Help Allyson Yaniz

Allyson came for her normal summer visitation on June 06, 2009. She was with Steven for a few weeks when she started making outcries of abuse by her mother. She had mentioned suicide and how she is constantly being told that she is less then a person because of Cuban heritage, how she has been denied food from, even forced to take cold showers, slapped when her mother’s stress level was too high, never allowed to voice her opinion or make any legitimate decisions concerning her life by her mother among other things. She mentioned that she was afraid of her mother and did not have the nerve to say anything until now while visiting Amarillo and under the protection of her Dad. She said she had tried to talk to her to her mother about how she felt, how she was always depressed and felt like hurting herself, but was ignored. She tried to speak to her counselors at Coral Way Elementary about the abuse and how she intended to harm herself, but instead of helping or contacting the authorities, the counselors called her mother who was advised to get Allyson. She stopped seeking help because it only made matters worse at home and the abuse didn’t stop.
Her Dad, Steven at first thought that this must be some kind of teenage rebellion as she had never mentioned this before. As any good Dad he asked questions and requested she start writing a journal, to his shock the first journal entry included thoughts of jumping off buildings, infront of busses and running away from her Mother Matilde Ortiz. Allyson began to cry and became unhinged about the subject stating no one believed her when she told them what was happening. She felt ashamed of what was happening to her and that it was all her fault. So Steven did what any responsible parent would do and called CPS in Amarillo and Miami to tell them what was going on.
Miami CPS assigned a local Special Investigator to interview Allyson and read the journal entry as well as make a decision as far as her well being. After the interview both CPS workers advised an attorney was needed and recommended she not return to the abusive environment she had been in until now, they also recommended she be placed in the immediate care of a trauma counselor and continue counseling as needed.
All recommendations were followed.
Allyson met with her counselors at Texas MHMR who assessed that her condition was serious and recommended immediate counseling to begin with a trauma counselor at their facility every Thursday until the time where she felt better about herself.
During this time the CPS worker in Miami tried to contact the Mother Matilde Ortiz for 2 weeks straight and got nothing but the run around. She left several messages and even visited her home and left a note. Nothing was returned, no contact was made. Meanwhile Allyson attended her counseling sessions and began developing into a normal child without the fear of offending everyone around her or feeling less of herself.
After being advised by CPS and Allyson's counselor that she should not return back to that environment Steven called an attorney to see what he could do. Allyson refused to go home on July 12th and tried to call her mother to tell her so but instead found out that her phone had been cut off and her health insurance cancelled. It puzzled him that her mother would do such a thing as you would think that any responsible mother would want to help their child and allow them to have their health insurance to see a counselor but apparently it was not important to her.
The day came for Allyson to return and she refused to go home. She told her Dad Steven he would be wasting his money if he bought a ticket for her to go back home to her mother in Miami. Steven called his attorney to find out what to do next and was advised that he should contact Miami. The Mother left threatening messages on Allyson’s phone telling her she would send the police after her if she didn’t come home immediately, she also emailed us to find out what was going on and we gave her phone number to call CPS and the attorney as instructed.
She finally called Miami CPS three days later, after being asked to contact them for more than weeks.
She was informed by CPS of the situation and her daughter’s claims, instead of addressing the issue she in turn made unfounded accusations against Steven and got disrespectful and loud with the CPS worker. She was informed both by CPS and by the lawyer in Amarillo she would need to attend a hearing in Amarillo before judge Emerson to provide evidence that all the accusations were untrue. Meanwhile Allyson continued counseling and flourishing into a Normal teen.
The Mother contacted Judge Bernard S. Shapiro and advised thru her attorney Aliette Hernandez Carolan that the Father had kidnapped Allyson and she wanted an immediate pick up order. The judge made space for teleconference hearing to determine jurisdiction for the hearing and later set a date to continue providing evidence and address the issue. Instead the Judge issued an immediate pick up order and refused to hear the child AT ALL. The judge in Amarillo was forced to cancel the hearing here and per the UCCJA had no choice but to remit the hearing to Miami.
The judge in Amarillo was never informed that the child was not being heard, that no evidence was allowed and that in fact Judge Shapiro had signed the pickup order prior to the teleconference basing his decision on nothing. During the teleconference Steven provided the child’s testimony from the journal, the names of the counselors and the CPS worker. Unfortunately the CPS investigator was unavailable due to being hospitalized with a heart condition; her office advised that she would be available two weeks later. Steven requested she be heard prior to any decision being made.
This request was ignored by Judge Shapiro completely as the order had already been signed.
Steven and Allyson were both basically called liars by the judge and Mrs. Carolan who vehemently objected to Allyson’s testimony being provided. Steven pleaded with the Judge to subpoena Allyson and listen to her claims in private or on the stand so she could tell him what was going on and that she wanted to stay in Amarillo and be safe. As she is now 13 and able to tell right from wrong Allyson was able due to her counseling to address the issues, but the Judge refused to listen to her and accused her of lying, he again stated he would look at all the evidence and wait for CPS testimony and address the issue at a later date.
Much to his surprise, Steven received a call from his attorney later on that day advising him that a pickup order had been issued and our hearing was cancelled.
Steven called the court in Amarillo and begged and pleaded with them to put the hearing back, his attorney also contacted the judge and advised of the impropriety on Judge Shapiro’s behalf since he had basically lied about a future hearing. Thankfully the judge reset the hearing to address the issue in Amarillo. Everything seemed ok and it seemed as if someone would finally listen to our pleas to just listen to Allyson.
Then today August 14, 2009 ten days prior to the hearing the cops came with Steven’s sister Yamile Tamargo to pick Allyson up. Allyson refused to go but was threatened she would be arrested.
Now she is gone without his number or a cell phone to stay intouch, as the Police who admitted they did not understand why the pick up order was being enforced but refused to let her have contact with Steven prior to leaving so she could have her phone.
There is a complete uncertainty as to whether Allyson will actually be heard on the 24th or if it will even help her. He is afraid he will probably never be able to see her again, that her counseling will not continue and all this happened because he tried to do the responsible thing and help her.
As a parent this seems illogical and crazy.
It is disgusting that when you try to help your child when they cry out that they are being abused it is the CHILD that gets called a liar. At least it is that way with the Miami Dade court system and specifically in Judge Shapiro’s courtroom.
We have started this website to try to get Allyson some help and to get someone to listen to her and also because I am disgusted with Judge Shapiro and his highly unethical treatment of the law. We hope to get help from an attorney or some financial assistance to pay for an attorney in Miami. If you’ve come across this website and feel you can help as an attorney or with a donation please do so for Allyson’s sake. She deserves better than she has received to date, she deserves to feel proud of her heritage and herself. The Mother has refused to provide her with counseling and will not even address the issue. Instead of listening to her daughter she hits and belittles her.
Allyson’s family in Miami will not listen to her or pay this the attention it requires. Yamile Tamargo who herself was abused as a young child has become the same person Allyson fears. As an attorney herself she should be disgusted with what she has done.