Denise Burch Denise H Burch, Denise Burch Family Law, Denise Burch Florence Alabama, Labrisco Cook, Judge Billy Jackson, Sarah Hendershot, Burch Law Firm,120 South Poplar Street Florence, AL 35630 Unfairly stole our guardianship, then relocated our relative to an potentially unsafe environment. Florence, Alabama

Heres our Story of Corruption and Deceit by Lauderdale County DHR and Family Court, Judge Jackson presiding, Denise Burch, Labrisco Cook, Sarah Hendershot:

T had a son, and it was clear from the beginning to herself and to everyone around her that she was a terrible mom with no values, morals, or instincts. Ts son spent most days at my sister Wandas home, where Wanda made sure he was clean and fed.

About 2 years later, T had a daughter. Knowing that she was not mother material, T gave Dee to my sister Wanda immediately. In fact, Wanda actually took Dee home right from the hospital with full custody.

About 2 years later, my sister had a daughter of her own.  Dee now had a younger sister!

Unfortunately, Dee had 3 challenges. First, she is mentally challenged, with an IQ of about 80, secondly, she has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (Starting at the young age of 18 months, Dee would hoard food, among other things, causing bugs, etc) and third, she has Obsessive Defiance Disorder (Dee could look right in your face while pouring a soda all over the table, all
the while swearing that she wasnt doing it.)

My sister Wanda did the best she could with her 2 girls, but in 2001 my sister Wanda died at 45 from complications from diabetes.

Dees natural mother T, who gave up all parental rights many years before, moved in to my late sister Wandas home under the guise of helping the husband with the raising of the girls. In reality, T never held a job and Dee was getting a $550 monthly check for SS Disability, which was all T was concerned about. This created a dangerous environment for the girls in many ways. First of all, they received no parental guidance of any kind regarding anything healthy. T showed Dee how to d****e and how to m********e. T let the girls eat whatever they wanted, behave however they wanted, not bathe, grow out of their clothes, and shared certain aspects of their l*****n lifestyle with them.

My sister Judy, the oldest of the 3 of us, waited about a year, per the counselors suggestion not to take the kids away from their home since Wanda died in the home, to take them on vacation from Pennsylvania to Alabama.

My sister Judy was shocked at the condition of these two girls. They had put on a ton of weight (Dee was about 85 lbs heavier than she was 1 year before) and she was pre-diabetic, with cholesterol of 300 and sores all over her legs from picking at herself. On the car ride down, both girls, who were 8 and 10, talked openly about Lesbianism, called each other gay and
were twisting each others nipples. They learned this from T, who along with her long time partner M, were openly l*****n. Judy took the girls to the Doctor in Alabama for a check-up. The Doctor said that there was evidence that both girls had been sexually abused. Ms son had been in and out of prison, involved with drugs and alcohol and lived in the home with these 2 young girls. He also had friends who had just gotten out of prison that crashed there as well. Since T showed a young girl of 8 years old how to d****e and how to m********e, one must ask if T was involved in the alleged sexual abuse of Dee.

When Judy saw the condition and the behavior of these young girls, Judy called me crying, and we decided right then that these 2 girls would never be allowed to go back to Pennsylvania.

I hired an attorney in Pennsylvania at considerable expense, and the Judge issued a permanent order that said that since Wanda had passed, and based on the condition of the girls and the living conditions at their home, that my sister Judy would have physical custody of both girls, and that if anything should happen whereby Judy could no longer be their Guardian, I would
automatically be the guardian of both nieces with no further order required of the Court.

Through the years, Judy did an excellent job with both girls.  She put both girls on diets and joined them in developing a healthy eating lifestyle, which helped all of them to be more healthy, and enrolled them in school. I helped support the girls by sending a supplemental check many months.  I spoke to both girls often, visited occasionally, and flew the girls and Judy out to Las Vegas during summer vacations some years. Once I treated all of us, Judy, Judys daughter and granddaughter, and Dee, her sister and her cousin to a cruise off the California Coast! They all flew to Las Vegas, then we drove by van to San Pedro, stayed overnight in a hotel, then boarded the Ship for 4 days and 3 nights. We have great memories of that vacation.

