A jury has awarded $21.3 million in damages to Cynthia Hayek after finding that her ex-husband manipulated their divorce proceedings to gain full custody of their children by falsely alleging sexual abuse. Hayek testified during the trial that she lost her relationship with her children due to her ex-husband’s actions. The lawsuit against the father revealed controversies in Colorado’s family court system, including reliance on biased evaluators.
The father raised allegations of sexual abuse against the children’s mother’s fiancé, leading to restrictions on the mother’s parenting time. Despite the judge’s decision to grant full custody to the father, a civil lawsuit filed by Hayek and her fiancé resulted in a $21.3 million jury verdict in their favor. The jury found the father liable for defamation, conspiracy, abuse of process, and malicious prosecution.
The judge’s reliance on controversial parenting evaluator recommendations, such as Mark Kilmer, raised concerns about the custody decisions in the case. Despite Kilmer’s history of bias and improper behavior, the judge defended his work on the case. The controversies surrounding the evaluators led to the creation of new domestic violence training requirements for judges and evaluators in Colorado.
Hayek and her fiancé have remained steadfast in seeking justice and exposing the manipulation in the custody dispute. They eventually plan to get married once the legal battles are settled. The verdict highlights the importance of transparency and accountability in family court proceedings to ensure fair and just outcomes for all parties involved.
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