Update on a child abducted: Interview with Michael McCarty
January 8, 2:44 PMSeattle Stay-at-Home Moms ExaminerEmylou Lewis
Michael McCarty and his son Liam
From saveliam.org (used with permission)
A child abducted: An interview with Michael McCarty
January 8, 2010 -- Like David Goldman, Michael McCarty is working to bring his son Liam home. On March 5, 2007, Liam McCarty was abducted by his mother, Manuela Antonelli and taken to Italy, her hometown. Instead of returning Liam to his father, who has sole legal and physical custody, the Italian courts sent him to an orphanage.
Last October the Seattle stay-at-home moms examiner interviewed Michael McCarty. Since the interview, it seemed as if Michael McCarty was making progress. On the 18th of November, Michael McCarty saw his son Liam with the new President of the Rome Juvenile Court in Italy. She issued an order that Liam be sent to a new orphanage. She told Michael it will take a few more months for Liam to be released to his custody. Michael McCarty returned home hoping that he will soon be reunited with Liam. When Michael returned home, he discovered Liam was abducted a second time.
Michael McCarty answered my questions:
How did Liam get abducted again?
In Italy right now Liam is a ward of the state, which means his daily supervision and care is supposed to be monitored by Italian Social Services. During the last 3 years as I have been fighting to get him returned to me he has been shuttled between shelters, orphanages and various family members. During the last several months it had turned into complete chaos as his exact living situation and whereabouts had become a mystery. He had been temporarily placed at his grandparents pending a new determination and there was a court order that his mother was only supposed to have supervised visitation due to the psychological damage she was inflicting. Via surveillance we discovered that Liam was in fact living with his mother in violation of the court's directions and apparently in some collusion with Social Services. I was denied any contact with him during this period but on November 18 I was finally able to meet with the new President of the Rome Juvenile Court to complain about the anarchy of the situation and the fact that I was not able to see my son. She called a meeting between Liam and I at the courthouse and was finally able to witness firsthand the extreme psychological damage that had been inflicted upon Liam by this ordeal. The court issued orders on the spot that Liam be temporarily sent to a new orphanage for his protection, that all contact between he and his mother or her family be completely suspended, and that his Social Services guardian be immediately replaced. Of course I pleaded to release him to me rather than put him in another orphanage but things move very slowly in Italy and the president assured me that if I returned several times over the next few months that they would finally release Liam to my custody. For the first time in three years of this insanity I believed that i had found an advocate who fully recognized the situation and would work with me to help reunite Liam and I.
I boarded a plane the next day and flew back to New York. Upon my arrival there were urgent messages from my attorneys in Italy that Liam had never made it to the new orphanage. Despite orders that he was not to leave the courthouse apparently a different judge handed him over to the grandparents, who then gave him to his mother and they have been missing ever since. There is now a criminal investigation in Italy and they are sought by the Italian authorities
Do you have any idea where he is right now? What is being done to bring him home?
It's as surreal as ever; we believe that he is in Rome and it seems they are essentially hiding in plain site. He is listed as a missing person with the Italian authorities and supposedly they are searching for him however the mother has been giving interviews to the Italian media issuing disparaging statements about me and the court. My Italian attorneys say that even in a system known for it's quirks they have never seen anything like this. I'm in regular contact with the State Department and the Embassy and they have issued some formal complaints to the Italian authorities.
If Liam can read this article, what would you like to tell him?
That I love him and miss him. That I think about him every minute of every day, and that no matter what they say or do to him I'll be there fighting for him, that I'll never give up on him.
For those interested in helping Liam, what can they do to help?
Please visit
http://www.saveliam.org there is a How To Help page that lists the various things that people can do such as continue to write to the State Department and Embassy, keep the movement alive and not to give up until we get Liam back home where he is safe.
You can also help spread the word by clicking share this at the bottom of this article.
Thanks to Michael McCarty for answering my questions.
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For more information:
Save Liam McCarty Facebook page
