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00:00You allege that the defendant kidnapped your son?
00:03Now, on Tribunal Justice.
00:05They were calling you repeatedly to ask about their son.
00:09Just wanted to protect him.
00:10She wouldn't respond.
00:12Please just tell me, because I can't find him anywhere.
00:16He begged me, begged me, no, they're gonna hurt me.
00:20I know you're lying when your mouth's moving,
00:22and you have done nothing but lie from the minute you walked in here.
00:48Today's case was filed in Los Angeles, California.
00:52Yeah, this is case number 3023 on the calendar of Thompson and Thompson v. Myers.
00:58Thank you, Burge.
00:59You're welcome, Judge Pariser.
01:00And this morning, you may be seated.
01:02Ma'am, have a seat, please.
01:03Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, your lawsuit centers around an allegation of kidnapping.
01:09You allege that the defendant kidnapped your son.
01:12You had to hire a private investigator to find him and to have your son recover to you.
01:17You are suing her for $10,000 for the fees you spent on that private investigator
01:21in order to get your kid back.
01:23Ms. Myers, your defense is that you did not kidnap her son.
01:27You say that you simply provided him a safe haven from what you describe as a toxic environment.
01:34You deny owing the plaintiffs anything, and you, in fact, have a countersuit against them
01:38for $10,000 for defamation, harassment, emotional distress,
01:43and also for the funds that you say you spent supporting their son.
01:48Yes, ma'am.
01:49Your son, little Jean, was dating the defendant's daughter, a witness, Angela, for how long?
01:56About two and a half to three months.
01:57And at the time they started dating, he was 15, and you were how old?
02:02I was 14.
02:0214.
02:03Can we please put up a picture of the kids, Exhibit 13?
02:07So they're dating for a couple of months.
02:09In February, he was a little sad.
02:12He said that they'd broken up.
02:14She was coming to get her stuff.
02:16And you see him with a plastic bag, and he says that the plastic bag contains Angela's stuff
02:21because they're breaking up.
02:23Because they bought it for him.
02:25And then the next day, you go pick him up from school, and he's nowhere to be found.
02:29What do you do next?
02:30I went to the office, and I asked for the person who was in charge of attendance,
02:34and I wanted to know if he attended school that day at all.
02:37And you also find out in February that he'd been truant since October.
02:42It was different classes and different periods that he was truant in.
02:45It wasn't like the whole school day.
02:47So what I'm thinking is, I was terrified.
02:50So immediately when I left the school, I called the sheriff's department,
02:54and I filed a missing persons report.
02:57And then what did they tell you?
02:58They told me that they'll send an officer out,
03:02and he'll come to my house to do a full police report.
03:05And I'm thinking the worst.
03:07I'm terrified at this point because it's out of his character.
03:11It's nothing.
03:12He's never done anything like that.
03:13So it was really scary.
03:14I thought he might not be with us anymore.
03:18You thought something happened to him.
03:19I really did.
03:20You thought the worst may have happened to him.
03:21I thought he might have done something to himself.
03:21What kind of kid was he?
03:22Good student, social student.
03:25Did he have a lot of friends?
03:27Very good kid.
03:28He likes to help out.
03:29He likes to help out around the house.
03:30He likes to help his teachers out at school.
03:32This new behavior was really weird to me because he always...
03:36You mean just the disappearing?
03:37Not even just that.
03:38The truancies.
03:40The truancies, the short temper.
03:44He was starting to lose a lot of weight.
03:46He didn't want to change his clothes.
03:48There was like so many things that were happening.
03:50A behavior change.
03:51What was very interesting was that they saw each other on Valentine's Day on February 14th.
03:57So that was another really shocking part of him being gone and us being worried
04:01because if they did break up after that, it was such a short amount of period of time
04:06until they had asked him to put the belongings together.
04:10And I wasn't with Gene when he went to pick up little Gene.
04:16And so Gene ended up with his older brother Genesis on campus.
04:20They called me.
04:21I was in a business meeting.
04:22I'm like, you guys are not telling me what I think you're telling me.
04:26Like my son is there.
04:27I dropped him off.
04:28So at what point do you reach out to the defendant, suspecting or assuming that your son, little Gene, is
04:36with her?
