The Ambrose Papers #11: What Connecticut Family Court Did to the Children is a Travesty

They don't live with her anymore.

Edward Kim has 30 years of experience in capital markets, corporate advisory, public policy and online media. He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a BS in Materials Science and Engineering. Mr. Kim is also shocked at what Connecticut Family Court has done to the children of Karen Riordan. 

By Edward Kim

I’ve been following Frank Parlato’s well-researched series on the horrible treatment of Karen Riordan and, most tragically, of her children by the Connecticut Family Court system and the Connecticut Department of Children and Families. 

I reached out to Frank to congratulate him for his journalism and to encourage him to keep pursuing justice and the truth. I volunteered to contribute a personal account that will hopefully complement Frank’s reporting.

I have known Karen for 40 years, since we were teenagers. The way she has been characterized by Chris Ambrose and his enablers is shocking for its venom, its untruthfulness and its apparently complete acceptance by the court system.

Chris Ambrose does not want his children to see their mother.

Karen was a special education teacher for over 16 years in Connecticut and is the mother of three children, M (14 years old), M (14) and S (11), whom she and Chris adopted. Each of the children has special needs, and Karen has been ideally suited to care for them. 

She has largely raised the children on her own, with little to no help from Chris, who was living in California working as a tv series screenwriter — a job he apparently lost amid a cloud of plagiarism charges.

Karen with youngest son, S

Chris returning to Connecticut did nothing for the relationship, which was a “MINO” anyway (marriage in name only). Karen had effectively been a single mother from the moment they adopted the children, and it became obvious to her that her future with the kids was going to be better without Chris as part of it.

Chris made it clear to Karen that any attempt to divorce him and take the children would be met with fierce resistance. Once Karen moved out with the children, Chris followed up on his threats by conceiving a web of lies, perhaps drawing upon his experience as a television screenwriter, and was able to somehow convince a Connecticut court that Karen should have no contact with her children.

He painted her as a monster, as someone who was cruel to the children, as someone who is psychologically unstable, as someone who worked actively to brainwash the children and alienate them against him. 

Karen with her three children – M, M and S before Chris came back from Los Angeles and somehow convinced Connecticut Family Court to place the children with the father and order no contact with the mother who raised them their entire lives.

None of these accusations are true — Every single one is a lie — But the judge in the case, Judge Jane Grossman, unilaterally stripped Karen of her legal custody of her children based on a single false affidavit from Chris Ambrose.

Family Court Judge Jane Grossman ordered the removal of three happy children living with their mother, where they wanted to live, to go to the home of an abusive father. She never met the children whose lives she upended and made miserable.

Karen was NEVER permitted to testify on her own behalf, NEVER permitted to cross examine, NEVER permitted to call her own witnesses, NEVER permitted to present evidence. Karen NEVER got to speak at all.

What kind of justice is that? What kind of court system enables this kind of miscarriage to occur? 

Grossman granted Chris temporary custody of the children without any due process, without any evidence of wrongdoing or harm on Karen’s part, based on an affidavit that Chris submitted — not exactly a neutral party.

The children each stated that they wished to stay with Karen, they don’t want to live with Chris and they don’t feel safe with Chris, who was a virtual stranger to them after being away for most of their lives.

The past year and a half have been a nightmare for Karen as she has fought fruitlessly to get her children back. 

What has been most striking to me about her ordeal is that the welfare and desires of her children have been completely ignored by the institutions that are in place to protect them.

There is a Guardian ad Litem (GAL) assigned by the Connecticut Family Court who has been attached to this case from the beginning named Jocelyn Hurwitz. 

According to the Connecticut Judicial Branch:  “The court appoints a GAL to ensure the child’s best interests are represented during the course of the parties’ dispute.”

The Guardian ad Litem, Jocelyn Hurwitz, is paid her $400 per hour fee by the father, Chris Ambrose. Hurwitz  has consistently supported his plan to eliminate the mother from the children’s lives, strongly suggesting that money not justice rules the day in CT Family Court.

The Child’s Best Interests?

By this simplest of definitions, Hurwitz has been a complete failure. She has not looked out for the children’s best interests. In fact, the children’s interests have been ignored throughout this entire process. They have each unequivocally stated that they want to live with Karen and that they are mistreated and even abused by Chris.

If Hurwitz has looked out for anyone’s interests, it has been Chris who has benefited the most from her involvement in this case.

Moreover, the Department of Children and Families (DCF), whose sole mission is to “keep children and youth safe,” has done nothing to intervene despite S the 11-year-old boy, accusing Chris of touching his penis multiple times over the course of several months. 

I was a participant on a phone call involving Karen, her attorney, at least two psychiatrists who were familiar with the case and several members of DCF, including Stacey Falk and Jamie Isaacs. I was on the call along with several other friends of Karen, who were invited to be on the call as support.