Back home, when school was in session, Dee had an extremely difficult time due to a devastating learning disability so Judy hired a tutor, but unfortunately, Dee wouldnt sit at the table with the tutor. Judy did everything she could to place Dee in the most suitable programs for her, made sure she was in school, under the care of Doctors, Counselors and a Psychiatrist. She did an incredible job raising Dee, even though she was extremely difficult due to her challenges. The younger sister blossomed and has become quite a lovely young lady, doing well in high school and taking college classes through a program that her Aunt Judy located and successfully enrolled her in.

Dee however, became more violent and more dangerous as she got older and became stronger and more defiant. On one occasion, Dee actually knocked Judy to the ground and dragged her across the kitchen. On several occasions, she threatened to choke or kill someone in the home, and on a couple of occasions she actually acted out and did choke her younger sister. Judy
called the police a couple of times, attempting to put a scare into Dee to slow her down, but thanks to her ODD (Obsessive Defiance Disorder) it had no effect.

Finally, one Sunday afternoon, as Dee, her younger sister and her cousin were all together in the home, Dee became enraged and went to stab her 16-year old cousin with a potato peeler. At this point her 16-year old sister stepped between them, and Dee slapped her sister in the face, took her to the ground, and left her with a huge handprint on her face. At this point, her Uncle called the police and insisted that Dee be immediately removed from the home for everyones safety to diffuse the situation, and not to let Dee come back to the home.

Labrisco Cook, Denise Burch and Sarah Hendershot were assigned to the case, and they interviewed Dee at length. They determined on their own, that there were 2 incidents of abuse by Judy.

The first was that Judy told Dee that she would never be a veterinarian, which constituted mental abuse. What Aunt Judy actually said was:

Dee, if you dont listen to your teachers, do your homework, and learn what you are being taught, you will never be able to be a veterinarian.

The second incident was that Judy wouldnt let Dee have a drink until she did her chore of giving the dogs a drink. What Aunt Judy actually said was: The dogs cant tell you they are thirsty, which is why your chore is to give the dogs water when you come home from school. If you are thirsty, now you know how the dogs feel. As soon as you give the dogs water, you can then have water.

If either of these are incidents of abuse, every parent in America would lose their rights! And yet, after interviewing Dee, who has an IQ of between 70 and 80 and extreme difficulty telling the truth, Labrisco Cook and Denise Burch decided that Judy was not fit to be Dees Guardian! I would love to have seen how Denise, Labrisco, or Sarah would have done raising Dee for 10 years. It's so easy to look in from the outside and pass judgement, isn't it?!

On July 20th 2011, a hearing was held in Judge Jacksons Family Court, wherein we assume that what was presented was testimony from Cook, Burch and Hendershot that Judy had both mentally and physically abused Dee and that Judy should have her rights to Guardianship terminated, and that Burch should be appointed Guardian ad Litem. I say we assume because
Judy was never informed of a court date, wasnt present, and didnt even have a chance to speak or acknowledge or even understand that she was in any danger of losing her Guardianship when she had poured her heart and soul into raising both girls for approximately 10 years.

On July 21st 2011, Judy showed up for the hearing to determine what the punishment for Dee was going to be for choking her sister and for going after her cousin with a potato peeler. Judy was hoping that Dee would spend some time in Juvenile Detention, since nothing so far had seemed to get Dees attention and as a result her defiance had continued to get stronger
as she got older.

To Judys surprise, she was informed that she was no longer Dees guardian, that Denise Burch was now Dees guardian, and that all charges against Dee have been dropped. Not only had Cook, Burch and Hendershot taken away Judys guardian status without Judy even having a chance to defend herself, and not only had Judge Jackson ruled knowing that Judy wasnt even
aware of the court hearing, but Cook, Burch, Hendershot and Jackson totally ignored the Court order from Pennsylvania which was filed in the State of Alabama clearly stating that if for any reason Judy was unable to be the guardian, that Kathey was automatically the guardian with no further hearing required.

