11mo ago

Former Aurora cop charged with raping daughter remains free as mom is sent to jail

A retired Aurora police sergeant faces criminal charges for raping his daughter and continually sexually assaulting her and his two adopted daughters, but he remains free from custody while his ex-wife is in jail for objecting to court-ordered reunification therapy meant to repair his relationship with two of his sons.

U.S. News @beehaw.org

tardigrada @beehaw.org

11mo ago

Former Colorado cop charged with raping daughter remains free as his ex-wife is sent to jail for objecting to court-ordered reunification therapy, claiming it is harmful and abusive

denvergazette.com /colorado-watch/reunification-therapy-colorado-child-abuse/article_96e08e26-66f4-11ef-b15c-ab5c4905bfc1.html

THE POLICE PROBLEM @lemmy.world

Bakersfield @lemmy.world

11mo ago

Former Aurora cop charged with raping daughter remains free as mom is sent to jail

denvergazette.com /colorado-watch/reunification-therapy-colorado-child-abuse/article_96e08e26-66f4-11ef-b15c-ab5c4905bfc1.html

THE POLICE PROBLEM @lemmy.world

octopus_ink @lemmy.ml

11mo ago

Former Aurora cop charged with raping daughter remains free as mom is sent to jail

denvergazette.com /colorado-watch/reunification-therapy-colorado-child-abuse/article_96e08e26-66f4-11ef-b15c-ab5c4905bfc1.html

121 comments

Her trip to jail occurs as such therapy and its potential harms are increasingly coming under fire in Colorado.
The treatment is used by family courts to settle custody fights. Services like those provided by Bassett use confrontation and exercises to deprogram a child’s rejection of a parent. In extreme cases, children have been sent across state lines to reunification camps with parents they reject, and they are barred from having contact with their protective parent.
The fuck
- Forced Stockholm syndrome as therapy.
  
  I don't know why people are against it. You get used to it after a while.
  /s
  
  The reunification therapy costs $1,500 a month. Pickrel-Hawkins said she struggles to pay for the therapy. She said she and the children already are stretched thin, surviving on the $2,680 her ex-husband pays her in court-ordered support, though the judge said during one hearing that he believed the mother actually was earning money that she wasn’t disclosing.
  That she has to pay for.
  the mother has custody of the couple’s minor children, and they are living in a domestic violence shelter. She said that she has arranged for family members to care for her children when she goes to jail.
  While living at a shelter.
  The mother said she lost legal representation in the custody dispute after accruing $85,000 in legal bills, which she couldn’t afford. She was sentenced to jail without any representation from a lawyer.
  Even when she doesn't have enough for a lawyer.
  The 17-year-old daughter claims her father, Hawkins, raped her when she was almost six years old and continually molested her throughout her childhood despite her protestations that he stop, according to court documents. The two adopted daughters also claim they were sexually abused, those documents state.
  The oldest son also told a forensic interviewer he felt like his father tried to drown him in a pool in 2018 in Costa Rica, using police control tactics and holding him under water until he began to black out. The boy said he believed his father was vengeful because the boy woke up one night and confronted his father whose hand he claims he saw down the under garments of his sister.
  Trying to keep them away from a man who absurd their kids for two decades and attempted to kill.
  Absolutely nothing about this situation is justifiable, sane or decent. Fuck this cop, fuck this court, fuck this state, fuck this whole fucking country. Absolutely shameful in every regard.
- Seriously. What the fuck. Institutionalized child abuse. And then they say trans people are somehow the real danger.
- Well that's fucking horrifying... The only thing that got me through childhood alive was that the courts let me decide who I would live with. Why the fuck wouldn't you listen to the kids? It's there life on the line.
  
  Seriously, the courts are heaping all of this blame on the mother when the kids repeatedly report physical and sexual abuse by their father.
  Though the divorce judge found there was evidence that Hawkins had physically abused the oldest son, the judge said in his ruling that was “one instance that does not involve either of the two children at issue.”
  Insane. The logic is nonexistent.
  
  Kids sometimes want the “fun” but negligent parent rather than the responsible parent who enforces limitations. Some kids feel a strong emotional bond with a parent who is harmful to them.
- 'deprogram'...'barred from having contact with their protective parent'.
  This will be decades of lawsuits and millions of dollars.
- https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapy-types/reunification-therapy
  It's a little more complicated than this conservative rag makes it out to be.
  
  No. No it isn't. Forced reunification to your abuser. You sick fuck. Go on and double down. Tell us all how that's complicated. Raise your coward hand again.
  
  A parent does not have a right to affection from their children. Isolating from abusive people is a healthy reaction. Forcing this kind of therapy is itself abuse.
  
