Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / 9-year-old Sophie screams when she has to go back to Mommy's boyfriend. WHY?
Transcript
- 0:05Speaker 1: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace about fifty percent of marriages
- 0:12Speaker 1: in America and in divorce, that's a given. You got
- 0:17Speaker 1: a fifty fifty shot. But what about the children caught
- 0:20Speaker 1: in the crossfire we are talking now about stand with Sophie.
- 0:27Speaker 1: Can you imagine sending your little girl back after a
- 0:32Speaker 1: weekend visit into a home where she claims mommy's boyfriend
- 0:37Speaker 1: is molesting her and it's all cord and sanctioned. First
- 0:50Speaker 1: of all, take a listen to Dave Matt Crime online
- 0:53Speaker 1: dot Com. Kelly and Michael Long are in a bitter
- 0:56Speaker 1: custody battle. It heated up when a video of their
- 0:59Speaker 1: nine year old daughter, her Sophie, Win viral During a
- 1:01Speaker 1: custody swap, Sophie refuses to get out of her father's suv.
- 1:05Speaker 1: In the nearly twenty minute video, Sophie can be seen
- 1:08Speaker 1: and heard screaming at her mother and grandmother, begging to
- 1:12Speaker 1: stay with her dad. At one point, she can be
- 1:15Speaker 1: heard telling her grandmother that her mother's fiance, mister Jake,
- 1:19Speaker 1: touches her, and her mother watches she repeatedly asks, why
- 1:23Speaker 1: don't you believe me? Guys? Before we go one step further,
- 1:27Speaker 1: I want you to hear it for yourself. Take a
- 1:31Speaker 1: listen to this recording, Sophie, this little girl screaming, refusing
- 1:36Speaker 1: to get out of the car and go with her mother. Listen,
- 1:44Speaker 1: this is Sophie had I think her hands her hands
- 1:54Speaker 1: start hearing. Now, what's her, Sophie. That is not how
- 2:17Speaker 1: you speak to your grandparents, to your father or your grandfather,
- 2:21Speaker 1: that let's put the seat up. No convenient that the
- 2:26Speaker 1: seats don't and we can't get their seatbelt. I don't
- 2:29Speaker 1: want to pre hands in their sweet John Joy, Sophie.
- 2:34Speaker 1: You know, sometimes we have to do things we don't
- 2:36Speaker 1: want to. But when churches and policemen say this is
- 2:38Speaker 1: what we have to do and how to do it,
- 2:40Speaker 1: I'm good. Cheryl McCall, director of the Cold Case Research Institute.
- 2:44Speaker 1: Why they are saying to her, asking her, don't you
- 2:48Speaker 1: know this is how you talk to your grandmother instead
- 2:50Speaker 1: of saying, honey, what is wrong? What's wrong? I don't
- 2:55Speaker 1: get that, Nancy. Clearly, this little girl needs help. She
- 3:00Speaker 1: sounds petrified. I mean, she's crime, she's screaming, she's trying
- 3:05Speaker 1: to tell them in every way she doesn't want to go,
- 3:08Speaker 1: and why she doesn't want to go guys, let me
- 3:11Speaker 1: introduce our panel to break it down and put it
- 3:14Speaker 1: back together again and try to get to the truth
- 3:16Speaker 1: of what is happening to nine year old Sophie right
- 3:20Speaker 1: here under our nose. This this is going on in Texas.
- 3:23Speaker 1: Who's not to say, it's happening all over the country,
- 3:27Speaker 1: enforced visits, enforced custody while a child is allegedly being molested.
- 3:36Speaker 1: With me crime online dot com investigator, reporter of Levi Page.
- 3:39Speaker 1: As you've already heard, Cheryl McCullin, director of the Coldcase
- 3:42Speaker 1: Research Institute and crime scene expert, we're now psychologists joining
- 3:47Speaker 1: me out of New York Karen start at Karen stark
- 3:49Speaker 1: dot com. Special guests joining me now the attorney for
- 3:55Speaker 1: Sophie's dad, Michael Long, Jamie Graham, who is fighting tooth
- 4:00Speaker 1: and now, and special guest Sophie's dad who has never
- 4:05Speaker 1: given up trying to get his daughter back. Michael Long.
- 4:11Speaker 1: Michael Long, you were there during the recording of Sophie,
- 4:16Speaker 1: your nine year old daughter, screaming not to get out
- 4:19Speaker 1: of your car. Were you driving? Yeah, it was I
- 4:22Speaker 1: was driving the car. I'd gone with my father that
- 4:25Speaker 1: day too, to do exchange in Lazy Lake, two Texas.
- 4:28Speaker 1: So you had so Sophie's nine, correct, it's and you
- 4:32Speaker 1: have two other sons? Is that right? Do I actually
- 4:35Speaker 1: have three other sons, but two other with with my eggs? Okay?
- 4:39Speaker 1: So are they Sophie's bio brothers? Yeah? Yeah, Okay, then
- 4:43Speaker 1: you've got one other that's a step brother. Yeah, between
- 4:47Speaker 1: my wife currently, okay, got you? Okay with me? Guys.
- 4:50Speaker 1: Sophie's dad, Michael long the screaming, Yeah, Sophie's just a
- 4:57Speaker 1: bone chilling scream from the a child, your daughter. Now
- 5:02Speaker 1: you brought your father along with you. That was smart.
- 5:05Speaker 1: Why did you do that at that point? What was
- 5:07Speaker 1: going on? I have been advised to have witnesses available
- 5:11Speaker 1: and also to document these exchanges because there had been
- 5:14Speaker 1: prior exchanges where Sophie didn't want to go and I
- 5:17Speaker 1: was being blamed for holding her back when in reality,
- 5:19Speaker 1: Sophie was standing up and saying that she just simply
- 5:22Speaker 1: couldn't go. You know that is not unusual, Cheryl McCollum.
- 5:26Speaker 1: You know, I've learned the hard way by watching my
- 5:28Speaker 1: colleagues in the DA's office take a statement or taught
- 5:32Speaker 1: to somebody. I've done it. Myself. Luckily didn't backfire on me.
- 5:36Speaker 1: But then as soon as you leave the room, they go, oh, yeah,
- 5:38Speaker 1: I didn't say that, that didn't happen. You really have
- 5:41Speaker 1: to have somebody with you. How many times, Cheryl, have
- 5:43Speaker 1: you seen a case blow up because nobody was there
- 5:47Speaker 1: when the statement was taken. Nobody was there when the
- 5:49Speaker 1: incident occurred. So it's your word against their word. That's
- 5:53Speaker 1: not uncommon. Absolutely listen, if there's not a witness, it
- 5:56Speaker 1: didn't happen. I mean, that's just he said. She said,
- 5:59Speaker 1: it's going to no nowhere. But in this case, again,
- 6:03Speaker 1: what stands out for me is a nine year old
- 6:06Speaker 1: little girl is telling her grandmother mister Jake is touching me,
- 6:12Speaker 1: and MoMA's watching. She's very clear, she's very specific, Nancy,
- 6:17Speaker 1: and she gets even more specific in letters to her dad.
