~“I ask that you please keep telling my story so that the truth is known far and wide,”
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” by Martin Luther King is written on a statue at the mouth of the hyena’s den, the entry way of the White Plains, Westchester NY, courthouse. Catherine Youseff Kassenoff fought for her life and her children’s, but to no avail.
To many who knew Catherine Youssef Kassenoff such as her friend and executor of her estate Wayne Baker, her four-year ordeal in Family / Supreme Court in Westchester County was a fait accompli. “She was serene in the final days leading up to her assisted death in Switzerland on May 27th, 2023.” “Prior to what seems like her taking her own life she told me she couldn’t do it anymore,” Mr. Baker stated. Catherine’s world crumbled at the hands of her husband, Allan Kassenoff and his use of the court system against her. This contentious custody battle has put the care of the children of the marriage in jeopardy. Now motherless her three girls are at the mercy of an aggressive husband and father.
Better-times-catherine-youseff-kassenoff-allan-kassenoff-with-daughters-alexandra-13-charlotte-12-and-josephine-9″
Behind the scenes an email announcing her death to a select few circulated, including court players, the media, the FBI and her closest friends. It is revealed in her last words, “I ask that you please keep telling my story so that the truth is known far and wide,” that she wanted positive change in the system that betrayed her and her family. I was reaching out to Catherine only weeks before her death. I sent emails in support of her, asking if I could meet her in court. This for yet, another fight over the bogus temporary order of protection her husband was requesting from court once again. (Orders of protection or TOPs are to protect a person suspected of harming, their property and in some cases, their children, or other relatives.) Lying in legal documents such as affidavits is perjury and in any other situation than family court is called out as a crime.
Numerous orders of protection were granted by Judge Lewis Lubell, Judge Nancy Koba and Irene Ratner all within the Westchester County, New York, courthouse, as requested by her then soon to be ex-husband. Catherine did not fit the requirements of TOP’s, she didn’t harm property or pose any threat to anyone, least of all her three daughters, yet she was removed by Judge Lubell, from the marital home. Over and over TOP’s were issued and reissued at the behest of Allan. Temporary orders of protection are sometimes used as a weapon, as Mr. Kassenoff and his notorious lawyer Constantine ‘Gus’ Dimopoulous used them against Catherine. In this case TOPs were used like others as a legal shield, to prohibit contact with the children who are caught in the middle of a litigious and money fueled fight. The court allowed this legal abuse to happen over and over in the Kassenoff case, as lawyers for either party play a game of cat and mouse, while their clients suffer in these brutal wranglings.
Frank Report has uncovered what has been taking place behind the scenes in family court for Catherine’s case and others and it’s not looking good. It is confirmed that Allan’s ‘team’ his lawyer Gus Dimopoulous as well as Carol Most the law guardian for the Kassenoff’s girls and the forensic evaluator Marc Abrams donated to the campaigns of Judge Lubell and Judge Koba while representing Catherine. https://frankreport.com/2023/06/25/attorney-gus-dimopolus-donated-thousands-to-judge-lubell-while-he-represented-allan-kassenoff/
Donations:
Gus:
2/11/19 – $2,000 – Judge Lewis Lubell (Maniatis & Dimopoulos)
9/25/19 – $700 – Judge Lewis Lubell (Dimopoulos Bruggemann)
5/7/19 – $500 – Judge Koba (Maniatis & Dimopoulos)
9/10/19 – $250 – Judge Koba (Dimopoulos Bruggemann)
Carol Most, the court-appointed attorney for the children:
9/30/05 – $100 – Judge Lewis Lubell (Most & Kusnetz)
2/5/19 – $2,000 – Judge Less Lubell (Most & Schneid P.C.)
Another odd case under Lewis Lubell ~ Bailey v Bailey
A witness in court made an interesting observation of Judge Lubell’s handling of Bailey v Bailey case. He was looking coolly at the pro se litigant, David Bailey, then cast a warm glance at the two lawyers for the wife, Nikki.Judge Lubell told David Bailey, “I know Jo-Ann Cambareri and John Gutteridge. I know they have integrity. I don’t know you at all. “Judge Lubell then ruled in favor of the wife. During Judge Lubell’s 2019 campaign, Gutteridge and Cambareri donated $2000. Back in 2005, when Lubell ran for judge the first time, Gutteridge donated $1250 to Lubell.
The trial was held before Judge Linda S. Jamieson, to whom Gutteridge and Camberari also made generous donations. She awarded custody to the wife and required supervised visitation for the father, even though there were no allegations of abuse or neglect. To see if your judge is receiving campaign money click the links below to go to the Board of Elections site.
NYSBOE Public Reporting System : Contributions
elections.ny.gov
Search by recipient:
NYSBOE Public Reporting System : Contributions By Recipient
elections.ny.gov
New York State Supreme Court Justices are elected to a 14-year term and receive $208,000 per year and a likely six-figure lifetime pension if they win reelection.
Over a period of time ‘supervisors’ enter the picture. In some cases, the supervisors can be family members however, there are paid for supervisors from a competitive pool of unregulated agency’s like SVE or ‘Family Matters’ that the courts rely on in Westchester. This is another revenue stream that parents must foot the bill for. These are intrusively planted monitors fee’s that must be paid or you cannot see your own children. I have heard of cases where parents cannot afford the supervisor and the court then will be told the parent doesn’t want to see the child or children. These are not ‘experts,’ they know little about the cases and less so regarding the psyches of the children. Yet, in the home or on any outings of either parent they must be there to watch them while with their children. This is all aptly called litigation abuse, according to Catherine’s filing regarding the supervisors planted in her meetings with her children. Catherine didn’t fit the requirement of having a supervisor. Examples of situations in which a court may order supervised visitation are cases where a parent has struggled with addiction or domestic violence issues or is unable to provide a safe living environment for the child. Catherine and many other mothers and fathers don’t fit this description yet are treated like criminals. In fact, criminals in prison have greater rights, they get to see their children. They have more rights than parents caught in ‘the system’.