  Reunification therapy is a child-focused therapy, meaning it must proceed at the child’s pace, and move forward when they have made progress. It can also be difficult as parents are asked to put aside their differences and focus on the goal of restoring healthy attachment for the benefit of the child or children.
  Meanwhile:
  She said she checked on her children during the session and found one of her sons curled in a fetal position on the ground in Bassett’s office
  She went into the room, and the very first thing that my boy said that she told them was, ‘We need to make progress, and today you need to tell your father that you forgive him.’
  Whatever this therapy is supposed to be, it doesn't really sound like that's what's happening.
- This makes me genuinely feel unwell. Some people are just horrific.
I really recommend everyone to read the article. Shit somehow only gets worse
Not only is the asshole a rapist, he also tried to drown one of his sons because said son confronted him after catching mr "model citizen" with his hands on one of the daughters' private parts.
Those reunification therapy sessions? The mother has to pay the $370 per week alone when it's just her 2 sons attending. There was also one session:
She said she checked on her children during the session and found one of her sons curled in a fetal position on the ground in Bassett’s office, but Bassett ordered her to stop addressing what the mother termed the serious needs of her children.
She said she fears the reunification therapy is harming her boys, whom she described as crying uncontrollably, having explosive outbursts and expressing thoughts of self-harm after attending Bassett’s reunification sessions with their father.
Ms. Basset, the "reunification therapist", deserves some jail time as well
- The "faith based therapy" thing make everything make a whole lot more sense...
- I don't understand how it's legal for a court to order religion-based therapy that costs $1500 per month. That's absolutely insane from every possible angle.
  
  We're now far beyond most people's perception of "sure, but that couldn't happen here" in many parts of the country. They are clinging to what they think is true instead of seeing what is because confronting the reality is difficult - it challenges the fundamental truths we believed would be there no matter what, but that's not true now and it's only getting worse.
  As society evolved for the better on the whole, around 2010 the gop had a choice to die in irrelevancy and shame or to break society to a point where their shame wasn't a disqualifying factor anymore. They choose to break shit (watch a doc called "slaying the dragon" for a good summary of this). That set the stage for trump and gave the heritage foundation access needed to start cutting important wires and pouring gasoline on critical infrastructure of democracy. They'll risk sinking the ship with all of us on board rather than no longer have a chance at being Captain.
- The story reads like a super villain origin story, it just … it boggles the mind that reality could be this fucked
his ex-wife is in jail for objecting to court-ordered reunification therapy meant to repair his relationship with two of his sons.
Yeah, because top priority when encountering a piece of shit incestual paedophilic rapist, is to reunite him with the children he set aside while he preyed on the others. 🤯🤬
Be it a system or an individual - abusers defend abusers. It's always projection in self defence, it's why they've constructed an elaborate conspiracy theory about secret paedophile rings run by the rich and powerful, yet when someone rich and powerful (and white and straight), and those who serve them, acts in direct defence of a paedophile, they look the other way.
The judge who made this ruling, along with everyone who enabled it, need to have their hard drives searched and the children in their lives questioned and potentially removed for their safety. I don't have a single doubt in my mind that if they did this, they would find at least one more paedophile.
As for the mother and kids, I hope they sue the state or the court or whoever it is they can, and win millions to pay for the new life they're going to need to build for themselves and therapy they're going to need for the rest of their lives (never mind compensation for the obscene miscarriage of justice of locking her up).
- piece of shit incestual paedophilic rapist
  Pro tip for concise writing: this can be simplified to the word "cop".
  
  I mean, ACAB, but there are plenty of piece of shit incestual paedophilic rapists who aren't cops, and I don't see why they should be excluded.
- The judge who made this ruling, along with everyone who enabled it, need to have their hard drives searched and the children in their lives questioned and potentially removed for their safety. I don’t have a single doubt in my mind that if they did this, they would find at least one more paedophile.
  I think it's just the legal system protecting cops, like it always does.
  
  Sure, there's that, but it's only part of a much bigger problem (that is why society at large allows cops, and other figures of authority, to get away with shit to the point where it's a cliche. The problem is the patriarchy and the rape culture it cultivates).
- A guilty system recognises no innocents.
There is absolutely no place in a modern culture for oppressive ideologies like conservatism. Conservative judges protect oppressive (abusive) fathers while oppressing (abusing) the women and children.
This has always been the way of conservatism. Always.
- I think another part of the problem is who is attracted to positions of power and why they are attracted to those positions.
  If someone wants power to fix things, they'll tend to have other motivations that will conflict with the pursuit of power because they don't intend to use that power for their own gains.
  But if someone wants power to abuse it, then their personal motivations and pursuit of power line up. Not to mention how much easier it is to sell an idea when you don't care what the truth is.
- The state and congressional districts seem somewhat blue, FWIW.
  
