Are My Kids Safe?

The Situation

Recently, a client contacted me via video conference panicked because her children, ages 10 and 13, told her that their father wasn't providing them with masks when they went out into stores. When confronted about it, he told her that she was taking things too far and was being overly cautious and paranoid. She already felt her ex-husband was too lax in Covid Precautions, but when they told her he was taking them to places where there were lots of people at a cook-out, she had to do something.

She wanted to curtail his visitations until after the pandemic was over and to do that, she needed proof that what the children were saying was true.

The Assessment

When it comes to your kids, you can never be too careful. We took the case. This was going to be a two team job. One to scour social media and the other to follow them around and take pictures.

We Went to Work

Fortunately, we were able to get to work quickly as it was his weekend with the kids. He lived in a large apartment complex, so seeing the same car more than once wouldn’t be that big of a deal. Within minutes of picking the kids up, they were at the local grocery store, none of them wearing masks. Well, most stores suggest it, don’t require it. Then they went to Costco, where masks are required. The team member followed them in (we have a corporate account for just such situations) and video taped the father telling the kids that they could take their masks off.

He was even overheard/taped telling the kids that the whole situation was being blown out of proportion. After they spent nearly an hour going form aisle to aisle, they got into the car and then to his parent’s house, who were clearly having a cook-out.

The team member counted fifteen cars in the drive-way and on the street of the house, in the cul-de-sac. Parking down the street, he got out his drone and did a fly-over the house. People in the backyard looked up and waved. The team member counted about thirty-six people, none of them wearing masks or practicing safe distances.

Meanwhile, the cyber team member pulled up pictures from the grandparent’s friend’s social media page, where the kids were hanging out with their cousins, no masks and no social distance. The mother later informed us that these cousins live in Upstate New York, the hotbed of Covid infections.

All Safe

Armed with the team-member statements, videos and pictures, the mother was able to get a temporary injunction prohibiting the father from physical visits with the children until the pandemic crisis was over.