- 6:21Speaker 1: You know when it all hit home with me, Cheryl McCallum.
- 6:23Speaker 1: You may remember this case. I prosecuted a guy. He
- 6:27Speaker 1: was super wealthy. He owned all the horse drawn carriage
- 6:32Speaker 1: and limo trade in the city of Atlanta, and I
- 6:36Speaker 1: was a young prosecutor and trying the case all on
- 6:42Speaker 1: my own. He had a fleet of lawyers, a fleet
- 6:45Speaker 1: and I dug up seven similar transactions where he had
- 6:50Speaker 1: been He had thirty five natural children by many different women.
- 6:53Speaker 1: He had been beating his daughters and molesting them for
- 6:57Speaker 1: years and years and years. And what I found out
- 7:03Speaker 1: is very often you speak to the children and then
- 7:08Speaker 1: they will change their minds. They'll recant because they're scared. Cheryl.
- 7:13Speaker 1: Of course, Nancy, this child has advocated for herself verbally
- 7:20Speaker 1: and in writing. I would really be interested to see
- 7:23Speaker 1: what her teachers may know or have her or friends.
- 7:27Speaker 1: That's a good point, because she did, thought Cheryl. But
- 7:30Speaker 1: when I was talking about that case that I prosecuted,
- 7:34Speaker 1: the mother of the current three victims, two little girls
- 7:38Speaker 1: and a teen girl, was living with the defendant and
- 7:43Speaker 1: both of her little girls, ages three and five, were
- 7:46Speaker 1: being full on raped, and the mother knew it. That
- 7:52Speaker 1: set me to thinking, how many times mothers know and
- 7:55Speaker 1: do nothing. They protect the boyfriend a lot of the time.
- 7:59Speaker 1: But let me tell you what thing, Nancy, you worked
- 8:01Speaker 1: a major, major child molestation case where a guy got
- 8:05Speaker 1: sixty three years. And one thing I remember about one
- 8:09Speaker 1: of those victims. She was young, she was a little girl,
- 8:13Speaker 1: but she kept articulating how the defendants smelled. Sophie does
- 8:18Speaker 1: that too, you know, you know what, that is very important,
- 8:23Speaker 1: I hear, Michael long jump in, Michael, just a hof
- 8:25Speaker 1: in real quick. You as are making a really good point.
- 8:27Speaker 1: But one of the things that I've heard is going
- 8:30Speaker 1: through this process that we're having happen all over the country,
- 8:32Speaker 1: is that children are staying home because of the COVID crisis,
- 8:35Speaker 1: and as a result, they don't have the same access
- 8:37Speaker 1: to their teachers that have those one on one conversations
- 8:39Speaker 1: or adults present where they could disclose. I know that
- 8:42Speaker 1: in the case that we're dealing with, this was one
- 8:45Speaker 1: of the challenges that Sophie had is that her friend
- 8:47Speaker 1: network had been cut off by her mother and she
- 8:50Speaker 1: didn't have access to adults in her vicinity that she
- 8:52Speaker 1: could talk to anymore. You know what, Michael, quick job,
- 8:57Speaker 1: here's what's going to be really important, Michael. Those teachers
- 8:59Speaker 1: that she had had access to first grade, second grade,
- 9:02Speaker 1: if they can articulate this is not the Sophie I know.
- 9:06Speaker 1: It still shows a major change in her personality, and
- 9:10Speaker 1: she was excess You're right in the first three years
- 9:12Speaker 1: in school. She was a student of the year in
- 9:14Speaker 1: her third grade. She's in fourth Now Crime Stories with
- 9:27Speaker 1: Nancy Grace. Let me reiterate before we say one more
- 9:32Speaker 1: word that Sophie's mom says. This is absolutely not true.
- 9:37Speaker 1: I mean, just put that out there, guys. For those
- 9:40Speaker 1: of you just joining us, you may have heard of
- 9:42Speaker 1: Stand with Sophie hashtag stand with Sophie, a nine year
- 9:46Speaker 1: old little girl whose dad says she screams bloody murder
- 9:49Speaker 1: every time she has to go back to her mom's house.
- 9:52Speaker 1: Mom lives with fiance. She claims fiance molesting her and
- 9:57Speaker 1: does not want to go back. But you heard the
- 10:02Speaker 1: mom telling her. When the judge and the policeman tell
- 10:04Speaker 1: you you gotta do it, you gotta do it. I
- 10:07Speaker 1: want you to take a Listen to recording of Sophie
- 10:11Speaker 1: begging not to go back to mom. Listen where you
- 10:19Speaker 1: know mom? When I taught you off, we had a
- 10:21Speaker 1: really good time. Remember this. Do you hear? I'm not
- 10:31Speaker 1: minding you. I have to undo your secret. We have
- 10:34Speaker 1: to do this. I'm sorry. You don't. Yes, you actually
- 10:37Speaker 1: you don't. Yes, No, you don't watch her. I'm gonna Sophie, Elicia,
- 10:46Speaker 1: that is not appropriate. Leaves don't. I I'm not This
- 11:03Speaker 1: is Atney here, No, Sophie, you're asked us to. I
- 11:23Speaker 1: can't tell you how. Every one in the studio right
- 11:26Speaker 1: now can't even look up as you hear Sophie screaming
- 11:31Speaker 1: at her mother and grandmother and she does not want
- 11:34Speaker 1: to go to the home to Karen start joining me,
- 11:37Speaker 1: psychologist joining us today out of Manhattan. Karen, you know
- 11:41Speaker 1: what the mom says, this isn't true. Daddy's making it
- 11:45Speaker 1: all up to torture me. Dad is saying, oh, hell yes,
- 11:49Speaker 1: it is true. Whatever is true. The child is screaming
- 11:55Speaker 1: not to go home to mommy. How can a stud
- 12:00Speaker 1: of the year be acting like this? I mean, I
- 12:04Speaker 1: gotta tell you, Cared, I've told you this before. Some
- 12:07Speaker 1: of the best witnesses I've ever put on the stand,
- 12:10Speaker 1: the ones I believe the most. We're children, well, because
- 12:14Speaker 1: children are innocent, They're so innocent. So when you hear
- 12:18Speaker 1: something like this, Nancy, it really makes you question what
- 12:22Speaker 1: is going on here. And one of the things that
- 12:25Speaker 1: I noted was that the grandmother it seems very perplexed,
- 12:30Speaker 1: like what happened? Where is myselfie? The mother is being
- 12:35Speaker 1: very strict, you know, like this is not appropriate. What
- 12:39Speaker 1: does appropriate have to do with the fact that whatever
- 12:43Speaker 1: is going on, she does not She's insisting I do
- 12:47Speaker 1: not want to go back there. I won't And she's
- 12:50Speaker 1: very specific about what she's saying. And as Charyon McCullen
- 12:54Speaker 1: keeps mentioning Nancy, and this is significant. She goes to
- 12:59Speaker 1: the extreme of trying really hard to communicate to her dad,
- 13:04Speaker 1: here's what's happening. And she comes up with these letters.