  Aurora's city council and mayor are conservatives, as is the judge in this case and the Christian "therapist" that is abusing the boys. Every ounce of abuse related to this case comes from conservatives.
  
  The reunification therapist, Bassett, is conducting the therapy at Lighthouse Christian Counseling in Fort Collins, which advertises itself on the internet as “integrating faith into the counseling process.”
  This is like a JD Vance sort of org. Women should submit to their husbands vibe.
- Quick question because you have a .world account as well, is the heart next to the up/down voting coming from .world or the app I am using (Jerboa)
  It is off putting to me to put a heart next to articles like this, I don't "love" anything about the events that took place, but I want it up voted for the content.
  
  I'm a different person, but also from lemmy.world and I don't use an app. I don't see any heart heart symbol around the voting buttons. It's probably just your app.
  
  I'm using android jerboa, and I don't see a heart.
  Dunno if there has been an update recently, tho
If you asked me fifteen years ago if I wanted to live in the United States, I would have jumped on the first ship to Staten Island in a heartbeat.
Nowadays I don't even want to visit the country, and unjust bullshit like this is a big reason why. Y'all have a serious problem with allowing your police forces to do whatever the hell they want and argue "qualified immunity" for things that would land you significant prison time in another developed country.
I really question why there's still a lifelong waiting list to apply for a visa to work in the US, when the state of the country is actually quite bleak...
- I know a lot of Africans. I question why any of them would want to move to America as opposed to Canada (where I am) and like me they don't understand when someone they know does make the decision to move south.
  Yes the money is better but no one is going to care if you're from Zimbabwe. A black person is a black person is a black person down there and by and large America is hostile AF to black people.
  
  I know a lot of Africans. I question why any of them would want to move to America as opposed to Canada (where I am) and like me they don’t understand when someone they know does make the decision to move south.
  theres a couple of good reasons i can think of. Canada has a terrible housing market right now, and historically it hasnt had the best government track record either, things like nortel. People are STILL fucked over from that one.
  by and large America is hostile AF to black people
  what?
- The reason is because this fucked up shit doesn’t happen to the majority of people and the USA does actually offer a substantially better quality of life compared to many other places.
  THAT SAID, yeah we have a lot of fucked up institutions in place that are authoritarian in nature (police) to uphold the status quo and ensure the money keeps making money.
  
  USA does offer a substantially better quality of life compared to many other places>
  Lol no. It “offers” the mirage of a better quality of life. That’s like saying that gambling is a job that will invariably improve your economic position. The chances of immigrants actually improving their life by moving to the U.S. aren’t that good. I mean, most of the countries that people move from at least have socialized healthcare.
  
  Better quality of propaganda maybe, not life
- If that was the only problem 🤗
- to be clear, a lot of these problems exist on a county level and on a more broad state level, so this isn't quite a country level problem.
  Bad people everywhere do bad things.
Off topic: what radicalised you?
- Being called a radical for wanting equality for everyone and justice for the marginalized and disadvantaged. The sociopathic, greedy robber barons and their sycophants are the real radicals.
  
  Most people claim to want to see children succeed.
  There are hungry children in many developed countries. This is not treated as an emergency.
  Inequality affects children hugely. Education, employment, health (especially mental health). The status quo is preferred, because it benefits a tiny minority of very rich people. Those who shout loudest blame queers, feminists, and immigrants. I grew up in extreme poverty (top 5% of most deprived areas in my country), and a majority of the poor people I live with believe this bullshit to some extent.
   
  Acknowledging this is not being 'radicalised'. It's just being objective. People do not want to make the world better for people.
  
  Nowadays people use radical in political terms as another word for extremist, but it used to mean going to the root causes. Equality and justice, or the lack of, are the root of many political issues. So you are radical in a way, but that is good.
- I'm trans, it was basically the only way to survive.
- Other people, and their Insistence that I'm a commie bastard for the most mediocre opinions like "a 40 hour work week should be enough to provide basic housing."
  Ive always been vaguely left of center and while I've admittedly not done the reading my general take is "fine if I'm a commie then let's seize the means of production comrade 🤷‍♂️"
- companies being utterly dogshit at the one job they have
Every person in a position of authority here is an absolute monster. I can only assume that all this is religiously motivated, with a keen focus on obeying your husband and respecting your father.
- The therapist is from a Christian therapy business called Lighthouse Christian counseling. Court ordered Christian therapy. Can't make this shit up.
This article has sooo much being said between the lines.
The mother, Rachel Pickrel-Hawkins, said the reunification therapy by Christine Bassett, a licensed marriage and family therapist, has been harmful, abusive and counterproductive
When the other party is there perpetrator of abuse and the one with power, it very often is detrimental to have some sort of mediation or therapy/counseling. Because the abusers very often are able to manipulate the story so they are the victims in need of most support/compromise/thoughtfulness/time/money/basically ANY conceivable resource in life and relationships they will exploit.
Now I admit I am more familiar with the medical side of things but this entire dynamic gives me pause because it is so psych 101.
- To be clear, I mean the courts are absolutely failing this child and caretaker by allowing the abuser to have have access to the victim(s)
  