04:38I text as soon as I found out.
04:41I text on day.
04:43And I said, does Jocelyn know where he goes?
04:46Like if he ditches school, you know where is he?
04:50And she wouldn't respond.
04:52And I kept saying, like, I know one of you guys know where he is.
04:56Please just tell me because I can't find him anywhere.
04:59Like I'm driving around.
05:01I went to their, we went to try to go to their old home.
05:04We try to find the, uh...
05:06I'm going to just, just hold off a bit.
05:09Let me talk to Ms. Myers.
05:11At what point did little Gene come into your custody?
05:14He did not come to us until late March.
05:19Are you aware of where he was between February and late March?
05:22He told us he was couch surfing.
05:24But may I just say that my daughter wasn't even in school at the time.
05:29We were at a domestic violence shelter.
05:31We checked in mid-January.
05:35She wasn't allowed to attend school because it was around the corner from the domestic abuser.
05:41So in March, when little Gene came into your custody, you were no longer in the shelter, but you were
05:47in a home.
05:48Yes, correct.
05:49And when little Gene was in your custody, why didn't you call his parents and say, I have him?
05:55Because you never did that.
05:57Because by that time...
05:57You never did that, correct?
05:58Well, I was asking him, please contact somebody, let him know you're okay.
06:02But he didn't want to do that.
06:04He was terrified.
06:05And then he showed me videos, uh, showing some very concerning behavior from his parents.
06:13Um, you know, just extreme intoxication and just...
06:17I'm assuming then that becoming aware of a situation that you believe to pose a danger to the child...
06:24Yes.
06:25...that you said, I'm going to call CPS.
06:27Yes.
06:28Um, he said...
06:29Did you call CPS?
06:30He did not want his siblings taken away, but he did...
06:33Time out, time out, time out.
06:34You are an adult taking custody of a minor child who you know is not your child, makes a claim
06:42of abuse.
06:44That minor child says, don't tell anybody, and you say, okay.
06:49And in fact, ma'am, at some point, you strongly suspected that little Gene was with the defendant.
06:55Yes.
06:56And you kept calling her, and you said, stop blowing up my phone, I'm on the line with the
07:00bank.
07:00That was the first day that I was not aware of where he was.
07:05She continued to call me and leave me messages threatening me, I'm coming for you.
07:11Um, very aggressive on the phone.
07:14Gene Sr. told her, just hang up on her.
07:17And so, they hung up in my face.
07:21Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
07:24I lost my child.
07:29You lost another child?
07:30I lost my only son.
07:38Gene and Heather Thompson accused Shantae Myers of kidnapping their son.
07:42They're suing for $10,000, the cost of a private eye they hired to find him.
07:47But Shantae says she was protecting the boy from his parents' toxic household and is now
07:51counter-suing for $10,000 for defamation and harassment.
07:55Did you move at any time after little Gene came into your custody in March?
08:01Yes, ma'am.
08:02You moved.
08:03And you moved with the child?
08:04Yes.
08:05So, that is why you had to hire the private investigator, correct?
08:08No, we actually still didn't know because when we called her on the phone, she said she had no idea
08:14where he was.
08:15This was after, and she's right.
08:17I did say hang up on her because I was desperately looking for my son and she wanted to have
08:20a conversation with us about her bank account.
08:23I don't want to hear about your bank account.
08:25If you don't know where he is, we have to go.
08:26But the one thing about this is, my son told me that he was sitting next to her during our
08:33call.
08:34He said I was sitting right there.
08:35Let me stop you one moment because the crucial part of your defense here is that you were trying to
08:40protect this child.
08:41And you have submitted some evidence into the record.
08:44We are not going to show it here about behavior that might be considered extremely troubling.
08:49But wouldn't it have been more responsible to say, look, these are dangerous people.
08:54I'm going to call CPS and I'm going to get the authorities involved.
08:58And I'm having a hard time understanding why, as a mother, that didn't occur to you.
09:04I lost my child.
09:09You lost another child?
09:11I lost my only son.
09:14You lost a child, and I saw the text messages.
09:17Little Jean called you mom.
09:19You would say to Mrs. Thompson here, can I go pick up our baby?
09:23So I'm not suggesting you didn't care about the kid, but that's not dispositive here.