- 13:07Speaker 1: And she's nine years old and has code words for
- 13:12Speaker 1: things that are going wrong in this home. So something
- 13:16Speaker 1: is wrong. You know what. I want to follow up
- 13:18Speaker 1: on that right now. Guys, Just so you know that
- 13:21Speaker 1: judges put a gag order on the parties in this case,
- 13:25Speaker 1: so there may be times where Sophie's dad, Michael and
- 13:29Speaker 1: their lawyer Jamie Graham out of Texas, may not be
- 13:33Speaker 1: able to answer our questions, but we're going to ask
- 13:35Speaker 1: him anyway. Michael Long, I know you can't comment on
- 13:40Speaker 1: any other parties such as your ex wife in this case.
- 13:44Speaker 1: I understand that. Can you tell me about the code
- 13:48Speaker 1: words and who devised the code words that your daughter
- 13:52Speaker 1: writes in her letters to you? Yeah? Absolutely so. Well,
- 13:56Speaker 1: after communication during the springbreak handoff was when we really
- 14:01Speaker 1: really first noticed that there was a problem with her
- 14:04Speaker 1: not wanting to go back, but we had sent her
- 14:06Speaker 1: back with some paper and envelopes and stamps and just
- 14:09Speaker 1: told her if she wants to mail letter, she can,
- 14:11Speaker 1: And the letter that ended up out there is the
- 14:13Speaker 1: first letter that we got back. And she included these
- 14:15Speaker 1: code words herself, so that if we're on a FaceTime
- 14:18Speaker 1: call and she's being monitored, she could say a word
- 14:21Speaker 1: that would alert me to call the police to know
- 14:23Speaker 1: that she's in trouble. What were the code words, Well,
- 14:26Speaker 1: the main word was mocking jay. That was her big
- 14:28Speaker 1: danger word. But she had like roses and pins and
- 14:31Speaker 1: all sorts of different things for different levels of issues
- 14:33Speaker 1: that could be going on. Did you say mocking J Yeah,
- 14:37Speaker 1: mocking J. Did she come up with that? Yeah, she'd
- 14:39Speaker 1: watched The Hunger Games and mocking J. Just something about
- 14:45Speaker 1: that character and standing up for herself stood out to her,
- 14:48Speaker 1: and that's what she chose to put at the bottom
- 14:50Speaker 1: of the letter. To think about it, Cheryl, that a
- 14:54Speaker 1: little girl nine years old, I mean when I was
- 14:57Speaker 1: nine years old, gosh, still riding my bike and looking
- 15:03Speaker 1: for bugs and the holdening fort side of pine straw
- 15:08Speaker 1: looking for fairies and trolls in the backyard. This little
- 15:12Speaker 1: girl is screaming not to go home with mommy, claiming
- 15:17Speaker 1: fiance is molesting her and that mommy knows it. And
- 15:22Speaker 1: now she's got to come up with code words. According
- 15:26Speaker 1: to dad, well, you know, a lot of children are
- 15:28Speaker 1: given a code word to make sure that the right
- 15:30Speaker 1: person picks them up from school, is Mamma kain't So
- 15:33Speaker 1: they do know codord. But it stands out for me
- 15:38Speaker 1: is she's specifically rump. If she uses dandelion or daisy,
- 15:44Speaker 1: that means she's in danger. She uses the word danger.
- 15:48Speaker 1: Next of all, this is a very smart child. This
- 15:52Speaker 1: is a child that knows what is having. She knows
- 15:55Speaker 1: it's wrong. She's told every single adult in her life
- 16:00Speaker 1: all now today, you're hurting me, Cheryl. She's told all
- 16:03Speaker 1: the adults, guys, whatever you think. Who's telling the truth.
- 16:09Speaker 1: The mom says, this is all a lie. The dad says,
- 16:11Speaker 1: oh no, it's not a lie. You can't be confused
- 16:15Speaker 1: about this. This child is in turmoil. This child is
- 16:21Speaker 1: at the end of her rope. This little girl. To
- 16:24Speaker 1: any of you have a little girl or a little boy,
- 16:26Speaker 1: I've got one of each. And I don't think I've
- 16:29Speaker 1: ever heard them scream the way this child is screaming. Listen, God,
- 16:42Speaker 1: what are you doing? No, I don't care. Now you
- 16:53Speaker 1: have to come who You won't open the door. You
- 16:56Speaker 1: won't open that when we're talking about I got the
- 16:59Speaker 1: door open, You get if you have a door open already. Yes,
- 17:16Speaker 1: do anything Kim he advised us to do. But it's
- 17:21Speaker 1: hurting me. I'm not hurting her to put off ID
- 17:27Speaker 1: I didn't ask you to put on a fit. You
- 17:30Speaker 1: are hearing the mom stating this is what you're this
- 17:33Speaker 1: is what our lawyer told us to do. She, the
- 17:37Speaker 1: little girl, is putting on the fit that you asked
- 17:39Speaker 1: her to put on. The dad saying he did not
- 17:43Speaker 1: ask her to put on a fit, joining me. The
- 17:46Speaker 1: attorney for dad, Michael Long, the dad of Sophie stand
- 17:49Speaker 1: for Sophie Jamie Graham with us trial lawyer out of Texas. Jamie,
- 17:55Speaker 1: did they have a fifty fifty split? What was the
- 17:58Speaker 1: custody arrangement going into this? Actually the cut the arrangement
- 18:02Speaker 1: was a standard possession order in Texas. That's that's every
- 18:05Speaker 1: other weekend basically Thursdays sixteen. I mean he only got
- 18:10Speaker 1: his daughter every other weekend. Yes, well what it was,
- 18:14Speaker 1: so it's not a fifty fifty split. The way it
- 18:17Speaker 1: works in Texas, we had we'd arranged because she'd moved
- 18:20Speaker 1: so far away, so we ended up getting her for
- 18:22Speaker 1: an extended period, like an extended week in the month.
- 18:25Speaker 1: We'd had her for summer's spring breaks and the holiday's
- 18:28Speaker 1: alternating years for Christmas. So that's the standard possession order
- 18:33Speaker 1: can either be the first and third weekend of the
- 18:36Speaker 1: month and fifth if it falls, or the second and
- 18:39Speaker 1: fourth And in our case, it was decided because of
- 18:42Speaker 1: the distance to take it easy on the kids and
- 18:44Speaker 1: actually making an extended period at one time a month.