On this call, the charges of abuse by Chris were brought up and dismissed by the DCF team, who said that it wasn’t abuse because the touching had taken place “over the clothes.”

I had kept my silence on the call up to this point. I shouted, “What would it take? Would what it take for it be considered abuse?”

No one answered me.

I was dumbfounded. Here was the DCF, who is supposed to be protecting children, simply brushing away a credible charge of abuse based on some ridiculous definition. The psychiatrists on the call also expressed their astonishment.

Ask yourself: if your spouse was touching your son’s penis through his clothes, what would you call it?

Karen’s children have been mistreated and abused, and Karen has been portrayed completely inaccurately.

It’s a travesty of justice that the children are being forced to stay with a man who has shown no love or concern for them, with a man who is using these children as ammunition in his battle with Karen.

At the very least, the children should be removed immediately from Chris’s house and placed with a third party. Karen wants her children back, of course, but her primary concern is their safety and well being. 

The devotion with which Karen has been a mother to these children is a topic of much discussion among our mutual friends. Karen met the challenge of doing this largely as a single parent, and the children have thrived under her nurturing care. 

The past year and a half have been a nightmare for the children, and it’s impossible to estimate the long-term damage that’s already been done to them since they were taken away from their mother.

The only way that further harm can be averted is if the children are no longer in the custody of Chris Ambrose.

Thank you, Frank, for the opportunity to contribute my thoughts to your reports.

See the other stories in the series and please stay tuned for Part #12

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The Ambrose Papers Part 1: ‘Secrets and Lies’: TV Writer Chris Ambrose and the Connecticut Family Court Puts Children in Danger

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[…] #10: The Children Cry, While Money Drives Connecticut Family Court – as Daddy Ambrose Pays 11 The Ambrose Papers #11: What Connecticut Family Court Did to the Children is a Travesty Frank […]

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[…] The Ambrose Papers #8: Art Reveals Life: Hurwitz, Caverly & Grossman, the Money-Driven Monsters of CT Family Court The Ambrose Papers Part #9: Dolcefino Blasts Judge Adelman Over ‘Gag Order’ on Mother; Media, After Reinforcing No Contact With Children! The Ambrose Papers #10: The Children Cry, While Money Drives Connecticut Family Court – as Daddy Ambrose Pays The Ambrose Papers #11: What Connecticut Family Court Did to the Children is a Travesty […]

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[…] The Ambrose Papers #8: Art Reveals Life: Hurwitz, Caverly & Grossman, the Money-Driven Monsters of CT Family Court The Ambrose Papers Part #9: Dolcefino Blasts Judge Adelman Over ‘Gag Order’ on Mother; Media, After Reinforcing No Contact With Children! The Ambrose Papers #10: The Children Cry, While Money Drives Connecticut Family Court – as Daddy Ambrose Pays The Ambrose Papers #11: What Connecticut Family Court Did to the Children is a Travesty […]

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[…] The Ambrose Papers #7: Forensic Examiner Investigating Image of Ambrose’s Hard Drive – Charges May Be Coming for Father Who Allegedly Abuses Children The Ambrose Papers #8: Art Reveals Life: Hurwitz, Caverly & Grossman, the Money-Driven Monsters of CT Family CourtThe Ambrose Papers Part #9: Dolcefino Blasts Judge Adelman Over ‘Gag Order’ on Mother; Media, After Reinforcing No Contact With Children!The Ambrose Papers #10: The Children Cry, While Money Drives Connecticut Family Court – as Daddy Ambrose PaysThe Ambrose Papers #11: What Connecticut Family Court Did to the Children is a Travesty […]

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[…] The Ambrose Papers #8: Art Reveals Life: Hurwitz, Caverly & Grossman, the Money-Driven Monsters of CT Family Court The Ambrose Papers Part #9: Dolcefino Blasts Judge Adelman Over ‘Gag Order’ on Mother; Media, After Reinforcing No Contact With Children! The Ambrose Papers #10: The Children Cry, While Money Drives Connecticut Family Court – as Daddy Ambrose Pays The Ambrose Papers #11: What Connecticut Family Court Did to the Children is a Travesty […]

Anonymous
Anonymous
2 years ago

What has been most striking to me about her ordeal is that the welfare and desires of her children have been completely ignored by the institutions that are in place to protect them. – Ed Kim’s words here ring true! Can’t understand how a mother can be kept from her children. Please keep investigating this travesty!

Ellen Halloran
Ellen Halloran
2 years ago

This is a gross injustice to Karen, but more importantly, to her three beautiful children. I can only imagine the horror of being wrenched from my home and loving mother, and being made to live with a complete stranger.

All decision-makers in this case need to be taken to task, investigated, and all decisions overturned with a brand new FAIR process in place. As a former career teacher, this trauma to these children will take years to heal from, if they heal at all. That healing must start now. Shame on the judge in this case, and on the “guardian” ad litem. Thank you, Mr. Kim, for keeping this grave injustice in the public eye. Only then might actual justice prevail.