09:28What's dispositive or what are your legal rights and responsibilities?
09:32I just wanted to protect him.
09:33I didn't want him with somebody he didn't know or traumatized any further.
09:38How long was Little Jean in your custody?
09:41From March to maybe late July.
09:44It's during this time that I believe some of the conduct that gives rise to your countersuit takes place.
09:51Because Mr. Thompson or Mrs. Thompson, you posted a flyer.
09:54And in that flyer, you made an allegation of kidnapping.
09:58I believe there was also a flyer that had young Angela's photo on it.
10:03I would like to say the post that had her photo on there, this is what it exactly said.
10:08It said, if you see our son with these people, please report it and let us know he should not
10:13be with these people.
10:15Shantae jumps on there and tries to get it removed.
10:18And I'm just like, what is going on?
10:19And she's saying, you guys are sending allegations.
10:21At this point, it wasn't an allegation.
10:23All we were saying is, if you see him with these people, please report it.
10:27And just so we're clear, Ms. Myers, you never contacted them.
10:32It was the PI who ultimately found Little Jean and found you at your residence.
10:37That's not correct.
10:38I'm wrong. Correct me, please.
10:39No.
10:40The whole time I had been asking and pleading with him to contact them or his aunt, anybody,
10:47just to let them know you're OK, you're alive as a mom.
10:50I want to know my child is alive and safe.
10:53And he begged me, begged me, no, please, mom, don't make me do that.
10:57I'm terrified.
10:58Little Jean is calling you mom and saying these things to you.
11:03I'm terrified of them.
11:04They're going to hurt me.
11:05So it was the PI who ultimately found him and then he went home.
11:11Yes.
11:11Judge Domingo.
11:12So let's start with, how long was your son missing before you found him in the defendant's home?
11:17Seven months.
11:18Seven months.
11:19Had you received any phone calls from him?
11:21No.
11:21No.
11:22Now, you said, I told him to call, right?
11:24You told him to call?
11:25Yes, ma'am.
11:26But you didn't call.
11:27Why not?
11:28Because they were threatening me.
11:30I had text messages of threats.
11:33Really?
11:33They threatened you because you had their son, who's a child, a 15-year-old young boy,
11:39and were comfortable with him calling you mom.
11:43And you didn't think it was appropriate to say to him,
11:45I appreciate you staying if you need to or whatever, but I'm not your mother?
11:50No, I said it was okay if he wanted to call me mom.
11:53But it's not.
11:53He has two parents.
11:55By the way, I have another question for you because apparently your older son goes to school with him.
12:00Why didn't your older son come home and say something's up with little Gene?
12:03Because oddly, around that time, it was really weird.
12:06He was really combative and aggressive towards Genesis.
12:10Our older son was like, I'm going to back off.
12:12You see, I think a lot of people are failing this child.
12:15And at some point, he stops dressing properly.
12:18He doesn't want to bathe himself.
12:20He's missing school.
12:21What is it that makes you not think he's either having an emotional breakdown or he's taking drugs?
12:27She probably thought that.
12:29That was the furthest thing from my mind.
12:31The way Shantae came off to us, I trusted her.
12:34I don't even let my son, like, go and...
12:37Listen, I'm trying to get to a different point.
12:40This was a red flag that there's something amiss.
12:42Yeah.
12:43Coupled with the fact that he then takes off and goes to live with this woman,
12:47who's perfectly happy having this young man call her mom and live in their home.
12:56Angela, is your name?
12:58Who's Jocelyn?
13:00Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
13:03You have no idea why they were calling you.
13:05But you didn't pick up the phone because you don't care.
13:13Gene and Heather Thompson say Shantae Myers kidnapped their son.
13:17They're suing for $10,000.
13:20The cost of a private eye hired to find him.
13:22But Shantae says she was protecting their son from them and is countersuing for $10,000.
13:27Money spent caring for their child.
13:30Angela, is your name?
13:31Who's Jocelyn?
13:33She's the same person.
13:34We only knew her as Jocelyn.
13:35They found her certificate from junior high school.
13:38They both do.
13:39Sorry.
13:39Why do you have two names?
13:41It was a name I went by when I was younger.
13:44Why would you go by a second name?