So after raising her deceased sisters adopted daughter for almost 10 years, Judy was discarded as Guardian without even ever having a say, Aunt Kathey was totally ignored and in fact, Burch would actually say to Kathey Your sisters not dead yet, so I dont even have to talk to you when Burch knew that Kathey was automatically the legal guardian since she quoted from the
Court order from Pennsylvania so she absolutely knew that the Court order from Pa was filed and clearly existed.

At this point, Judy and Kathey have both lost their rights to Guardianship, with absolutely no due process. Judy was never notified of her Court date, never had the opportunity to defend herself, and was only told after the fact that Judge Jackson ruled to give guardianship to Denise Burch.  As for Kathleen, she was never notified, the Court order making her the guardian was ignored, she never had the opportunity to argue her case in front of Judge Jackson, who dismissed her motions without comment. Both Judy and Kathleen had attorneys who were outraged at the maneuvering by Cook, Burch and Hendershot, and by the rulings by Judge Jackson.

But this is not the end of the story. Because Cook, Burch and Hendershot set off on a mission to reunite Dee with her birth mother, the one under which all of the abuse occurred. We have a tape of T on the phone talking to Dees 14 year old sister, calling her a mother-effing c**t for refusing to put Dee on the phone because Dee was afraid of her birth mother, and telling Dees 14 year old sister that shes going to kick her f***ing a**!

There is a file a mile thick documenting the abuse and the suspected abuse by the birth mother, who gave up her parental rights in 1998.  The birth mothers son has been in and out of mental hospitals his entire life.  The birth mother has been in and out of mental hospitals as well.  There have been domestic violence calls to their residence to break up fights between the birth mother and her l*****n lover. There are stories that they performed l*****n acts in front of the children. They have convicted felons in and out of their residence. The last we heard, they were living with either the birth mothers mother, or the l*****n lovers mother. And yet, somehow, these are the folks that Cook, Burch and Hendershod, as authorized by Judge Jackson, want to reunite Dee with. T, the birth mother, constantly told Dee that she was retarded, so much so that Dee would walk around as an 8, 9, 10 year old telling everyone that she is retarded. This is who Cook, Burch and Hendershot want to give Dee back to.

Now since they know the system, they accomplished their goal. They gave Dee back to the birth mother, closed the file, and theyre done with the case. Judge Jackson, shame on you for refusing to even hear Kathey when she flew 2000+ miles to be present in your courtroom on July 20th 2012, 1 year later. You did a good job of covering your tracks. What you didnt consider is that we WILL NOT LET THIS GO. You trampled Judys rights, you trampled Katheys rights, and you put Dee in harms way. Cook, Burch, Hendershod and Jackson must ALL be held accountable for the absolutely abhorrent manner in which youve conducted yourselves, and this matter will not stop here.

We will amass other families who have a similar story. There IS strength in numbers. We WILL find a way to make this right. We will not rest
until 6 things happen:

1. Dee is removed from her birth mothers residence

2. Judy and Katheys parental rights are restored

3. Labrisco Cook is terminated

4. Denise Burch is disbarred

5. Sarah Hendershot is terminated

6. Judge Jackson is removed from the bench

I have contacted every regulatory agency and every media outlet within my power, and I will continue to work to right these wrongs until I receive satisfaction. You can all ignore my phone calls, messages and complaints but I will not go away. The day you stepped on our rights and put Dee in danger is the day you made an enemy. Lets see how strong your Good Old
Boy network is when the Feds start peeking over your shoulder!

Until this situation is corrected, I will continue to gain momentum and I will continue to pursue this through every available legal means.

Each of you, Labrisco Cook, Denise Burch, Sarah Hendershot and Judge Billy Jackson, has some nerve to trample our rights and worse, to put Dee in harms way. I dont know who you people think you are, but I will expend every ounce of energy to get Dee out of harms way, to restore our rights, and to see to it not only that each of you face punishment for the manner in which youve conducted yourselves, and also that in the future, that there are checks and balances in place to prevent unqualified people with their own agendas from causing harm to innocent people.

 
Persistently,

Concerned Citizen