Stephen Shrader
Stephen Shrader
2 years ago

Where’s the FBI?

Marlena Anderson-Harris

Please Lord, release Karen’s children to her safe and loving care immediately!!!

Wendy Wells
Wendy Wells
2 years ago

“Karen was NEVER permitted to testify on her own behalf, NEVER permitted to cross examine, NEVER permitted to call her own witnesses, NEVER permitted to present evidence. Karen NEVER got to speak at all.” This is one massive Constitutional violation after another, besides the clear parasitic feeding frenzy by all the court actors. And this same formulaic scam is said to be hurting upwards of one million Americans every year??? This needs to be declared a state of emergency and the family courts need to be suspended until a solution is implemented and many are jailed.

Elliot Solomon
Elliot Solomon
2 years ago
Reply to  Wendy Wells

The State of Connecticut is set up to traffic children as a side show to divorce. The system is operating perfectly, as designed by those who profit from it. The Governor of Connecticut is powerless to reign in the powers of the state pedo ring. Welcome to Gulag Connecticut, where laws don’t matter and no one can hear the children scream.

Wendy Wells
Wendy Wells
2 years ago
Reply to  Elliot Solomon

That is exactly what it feels like.

Anonymous
Anonymous
2 years ago

A heartbreaking story.

If you considered this site to be “journalism”, in the true sense of the word, I cannot trust your perspective. Are you new here?

NFW
NFW
2 years ago
Reply to  Anonymous

‘Are you new here?’

Does that imply that you are not? If so, and you feel that Frank is untrustworthy — why are you here?

And why not attribute the same degree of discernment as to what is ‘true’ within a journalistic piece, let alone a publication’s ‘house-style’— to both writer and other readers of this site? Are you different in some way? Do you have some kind of heightened superior access to truth than the rest of us? Some über understanding of morality?

For what it’s worth, I cannot trust your perspective because of your condescension mostly, and because you weakly conflate your obvious dislike of Frank with the matter at hand. No wonder such evil exists in the world with such careless attention and attitude paid to it.

Thank you, Mr. Kim, for your insight and information, and above all for doing what you can to help these poor children and their Mum.

God speed their reunion.

Curious
2 years ago

I have to wonder what teachers, school staff, etc are saying as far as the current situation? Surely, if there was valid concern over the safety of these children, school personnel would be reaching out to authorities?

Stephen Shrader
Stephen Shrader
2 years ago
Reply to  Curious

I imagine Chris is ‘home-schooling’ in the ‘best-interest’ of the kids.

DCF call recording ?
DCF call recording ?
2 years ago

What are the next steps to free these children from this monster ? Molestation is not considered molestation in CT if the perpetrator molests the child through their clothes??? Every pedophile on the planet will be moving to CT very soon. This is all so very unsettling and makes me sick to my stomach for these children. What remedy does the mother and these children have available to them next? Do they just sit and wait for the judge to retire? Surely the DCF call was recorded, can a copy of that be obtained and shared with the world to further expose the insanity of this matter ?

About the Author

Frank Parlato is an investigative journalist.

His work has been cited in hundreds of news outlets, like The New York Times, The Daily Mail, VICE News, CBS News, Fox News, New York Post, New York Daily News, Oxygen, Rolling Stone, People Magazine, The Sun, The Times of London, CBS Inside Edition, among many others in all five continents.

His work to expose and take down NXIVM is featured in books like “Captive” by Catherine Oxenberg, “Scarred” by Sarah Edmonson, “The Program” by Toni Natalie, and “NXIVM. La Secta Que Sedujo al Poder en México” by Juan Alberto Vasquez.

Parlato has been prominently featured on HBO’s docuseries “The Vow” and was the lead investigator and coordinating producer for Investigation Discovery’s “The Lost Women of NXIVM.” Parlato was also credited in the Starz docuseries "Seduced" for saving 'slave' women from being branded and escaping the sex-slave cult known as DOS.

Additionally, Parlato’s coverage of the group OneTaste, starting in 2018, helped spark an FBI investigation, which led to indictments of two of its leaders in 2023.

Parlato appeared on the Nancy Grace Show, Beyond the Headlines with Gretchen Carlson, Dr. Oz, American Greed, Dateline NBC, and NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, where Parlato conducted the first-ever interview with Keith Raniere after his arrest. This was ironic, as many credit Parlato as one of the primary architects of his arrest and the cratering of the cult he founded.

Parlato is a consulting producer and appears in TNT's The Heiress and the Sex Cult, which premiered on May 22, 2022. Most recently, he consulted and appeared on Tubi's "Branded and Brainwashed: Inside NXIVM," which aired January, 2023.

IMDb — Frank Parlato

Contact Frank with tips or for help.
Phone / Text: (305) 783-7083
Email: frankreport76@gmail.com

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