- 18:47Speaker 1: Will you say, e standard period? What do you mean
- 18:48Speaker 1: by that? So like, well, well, let Menny interject real quickly.
- 18:53Speaker 1: As far as he had to give a fourteen day
- 18:55Speaker 1: notice with regards to getting a weekend out of the
- 18:58Speaker 1: month after she moved to Frisco, Texas, I didn't think
- 19:01Speaker 1: under the law that one parent could take the child
- 19:03Speaker 1: away from another parent, like move out of the state
- 19:06Speaker 1: or move far away. In Texas, we do have a
- 19:09Speaker 1: public policy of continuing frequent contact with both biological parents,
- 19:13Speaker 1: So we do have that and geographical restrictions are pretty
- 19:19Speaker 1: pretty much the norm here in this particular case. Initially
- 19:23Speaker 1: there was not a geographical restriction at all. Crime stories
- 19:35Speaker 1: with Nancy Grace. Okay, guys, we're talking about a little
- 19:41Speaker 1: girl who has created a huge, huge social media firestorm.
- 19:49Speaker 1: You may have heard hashtag stand with Sophie, a nine
- 19:52Speaker 1: year old little girl who refuses to go home to mommy,
- 19:55Speaker 1: claiming fiance molests her and that Mommy knows let me stay.
- 20:01Speaker 1: Mommy swears it's not true that the daughter's been put
- 20:04Speaker 1: up to this. I'm still not understanding this. It just
- 20:08Speaker 1: give me a yes no, Jamie Graham, if that's possible.
- 20:11Speaker 1: So Michael, Sophie's dad, only got Sophie every other weekend
- 20:19Speaker 1: and then holidays extend to visit over summer. Okay, is
- 20:23Speaker 1: that right? That's right. COVID has caused a little bit
- 20:26Speaker 1: of a disconnect with regard to the visitation schedule. So
- 20:29Speaker 1: essentially they had mom had sixty six days before the outcry,
- 20:34Speaker 1: and then after that Michael had a majority of the summer.
- 20:39Speaker 1: So it's been a little bit. Well, the answer is
- 20:43Speaker 1: the answer is that he's got to give fourteen days
- 20:46Speaker 1: notice for his weekend over the for the next month.
- 20:51Speaker 1: So he's got to give fourteen days notice in order
- 20:53Speaker 1: for him to get access. Leavi page Crime online dot
- 20:57Speaker 1: Com investigate every porter. Is the split that the dad
- 21:02Speaker 1: get Sophie before this every other weekend and mom has
- 21:07Speaker 1: her every other weekend and during the week. That is
- 21:11Speaker 1: a yes. No, I don't care if it's been disrupted
- 21:14Speaker 1: about COVID. I'm not asking about the summer break. I'm
- 21:17Speaker 1: asking you what is thus split? Nancy notes, No, what
- 21:23Speaker 1: it was is I got an extended week ind a
- 21:25Speaker 1: month except for obviously these holidays that have designated in
- 21:28Speaker 1: these extended periods. That was agreed to because of the
- 21:31Speaker 1: distance between us after she'd moved it down. So often
- 21:35Speaker 1: would you see Sophie during the school year prior to COVID?
- 21:39Speaker 1: I would see her three days a week on a
- 21:41Speaker 1: FaceTime call Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays for about ten minutes
- 21:46Speaker 1: each day. That was it. We'd get three a week. Okay,
- 21:50Speaker 1: So I think I finally got the answer. Leave page
- 21:53Speaker 1: please correct me if I'm wrong. The father in this case,
- 21:56Speaker 1: Michael Long, would see his nine year old daughter Sophie
- 21:58Speaker 1: every other weekend except for occasional three day weekends. Is
- 22:03Speaker 1: that correct? Leave? Please? Can somebody say yes, no, that's correct? Nancy? Okay,
- 22:08Speaker 1: thank you, thank you. Stop right there. I get it.
- 22:12Speaker 1: My point that I've been trying so desperately to make
- 22:16Speaker 1: is that Karen Stark, knowing what Sophie is telling him,
- 22:22Speaker 1: he would have to send her back to the home
- 22:25Speaker 1: for the majority of the time. I mean, under the split,
- 22:28Speaker 1: he gets her every other weekend, and here his daughter's
- 22:32Speaker 1: telling him she's being molested. I'm surprised he didn't go berserk. Yeah.
- 22:39Speaker 1: I don't understand it myself, Nancy, because under these circumstances
- 22:44Speaker 1: where she's letting him know she has code words and
- 22:46Speaker 1: she's letting him know she's in trouble, I don't understand
- 22:49Speaker 1: the courts. Actually, if that is that all he's been allowed,
- 22:55Speaker 1: it doesn't make any sense. I don't even understand how
- 22:57Speaker 1: the mother was allowed to lead to that far away
- 23:01Speaker 1: from him. None of this makes sense to me personally,
- 23:04Speaker 1: especially when a child is in danger, none whatsoever. Guys,
- 23:10Speaker 1: I agree with Karen STARKTT doesn't make sense with me.
- 23:12Speaker 1: With me is Sophie's dad, Michael Long and his lawyer
- 23:16Speaker 1: Jamie Graham out of Texas if you're just joining us,
- 23:20Speaker 1: I want you to hear what happens when Sophie is
- 23:24Speaker 1: told she's got to go back home with the mom
- 23:26Speaker 1: and the moms did did he live in? Is he
- 23:29Speaker 1: a live in? Jamie Graham? Yes he is. Did they
- 23:32Speaker 1: ever get married? I don't believe so, Michael, do you do?
- 23:35Speaker 1: You know? No? In fact, they were just it was
- 23:37Speaker 1: her boyfriend before we started in this most recent court
- 23:40Speaker 1: stuff and then it beginner fiancee. Are they really engaged
- 23:42Speaker 1: as you have an engagement ring? I have no idea. Okay,
- 23:46Speaker 1: all right, listen, I know that much. Roll it Sophie
- 23:50Speaker 1: and me defend. I don't know. I can't know. Why
- 23:54Speaker 1: can't you, guys? I can't. I don't want you know?
- 23:57Speaker 1: Can you can you want to talk to her? Only? Yes?
- 24:01Speaker 1: I do not want to come. I'm going Jack, there
- 24:08Speaker 1: be good to talk to me. We used to get
- 24:13Speaker 1: along really really good. We had a really really good
- 24:19Speaker 1: fun in my vehicle. If you can't get her to
- 24:20Speaker 1: come out of the vehicle at her own will we
- 24:22Speaker 1: have a really really good relationship. I dropped you off.
- 24:26Speaker 1: We had fun with playati we do on pipes and
- 24:29Speaker 1: stuff like hotept nothing something no, Dad, I had no,
- 24:36Speaker 1: I don't. I am not coming? But why because I don't?