Almost as frequently as judges signing false TOP’s without any due process (often ex parte) for an alienating parent and many times that parent being an abuser in and out of a marriage is their ability to use their resources and legal counsel to threaten jail and commit terrifying false arrests. Weeks before Catherine’s death, a friend spoke to Catherine, and recalls a conversation where Catherine was frantic, “Do you know what happened?” “You wouldn’t believe it, they arrested me.” “They arrested me on a false charge.” Catherine was crying hysterically, “you’re not alone Catherine” her friend stated, it’s ‘The Brooklyn Playbook’ they issue arrests without notice or due process.” Catherine said, she was in shock, “this can’t be happening in America.”
The question remain, why were the TOP’s granted so easily to Allan against Catherine for their family law case? A lot of damage can be done without an immediate hearing of ‘due process’ something so sacred in other such cases, but rarely seen in family court. It was Catherine who suffered from domestic abuse perpetrated by her wealthy husband Allan. Yet, her side of the story wasn’t heard, and heard immediately, and she was removed from her own home and estranged from the three daughters she raised. The issue with signing off on a TOP that is unwarranted is that if the party it’s issued against breech’s it in any way, by emailing or other communication they are then threatened with jail. Once this communication breaks down it is hard to reverse the damage. These acts essentially create ‘teams’ and above all whoever has the children is on the winning team. The key is to outsmart the ‘system’ and its predatory people who will take as much time as possible to ‘resolve’ issues if at all, because these stalling tactics create more billable hours, emails, and phone calls, and that is easy money. All this takes place while the children grow up missing an honorable and loving parent and in other cases parents never see their children again. Is there any greater tragedy than this?
The energy and money that is required to fight bogus TOP’s is astronomical and prohibitable to those without enormous resources. Even with the resources it appears because of them these cases are endless. TOPs are the ultimate tool to block a parent from contact with their children and it is abused often to gain a leg up in high conflict custody cases. ‘Professionals’ such as lawyers and law guardians, swarm around courtrooms nationally counting on these nefarious exploits daily to reap their huge ‘self-employed’ salaries. Catherine endured this while being called by her husband, “a fat, old, loser”. Days before her death friends commented Catherine looked sickly thin. This confirms that she was neither, fat, old, and certainly not a loser with her sterling credentials all while being the primary caregiver to her three creative and brilliant girls, that she raised for over a decade. Catherine was becoming estranged and alienated by the actions of her husband and his team. Some speculate that as a shareholder to his firm Greenberg Traurig Allan should have been advised to amicably separate from Catherine rather than dragging out a divorce that became vindictive and terrifying for all involved. Greenberg Traurig website: https://www.gtlaw.com/en/
Allan chose to fight dirty. He allegedly kicked one of his daughters, while on another occasion one of them begged to live with their mother. On two occasions at 11 years old, one of her girls ran away from Allan by taking a taxi to be with her. There is footage of one girl begging Catherine not to make her go back to ‘that crazy man’.
Catherine was adamant in her pro se documents that she be heard, filing on May 14, 2023, 13 days before her assisted suicide in an idyllic setting of a Swiss euthanasia clinic. After all it was clear with so much of evidence that Catherine was a battered woman, battered by a rich, powerful man. Catherine clearly stated in court documents that her husband extended his abuse of her into the court system and was destroying her to take custody of their children. In the videos Allan is seen as unable to parent without yelling in an accusatory and demeaning way to mother and daughters. How is he fit and what was he to gain by pushing loving Catherine to the brink? Catherine, who gave up her legal career to raise the children Alexandra, 13, Charlotte, 12, and Josephine, 9 fulltime.
How much more attachment with her children could there be? The children were thriving in Catherine’s care for over a decade without any type of intervention, until divorce came into play. The girls attended the prestigious Alliance Francaise, because in addition to being her children’s rock Catherine wanted them to speak French as she did. Yet, Allan is seen scolding Aly saying she wouldn’t be going to the Alliance Francaise that day. He began calling Alliance Francaise to tell the school Aly would be absent, this as his ‘punishment’ to her. It seems the interaction is directed to upset Catherine as well, which it did. She stated to Allan that he was being video recorded at the time and she would show the school the video along with other videos of him being aggressive and unreasonable. Catherine did this for her daughters and she should be admired for it.
Catherine was not alone there is another alarming scenario still taking place it is that good parents are being falsely accused of Munchausen’s by proxy and they too are taking their lives when these false allegations are concocted. Munchausen syndrome by proxy is a mental illness and a form of child abuse. A caretaker of a child, most often a mother, either makes up fake symptoms or causes real symptoms to make it look like the child is sick for attention. “This pattern is seen in the recent case of Maya Kowalski who opened up about her painful medical condition to People Magazine about how recently accusations of Munchausen syndrome by proxy led to her mother Beata Kowalski’s suicide when they were separated for three months as foster care stepped in. https://people.com/take-care-of-maya-munchausen-by-proxy-accusation-maya-kowalski-mom-death-by-suicide-7509016
Catherine Kassenoff’’s recent tragic case is the latest case of countless others who similarly have lost their children, homes, and assets over the course of more than 30 years. The taking of children, homes, and assets by state actors, is perpetrated by family court where law guardians, psychologists, attorneys, and accomplices act in concert for multimillion dollar if not multibillion dollar profit. This is a nationally weaponized criminal racketeering ring. Innocent children and families turn into ‘Profit Centers’, while this criminal blueprint often is weaponized in national elder and handicapped guardianship cases and in civil cases as well.
