stinging eyes, I heard her tell me that she loved me and that we could visit her. I turned to my husband and said in disbelief, "I get to see my mom. Today." I will never forget that moment.

So much happened in those first 24 hours. I still look back on it and can't believe it's not a crazy dream. Since then, we were able to bail my mom out and I was able to visit my sisters for the first time. They were at Slate Canyon, a juvenile prison, for nearly 90 days. It took nearly a month to set up our visitation, but we were able to see them multiple times during their stay and I'm grateful for that. There is much that happened between January and March, but it is painful to discuss. My sisters and I rode on a roller coaster of hope followed by crushing blows. Every time it seemed things were finally going right, the judge would make an order to bypass their protection. For example, on March 17th DCFS found abuse (for the second time) against our father. On March 18th, after promising my sisters repeatedly to let them speak to him in court, the judge simply wrote an order sending them back to Kansas. Our dad placed them in a program that harms children until they think and act a desired way (do some research on the Dorcy Pruter program if you're interested.) Sydney and Dani have been missing for over two weeks and in the hands of my dad and these people, and my mom and I have been utterly crushed by it.

There are many forms of trials. We all go through life dealing with and learning from consequences for our own decisions, and some of us suffer deeply due to other's decisions. My sisters and I have had to live through immense amounts of trials and pain due to someone else's decision. The thing that gets us through the most is our faith in Jesus Christ and the love and faith that our mother has instilled in us since we were very young. Sydney, Dani and I have deep testimonies rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They are extremely spiritually, emotionally and mentally mature for their ages, and I look up to them so much.

I am so grateful for each one of you. My last Instagram post really pushed me to start blogging again, because I didn't realize how much all of you looked forward to seeing my "deeper" side of life and the things I am passionate about. Thank you for encouraging me! As I continue forward, I am excited to partner and collaborate with some wonderful people and reveal what the future holds.

xoxo
Brittany

April 4, 2016

My Dad Who Terrifies Us

My sisters were released from Slate Canyon more than two weeks ago and presumably (we don't know for certain) sent back to our dad, Brian Wolferts. This was ordered by the same judge who failed to get us a hearing to discuss our abuse petition in 2014, which caused my sisters to run in the first place. 

This is the man that the judge went out of his way to send my sisters to without giving them or me a chance to testify about his abuse. This post contains mature material and I only advise adults 18 and older to continue. The following list contains things my dad has admitted to or been found by authorities to have done up to 2011. I wrote about my sisters and I in third person, in continuation with the direct quotes from therapists. I apologize for the length of this list. It's so long, yet there is so much more that could have been added. (Wouldn't it be nice if none of these applied instead of ALL of them applying to my dad.) 

Brian Wolferts:

THIS LIST PROVES WHY MY SISTERS SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN SENT BACK TO HIM.

In addition to the above list of things he did before, my dad has fought multiple times to keep my sisters and me from speaking in court about his abuse. Can there be any doubt why a man like the one described above by therapists and investigators might wish his victims (including my sisters and I) to be unable to reveal his abuse??

This is who my sisters are afraid of. This is who I'm afraid of. I admit this hesitantly because I'm certain he probably gains satisfaction at my admission. This abuser and sexual deviant is who now has my sisters behind closed doors, secluded, isolated, alone--able to retaliate against them in any way he wants. And judging from the list above, and my memories of the abuse he often inflicted on all of us in his house, I am severely worried for my sisters. They are in mortal danger. My sisters have additional harrowing details of his abuse which they have so far been prevented by Juvenile Court Judge Bartholomew from presenting in court. My dad knows what he's done, and what they are capable of telling. Therefore, he seeks to silence them. As you can see, he has every reason to want to silence my sisters.

It is hard to come to terms with the fact that my dad is unworthy of my esteem, as I value family as the most important thing in this life. But I also know that if someone abuses you--regardless of their position in your life--they fail to earn your respect, honor, and trust. My dad is my abuser. He and his supporters continue to abuse me verbally and emotionally all over social media, and they don't care about the welfare of my sisters.

I beg you to help me with my exorbitant legal fees as I attempt to get the truth of his abuse to the proper authorities to protect my vulnerable sisters. The judge has tried to prevent it so far and has helped get my sisters into the custody of this deviant abuser. Please help me! Thank you so much for your continual support!



Lost!

Update:
Every single day, I have been stressing about the location and well-being of my sisters. The feelings of not knowing where they are for 18 months but knowing that my mom was probably with them and taking care of them VS. the feelings of not knowing where they are for 14 days but knowing that they are with people that are hurting them are extremely different. Here's 5 facts that we know as of this moment:
1) The judge dismissed the petition altogether last week (there was supposed to be a hearing for it on April 18th). This takes away the chance of having the girls heard in court and seeking any kind of protection for them.
2) He also dismissed the proposed order from my dad, requesting to shut down the blog and having everyone on social media that is supporting the girls to stop or hand over their accounts, and requested for me to pay his attorney fees for making the order. (This is why I was absent for a while. It's also why the last four juvenile court documents have been removed. I didn't completely understand that even redacted, those are private/different from the public divorce case docs.)
3) When the juvenile judge ordered my sisters back to Kansas, he mentioned that Kansas was to receive Sydney and Dani with a "plan" set in place. There is absolutely no plan. They were sent back quickly and with no oversight. Nobody knows where they are or what is being done to them, not even their GAL or Kansas DCFS (who was supposed to be watching over them). Information has been requested by them and multiple other parties, and my father refuses to respond.
4) The 4th district judge signed an order sending the girls to the reunification program a few days after they were transported from Slate Canyon by the program. In this order, created by my dad and his attorney, he did NOT include information about the recent findings of abuse against himself (as well as many other facts that needed to be included). This program is located in South Carolina.
5) This program is run by people like Dorcy Pruter without licenses and they use brainwashing & threat therapy tactics to force children to say what the paying parent wants. It's that simple and that harmful. I didn't even believe something like this existed until I began researching and seeing the many court cases that are suing for children committing suicide after this program, etc. They typically take the children to a hotel for the first 5 days and separate them, break them down, etc. Then move on to isolate them from the opposite parent and family for 90+ days (they keep adding 90 days if they aren't satisfied. One mother hasn't seen or heard of her children for 230 days and counting). There is much more info I could post about this, but for now please read Hope Loudon's article published on our case. It's very informative!
Thank you everyone for helping the Facebook page grow to 700 likes, and the blog views hit over 232,000! Please keep this story alive. We can't let Sydney and Dani fall through the cracks like so many other children. They need to be given safety and protection, now!


Sunday church with our mom

October 2008: Mom gave them twin braids and they really looked like twins!

2007: Playing piano at grandma's (our mom taught piano)