- 24:47Speaker 1: Why not home? What you don't want to do? You
- 24:52Speaker 1: are hearing this child, nine year old Sophie, screaming not
- 24:56Speaker 1: to go home. Now to Jamie Graham, the attorney for
- 24:59Speaker 1: the dad, is it's my understanding that your client, Michael Long,
- 25:03Speaker 1: Sophie's dad, and his ex wife Kelly, have been in
- 25:06Speaker 1: a very long and tumultuous custody battle for Sophie since
- 25:11Speaker 1: their divorce in twenty fifteen. At first there was a
- 25:14Speaker 1: fifty fifty split, then the wife moved two hundred miles
- 25:18Speaker 1: away and got full custody. Is that correct? Will full
- 25:22Speaker 1: custody in Texas are a little different? We have a
- 25:25Speaker 1: we have a public policy of making sure that joint
- 25:27Speaker 1: managing conservatorship is in the best interests of the kids.
- 25:30Speaker 1: So that's a little different than you know when you
- 25:32Speaker 1: start talking about full custody. It's really different between the state. Okay,
- 25:36Speaker 1: So what does full custody meaning in Texas? Well? I
- 25:38Speaker 1: mean meaning primary They call it primary conservatorship and so
- 25:41Speaker 1: joint managing conservatorship. And when you have that, you have
- 25:46Speaker 1: the primary right to establish the domicile. That's that's our
- 25:50Speaker 1: custody case in Texas. Okay, but he's still even though
- 25:53Speaker 1: mom moved her two hundred miles away, your client, Michael Long,
- 25:56Speaker 1: could still see her every other weekend. It was just
- 25:58Speaker 1: very difficult. Yeah, it had been, but I mean they
- 26:01Speaker 1: have made some agreements. I mean they were doing very
- 26:04Speaker 1: well as far as making agreements with regard to a
- 26:07Speaker 1: possession and access for the kid. Is it true that
- 26:09Speaker 1: both parents have a history of calling CHOP Protective Services
- 26:12Speaker 1: on each other and that up to now none of
- 26:16Speaker 1: those complaints have been substantiated. I agree with that, with
- 26:19Speaker 1: the exception of one thing. Michael did not call CPS um.
- 26:24Speaker 1: I think he called CPS twice on the outcries UM.
- 26:28Speaker 1: With regard to the other CPS allegations, they were called
- 26:31Speaker 1: by doctors physicians that were you know in the in
- 26:35Speaker 1: the e R when Sophie went into BBR. Why did
- 26:38Speaker 1: Sophie go to they are called by Yeah, we're several
- 26:43Speaker 1: issues with regard to vagenitis UTI that Sophie had stop everything,
- 26:49Speaker 1: Stop everything. Cheryl McCollum, forensics expert, Cold Case Research Institute
- 26:55Speaker 1: Director Cheryl, I've had so many cases where little girls
- 27:01Speaker 1: have vaginal infections. There's no reason for a little girl
- 27:05Speaker 1: to have a vaginal infection. Okay, I mean sometimes you'll
- 27:09Speaker 1: hear somebody claim it's bubble bath. I don't know that
- 27:12Speaker 1: I buy into that. But inn oh, that's not right
- 27:18Speaker 1: right there. You're not even supposed to know you have
- 27:19Speaker 1: a vagina at that young age, I mean much. Let
- 27:23Speaker 1: us have an infection, right, her having a chronic infection,
- 27:27Speaker 1: her having abdominal pains, pains so bad they take her
- 27:32Speaker 1: to the emergency room. Again. The doctors should have made
- 27:36Speaker 1: a notification. There's no question about it. And Nancy, I
- 27:39Speaker 1: just wanted wa wait, wait, wait, wait wait. This is
- 27:41Speaker 1: the first time I'm hearing about vaginal infections. Okay. Now,
- 27:45Speaker 1: you may not want to hear about that, guys, but
- 27:48Speaker 1: this is a part of child molestation cases crime stories
- 28:04Speaker 1: with Nancy Grace. You may attribute this case to parents
- 28:10Speaker 1: hating each other after a divorce in a custody battle.
- 28:14Speaker 1: But when a little girl has vaginitis, if this is true,
- 28:19Speaker 1: and vaginal infections, that is physical evidence that something is
- 28:26Speaker 1: not right in this case. Let me understand this. Jamie Graham,
- 28:30Speaker 1: you are an attorney from Michael Long, the diat of Sophie.
- 28:35Speaker 1: When you become a lawyer, you swear on the Bible,
- 28:38Speaker 1: you take an oath as an officer of the court
- 28:41Speaker 1: to try your best to never do anything unethical. And
- 28:46Speaker 1: are you telling me, Jamie Graham, that this little girl
- 28:52Speaker 1: has gone to the doctor and she has been diagnosed
- 28:55Speaker 1: with vaginal infections. The evidence will show that for sure. Well,
- 29:00Speaker 1: that changes everything. To me, that just changes everything because
- 29:04Speaker 1: up until now, Cheryl McCollum, it could be argued that, oh,
- 29:10Speaker 1: the parents hate each other, they're using the little girl.
- 29:13Speaker 1: When the little girl is diagnosed with a vaginal infection,
- 29:19Speaker 1: repeat vaginal infections, that changes everything, Charyl. Forensic evidence that
- 29:24Speaker 1: is solid. There's no question about it, Nancy. And again,
- 29:30Speaker 1: let me just be real clear for people that are listening,
- 29:33Speaker 1: having physical forensic evidence is fantastic. But even if you
- 29:38Speaker 1: think this child made this up, if you still think that,
- 29:43Speaker 1: you have to believe there is something terribly wrong in
- 29:47Speaker 1: order for her to do that. So this case still
- 29:50Speaker 1: exactly needs to have everybody advocating for Sophie. Exactly why
- 29:56Speaker 1: throw this fit, Why the screaming they refus to get
- 30:00Speaker 1: out of the car if she's not telling the truth.
- 30:02Speaker 1: There's still something very wrong. Guys, I want you to
- 30:06Speaker 1: take a listen to our cut seven please, I can hear.
- 30:13Speaker 1: I don't is real life. Why don't you want to
- 30:16Speaker 1: hear anyone your I don't give the lost touching That's okay, No,
- 30:24Speaker 1: I don't know, because I do want to know who's
- 30:31Speaker 1: gonna touching? What is it mean? What does it happen?
- 30:38Speaker 1: And oh maybe feels that if a hie eavy like
- 30:45Speaker 1: is the hwhere I'm telling the truth. I'm not funny,
- 30:55Speaker 1: I am not and and hard. Even blood in her underwear.