It’s important to stress the parallels Catherine and her daughters suffered in another case of guardianship or (power of attorney) abuse, that of the popstar Brittney Spears. Brittney’s case proves guardianships can be abused and there is public outcry about this abuse. Other guardian abuse cases are the famous DJ radioman Casey Kasem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casey_Kasem whose daughter Kerri is fighting vehemently against guardianship and elder abuse due to her father’s poor treatment prior to his death. https://newsthatmoves.com/8458/how-to-prevent-elderly-abuse-kerri-kasem-media-speaker. Let’s not forget artist Peter Max whose daughter Libra Max calls his guardianship ‘inhumane and predatory’ against her father. https://petermax.com Max’s law guardian, Barbara Lissner immediately began isolating her father from his family and friends, making it difficult for them to visit and communicate with him. In a complaint it further alleges that Lissner refused to provide the artist with basic necessities such as dental care and fresh clothing, and that she was verbally abusive towards Max and his family members and has often denied requests for visitation. https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/06/16/the-peter-max-saga-continues-as-his-daughter-libra-max-struggles-to-gain-guardianship-and-files-suit-against-his-guardian
Rick Black whose father in law suffered in a guardianship created the Center for Estate Administration Reform or CEAR, with his wife Terri https://www.cearjustice.org/about-us/ The Blacks have been activists for victims of guardianship crimes for a decade. They have counseled or researched over 5,000 cases and formed CEAR, a 501(c)(3) in 2018, to support efforts to gain national reforms and redress that reduce adult guardianship and estate trafficking victimization. Their continued activism is in memory of all victims, including Terri’s father Delford Mencarelli.
Marian Kornicki whose family was deeply affected by the guardianship of her mother who suffered from Alzheimer’s uses her personal experience to speak out against modern day guardianships. Ms. Kornicki’s background is that she grew up in Queens, NY and attended the Calhoun School in Manhattan. She received a BA in psychology and art history from Queens College and an MA in clinical psychology from Antioch University in Los Angeles. She is a psychotherapist. Marian is a daughter who cared for her mother when her mother developed disabilities due to Alzheimer’s disease.
Ms. Kornicki states in her revealing article in ‘Mad in America’ a website based on the book by Robert Whitaker, that Brittney Spears’ case opened people’s eyes to the corrupt industry known as guardianship, in which people use the courts to take away others’ rights—and, too often, all of their money and everything they own. https://www.madinamerica.com/2022/09/restoretheirrights-update-guardianship-action/. Mad in America speaks on the treatment of mentally ill patients throughout the years, it includes reactions of patients to psychotropic medicines, that sometimes make patients worse and effects their quality of lives and their loved ones. https://www.madinamerica.com/2022/09/restoretheirrights-update-guardianship-action/
Ms. Kornicki’s words offer enormous help to other victims who are also starting to come forward. Included are individuals and coalitions across the country who are working to expose this system, a racket in which predatory agencies, lawyers, and judges use guardianships to defraud vulnerable individuals and their families to line their own pockets. She states this is a clear violation of the RICO statute. It doesn’t help that there is systemic abuse including lack of due-process violations in guardianship systems across the country.
Due to Marian’s focus on RICO cases in elder care, we look closely at the equally treacherous family court construct where very often there are aspects of RICO cases are taking place in family court: What is RICO? Its Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) of 1970’s that seeks to strengthen the legal tools in evidence gathering by establishing new penal prohibitions and providing enhanced sanctions and new remedies for dealing with the unlawful activities of those engaged in organized crime. Children are trafficked through the courts like Catherine’s daughters. This makes reading Catherine’s court documents and evidence of abuse from her Dropbox even more disturbing.
Friends recall Catherine’s stellar career in the halls of the Office of the Governor of NY State, under Andrew Cuomo and Kathy Hochul, and as a former Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District giving her top-secret intelligence. These facts, prove Catherine was not ‘mentally ill’ as Allan tried to claim. It was Catherine that stated, “if it can happen to me, this dysfunction in Family Court, then what do others do to fight for their rights?” In the end, Catherine became an activist in family court. Maybe, those on her case were especially hard on her because she used her legal knowledge to do what many others cannot by calling out corruption in the legalese grievance committees understand. When Catherine was wrongfully arrested, because of Allan’s harassing legal abuse towards her, this affected her livelihood as she was then fired from her job.
To back up Ms. Abrahams credo Amy Neustein weighs in…
Experts weigh in: Dr. Amy Neustein weighed in to Newsthamoves as an expert in family court. It is Amy’s relentless passion and hard work to educate members of the press, lawyers, and laypeople as to what is taking place behind closed doors in family court. Family Court is supposed to help families, not hurt them. Dr. Neustein’s at website is http://amyneustein.com and you can buy her book Madness to Mutiny: https://www.amazon.com/Books-Amy-Neustein/
Amy Neustein’s article on Women’s eNews is here at https://womensenews.org/2023/06/family-court-drives-mothers-to-suicide-former-brooklyn-federal-prosecutor-is-latest-victim
According to Dr. Neustein “We are confronted with dysfunction in the family court system.” “We see some good judges, albeit well-meaning but it’s like playing the lottery, because you don’t know if you are going to get a good one.” “The likelihood that a mother will find such a good judge can be slim to nil.” “This is because mothers (and fathers) walk into a cabal of thieves, miscreant, and rapscallions.” “Something urgent must done because the courts have shown a brazen disregard for human life.”
