Advice regarding orders of protection

[doublek319]

I'm in Illinois and am experiencing the following situation. My spouse has been issued an emergency order of protection against me as a result of an argument we had several weeks ago. The twist is that I made a statement where I expressed a desire for her to leave our home and did not touch her. Two of our children became upset because we were arguing. Later that evening everyone went to bed, got up and went about their normal routine. It was two days after the argument that she took the children from our home and received the EOP.

I have been to court twice in an attempt to respond to her allegations however the judge has allowed a continuance (I have retained an attorney and she has not been able to do so) and refused to even let me respond to allegations made concerning abuse of the children. The most recent hearing resulted in my being allowed to call my children every week night and see them this weekend only. A third hearing is scheduled for next week.

I am an active member in the lives of my children. I participate in school events, sit on two committees for the parent organization, regularly attend parent/teacher conferences (which my spouse has not done) and have never physically abused my children.

What I'm concerned about is the justification for not allowing me to respond to the child abuse allegations and only allowing my spouse's testimony as the basis for any decision regarding visitation (which is supervised). Any advice?

[elklaw]

File charges against your wife for abuse of process and malicious prosecution and making false statements, since you never threatened her or touched her physically, there was no abuse of the children, and she is making this up. File an emergency petition to have the protection order dissolved and seek custody of the children temporariliy yourself and be able to show and prove that the events were lied about, and that you can provide better for the kids' needs in this transition.
This sounds like a possible divorce issue, so consult and attorney.

[doublek319]

Thanks. I did file for an emergency hearing at which the judge refused to allow me to respond to the allegations as I was represented by an attorney and she had a free legal advisor who entered a motion for a continuance so my wife could retain a lawyer. The motion was granted and the judge said she would consider visitation. The judge then requested that my wife talk about the allegations of child abuse she has described in her petition after which the judge would ask questions and give my attorney a chance to do the same. What really happened was much different. My wife talked about some of the allegations and brought up items not listed in the petition. The judge did not ask her any questions and did not allow my attorney to cross examine or me to respond. The judge continued to state that in so doing she would be allowing a hearing to take place which she said was not going to happen because she granted a continuance so my wife could retain counsel. Unless I'm wrong, this does not agree with what she said she was going to consider (visitation and whether it should be supervised or not).

The judge based her decision solely on the allegations of my wife and "granted" me supervised visitation for one and a half hours in a McDonalds on the two Saturdays leading up the the scheduled hearing. At the scheduled hearing my wife did not have her free legal aid attorney present, but did have her free legal advisor, because she spoke with him two days prior to the hearing and he could not fit her into his schedule. She was granted a second continuance and advised by the judge that she must have counsel present. My attorney was able to get a modification to the order which allowed my to contact my children (phone call) each evening and to see them for one night and the following day of this past weekend. On the modified order, the judge did not indicate a time limit for the phone conversations. After thirty minutes, my wife tells our children to get off the phone. My oldest daugther mentioned that she became angry with them on the first two nights (it's been three nights including yesterday) when they spoke to me for 45 minutes. My daughters also mentioned that when they try to talk to their mother regarding this situation that she yells at them and becomes angry. I've mentioned this to my attorney and he plans to use it during the hearing.