- 31:12Speaker 1: I mean, I've seen a lot of cases where parents
- 31:16Speaker 1: coach the child to say something. But who would come
- 31:19Speaker 1: up with say there's blood in your underwear one morning
- 31:23Speaker 1: when you woke up. That's that's very hard for me
- 31:25Speaker 1: to imagine a parent telling a nine year old girl
- 31:29Speaker 1: to say that. And if this girl is not telling
- 31:32Speaker 1: the truth, Meryl Street, watch out because she is going
- 31:37Speaker 1: to win the Academy Award. I find it very difficult
- 31:41Speaker 1: to believe that this child is lying in the face
- 31:45Speaker 1: of her mother insisting she get out of the car,
- 31:48Speaker 1: and the grandmother too. I mean, you know, think about
- 31:52Speaker 1: it to you, Jamie Graham I'm sure you've tried a
- 31:55Speaker 1: lot of cases under cross examination. Liars crack. This little
- 32:00Speaker 1: girl never cracked. I couldn't agree with you more honestly, Okay,
- 32:05Speaker 1: I want to be fair and give you the side
- 32:08Speaker 1: of what the mom is saying. Jackie, Please play the
- 32:12Speaker 1: sound from the mom's side. Trust me, I know the
- 32:15Speaker 1: full story. He's done this repeatedly. It happened in twenty sixteen. Also,
- 32:19Speaker 1: he was accusing me of sexually abusing them, and my
- 32:22Speaker 1: dad is sexually abusing them. So okay, so I guess
- 32:24Speaker 1: this time. Like I said, the reason why we're out
- 32:26Speaker 1: here is because I got a call, I guess from
- 32:29Speaker 1: him saying, you know, the kids tested positive. I know,
- 32:33Speaker 1: trust me, I'm pretty pissed off about it because it
- 32:35Speaker 1: wasn't from me, and it wasn't from Jake, and they
- 32:38Speaker 1: spent an entire weekend with Michael, and then all of
- 32:40Speaker 1: a sudden he popped up positive for drugs. Like I
- 32:43Speaker 1: think Michael's ex husband, Michael's X husband here, Okay, Like,
- 32:48Speaker 1: I have my lawyer actively involved at this point because
- 32:51Speaker 1: he has called CPS like twenty times in the last
- 32:53Speaker 1: two weeks. How long ago was it the child tested positive? Yeah, yeah,
- 32:57Speaker 1: apparently he took him on last weekend when they were there,
- 33:02Speaker 1: and says, opens okay, let me understand what's happening, Jamie Graham,
- 33:07Speaker 1: you were hearing the sound of the mom Kelly. One
- 33:11Speaker 1: of the boys whose Sophie's brother. Actually they're little boys.
- 33:16Speaker 1: I mean they're under what there aren't they Twains tested
- 33:20Speaker 1: positive with cocaine in his system, and that is while
- 33:25Speaker 1: he's at the mom's house. She responds by saying, well,
- 33:28Speaker 1: he's been visiting his dad before, now seemingly pointing the
- 33:32Speaker 1: finger at dad. Tell me what that's about, Jamie Graham. Well,
- 33:35Speaker 1: there is there, there are, there is something to be
- 33:37Speaker 1: some friends to govern which shows that that Jack, the
- 33:40Speaker 1: middle child, did come up positive for cocaine and and
- 33:43Speaker 1: there want to use um. There will be also a video.
- 33:48Speaker 1: Quite frankly and super uncomfortable about talking to this talking
- 33:52Speaker 1: with regard to this, because boy, don't don't say anything
- 33:56Speaker 1: else here Levi page climb online. What's the business about
- 33:59Speaker 1: one of the boys, boys with cocaine in his system?
- 34:01Speaker 1: And a nutshell, Nancy, that is what the mother of
- 34:05Speaker 1: Sophie is a legend, pointing the finger at the father,
- 34:08Speaker 1: saying it's the father's small that happened while he was
- 34:11Speaker 1: in his father's custody, and of course of Michael is
- 34:15Speaker 1: denying that and saying it's not true. Nanc Michael, I'm
- 34:19Speaker 1: happy to talk to this one. Jump. Yeah. So they
- 34:22Speaker 1: were actually at a state with a person who had
- 34:24Speaker 1: been convicted of a drug felon and we had noticed
- 34:28Speaker 1: very very strange behaviors of Jack over our FaceTime call.
- 34:31Speaker 1: After had not having him for sixty six days, my
- 34:34Speaker 1: wife and Jack's grandma took him into a lab in
- 34:38Speaker 1: Cooma County actually had him do as you're a tolerant
- 34:41Speaker 1: care folical test on the first day that we got
- 34:43Speaker 1: him after again sixty six days. It was the result
- 34:46Speaker 1: of that that led to that call that you're you're
- 34:48Speaker 1: listening to. So, yeah, he did test positive for cocaine
- 34:52Speaker 1: and marijuana. We brought us to the authorities, the Advisor
- 34:55Speaker 1: and advance, and that's what the call you're looking at
- 34:57Speaker 1: as the result of Once the police showed up maccrime
- 35:01Speaker 1: online dot com, where is the case stand? Now? You've
- 35:04Speaker 1: had over a quarter of a million people join hashtag
- 35:09Speaker 1: stand with Sophie Nancy. Actually a new bombshell in this case,
- 35:13Speaker 1: a negotiated settlement was reached out of court with no judge,
- 35:17Speaker 1: no trial hearing involved. I just booked with Kelly Long's attorney,
- 35:20Speaker 1: David Rownson. Here's what he told me. We did have
- 35:24Speaker 1: a hearing scheduled in the courthouse, although we didn't end
- 35:27Speaker 1: up having a hearing, But yeah, things have transpired and
- 35:31Speaker 1: changed since, certainly as of Friday. Instead of going in
- 35:35Speaker 1: front of a judge, you guys have met outside of
- 35:38Speaker 1: court and have come up with an agreement that is correct.
- 35:43Speaker 1: And I'd say that's pretty typical of family law cases.
- 35:48Speaker 1: The parties, the attorneys, and the parties work to see
- 35:55Speaker 1: if a solution, if some sort of agreement can be
- 35:57Speaker 1: reached to help children, and the judge is encouraged people
- 36:02Speaker 1: to see if there's a way to do that in
- 36:03Speaker 1: almost every case and this one's no different. And so
- 36:06Speaker 1: I think the parties and the attorneys worked diligently for
- 36:10Speaker 1: hours to come up with an agreement temporarily, of course,
- 36:16Speaker 1: nothing is permanent here to try to at first, honestly,
- 36:22Speaker 1: the first priority was on the health of the kids,
- 36:28Speaker 1: and I think the parties reached an agreement that was
- 36:32Speaker 1: and again I stress this was a voluntary agreement. No
- 36:34Speaker 1: one had to agree to it. There's been some discussion
- 36:38Speaker 1: out there that it may not have been voluntary, but
- 36:40Speaker 1: it absolutely was. It was something both parties, the attorneys
- 36:45Speaker 1: felt like at this time was in the interests of
- 36:48Speaker 1: the kids, all right. So in this negotiated settlement, Kelly
- 36:52Speaker 1: immediately receives multiple unsupervised extended visitations with Jack and Lucas.