  Though the divorce judge found there was evidence that Hawkins had physically abused the oldest son, the judge said in his ruling that was “one instance that does not involve either of the two children at issue.”
  As far as information in the article, it sounds like the two kids in court-ordered Christian therapy are the only two the guy didn't (allegedly) abuse.
  But still, the whole thing is disgusting. These children should be protected from such an abusive garbage human. Their mother is doing the right thing.
Aurora makes a lot of national news, and usually it's because of some absolute monster. What's in the water over there.
- is AuroraMan the new FloridaMan?
- It's been that way for years too. Twenty five years ago my friends and I referred to the area as Sadia Aurora cause it always felt like a war zone.
  
  There is also some oil drilling near the southeast side of the city, generally along Quincy and maybe Jewell Avenues?
- Is it lead?
- Ironically enough Aurora city water consistently wins awards for it's quality lol.
  I think the legitimate reason is that Aurora is a physically massive city, has lower housing costs than the rest of the metro area, and Denver has a habit of forcing its homeless population out and into Aurora. The police department is also an absolute good ole boys club who are all terrified of city residents to the point where they drive unmarked/undercover vehicles by default (at least it seems that way, I see so few marked police cars but whenever there's a collection of cop cars with lights going the majority are the undercover)
  Sauce: Current Aurora, CO resident. It's not all bad
Christopher Estoll, the lawyer representing him in the divorce and the criminal case, claimed in an Aug. 1 court filing that the mother was “not a credible witness and is highly manipulative.”
I mean, whatever, but facts are he is a rapist and "reunification therapy" in this case is an absurd torture.
Fuck all of this.
What the actual fuck America?! How can you JUSTICE SYSTEM do this to people. To children?!
Kudos to the mother. I hope her sacrifice is successful in keeping these kids out of these so called "therapy sessions".
- we don't have a justice system, we have a legal system. Similar in structure, but different in purpose.
  
  We have a legal INDUSTRY. Everything happens because the entity doing it has a profit motive.
This just hurts. A whole loving family being thrown under the bus to protect one cop. Therapist sounds like a piece of work too, there should never be unwanted physical contact during therapy. Evil.
Anybody who says they can't understand how somebody would become violent can understand instantly by reading this story.
- I tried to think of something to say earlier but couldn't - this sums it up very neatly.
Where is the fbi this needs an investigation
To be effective as a cop, you have to operate close to the edge.
🤮
Fuck the law, just run. This is insane.
I'm not religious, but this situation really makes me yearn for Hell's fiery maw to open up and claim the cop, the judge, and the "therapist".
May they end up spending eternity as a human centipede. Or better yet, make it a closed loop.
- the...rapist? 🤔
A year ago, the Colorado legislature put new restrictions on the use of reunification therapy. The new law barred courts from restricting the custody of a parent who is competent, protective and not abusive solely to improve a relationship with the other parent. It prohibits reunification treatment that is predicated on cutting off the relationship between a child and a protective parent the child has a bond with.
State lawmakers acted after The Denver Gazette published investigations into Colorado’s troubled family court system, which has been plagued by accusations of bias, usually from mothers who say they are punished and can have their parenting time restricted during divorces when they seek to protect their children from abusive fathers.
During one troubled two-month stretch, four children were murdered in December 2022 and January 2023 by a parent embroiled in a high-conflict court custody battle. Police classified all four deaths as murder-suicides, in which fathers killed their children and then themselves.
Sounds like, even besides her own eye-witness accounts, she has good reason to be concerned. He already tried to kill his son once, and the son is probably going to testify in the child molestation case against him. This case, and reunification therapy, seem really fucked up.
The law favors cops, retired or not.
This country sucks ass and so do state's rights. Burn the whole state to the ground.
Wtf, also not that reunification bullshit
Things like this make me glad I don't live in america
- you had me at
  Wtf
Fucking hell that was a hard read. I'm so pissed off and had to take several breaks to read all of it
Crazy law.
That site’s got some next level paywall nonsense… got about halfway through the article in my Lemmy app, decided I wanted to share the link with someone, opened in Safari and it purposely replaces the content with some kind of automatic greek text.
It’s a shame, archive.org links tend to scare off old people…
- Since I was there…
Ok it's a serious thing and all, but an I the only one who read the title as if the cop was raping daughter's remains?

121 comments