Injustice for Trafficking Victims at Houses of Treasure
Make Way Partners’ Field Coordinator, Matt McGowen, and an expert Romanian attorney stood at her side as she appeared in court today. I’ve spent a couple of hours on the phone with Matt today hearing live reports.
The first thing I want to tell you is that Matt is so encouraged by the progress that Iana is making with all the girls at House of Treasure. Matt said, “Although each girl feels the pressure of such a difficult time, the healing in the girls is evident. They are sharing in responsibilities around the house, meal preparation, and even encouraging one another.”
Esther (not her real name) is a shining star at House of Treasure. She survived a brutal attack last year, and suffered deeply from fear and low self esteem, but after so much time with us, Matt said, “Now she is confident and taking true leadership among the girls.”
With that kind of beautiful healing taking place at House of Treasure, it was painful to hear Matt’s first words as he reported from the courtroom, “It was a rough day.”
We arrived at 8 am only to be told, “Your hearing’s cancelled.”
Natasha’s mother dropped the charges. And while, at first, that seemed to be good news, chaos ensued as we learned it was simply a manipulative ploy staged by her attorney to get what she wanted.
Part of what incited Natasha’s mother was the fact that child protection services (cps) had been conducting an investigation into her fitness as a mother. She’d played a hand in Natasha’s trafficking. Natasha has younger siblings still living at home, and cps had been considering removing them from the home for their own protection.
One of the best tactics to draw attention from herself, was of course, to point the finger at Iana. During the weeks of investigation preceding the hearings, Natasha was supposed to be under the direct care and supervision of cps. However, they let her run wild, coming and going as she—or her mother—pleased.
Having unmonitored access to Natasha during the investigation, her mother orchestrated media events where they told many negative stories about cps. The media made a negative production regarding cps. The result: cps not only quit their investigation of Natasha’s mother, but actually testified to her credit.
Matt and Iana both read court documents revealing that Natasha had submitted testimony that she did not want to be returned to her mother, and that she did want to stay at House of Treasure, with Iana. But, the Judge wouldn’t allow the documents to be read in court, or for Matt and Iana to keep a copy. The judge deliberately withheld vital information.
Natasha has severe mental and emotional damage, possibly psychotic, from all of her abuse and trafficking, so Iana was not petitioning for Natasha to return to House of Treasure, but rather, for her—and the other girls’ protection—to be placed in a psychiatric hospital. Although Iana is a psychologist, the judge would not hear Iana’s testimony.
Natasha has turned extremely violent, which is not uncommon for young children who have suffered such extreme violence. While cps allowed her to run free, she went to the school where the other girls from House of Treasure attend, telling them, “My mother’s gypsy friends are going to show up at school and rape you all.” Again, the judged barred Iana’s testimony from the courtroom.
Matt said, “If I hadn’t seen it myself, I would never believe what I am about to tell you…”
The judge’s decision: since the charges against Iana were dropped and cps now gives a glowing report on Natasha’s mother, she gave Natasha back over to the mother.
Iana’s lawyer came prepared. He read directly from a Romanian book of law, sighting how the judgment was illegal under Romanian law, and sighting that due process—according to their own law—had not been followed.
The judge slammed down her gavel while hysterically screaming at Iana’s attorney, “Shut up and sit down. You cannot read that [Romanian book of law] in my courtroom!”
While neither Iana nor her attorney could speak, the judge allowed others to stand, testifying that Iana beat the girls and forced them to make child pornography movies. Iana was not allowed to testify about this, and when her attorney objected, the judge screamed at him to shut up and sit down.
Today is not only an injustice for a very sick and hurting child (Natasha) but also a huge gap through which Iana and the entire House of Treasure could fall.
As you can imagine, Iana is very discouraged. Matt is by her side, but they both need your prayers for wisdom, strength, and encouragement.
We face another hearing on Friday, and I will let you know as soon as I know anything at all.
In the meantime, we are not only praying, but also talking through lessons learned, strategies to take, and receiving much wise counsel from professionals.
We rest in the Arms of the Great Defender of children—our Father, our God—Who is moved by your prayers.
Love, your sister along the journey,
k
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