'What is wrong with our country?'

Mother jailed for contempt for ignoring family reunification therapy with husband who allegedly abused children

Across Colorado, children are in danger because of forced family reunification therapy. The process, meant to rebuild a parent-child relationship strained by separation or divorce, can be mandated by a family judge even when the child has accused a parent of abuse, reported The Washington Post.

That was the case for Rachel Pickrel-Hawkins, who was joined by dozens of people — mostly mothers — urging Colorado courts to reevaluate how they handle child custody rulings, particularly family reunification therapy.

The 48-year-old mother of six made headlines last week when she was jailed for contempt after opposing family reunification for her two youngest sons and their father, a former police sergeant who was charged July 29 with sexually assaulting three of their daughters and physically abusing one son.

Christopher Estoll, an attorney for Michael Hawkins, 55, did not immediately respond to request for comment but has previously denied the accusations on his client’s behalf. In an Aug. 1 court filing, Estoll said the accusations were “not supported by evidence” and characterized Pickrel-Hawkins as a “not credible” witness who manipulated the couple’s children.

Hawkins, an Aurora, Colo., officer who in 2012 was hailed among the first responders to the deadly movie theater shooting in Aurora, remains free on bond with ankle monitoring. Pickrel-Hawkins, meanwhile, must report to weekend jail for seven weeks.

During Thursday’s rally outside the state Supreme Court, Pickrel-Hawkins said parents like her who are mired in custody battles following relationships marked by alleged domestic violence are silenced — “by gag orders, by going to jail, silenced to say anything else or they’ll get less time with their children.”

“What is wrong with our country?” Pickrel-Hawkins asked the crowd. “What is wrong with our state?”

Since 2010, 30 children have been killed by abusive parents, with eight of those deaths coming in 2023 alone, Colorado state Rep. Meg Froelich (D) said in a letter sent this week to Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Monica Márquez. Froelich said she hopes the letter, signed by a mix of Colorado lawmakers and child-safety advocates, will prompt the new chief justice to push the state’s family courts to embrace changes that include ensuring family court judges and family reunification counselors are trained to understand domestic violence and trauma.

Crucially, Froelich said, children must be given a voice in the courtroom and should be allowed to address a judge during custody hearings without the parents present. The current system prioritizes the wishes of a parent who wants to reconnect with their child over the child’s preferences or stated safety concerns, Froelich said.

Under Colorado’s embattled family court system, some reunification therapy counselors have pressured children to reconcile with the parent who abused them — something that would never be asked of victims in other scenarios, Froelich said.

“Since when is the twist of fate that you’re biologically linked mean that you should move toward reconciliation and forgiveness?” Froelich said following the rally. “We’d never say that to a sexual assault survivor. But [Pickrel-Hawkins’s] children were told to go to their father and forgive him.”

According to an affidavit for Hawkins’s arrest, allegations of his abuse stretch back nearly two decades and include claims that Hawkins repeatedly raped his daughter and sexually abused his adopted daughters from Pickrel-Hawkins’s previous relationship, groping them beneath their underwear. He is also accused of using police restraint tactics on the children and forcing his children to witness or participate in animal cruelty.

Colorado’s legislature has enacted some family court restructuring in recent years, including a bill passed last year that restricts the use of family reunification camps, or situations that isolate a child from their preferred or bonded parent to improve their relationship with an estranged parent.

Still, Froelich said Pickrel-Hawkins’s situation proves more changes are needed. Fighting the custody arrangements has put Pickrel-Hawkins deeply in debt and forced her to live in a domestic violence shelter with her two youngest children.

Pickrel-Hawkins told The Washington Post through a representative that she hoped sustained attention would remain on her case and others like it, and that the news media would “thoroughly investigate, stand up, and speak for those who have been wrongfully silenced and punished for protecting the innocent children that desperately need our protection most.”

Pickrel-Hawkins declined a phone interview Friday afternoon, indicating she would be spending the last hours of the day with her children before returning to jail.

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