Amy Neustein, Ph.D. (sociology), has focused her energies in two main areas: speech technology, and protecting children from sexual abuse. http://amyneustein.com/amy.htm
Bitter Times: Catherine with her three daughters left. Allan A. Kassenoff below in his profile picture on the Greenberg Traurig website: https://www.gtlaw.com/en/
The Abuse at Home Was Captured on Catherine’s Smartphone.
The videos are broken up in sections on Robbie Harvey’s social media: Mr. Harvey’s videos are being removed from Google. He will be reposting them, please make sure you pass them along in Catherine’s memory:
https://www.tiktok.com/@therobbieharvey/video/7244242761468103978
Lawyer Jonathan Davidoff
Jonathan Davidoff, stated he was “introduced to Catherine as a result of common players in our divorces and especially discussing the treacherous maneuvers of Allan’s lawyer Gus Dimopoulous who was my now ex-wife’s lawyer.” “Catherine also did legal work for my law firm to make extra money she desperately needed.” “At all times Catherine was upbeat about gaining and regaining custody of her children.” “It was the denied access of seeing the children that wore Catherine down.” “Every time there was a roadblock or excuses that delayed Catherine having contact with her three daughters pushed her deeper into despair.” “Catherine was crushed in 2020 trying to get her kids back.” “Unlike what is being reported by the Kassenoff machine Catherine was never mentally ill.” For more on Mr. Davidoffs defense of Catherine go to Frank Report https://frankreport.com/2023/06/15/lawyer-friend-rebuts-catherine-kassenoff-not-mentally-ill-gus-lied/
Jonathan Davidoff is a fair and honest lawyer who helped Catherine. Mr. Davidoff has two law firms that practice family law, one in New York City the other in Miami Florida. Davidoff website: https://davidofflawfirm.com
As stated in the Daily Mail by Andrea Cavallier: the videos include Allan seen in one of the videos standing at the foot of the bed telling his wife: ‘I hate you, Catherine, I hate you. I regret every moment of my life that I met you.’ She claimed in her Facebook post that Allan had made a false 911 call, claiming she was ‘capable of ‘killing’ him or her own children. ‘He reportedly filmed her being questioned by police, who ultimately did not arrest her after they ‘realized he was lying,’ she claimed. She had been arrested in January 2022 for reportedly violating a protective order by approaching her daughter. As a result, she was let go from the governor’s office. The charges were later dismissed.
‘Allan has spent years and millions of dollars — over $3 million — to eliminate me from our girls’ lives … He will never relent … As long as I am alive and want to see them, they will be damaged over and over again with every attempt I make. What is the point of that? The last thing I want to do is make my own children suffer,’ she said. Catherine also accused her ex-husband and his team of telling her children to hate her, telling Ms. Magazine: ‘My children have been diagnosed with various serious mental health conditions as a result of this trauma. They have been told to hate me, to call me ‘Catherine’ instead of ‘mom.”
In Ms. Magazine by Amy Polacko : Our courts repeatedly allow abusers to weaponize our legal system against women—making them the target of a war that can cost them, like Kassenoff, their health, jobs, money, homes, children and peace. No one should live this way in America—or anywhere. It’s an underworld only those who have been through family court, or know someone who has, can comprehend. https://msmagazine.com/2023/06/05/catherine-kassenoff-death-child-custody-divorce-court/
It was Catherine’s last words to friends, family and supporters that speak for her beyond the grave that she wanted us to delve into…
“Dear Friends, Family and Supporters,
It is with a profound heartbreak, that I hope none of you ever experience, that I am writing my last post ever.
Today, I will be ending my own life. I will be doing so in a dignified and idyllic setting in Europe. There are simply no other options left.
In the last four years of my life, I have woken up every day to a nightmare like no other.
I can no longer endure the abuse and terror of Allan Kassenoff, who has spent the last 4 years mercilessly trying to incarcerate me on false charges, as recently as March 2023.”
Catherine wrote this last message, as the ‘professionals’ on her case were busy filing their enormous billing, instead of helping Catherine and her innocent children. It was Catherine’s inability to be separated from her daughters, a heartache that she could no longer handle that by all accounts drove her to her death. Her recurring bouts with breast cancer and a terminal diagnosis clearly played a role in her decision to take her own life. However, Mr. Baker stated, “it was really the pain from her circumstances in court and loss of her daughters, that were to blame.”
Who are the ‘professional’s’? When brought to court with a custody pleading, especially with contention and strife in a marriage, the court goes full swing without due process of an immediate hearing. This takes place while a law guardian and forensic evaluator get assigned to cases. Unforeseen expenses start to mount. It’s clear to many who are aware of this scheme that civil and human rights are violated routinely. The First Amendment protects freedom of speech, the press, assembly, and the right to petition the Government for a redress of grievances, yet family court victims like Catherine are threatened with gag orders.
Without due process, a lack of knowledge of a case allows for poor decision by the courts making in the most important cases, that of family court cases that become harmful to the family unit as well as costly and in many cases never ending. Such threats to be imprisoned for expressing concern that there is no due process under the Fourteenth Amendment; that No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws
Even in Child Protective Services, known as CPS cases it is stated that a hearing must occur within 72 hours. How is that not happening for those like Catherine? Why? Because there where ex parte filings by Allan and his counsel Gus Dimopoulous. Ex-parte orders are a decision that is one decided by a judge without requiring all of the parties to the dispute to be present. In legal ethics, ex parte refers to improper contact with a party or a judge. Ethical rules typically forbid a lawyer from contacting the judge or the opposing party without the other party’s lawyer also being present. A breach of these rules is referred to as improper ex parte contact. Allan was notorious for filing against Catherine ex parte and the courts allowed this legal abuse.
