Judges who fail to do their due diligence in abuse cases are complicit in murder

When parents split up, joint custody may be ideal. But in cases of abuse, shared custody can be deadly.

Throughout several custody hearings for 7-year-old Kayden Mancuso, her mother, Kathryn Sherlock, repeatedly warned Pennsylvania Judge Jeffrey Trauger of the extensive history of violence by Kayden’s father, Jeffrey Mancuso. Kayden’s principal and teacher also provided testimony. Despite this, in 2018, Judge Trauger awarded Mancuso unsupervised visitation. Three months later, Mancuso brutally murdered Kayden.

Mancuso’s case is not an anomaly. Since 2008, 856 children nationwide have been murdered by a parent going through a separation, divorce, or custody case — oftentimes, like in Kayden’s case, because family court judges gave an abuser unsupervised visitation. An estimated 58,000 children have court-ordered unsupervised contact with an abuser each year. The Center for Judicial Excellence, a nonprofit organization that advocates for judicial accountability, has identified hundreds of cases, including several in Pennsylvania, where the courts failed to prioritize children’s safety.

While many judges issue custody rulings that don’t lead to fatalities, there are still serious systemic problems in family court that have led to preventable murders. In many of these cases, there were glaring red flags that were repeatedly ignored.

“There are good judges, but there are also far too many cases of judges discounting abuse and not doing their due diligence in protecting children — and it has cost some children their lives,” Joan Meier, professor of law and director of the National Family Violence Law Center at George Washington University, told me.

I’m a clinician who specializes in family trauma and a journalist who has covered child abuse for nearly a decade. I believe judges who fail to do their due diligence in abuse cases are complicit in these fatalities. They may not have pulled the trigger themselves, but by neglecting to protect vulnerable children, they played a crucial role in these murders.

Instead of recognizing systemic failures, fatalities that result from unsupervised visitation are often categorized by the courts as rare, “unforeseen” tragedies that couldn’t be predicted — judges were just following standard custody guidelines. But child fatalities happen more than the courts want to admit. One study found that 73 children were murdered by an abusive parent involved in a custody dispute between 2009 and 2010 alone.

Family courts can make dangerous assumptions that child abuse and domestic violence allegations are fabricated. Intimate partner violence is frequently downplayed as “conflict” among parents and “unrelated” to custody matters. Another study found that even when there was “severe battering and multiple convictions,” abusers were still able to gain custody.

But giving batterers custody puts children in danger. Domestic violence and child abuse are deeply intertwined, and many batterers also abuse their children. Even when children are not physically harmed, the psychological impact of witnessing violence causes significant trauma.

While either parent can abuse a child, an analysis of over three decades of FBI homicide data found that fathers were more likely to kill their children. In 75% of cases where a child was shot to death by a parent, the father was the murderer.

“Giving batterers custody puts children in danger.”

Kyra Franchetti was 2 years old when she was fatally shot by her father, Roy Rumsey, after New York Judge Danielle Peterson granted overnight visitation in 2016. Kyra’s mother, Jacqueline Franchetti, urged Judge Peterson to take Rumsey’s rage, threats, and stalking seriously.

But Judge Peterson told Franchetti: “This is not a life or death situation.”

“Every time I walked out of court, I was defeated and in shock. He was emboldened to keep doing more,” Franchetti told me.

A 2018 study published in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review found that when victims reported domestic abuse in court, they faced a “gaslight-style gauntlet of doubt, disbelief and outright dismissal.”

California Judge Robert Lemkau scoffed at Katie Tagle when she reported that her ex-boyfriend, Stephen Garcia, intended to murder their 10-month-old son, Wyatt. Garcia had admitted his homicidal intent in emails and texts.

“My supposition, ma’am, is that you’re lying,” Lemkau said and awarded Garcia unsupervised visits. Soon after, Garcia fatally shot Wyatt. Lemkau continues to defend his ruling.

The court’s failure to respond to imminent threats has also led to deadly delays.

Kayla White was in the middle of a custody case in Madison County, Ala., with her ex-husband, Brian Buening, who repeatedly threatened to kill her in 2021. White was concerned that Buening may harm their 10-year-old son, Tate, and filed for an emergency custody hearing — but she was forced to wait a month. Buening murdered their son before that hearing could take place.

Compounding the problem is the overreliance on expensive forensic evaluators, frequently appointed by the court, to make custody recommendations.

Experts report that court-appointed evaluators often have misconceptions on family violence and inherent biases. Some lack expertise in custody matters. A 2019 study examined different custody rulings and found that court evaluators discounted child abuse allegations in 67% of those cases.

Judges and evaluators also operate largely unchecked — even when rulings lead to fatalities. While states have judicial oversight agencies that review misconduct complaints, they frequently have limited authority to take corrective action.

“There is an overall lack of accountability in the judicial system, especially in abuse cases,” Maclen Stanley, an attorney in Los Angeles who specializes in abuse cases, told me. Pennsylvania requires some court personnel to complete training that includes information on domestic violence, but the family court statute does not specify if judges are mandated to complete this.

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Immediate reforms are necessary. Independent oversight committees with the power to hold the judiciary accountable must be established. I believe that we need mandated, comprehensive abuse training for court personnel in each state, and credible trauma experts must be assigned to family violence cases.

Franchetti and Sherlock are both fighting to reform family court in their states. In Pennsylvania, “Kayden’s Law” aims to make the safety of the child a primary factor in custody cases, implement family violence training for judges, and require that the courts look at previous criminal convictions in custody disputes. Kayden’s Law is still pending in the state legislature, but it was included in the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, signed by President Joe Biden in March.

Franchetti continues to fight for legislative changes — Senate Bill S6385, which mandates family violence and trauma training for custody evaluators, recently passed both legislative chambers in New York.

Until these changes happen, hundreds of children remain at risk.

Misha Valencia is a clinician that specializes in trauma and a journalist whose work has been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Inquirer, Marie Claire, Healthline, Parents Magazine, Al Jazeera, and many others. Misha’s reporting on international child abductions was selected as one of the best pieces from an independent journalist in 2021.