13:46At some point, I thought I was transgender.
13:48That's why I went with another name.
13:50You went from a female name to a female name because you thought you were transgender?
13:55That doesn't make any sense.
13:56Okay, then.
13:57So, when you left school to stay home and be homeschooled, did you want to go to school?
14:03Um, not really because school in person is just really tough for me, especially with bullying and just people messing
14:11with me, so...
14:12Why were they bullying you?
14:14Just the way I look.
14:15And I don't bother anybody, but...
14:17You look fine to me.
14:18Yeah, I don't know.
14:20And so that's why you cling so much to little Jean.
14:23Because you are clinging to him, correct?
14:26And ma'am, you told the plaintiff, Mrs. Thompson, that you loved him so much and you would take him
14:32from her at any moment if you wanted to.
14:34Yeah, if she needed to take him off of my hand, she wouldn't mind doing so.
14:40And I said, no, that's okay.
14:41And she told me, and if you don't mind, I asked him to call me mom.
14:45I said, I do mind.
14:46And we've only met her three times, I think.
14:49When did you meet her?
14:50You met her on Valentine's Day?
14:51Uh, Thanksgiving.
14:53What happened on Thanksgiving?
14:54Let me tell you real quick.
14:55So, he was well pretty much around Christmas.
14:57It was around January where I really started to see a lot.
15:01Like, right after Christmas until, like I said, Valentine's Day.
15:06And it's right after Valentine's Day that he actually leaves home.
15:09And at that point was when you don't know where he is.
15:11You ask her because you know she's familiar with him.
15:14And the dating, although you're not convinced at that point that she has him.
15:17But from that point forward, you don't call the police department, did whatever you could to try to locate him.
15:23So, how many times did you personally reach out to them to say, hey, is everything okay?
15:28The first day, they were very aggressive.
15:32I didn't know where he was.
15:34I had no idea what was going on.
15:36All I know is that I got ten calls back to back to back to back to back to back.
15:40They were worried about their son who was missing.
15:42I didn't know that.
15:42But you're the only other person who has a relationship with him because of your daughter.
15:47I didn't know what was going on.
15:48You knew that your daughter and he had a very close relationship, correct?
15:53I knew they had a close relationship.
15:54You knew? Of course you knew.
15:56I didn't know they were looking for their son.
15:58So, wait, you're backing up.
15:59Now, you need to answer the questions that you're being asked.
16:03We started with one question, which was you knew they were looking for their son because they were calling you
16:07repeatedly to ask about their son.
16:10So, if anybody's privy, baby, you know that he went to the movies with her.
16:14So, they're going to call you.
16:16You do not respond to them.
16:18Is that correct?
16:18When I answered their call, I did answer the call eventually.
16:24Okay, so good.
16:25After I had the opportunity to answer the call, they were very aggressive.
16:28What were you doing for the first ten phone calls?
16:31I was in the store trying to do a transaction.
16:32You know what? I think that everybody knows exactly who you are at this moment because, one, you don't want
16:38to answer my questions directly.
16:40Two, you keep avoiding it.
16:41Three, you say you know that these people are reaching out desperately.
16:45You don't know what it was.
16:46Maybe one of them was having a heart attack and they wanted to get a hold of you to say,
16:50hey, listen, send my son home.
16:52We're not feeling well.
16:53You have no idea why they were calling you.
16:55But you didn't pick up the phone because you don't care.
16:59I can't have a conversation with you.
17:01You don't have any answers.
17:02Let me go back.
17:03So, our PI has in his paperwork that he found her address moving between January and February.
17:12Of what year?
17:13To California City of 2024.
17:16Is that true?
17:17Yeah.
17:17So, we were in a domestic violence shelter and then we obtained that home at the beginning of March.
17:25So, he wasn't really safe with you either because you had to keep away from someone who was abusive to
17:31your family.
17:31Who was in court killed.
17:32That's what scared us.
17:33You know, so that's actually frightening.
17:35When I moved because it's 45 minutes away, that person didn't know where I was moving to.
17:41But that was the point.
17:42I'm going to tell you all, this is an extremely troubling case, an extremely troubling situation.
17:46I think that your behavior here, Ms. Myers, was totally out of line for what a person who claims they
17:53love a child would do.
