Katherine "Katie"Zopf

When I was in DV shelter, rather than call me or respond to my attorney, she filed a missing persons report against me and called the police numerous times to make it seem like I was endangering the kids.

Falsified records and recommended my son not return home provided false testimony without speaking to me or visiting my home

In my opinion, the GAL assigned to my case is not impartial and failed to act in my child’s best interests. Throughout this process, I felt that recommendations were made to support predetermined outcomes rather than to objectively evaluate the facts and circumstances of the case. What has been particularly concerning is that the same GAL continues to be appointed in cases before the same judge, despite widespread concerns expressed by parents who have appeared before them. Over the course of this litigation, I have spoken with numerous mothers who have had experiences with this judge and GAL, and many expressed similar concerns regarding fairness, objectivity, and accountability. The perception among many parents is that recommendations are often accepted without meaningful scrutiny, even when significant evidence exists to the contrary. This creates a sense that outcomes are predetermined and that parents are not receiving the independent evaluation that a GAL is supposed to provide. Whether those concerns are ultimately justified is for others to determine. What I can say is that my experience left me with little confidence that my voice, my concerns, or the evidence I presented were given fair consideration. The consequences for my son and for my family have been profound.

From the 1st time my daughter disclosed CSA, she has lied to the court about the status of the CPS investigation. She took away my parenting time and I had to jump through multiple hoops over a year to get custody of my daughter back. A year later, my daughter disclosed again. This time her forensic interview resulted in CPS filing to terminate the parental rights of my daughter's father. The GAL lied to the court on March 24, 2021 saying that CPS had no filed to terminate parental rights. She claimed i was also being investigated. And she asked thst she be able to do her own investigation. The Judge turned her into an L-GAL. She then worked with the court-appointed child psychologist to create an affidavit claiming my daughter recanted. She had the psychologist send that to the prosecutor, who then declined to press charges due to conflicting evidence. She admitted this in the recorded in July 2021.