New news: As it turns out according to Robbie Harvey https://twitter.com/therobbieharvey/status/1670573747533692931/video/1 confirmed CPS in 2021 knew Allan was a danger to Catherine and her daughters emotionally, psychologically, and physically. There were police reports stating that Catherine had an injury to the left orbit of her eye, this due to Allan’s physical abuse toward her and the children. The police and CPS warned Catherine if she did not remove the girls from his abuse, they would take her daughters from her for not protecting them against Allan’s abuse CPS determined Allan as dangerous to his family. They advised Catherine to get a temporary order of protection against Allan, which she was granted. This forced her to have to move out of the house instead of Allan, because he started to get TOPs against her that numerous judges signed off on. This occurred without a hearing on all the facts in the case. CPS said there was nothing they could do to help Catherine and the girls after the tables were turned on them and the courts were now making the decisions. The girls were even questioned, and it was like a flood gate the level of detail with which the children confirmed the abuse by their father. Catherine was forced to move, without the children at that point because of Allan’s TOPs against her. Robbie Harvey states, when you’re a family court activist, such as Catherine who is trying to take away millions of dollars from the lawyers, psychologists, forensic evaluators and supervisors, it doesn’t matter what CPS says.
Carol Most, the children’s law guardian was discharged for ‘cause’ due to Catherine filing a complaint against her for violating the witness advocate Rule 7.2. In addition to this, Most committed acts of spoilation by ‘blacking out’ email exchanges with a magic marker. Most the law guardian in the Kassenoff case was friends with a forensic evaluator Marc T. Abrams.
Allan Kassenoff’s attorney Gus Dimopoulus (far left) Kassenoff children’s law guardian Carol Most: Forensic evaluator Marc T. Abrams & forensic evaluator Katherine McKay (far right)
Attorney Most selected Susan Adler and Carolyn McGuffog, both PsyDs, as the children’s new therapists at $600 and $450/hour, respectively. The therapists let Allan sit in on the sessions, not Catherine. In an email, filed in the New York court system, it shows one of her daughters emailing her: ‘Momma, I hung up on Doctor Alder because she is annoying, and she said you were dangerous. I hate her and I don’t want Shira to replace you and I miss you and love you so much.’ Catherine’s determination to remove Most as attorney for the child lead her to her own personal triumph one of many. It was a victory for her and her daughters, but it was short lived.
The forensic evaluator for the Kassenoff’s Marc T. Abrams was a member of the Panel of Forensic Custody Evaluators in the First and Second Judicial Departments in New York – before Catherine Kassenoff got him thrown off for gross misconduct. One of Catherine’s Judges, Lewis Lubell officiated Abram’s wedding seen here: Is that not suspicious that there might be nepotism at play?
Judge Lubell appointed Dr. Abrams as the “neutral” custody evaluator to determine who should have custody of the Kassenoff girls – the father or the mother. During this time Judge Lubell made Catherine homeless overnight even though she owned part of the marital home. She was unable to take any of her things, and when requesting her and the girls winter coats was denied that. The final nail in the coffin for Catherine and her daughters was when forensic Dr. Kathleen Mc Kay rubber stamped the report by Dr. Abrams discontinuing contact with Catherine and her children completely.
According to website Custody Peace this is a story of Post Separation Abuse/Coercive Control. The weapons of abuse used in Family Court is used to remove the children from their loving, caring mother and ruin them financially, psychologically, physically and emotionally in the process. Again, this is Post Separation Abuse/Coercive Control and it’s enabled by the current Family Court system, and it’s a global human rights crisis. Here is the Custody Peace website: https://custodypeace.medium.com/i-ask-that-you-please-keep-telling-my-story-so-that-the-truth-is-known-far-and-wide-a-final-plea-977df260097d
What is parental alienation?
Parental alienation occurs when one parent attempts to distort their child’s relationship with the other parent through lies and manipulation.
A custody evaluation ― complete with interviews, observation and psychological tests ― is usually necessary to confirm parental alienation. If identified, the evaluator often recommends therapy for the family members involved, as well as gradually increasing parenting time or sole custody for the alienated parent.
Parental alienation definitely played a role in the Kassenoff’s marriage. What is odd is that while Katherine was accused of it, it was Allan that committed parental alienation against Catherine and the children with his court filings that harassed Catherine to her death. What is advised if parental alienation is taking place in your family is to make sure you tell the court, (make sure tell your attorney if you have one) that you can prove or disprove parental alienation, as it is a serious and complex allegation.
In child custody disputes, some parents go to the extreme of trying to permanently damage their child’s relationship with the other parent. If this causes the child to become estranged from that parent, it may be considered parental alienation. Parental alienation (PA for short) is a controversial concept. Though most agree that a parent’s attempts to distance their child from the other parent can be harmful, there hasn’t been enough research to support the theory that it can cause the child to become estranged from a parent. https://www.custodyxchange.com/topics/custody/special-circumstances/parental-alienation.php
Read the Frank Report about Mother’s Day without Catherine celebrating with her girls. Other holidays Catherine is home alone or living out of her car, all this while the court players feed off her family’s retirement accounts. In desperation Catherine tries to pay for the right to see her daughters. Frank Palato, https://frankreport.com/2023/06/08/catherine-kassenoffs-last-mothers-day-message-to-children-allans-lawyer-shoves-back/
Gus Dimopoulous wrote an inflammatory document to the court: “After wasting thousands of dollars in counsel fees pleading for a Mother’s Day visit, and the Court sympathetically ordering the visit, over Mr. Kassenoff’s objection – Ms. Kassenoff did not even bother to show up for the visit this morning (nor did she notify Mr. Kassenoff that she wouldn’t be coming). The children were extremely reluctant to attend the visit, but nonetheless they were expecting it. Instead, they will inevitably soon read the below Facebook post that Ms. Kassenoff made this morning while she was blowing off the visit. We hope by now that Court sees that Ms. Kassenoff doesn’t care about repairing her relationship with her children – she only cares about exacting revenge, trying to annihilate Mr. Kassenoff… and claiming she is a victim of a corrupt court system to impress her Facebook posse.”