17:54And that would be to try to reconcile them with their parents on some level, at least bring them to
18:00a therapist, at least bring them to the police department, call child services, do something that would help this young
18:07man move forward with his life.
18:09Depending on what they uncover, not you.
18:13Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
18:16It doesn't make any sense for a rational person, a parent, to take in a child and to keep their
18:22parents in the dark, to secret that child.
18:30Jean and Heather Thompson want Shantae Myers to pay them $10,000, the cost of a private eye who found
18:35their son at her house.
18:37But Shantae says the Thompsons were emotionally abusive, and their son begged to stay with her.
18:42Now she's countersuing for $10,000, the cost of raising him.
18:46I want to go through the dates. I need to understand what the timeline was. That's how my brain works.
18:50Yeah, me too.
18:51So we have October to December 2023. He's living with you. He's going to school. He's doing well. He looks
18:59well.
18:59Are you dating him at that point, October to December of 2023?
19:03Yes, sir.
19:04Okay, and where are you living at the time?
19:06Well, we were renting two rooms and living in Quartz Hills with a person. It was very temporary.
19:13Everything good?
19:14It got bad.
19:15How bad was it? I'm asking you.
19:18Oh. Um, so...
19:20Was there physical abuse or verbal abuse?
19:23Verbal abuse, but it almost got physical the day that we left.
19:26And when was it that you left?
19:27January 4th.
19:28What was the incident that caused you to leave on January 4th?
19:31So, um, I called my mother. She came home. Um, then he started to get in my mother's face, yelling
19:40at her, like, threatening to physically hurt her.
19:44And then before this one incident on January 4th, it was verbal stuff?
19:49Yes. The verbal abuse was only towards me, and, um, it just boiled over that day.
19:56Have you ever been in a home where there was domestic violence, physical domestic violence, that your mother allowed?
20:01No, sir.
20:02Because you protect her.
20:03Yes.
20:04You weren't dating men who were violent to you, and then leaving them, and then coming back to them.
20:09No.
20:10Right. Because that would put her at risk.
20:13Yes.
20:13Right? Tell me who *** is.
20:16That's my ex.
20:17March 27th, 2023, you filed a request for a domestic violence restraining order against him, right?
20:23Yes, I used to date him.
20:24Most recent abuse, February 15th, 2023.
20:28He threatened to physically abuse me. He threatened to kill me.
20:31It happened weekly. The dates it happened, January 5th, 2023, February 15th, 2023, February 20th, 2023, February 28th, 2023.
20:42Angela heard and saw all that happened.
20:45He would get angrier and angrier, punch holes in the walls, screamed.
20:48He doesn't see a problem having outbursts in front of your child.
20:52That's what you wrote. I'm not making it up, right?
20:56No.
20:56Why you lie to me? You never had her in a toxic environment.
20:59That's what you told the judge.
21:01I don't have it on videotape. Want to watch it?
21:03No. Listen, I don't believe anything that comes out of your mouth.
21:06Okay.
21:07I know you're lying when your mouth's moving.
21:09And you have done nothing but lies from the minute you walked in here.
21:12Listen, it doesn't make any sense for a rational person, a parent, to take in a child and to keep
21:19their parents in the dark, to secret that child.
21:22It doesn't make sense.
21:23All we had to do was look at her record.
21:25You chose to come in here, countersue them for $10,000, thinking that we're going to believe you, that a
21:32mother who intentionally causes pain, pain, anxiety, to them.
21:39It wasn't interesting.
21:40Let me tell you something.
21:42I prosecuted child protective service cases that were a heck of a lot less severe than this, what you're doing
21:48now to your daughter.
21:50Next time on Tribunal Justice.
21:52You had no right to keep this child from his parents.
21:59I would never.
22:00They wanted him back.
22:02You can't threaten someone and say, I have several videos abusing the kids.
22:07I will show them all to the court if you do not drop this case.
22:12He's not mentally okay.
22:14Where is your son right now?
22:16He's here.
22:17I think you know why you're here today.
22:20While you were living inside the home, was anybody beating you?
22:26Are you being sued?
22:28Let Tribunal Justice decide your case.
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23:10Gracias por ver el video.
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