The victims of Jessica St. Clair, part two

Dr. Sue Tonkins and Jessica St. Clair, LMFT from Reunification Specialty Team website via WayBackMachinePhoto byWayBackMachine

How One Reunification Therapist Upended the Lives of Parents and Children (cont.)

This second part of the series continues to expose the harm caused by reunification therapist Jessica St. Clair, who was recently discovered to have treated victims of domestic violence and child abuse in family law cases without the proper credentials. Before proceeding, readers are encouraged to review Part One for background context.

In April, St. Clair abruptly withdrew from all of her family law cases (see article). Shortly after, reports surfaced that she had misled the courts by falsely presenting herself as a doctor, despite not holding a Ph.D. (see article and documents).

St. Clair has been part of a network of mental health providers and minors' counsels who worked together to "reunify" children with parents in Orange County family court cases (view video here and here). Multiple sources, including articleshere and here, have linked this group together.

This technique of reunification therapy was honed and publicly demonstrated in an instructional webinar hosted by the Orange County Bar Association (view here). The webinar featured several prominent OC family court professionals, including Nicole Schmidt, CFLS (Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara, LLP), Kristen Przeklasa, Esq. (OC Child & Family Formation Law Group, LLP), Dr. Linda Grossman (The Center for Positive Solutions), Dr. Sue Tonkins (Creative Custody Solutions), and Stacey White Kinney, MS, LMFT. None could be reached for comment, including Dr. Amy Stark. These allegations come from parents and children who, spoke anonymously due to their ongoing involvement in the family court system. They describe a pattern of abuse claims being dismissed by court professionals who are supposed to have their clients best interest in mind—all while Orange County family courts and judges looked the other way.

Parents and Children Share Their Trauma Under Jessica St. Clair, Cont.

Parent D, a medical professional and mandatory reporter, shared they were diagnosed with CPTSD and Legal Abuse Syndrome, from their experience with OC’s family court and Jessica St. Clair. Parent D said, “Because I worked in the medical field, they [the court and CPS] said I knew all the pediatricians in Orange County, so the medical reports confirming child sexual abuse by doctors who were not on the court's approved lists couldn’t be trusted. They called me crazy. It was astonishing.” Parent D also shared that they became homeless as a result of the extreme stress and financial burden caused by sessions with Jessica St. Clair ordered by the family court.

Abuse and Signs of Suicide Ignored

In 2018, Parent E and their children—Child E, Child E-1, and Adult Child E-2—faced threats, intimidation, and violence during and after their marriage and subsequent divorce from the other parent. The children witnessed and experienced this abuse firsthand.

Adult Child E-2 recounted aggressive behavior from the other parent, which sometimes resulted in injuries to Child E and Child E-1, including a bloody facial wound. Child E-2 also described how the other parent would physically dominate Parent E, often “cornering [Parent E] at the top of the stairs, standing over them with wide shoulders to intimidate.” The children were also subjected to shoving, gaslighting, and bullying.

Orange County Child Protective Services (CPS) was notified multiple times beginning in 2013, and eventually the other parent was placed on monitored visitation.

However, in 2019, Jessica St. Clair was appointed by the court as a reunification therapist. St. Clair began therapy sessions between the children and the other parent, also involving her colleagues, professionals like Stacy Kinney MS, LMFT, Dr. Sue Tonkins, and Dr. Amy Stark, all on Orange County’s list of approved providers.

Shortly after her appointment, St. Clair requested to replace the court-ordered visitation monitor, stating she had the credentials and experience to fill the role, “I have been appointed by the court several times to conduct therapeutic monitoring of visits between a parent and a child or children,” St. Clair wrote to Parent E’s attorney in 2019. “Therefore, I have the credentials and experience to fill this role.”

Child E-1 recalled that St. Clair quickly aligned with the other parent and used emotionally manipulative tactics during therapy, often asking, “Don’t you think it hurts [the other parent’s] feelings when you don’t want to visit?” Both Child E-1 and Adult Child E-2 confirmed that St. Clair insisted they call her “Dr. St. Clair,” though she did not hold a Ph.D.

Despite the children’s continued anxiety and fear regarding the other parent, St. Clair urged them to “put the past aside” and focus on future visits, ignoring ongoing abuse.

Parent E, struggling financially, told St. Clair in late 2019, “I can’t afford all these sessions. I can’t buy food or pay rent.”

After Parent E told St. Clair and Kinney they could not afford therapy anymore, Kinney made recommendations to the court for "no contact" between Parent E, Adult Child E-2, and the younger two children "effective immediately", accusing Parent E and Adult Child E-2 of undermining the aledegedly abusive parent’s relationship with Child E and Child E-1. St. Clair supported Kinney's recommendation, also sending a letter to the court, to terminate contact. Despite repeated reports of abuse, the court adopted St. Clair and Kinney's recommendation.

In a 2019 letter to the court St. Clair cites Australian research (Templer, Matthewson, Haines & Cox, 2017) as her primary supportive reasoning in Parent E’s case—arguing that “more time with the rejected parent” would resolve supposed “alienation”—led her and colleagues to suggest to the court to cut off all contact with the safe parent and siblings in addition to flipping custody. This research supports utilizing reunification camps and programs like Family Reflections Reunification Program (FRRP) and Overcoming Barriers Family Camp (OBFC), all documented in court records.

Court documents also show what was initially intended as a temporary 30-day separation lasted until mid-2021. During this period, Child E-1 attempted suicide multiple times and was placed on psychiatric hold. Upon returning to the other parent’s home from the hospital, Child E-1’s mental state worsened, until finally being able to live with Parent E weeks later, where they still currently reside.

Child E-1, now an adult, shared with this reporter the trauma they endured before moving back in with Parent E, including an incident in their teens where they were sexually assaulted by a peer. Child E-1 reported the other parent dismissed the incident and bruising, responding, "I don't believe you." Parent E and Adult Child E-2 both confirmed this.

Reflecting on their recovery, Child E-1 said, “We were subjected to constant verbal abuse, insults about our appearance. I’m finally processing the trauma now. And they all [St. Clair, Kinney, Tonkins] prolonged our exposure to the abuse. I feel free to just be a regular young adult, but I’m grieving the childhood that was stolen from me.”

Adult Child E-2, now a successful adult, reflected on the damage caused by the so-called court experts, explaining, “Requiring my mother to apologize for protecting us from an abuser and cutting off contact was not only wrong, but it set the stage for future manipulation and gaslighting. St. Clair destroyed my siblings’ lives and our family.”

The siblings, now adults, have expressed a desire for St. Clair, Kinney, Tonkins, Stark, and the judge involved to be removed from their positions and held accountable for the harm they’ve caused.

(More victims’ stories continued and professionals react in part three.)

If you have had similar experiences within the Orange County family court please contact this reporter ASAP.

Whistleblowers and victims of family court, CPS, probate court, foster care corruption within the US, please contact this reporter at juliea005@proton.me.

This article is made possible by donations from readers like you and can be made here. Thank you for your support!

More in the series on the investigation into Orange County corruption and family court:

Whistleblowers expose the Orange County family court crisis

Whistleblowers reveal corruption in Orange County family courts and beyond

Orange County reunification therapist deceives courts about credentials

OC Bar Association says “I just want to protect my children” means “I just want to screw my ex”

Victims of Jessica St. Clair, part 1

Exclusive: Unveiling the legal battle in Orange County that no one else dares to report