This is the confession of Mother Cecilia Thomas, fighting for her daughter as found on the Frank Report site. Ms. Thomas states she was unable to voice the sexual harassment she suffered at the hands of Dr. Abrams. This abuse took place many years ago but Ms. Thomas feels comfortable voicing her truth now: (See her copied letter below) https://frankreport.com/2023/06/06/facebook-posts-and-sexual-misconduct-allegations-dr-abrams-role-in-catherine-kassenoffs-ruin-revealed/
Controversial Facebook Posts By Neutral Evaluator
From the Frank Report more on Abrams
While Catherine knew nothing about Dr. Abrams’ sexual harassment allegations, she was concerned about his Facebook posts, which seemed misogynistic and undoubtedly political.A neutral custody evaluator who used such language as “pussy!”, “whore,” “prostitutes,” “Republiscum,” “jackass in chief,” “NRA whore!”, “douches,” “COWARDLY WHORES!” seemed outlandish.She brought it to the attention of the AFC Most, who said she had worked with Dr. Abrams for decades, that he was “her” expert on another pending case in Orange County, and his Facebook posts were “funny.” https://frankreport.com/2023/06/06/facebook-posts-and-sexual-misconduct-allegations-dr-abrams-role-in-catherine-kassenoffs-ruin-revealed/
Cecilia Thomas Email on Dr. Abrams
August 26, 2019,
This letter is in reference to my experience with Dr. Marc Abrams when he was assigned as the forensic psychologist during my custody battle case for my young daughter approximately eleven years ago. I was in my early twenties, going through a contentious divorce in Westchester County, NY. Although I had highly reputable representation, my estranged husband and I could not agree on a custody schedule, it was left up to Dr. Abrams and his evaluation report as to who would get primary custody of our daughter.
At the time of the initial meeting with him, he looked at me from head to toe and then instructed me to sit in a chair. He then brought his chair directly in front of mine, uncomfortably close. He took out several 8×10 photos from a file he’d been holding, and started showing them to me one by one, asking me humiliating and accusatory questions about them.
The photos were personal in nature (mostly of me wearing a bathing suit or underwear) and had been taken by my ex-husband during our marriage. Dr. Abrams’ questions and demeanor were extremely intimidating. He then completely changed direction and began asking me a number of very personal questions, including my ethnicity, which had nothing to do with my character, love as a mother, and caretaker for my daughter. He set the tone as dominating and aggressive, while consistently reminding me that he had the power to determine the outcome of my future.
Subsequently, he started to call me while I was at work, telling me to drop everything to come to his office as he needed a meeting with me. This happened several times. At one meeting, he touched my hips and my shoulders, showing me proper form for his martial arts practice in which he had a studio next door. This was inappropriate and made me feel extremely uncomfortable, but I was terrified to lose my daughter and did not want to upset Dr. Abrams or tell him I thought he was crossing the line.
Over time, he started asking me to come to his home. He wanted to cook for me and show me some of the wines he collected and enjoyed. I obviously refused and kept making up excuses, saying that I wouldn’t want to jeopardize losing my daughter and that it would not be appropriate. Inside I feared he was either trying to have a personal relationship with me or set me up. I was so scared I didn’t know if I should tell anyone. He was married, and I felt so uncomfortable every time he asked me to come over. He finally stopped asking me, but then things got even worse.
He had a couch in his office, and one day he went and laid on it while I was sitting in the chair. He asked me to come over and be next to him. My stomach turned, and I just wanted to run out of his office. He said he just wanted to feel me close to him and that the case was almost finished, and it was looking really good for me. I went over to the couch, and he asked me to lay on him, so I did. My back on his chest. I could feel that he became erect, and I started to cry. I made an excuse that I needed to go, or I would get fired, and I needed my job to care for my child.
I wish I had the courage at the time to stand up for myself. I was young, vulnerable, and horrified of losing my baby girl. I did not understand the process of determining custody, but I did know that this man had a massive amount of power over me as the mother of a young girl. I felt I couldn’t tell my attorneys because of the potential repercussions. There was literally no one I felt I could trust, and I was also so ashamed and disgusted with what he did to me.
I have been tortured by the memories of this experience for many years and can go no longer without exposing the actions of this man – not only because of what he did to me, but also because of the fear of all the other women who may have been subjected to the same thing. I was granted primary custody of my beautiful daughter and have no agenda here other than for people to know the truth – Cecilia Thomas
~ It was Catherine’s last words to friends, family and supporters that speak for her beyond the grave…
Please take note of Catherine’s close friend Cynthia Monaco’s Go Fund Me Campaign. Please give what you can to Catherine’s daughters by clicking here:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-daughters-of-catherine-youssef-kassenoff
Hello. I am Cynthia Monaco, one of Catherine’s close friends. She and I were colleagues in the United States Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn and in the the Governor’s Special Counsel’s Program for New York State. I knew Catherine for 25 years and spent many days with her and her three beautiful daughters before her divorce fight began. I write on behalf of Catherine’s friends to create a legacy for her girls.