- 36:58Speaker 1: Kelly will begin a reunification says with Sophie. The agreement
- 37:02Speaker 1: also says that all the children will begin counseling immediately
- 37:05Speaker 1: to help them navigate this extremely difficult time. Plus, Kelly
- 37:08Speaker 1: will receive frequent, ongoing communication with their children while they
- 37:12Speaker 1: are with Michael. Is there going to be a smooth
- 37:16Speaker 1: movement of bringing Kelly back into their lives. Yes, that
- 37:19Speaker 1: is absolutely the plan. And I'd rather not be specific
- 37:24Speaker 1: because of some of the things that have gone on
- 37:26Speaker 1: in the past with people being involved in these you know,
- 37:31Speaker 1: her having the children, and I'd rather not make it specific.
- 37:34Speaker 1: But yes, unequivocally, she's going to have time with the
- 37:39Speaker 1: children coming up, starting with the boys. They are going
- 37:44Speaker 1: to be participating in counseling that will include her, that
- 37:47Speaker 1: will also include Michael and working to reunify and bring
- 37:56Speaker 1: the kids back to the place with their mom that
- 37:59Speaker 1: they have been erupted over the past month or so. So,
- 38:04Speaker 1: as you go through this process, is there a real
- 38:08Speaker 1: plan at unifying, Oh, is there a stairstep like this
- 38:12Speaker 1: month they'll have x amount of time? Is it structured
- 38:14Speaker 1: like that or is it really going to be based
- 38:16Speaker 1: on what a counselor recommends. It's hard to answer your
- 38:20Speaker 1: question exactly. No, there is not a specific, say, you know,
- 38:25Speaker 1: six month stairstep plan or anything like that yet. The
- 38:30Speaker 1: counselors will be playing a role in that, as well
- 38:34Speaker 1: as the parties, as well as the attorneys, as well
- 38:37Speaker 1: as the attorneys. The amicust attorney to the new amicist
- 38:40Speaker 1: attorney has been appointed, as well as the guardian ad
- 38:42Speaker 1: litem another accounts or an attorney role in the case
- 38:45Speaker 1: that's been appointed by the court to advocate for the
- 38:49Speaker 1: best interests of the kids, all of them, all of
- 38:51Speaker 1: us will be participating in that how that goes forward.
- 38:57Speaker 1: So it's kind of hard to say exactly what's going
- 38:59Speaker 1: to happen as far as the exact time. You know,
- 39:01Speaker 1: we can't stay right now that two months from now,
- 39:04Speaker 1: Kelly will have this much time, and Michael will have
- 39:06Speaker 1: this much time because there's still a lot of fun
- 39:09Speaker 1: answered questions about the health of the kids, and they
- 39:14Speaker 1: want to have a chance to do that first. And
- 39:16Speaker 1: I think the kids, you know, I think it's important.
- 39:18Speaker 1: I mean the kids. You know, we believe strongly that
- 39:25Speaker 1: the kids have been I want to use the right words,
- 39:31Speaker 1: they've been that there's been coaching, that there's been things
- 39:34Speaker 1: going on that would interfere with their relationship with their mother,
- 39:37Speaker 1: and we want that stop. And I think it's going
- 39:40Speaker 1: to take some time for the experts, the counselors to
- 39:46Speaker 1: work with the kids so that that's not a problem
- 39:49Speaker 1: going forward, and before she has, you know, say back
- 39:54Speaker 1: to a primary custody arrangement that's going to need to happen.
- 39:58Speaker 1: Now you mentioned the amecist brief and the attorney. This
- 40:02Speaker 1: actually has the same weight as it would if a
- 40:05Speaker 1: judge handed it down by accepting the terms of the
- 40:08Speaker 1: agreement that were negotiated by both parties. The judge signed
- 40:12Speaker 1: off on it, and it's got teeth right. Absolutely, it's
- 40:15Speaker 1: the best of both worlds in a sense. It is
- 40:17Speaker 1: an agreement that voluntarily was entered into. And for example,
- 40:22Speaker 1: I have to say. I put it out there that
- 40:25Speaker 1: the mister Long voluntarily agreed that my client will have
- 40:31Speaker 1: unsupervised time with the children. That you know that he
- 40:37Speaker 1: felt like that was in the best interests of these kids.
- 40:40Speaker 1: And I think that's important to remember that he's choosing this.
- 40:44Speaker 1: But as you say, it did, it did does now
- 40:51Speaker 1: have the effect of a court order because the judge
- 40:54Speaker 1: then signed the written agreement, so we are bound to
- 40:57Speaker 1: follow it. So the fact that he thought that that
- 41:00Speaker 1: was in their best interests, he is now bound to
- 41:06Speaker 1: follow that. And I think it's it's it's very instructive
- 41:12Speaker 1: to think about it in the sense that all of
- 41:14Speaker 1: the medical providers, the experts that have been in taking
- 41:19Speaker 1: a look at this case now for two months, medical providers, nurses, doctors,
- 41:28Speaker 1: the amarchists who was involved. There have been CPS people involved,
- 41:35Speaker 1: detectives and police departments. There is no case against Kelly Long.
- 41:41Speaker 1: They've all looked at it. They don't see what Michael
- 41:46Speaker 1: Long claimed was there. And I I have a feeling
- 41:50Speaker 1: I know what he would say to that that it
- 41:52Speaker 1: was something from a child. But again, everyone looked carefully
- 41:58Speaker 1: at this and there's no abuse. There's no evidence out there,
- 42:05Speaker 1: and I think to me, voluntariness of reflecting that we're
- 42:10Speaker 1: going to work towards reunifying the children with Kelly. I
- 42:15Speaker 1: would say that's a reflection of understanding that it is
- 42:19Speaker 1: best for the kids to be with their mom, that
- 42:23Speaker 1: that's not a danger to these children. And I think
- 42:26Speaker 1: that voluntary agreement that's now a court order, I think
- 42:30Speaker 1: it signifies that. I think it absolutely signals that they
- 42:36Speaker 1: need both parents. They need to be with both parents.
- 42:39Speaker 1: There's not a danger from either parent. How does Kelly
- 42:42Speaker 1: feel about this right now? After the last month or so,
- 42:45Speaker 1: I know it's been very hectic and tormenting at times.
- 42:49Speaker 1: Is she satisfied with this agreement? She is? Just as
- 42:55Speaker 1: I said, it was voluntary, but Michael is voluntary for Kelly.
- 42:58Speaker 1: Is she happy with where things are at. No, she
- 43:01Speaker 1: doesn't think that things should be where they're at with
- 43:03Speaker 1: the kids. She doesn't believe she should ever have been
- 43:05Speaker 1: denied the right to be with her children, to have
- 43:08Speaker 1: them with her. No, but she understands where things are at,
- 43:15Speaker 1: and she wants to be with her children more than anything.
