t1cjsu01

Do you have an appearance in the file? I'm not seeing it. Actually, I didn't formally enter my appearance on MDEC, but I can't do that. I apologize. You're going to need to do that at some point today, whether it's during a recess or otherwise. You need to get your appearance in the file, please. I have it. I don't have to keep calling you. Can you give me your name, please? I apologize. My name is Scott Blumenthal. B-L-U-M-E-N-F as in Frank. E-L-D as in dog. Got it. Thank you, Mr. Blumenthal. All right. All right, Ms. Newhouse, I'd be happy to hear your statement. Thank you, Your Honor. I'm here on behalf of Samila Golieva, who's petitioned for a protection order for the parties of four children, Benjamin, age 15, Skylar, age 13, Matthew, age 12, and Jason, age 3. Ms. Golieva is the children's mother. Mr. After is their father. Pursuant to a consent custody order entered by this court on July 21, 2023, Ms. Golieva has primary, physical, and sole legal custody of all four children. Part of the consent custody order would incorporate if their judge is absolutely divorced. That was entered by this court on June 17, 2024. Pursuant to their custody schedule, every two weeks, Mr. After is guaranteed time on one weekend and one weekday overnight. Skylar disclosed to her mother. Court will hear that Skylar disclosed to her mother on May 24th that her father had provided for a fake ID and his girlfriend's ID to go to nightclubs on several occasions, specifically December 22nd, 2024, March 11th, 2025, and April 19th, 2025, when she was 12 and 13 years old. How did that happen? It doesn't come into the record. Snapchat, Your Honor. Social media posts. From whom? Made on the daughter's account on a phone the mother owned that she was able to download the pictures and videos from, Your Honor. How is that going to overcome hearsay objections and authenticity objections, which I didn't see. Sure. Well. You will see. Sure. She owns the phone. I would just put that out there. She owns the phone. She didn't take the photograph. She wasn't there. Anything that the daughter said to her is going to be hearsay. I'm sure they're going to object to it. I'm just trying to anticipate what we're going to be going through soon. Go ahead. Sure. When she was 12 and 13 years old, those nights, Ms. Rafter left the 11-year-old nephew, a two-year-old Jason, at his home by himself so he could take down her clubbing. Power outlets closed. She went out to those nightclubs. Her father bought her vodka cocktails, champagne, and smoking supplies, including a hookah pipe. And on one of those occasions, she was taken to an unknown location, a home of one of Ms. Rafter's friends, where she was given a drug called 2C, which is known as painkillers. Skylar refused to go to Ms. Rafter's residence with her two younger siblings until the weekend of May 24th. After the younger children were returned on May 26th, Ms. Galeeva reached out to Montgomery County Law Enforcement the next day and was advised to file a police report with D.C. Police. She also pointed out to Montgomery County CCS and DCCPS, both organizations that started the investigation, and when they needed more resources for two other things, they asked Ms. Galeeva to file for a protective order so the court could order a DFS investigation. Ms. Galeeva is seeking to keep the children safe, Your Honor. Okay. Thank you very much. Mr. Blumenthal. Good morning, Your Honor. Good morning. My name is Scott Blumenthal. I will enter my appearance later. I apologize about that. Okay. This is my son, Jason After. He's the father of five children, including 13-year-old Skylar, 13 now. This is Cora. Are all these children common to both parents? She has one child. That's with someone else with four. So there are four children in common? Yes, there are. Okay. But the matter before the court concerns only one of the children, as far as I can tell. It's Skylar, this 13-year-old. And the allegation is that Jason has abused her. That's really the sole issue today. You'll hear testimony about Skylar, and she is deeply troubled. Disciplines at school that she's engaged in extremely risky behaviors, including sexting older men, posting online, using drugs. Serious stuff for a person her age. And the parents have struggled with how to deal with this, how to respond. Jason has made some mistakes. But anything he's done, he's done out of desperation. He's always had the children's best interests at heart. He's just trying to derail the current course that Skylar's on. And the evidence will not show any abuse. Certainly not under the Maryland law, as I've researched it. There's no bodily harm or assault or anything like that. And the protect order requires a proponderance of the evidence. And I just don't think we're anywhere near that. He didn't strike her, threaten her, or anything like that. At most, it will show that he yelled at her, desperately trying to parent her. Not pleasant, but he's doing the best he can. Jason is not here to deny his flaws. He's here to take responsibility. He's committed to doing better. He is a good father. And I think our case will reflect that. Let his testimony speak for itself. He needs to be involved in this child's life. She really needs both parents to come together on this one. And that's all he wants. He doesn't have custody. He doesn't have custody. He just wants his invitation and participation to help his daughter. Thank you. All right. Thank you very much. All right. Ms. Hinton, you may call your first witness. Sure. I'd like to call Mr. Afters in the stand. All right. Mr. Afters, come forward, please. The witness stand on my right, please. Once you get there, if you could remain standing and face our clerk. And raise your right hand, please. I do. I think we can have a seat, sir. Thank you. All right. This is your clue. The felony may inquire, sir. Oh, my goodness, Your Honor. I'm sorry. It's okay. I just had a question. Is the court – there's ongoing criminal investigations. I didn't – I don't think I can advise whether this is amendment rights, because I don't represent him. If the court would like to or the attorney would like to. I don't want to not have that out there when I'm going to cross. I do. Are there criminal charges against you? 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