This fundraiser is to set up a fund with a trustee (custodian) so that Catherine’ girls may have an inheritance from their Mom. For those seeking details, we would establish a custodial account under the Unified Gift to Minors Act (UGMA) with a professional friend of Catherine’s acting as custodian. The money would be invested likely in an S&P 500 Index Fund and each of the girls would take her share at age 21 as New York law requires. Catherine would really like it if we helped her girls after the financial carnage of this four-year divorce battle. Let me tell you something about those girls and their Mom.
Catherine was fighting breast cancer when she started an adoption search. So many ads were placed. So much disappointment, But then I remember Catherine’s excitement when Alexandra was born to her birth mother and Catherine boarded a flight to bring her home. We were afraid the birth mother would change her mind so we called the soon-to-be-born baby “the guppy” not to jinx the adoption. She’d say “the guppy is coming next week!” And that guppy was her beautiful first born daughter Allie.
As soon as she was clear of the breast cancer she started on a pregnancy journey. I was with Catherine when she had her scariest medical test done while carrying Charlotte (Charley) and they made her do it twice. She called me giggling with joy when the results were good.
I remember her holding Josephina in a baby’s blanket crying because baby JoJo was so stunningly beautiful.
It is Catherine’s example in having children after breast cancer and all her research and attempts that convinced me to try as Catherine urged. Without Catherine telling me where to go and how to do it, I would not have given birth to my two sons. I owe her everything.
She risked and sacrificed so much for those girls. I was standing next to Catherine on vacation in Hampton Bays when she got bad medical news for JoJo and decided on the spot to quit her job as Chief of Litigation for Boehringer Ingelheim an international pharmaceutical company so she could spend more time taking care of Josephina and her sisters. I went with her when she took Charlotte to multiple appointments as she finally found a pediatric dental specialist who could help Charley after an accident without mouth surgery. She sent me the reports to read when Allie was having some trouble in school. It seemed certain she would be there to help them grow into young women.
If you knew Catherine, you knew that what she cared about above all was bringing those girls into the world and giving them a great life. When everyone urged her to leave an explosive marriage, she said her children had a beautiful life and she did not want to disrupt it. She was so proud of her talented daughters and had me come up to Scarsdale to watch Charley play violin telling me it would be worth the drive from Brooklyn. She asked me to come to watch JoJo play soccer and Allie sing with a choir at a local Church.
Catherine’s four-year fight to see her girls cost her all her money, she liquidated her retirement savings and was sleeping on couches for much of the time after she was evicted from her home with only twenty minutes to take personal items before leaving. Her judge would not even order her husband to give her back her clothes and she told me that she had heard another woman was wearing them and living in her home. She liquidated the last of her retirement account to pay her half of Charley’s tuition at the French American School and was devastated that her daughter was taken out of that school anyway. The financial situation was dire. Catherine grew thin from stress.
Although the law requires legal fees and court costs to be shared between divorcing spouses, a judge has to order the wealthier spouse to “advance fees,” and Catherine’s judge did not. Recently, her newly assigned judge ordered some but it was insufficient to cover her expenditures. The sale of the Kassenoffs’ first home in New Rochelle produced some money; and as far as I know, it’s all she received. And her legal bills kept mounting. And she was fired by New York State at some point after she was arrested on her husband’s complaint although those charges were dismissed when examined. Parents who have a history of crime, violence or substance abuse are less likely to be awarded custody than parents who do not. This is especially true if they have recent convictions, ongoing investigations, or active protection orders against them. Allan was attempting to entrap Catherine using her love for her daughters and his lawyer Gus Dimopoulous to happily encouraging doing stripe Catherine of her rights. This because Catherine didn’t commit any crime, violence nor substance abuse. Yet, her first amendment right was violated. We should all remember the founding fathers of our country and what they wrote that this right protects freedom of speech, the press, assembly, and the right to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Among them too is the Fourteenth Amendment, which prohibits the states from depriving “any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”
One month before her death, she bought a modest house near the family home she was evicted from with a contribution from her family. She bought bedroom furniture for the girls and looked forward to the girls sleeping over for the first time. Shortly afterward, a new forensic evaluation came out paid for by her husband and it mirrored the narrative of the first one by the now-disgraced and debarred evaluator; and the judge discontinued visits. She left that house with whatever equity was in it and her remaining cash to her daughters and appointed another friend from the US Attorney’s Office to serve as executor.
Because Catherine died before her divorce was granted, her estate will not take any part of the marital assets. And under the law of New York State, the husband responsible for her pain can demand $50,000 plus 1/3 of the remainder of her estate before her daughters take their inheritance. And her husband still has a legal case pending against her in Manhattan federal court that he may pursue against her estate.
This is all by way of saying, we do not think there will be much (if anything) to leave the girls and would like to ask for contributions to give them something from their Mom to help them into their adult years.
Thank you for reading this.
The Friends of Catherine “Cathy Youssef” Kassenoff
In the days following Catherine’s death her husband, Allan, a shareholder, who worked in the patent department in the prestigious law firm Greenberg Traurig disappeared from their website. These ominous words cited as damage control were left in his place.
“Allan Kassenoff has been involved in a divorce and custody matter that has been going on for more than 4 years. After lengthy trials and reviewing all the facts, including some videos, none of the 4 judges who presided over the trials or the 2 court-appointed neutral forensic evaluators found him to have committed wrongdoing or abuse as to his children or the contended domestic violence, and instead awarded him sole legal and physical custody of their three children. Nevertheless, the firm will be conducting its own investigation to determine his status with the firm. In the meantime, he is taking a voluntary leave of absence to focus on his family.”
