This report is part of an investigative series looking into reported family court corruption. For the rest of the investigation, visit the catalog here.
Catherine Kassenoff is an attorney. Her long career spanned from the U.S. Attorney’s office in New York to the governor’s office. But she never experienced injustice until she experienced family court in Westchester County, New York. Kassenoff’s nightmare began when her children disclosed abuse from their father. Child Protective Services (CPS) was so concerned about the allegation that they instructed Kassenoff to either get a protective order against her husband or CPS would remove the children from the house and put them into foster care. The officer who took the child’s testimony at school believed the child and testified in court that she was consistent and believable when telling officials that her father kicked her sister and hit her mother so hard she had to seek hospitalization. The officer also witnessed a bruise on the child’s arm where she said her father had grabbed her hard. Court transcripts show Officer Lisa Pompilio answering questions about that disclosure.
Throughout the interview [the child] was consistent with her facts. She was clear, concise and easily recalled all facts with no hesitation …I rephrased several of my questions to see if I elicited the same response, which I did. Her responses did not change. Like I stated, there was no hesitation. She didn’t have to sit and try and recall. She was very open. Like I said earlier, it was truly like a floodgate. She just wanted to give me the information and I saw such a relief in her ’cause at first she was shaking and she was fidgeting. The longer we spoke the more comfortable she became.
The officer then confirmed that CPS told Kassenoff to seek a protective order.
They specifically told her if she did not go with them to Family Court in New Rochelle, they were going to seek taking the children from them. They were going to get an order to take the children and they were going to get the order of protection after taking the children from her. Absolutely.
Kassenoff did as instructed and her husband, a high-powered attorney, then filed for divorce using all his connections and had her evicted from their house. After the court got ahold of the case, the judge vacated the protective order that Kassenoff was granted and stripped Kassenoff of her custody, giving the children back to their father. CPS told Kassenoff that there was nothing they could do now that the court was making decisions and their recommendations were not being followed. Kassenoff was eventually put on supervised visitation—though there were never allegations accusing her of abusing her kids—for which she has to pay, and has been made homeless by her husband’s court maneuvers.
Currently, she’s not allowed in her own apartment because it’s too close for her husband’s taste and he has included it in his recent protective order against her. She has been sleeping on friends’ couches and living out of her car.
How did this happen? Kassenoff says it began with a court-appointed psychologist, Marc Abrams, who began accusing her of “parental alienation” and “brainwashing.” Abrams has been accused of sexual misconduct by patients and has been recently removed from the court’s “Mental Health Professionals Panel” as a result of the complaints against him. One former patient, speaking on condition of anonymity, told PJ Media that Abrams asked him repeatedly to give him details of his sex life during a custody evaluation, peppering him with inappropriate inquiries for graphic details. Another patient reported that Abrams asked her to lie on top of him during her custody evaluation. A third patient described Abrams showing her a risque photo of herself that her ex-husband had given him and said Abrams asked her to describe the sexual acts she performed for her new boyfriend.
Abrams also has posted many sexually inappropriate and misogynistic messages on Facebook, ranting about how much he hates Republican “whores” and “NRA prostitutes.” PJ Media reached out to Dr. Abrams but he refused to respond to multiple email inquiries.
#DrMarcAbrams has been accused of sexually inappropriate behavior with more than one female client. His Facebook posts are seriously misogynistic and hateful toward Republicans. He calls everyone he doesn't like "whores" or "prostitutes." pic.twitter.com/3XCgLtDoF0
— No, not THAT Megan Fox 🦊 (@MeganFoxWriter) December 14, 2021
Kassenoff has filed a lawsuit against Abrams’ peer psychologist, Dr. Susan Adler, who was put on the case after another therapist substantiated the abuse by the father.
The children were seeing Dr. Janessa Cavallo, who diagnosed them with troubling disorders related to the abuse they said they suffered from their father. After this diagnosis, the guardian ad litem, Carol Most, who is supposed to be an advocate for the children, accused Kassenoff of “brainwashing” the therapist and removed the children from Dr. Cavallo’s care. It was then that Most had the court appoint her favored therapist, Dr. Susan Adler. Kassenoff says Most has admitted to having a personal relationship with Adler and her husband, who is also a matrimonial attorney. Most refused to respond to inquiries. “I cannot comment on this matter,” she told PJ Media.
The lawsuit alleges that Adler severed the bond between mother and children using unproven and unscientific theories.
Unbeknownst to Mrs. Kassenoff, Defendant is a proponent of parental alienation concepts, which have been widely discredited by mental health professionals. (See, e.g., Allison M. Nichols, Toward a Child-Centered Approach to Evaluating Claims of Alienation in High-Conflict Custody Disputes, 112 Mich. L. Rev. 663 (2014).)
Plaintiffs allege that Defendant: (1) subjected the Children to harmful “reprogramming therapy” with the goal of severing the bond between Mrs. Kassenoff and the Children; unjustifiably recommended “no contact” between Mrs. Kassenoff and the Children with respect to custody evaluations in the Divorce Action, which resulted in Mrs. Kassenoff being deprived of contact with the Children for several months, including from May 30, 2021 to the present; (3) ignored and failed to report claims of domestic abuse toward the Children by their father, Mrs. Kassenoff’s husband; (4) refused contact with Mrs. Kassenoff to discuss the treatment of the Children; (5) disclosed confidential information about the Children to third parties; (6) unjustifiably objected to Mrs. Kassenoff’s request for a second opinion concerning the treatment of the Children; and (7) violated her ethical obligations as a duly-licensed psychologist in the State of New York.
The lawsuit charges Adler with breach of contract, fraudulent inducement, professional malpractice, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, breach of fiduciary duty, and prima facie tort—which defined means “infliction of intentional harm, resulting in damages, without excuse or justification, by an act or a series of acts which would otherwise be lawful.” PJ Media reached out to Dr. Adler to give her the opportunity to respond to the allegations but she did not reply.
This lawsuit is one of several of its kind. PJ Media has reported similar cases in Missouri where guardian ad litem Elaine Pudlowski and Dr. James Reid, a psychologist, have been named in at least six lawsuits alleging similar schemes. The biggest hurdle these lawsuits face is overcoming the court professionals’ claims to “quasi-judicial immunity,” which allows them to break the law while working as an arm of the court without facing a lawsuit. Attorney and activist Evita Tolu has drafted legislation in Missouri that would remove immunity for family court professionals, called “Mikaela’s Law.” Similar laws are popping up around the country where parents are tired of court-appointed officials who have destroyed families for money and power with no consequences.
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