- 43:18Speaker 1: She thinks that, you know, trust me, she misses them greatly.
- 43:24Speaker 1: You know, the emotions that she's you know, had to
- 43:29Speaker 1: deal with over the past month, not seeing them, not
- 43:32Speaker 1: being allowed to see them. You know, it's been very
- 43:37Speaker 1: difficult for her, very it's been I would say heartbreaking
- 43:41Speaker 1: at times. She's really struggled. She's strong, and you know,
- 43:48Speaker 1: she's excited as anything. She's going to be seeing them
- 43:50Speaker 1: real soon. And she's very excited about that. And I think,
- 43:56Speaker 1: you know, she can't wait to start that mom that
- 44:00Speaker 1: she has been for all these years in their lives,
- 44:04Speaker 1: and this agreement will give her that chance again. Wow.
- 44:07Speaker 1: But it sounds like after all of the after everything's
- 44:10Speaker 1: said and done, we're looking at six to eight weeks
- 44:14Speaker 1: of the children being separated from their mother in a
- 44:16Speaker 1: very overly dramatic way for the whole world to see.
- 44:19Speaker 1: But there were some very very real accusations made by
- 44:24Speaker 1: a child by Sophie. And I am going to assume
- 44:28Speaker 1: at this point, since there is this agreement in place,
- 44:32Speaker 1: that we're now saying this didn't happen. I think at
- 44:36Speaker 1: this point I'm not really I can't. I'm not the expert,
- 44:39Speaker 1: you know. I mean, I can tell you my client unequivocally,
- 44:44Speaker 1: unequalvoically believed it didn't happen. You know, it's hard to
- 44:50Speaker 1: say in that sense of from a child's perspective. I mean,
- 44:55Speaker 1: like I said, I can tell you my client says
- 44:57Speaker 1: that it did not happen. She did not allow those
- 45:03Speaker 1: types of things to ever happen. And you know, I
- 45:09Speaker 1: think that leads you to the potential conclusion, which is,
- 45:14Speaker 1: again we're a bit premature on in the court process,
- 45:18Speaker 1: but from Kelly's perspective, if you didn't, if it didn't happen,
- 45:25Speaker 1: why would a child say that? Well, you have to
- 45:30Speaker 1: look at whether that child's whether that idea was planted
- 45:33Speaker 1: in that child's mind. And as hard as that is
- 45:37Speaker 1: to want to believe, I think what our position is,
- 45:43Speaker 1: that's what happened here, and you have to look at
- 45:47Speaker 1: why that would happen. Why would somebody make those claims
- 45:52Speaker 1: and then encourage people to give money. You know, it's
- 46:00Speaker 1: sad to think, but that's where the conclusion leads you.
- 46:04Speaker 1: Are there still websites trying to solicit funds from the
- 46:08Speaker 1: public on behalf of the children or Sophie. I'm aware, yes,
- 46:15Speaker 1: will they be coming down anytime soon? The agreement in
- 46:22Speaker 1: the court order did not expressly state that they had
- 46:24Speaker 1: to know, sometimes you have to deal with agreements that
- 46:29Speaker 1: don't include everything you want, right put it that way, Okay,
- 46:32Speaker 1: So you're dealing with these one at a time. So
- 46:34Speaker 1: in the grand scheme of things, right now, today you
- 46:37Speaker 1: guys have a handshake agreement. The family is family being
- 46:42Speaker 1: the children with both parents. They're going to try to
- 46:45Speaker 1: co parent, unify, get the children back seeing both parents
- 46:50Speaker 1: on a regular basis, having a healthy, happy relationship as
- 46:53Speaker 1: we move into the holidays. Is that what I'm hearing.
- 46:56Speaker 1: That's the goal, that's the plan. Um. I think two
- 47:01Speaker 1: things I would mention UM. I kind of hesitated around
- 47:04Speaker 1: the concept, but I one of the things I deal
- 47:07Speaker 1: with in my work at times, and it's a real thing, UM,
- 47:10Speaker 1: and it is something we're concerned about in this case.
- 47:13Speaker 1: Is the concept of parental alienation. UM. When a parent
- 47:16Speaker 1: chooses to you know, uh, coach, manipulate, put ideas in
- 47:23Speaker 1: a child's head against another parent. UM. It can have
- 47:27Speaker 1: some really damaging effects for children. And I think that's
- 47:30Speaker 1: one of the things that that our experts in this
- 47:32Speaker 1: case are going to be looking at try to deal
- 47:34Speaker 1: with with these kids. And that's it's it's sad that
- 47:37Speaker 1: it happens um. And I think that's something that that
- 47:42Speaker 1: you know, we want to make sure has stopped, and
- 47:45Speaker 1: that's why we're putting things in place to make sure
- 47:47Speaker 1: it doesn't occur going forward. The other thing is the
- 47:50Speaker 1: you know, the um, the way that that mister Long
- 47:57Speaker 1: handled things. Um, if you really think about it, the
- 48:02Speaker 1: claims that he made that, uh, you know, how did
- 48:06Speaker 1: he handle it? I don't think it's been best for
- 48:10Speaker 1: the kids. He didn't enroll them in school, he didn't
- 48:14Speaker 1: take them to counseling. He had them for a month,
- 48:16Speaker 1: and he didn't do any of that. Um. He I
- 48:19Speaker 1: think I think there was there was, you know, some
- 48:24Speaker 1: lip service to to some things, but nothing of any
- 48:26Speaker 1: substance occurred in the entire four weeks he had the kids.
- 48:30Speaker 1: And if you're really concerned about children, you would take
- 48:35Speaker 1: actions like those, you would take actions, and he didn't.
- 48:39Speaker 1: And Kelly is demonstrated for basically all these kids' lives
- 48:44Speaker 1: that that's what she did. She took care of them.
- 48:48Speaker 1: She you know, she was the one taking care of
- 48:52Speaker 1: these kids. And it's our goal, obviously, is to return
- 48:59Speaker 1: that and restore that. And I think that the public's
- 49:03Speaker 1: perception of things was skewed and the real story of
- 49:08Speaker 1: what's gone on with Kelly. There were false accusations made
- 49:13Speaker 1: and the kids have suffered, and we're working hard so
- 49:18Speaker 1: that they'll be restored to the way it was where
- 49:20Speaker 1: they were getting what they needed in the parenting name.
- 49:23Speaker 1: And there you have it, Nancy. Both parties agreed to
- 49:25Speaker 1: a negotiated settlement out of court with no judge or
- 49:28Speaker 1: trial hearing involvement. It was a mediation that didn't involve
- 49:31Speaker 1: any testimony or evidence from either party. And one more thing,
- 49:35Speaker 1: the amicust attorney strongly recommended that the children's mother, Kelly Long,
- 49:40Speaker 1: be the sole conservator. We wait as justice on a
- 49:45Speaker 1: false Nancy Grace com story sided off