Days later Allan gave his resignation, and his law firm Greenberg Traurig wrote this statement: “The firm has concluded its review of the situation to determine Allan Kassenoff’s status with the firm. Our primary obligation is to maintain and protect the core values and best interests of our firm, our clients, our lawyers, and our professional staff. Allan has been on a short leave of absence and has now resigned from the firm, effective immediately. The firm is sensitive to the needs of the three children, the primary victims of the situation, and therefore will be creating a dedicated trust fund with an independent trustee for the sole benefit of these children, to be voluntarily funded by the lawyers and staff of our firm. We wish healing and privacy to the children during this very difficult situation.”
It is clear in NY Penal Law § 460.20: that what is taking place is Enterprise corruption.
Enterprise corruption is a very serious criminal offense. It is most often associated with white collar crime and organized crime. Because the New York legislature has concluded that organized crime is widespread and dangerous, it enacted laws to punish those involved in activities that amount to enterprise corruption. Under New York Penal Law § 460.20 https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/460.20 you could be prosecuted for enterprise corruption if you knowingly are employed by a criminal enterprise. States have formulas like “The Brooklyn Playbook” that spell out that criminal activity is taking place in family courts across the nation and that these are happening in an organized manner.
Such cases are considered ‘process crimes’, that lend themselves to being prosecuted, as a process crime as they are particularly suitable for such purposes because they “carry a strong veneer of legitimacy” (i.e., most people agree that lying in court should be punishable), because they carry significant penalties, and because the prosecution is able to help produce these crimes. For instance, prosecutors can set up situations such as grand jury hearings or discovery requests in which process crimes – lies and omissions – tend to frequently occur. Process crimes also tend to be easier to prove than other crimes, and they often do not present a statute of limitations problem, because they can arise late in the investigation of another crime that is more difficult to prove.
Examples in which process crimes are used for pretextual prosecutions include using “dissuading a witness” charges to sanction domestic abusers, or contempt charges for violating court orders to stay away from a place or person to punish suspected street criminals. This is an important piece of law to know moving forward as it helps victims of abuse to understand that they have recourse and can present their abuse after a statute of limitations date under process crimes. Committing a fraud (lies) on the court is a crime and it’s happening daily between parties in family court.
Even in Nazi Germany the following was stated, “The state must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people. As long as the government is perceived as working for the benefit of the children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty and almost any deprivation.” Catherine, like many men and women across the country are looking for solutions when faced with the deluge of court appearances and paperwork in Family / Supreme court. Catherine fought the good fight, but it is in her untimely death, that she speaks loudly to all of us.
Please note: It is believed that the Jane and John Q Public Whistleblower blog states incorrectly on Frank Parlato’s, Frank Report that months before her death, Catherine crafted the only plan she could muster. It was stating that Catherine, had already done all she could do fighting for her daughters in Family Court. According to her executor Mr. Wayne Baker he confirmed with NTM that this blog wasn’t pre-published by Catherine before her death and that it is not only available to members and newsletter subscribers.” The blog also falsely claims that “Jane & John Q acquired the Book, Movie and Video Game Rights to Catherine Kassenoff’s Story. It falsely states that proceeds from the sale will benefit Catherine’s children through the Grandmother’s Pension Foundation and Susan G. Komen’s Breast Cancer Foundation.”
This fake news can be seen here page on the website. It features a headline without a link: “Letters to My Granddaughters & Grandsons – Catherine Kassenoff. ”https://frankreport.com/2023/06/12/blog-purports-to-possess-catherine-kassenoffs-confidential-pre-death-materials-awaiting-whistleblower-unlocking/
Please don’t fall for such a scam online.
If you are suicidal there is hope: Reach out to Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 in the US. If you or anyone you know is suffering from an unfair custody proceeding, please contact me at https://newsthatmoves.com/contact
NTM has a similar story regarding Mary Kennedy’s Family/Supreme case that led to her suicide in 2012.
Other resources regarding: U.S. child custody outcomes in cases involving parental alienation and abuse allegations: what do the data show? By, Joan S. Meier https://xyonline.net/sites/xyonline.net/files/2020-05/Meier%2C%20U.S.%20child%20custody%20outcomes%20in%20cases%20involving%20parental%20alienation%20and%20abuse%20allegations%202020.pdf
Mommy’s Heart, Inc. (EIN #87-4833078) is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization, which provides free legal representation and mental health services to parents and children, who escaped domestic violence but are now facing legal and financial retaliation by their abusers in the family court system. Mommy’s Heart aims to protect and defend the fundamental rights of fit parents to direct the care and custody of their children, so that no parent ever has to fear losing a child for reporting violence.
https://www.mommysheartfoundation.com
WeSpoke is a movement and not an organization run by Barbra Masters. We are women who have witnessed or experienced the systemic failure in Family and Matrimonial Courts. As we connected with each other, we recognized patterns of routine unethical, illegal and arguably unconstitutional practices in the courts. We also realized that matrimonial and family law is being drafted and lobbied for by the divorce industry professionals (attorneys, bar associations, and court appointees) and even by court administrators and judges – even though all these parties have a direct conflict of interest. We receive no grants or sponsorships, so have none of the conflicts of interest inherent in the divorce industry or in government-grantee relationships. We have no relationship or affinity with any organizations such as the AFCC or any parent rights groups. WeSpoke has strong feminist values, so our voices shed light on the injustice and discrimination against women. Women are gathering. Women are talking. Women are stronger together.
https://www.wespoke.org/surveys
In light of the law suit by Allan Kassenoff against media presenter Robby Harvey who reported on Allan’s role in the assisted suicide death of his wife Catherine Kassenoff, I am asking anyone with a similar case to write me at paigebluhdorn@me.com