The children’s behavior, which includes refusing to speak to their father, violated a parenting order. Their parents have been divorced for several years. The oldest of the siblings, a 15-year-old boy whom the judge described as “defiant and contemptuous,” said he will not speak to his father because his father has been violent toward his mother.
Although the children’s mother did request an order of protection against her former husband, her allegations were never substantiated and her petition was denied.