New York (PRWEB) October 26th, 2012
International parental child abduction is expected to see as many as 100,000 to 125,000 American children internationally kidnapped over the next decade. It appears that part of the problem is that parental child abductors do not fear criminal prosecution for their crime, and are not held accountable for their abusive acts against both targeted child and the other parent.
The International Child Abduction Research and Enlightenment Foundation (
I CARE
Foundation) is pleased to announce that
Mr.Joel Walter, a higly respected
New York Attorney with forty years of litigation experience focused in complex
family law and criminal matters and a member of the foundation's Board of
Directors will chair the foundation's International Child Abduction Criminal Law
Oversight Committee in conjunction with international child abduction cases.
Mr. Walter is a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the New York Criminal Bar Association, the New York County Lawyers’ Association (criminal and family law sections),a Director of the International Child Abduction Research and Enlightenment (I CARE) Foundation, and an attorney on the State Department’s "Hague Convention Attorney Network" He is admitted to practice in numerous United States Federal District Courts around the country, as his professional practice focuses primarily on complex federal litigtion where he has represented a wide variety of clients in an assortment of complex legal matters. Upon graduation from law school in 1970,
Mr. Walter was hired as a staff attorney by the New York City Legal Aid Society, rising to Attorney –In- Charge of the Society’s Bronx Criminal Court Office supervising about 35 attorneys before entering private practice. He has represented thousands of clients and has had hundreds of trials to completion.
Due to Mr. Walter's extensive and successful litigation experience at the federal level, Mr. Walter was the ideal condidate to chair the foundation's committee investigating how criminal prosectuion of abducting parents may curb child kidnappings.
Under the United States federal law known as the 'International Parental
Kidnapping Crimes Act', the illegal removal or detention of a child taken abroad
in violation of a court order by a parent is a federal crime. In addition to
federal law, every state has imposed its own criminal statute. Despite existing
federal and state criminal laws, prosecution of abducting parents is rare. Mr.
Walter commented, "It is clear that parental child abductors who illegally take
or detain a child abroad do not have fear of prosecution. In essence, they
believe they are above the law and are judgement proof. This must change. The I
CARE Foundation, as part of our mission to raise awareness, will address this
issue in various forums as we believe there exits a direct correlation between
the escalating growth of abduction and the limited prosecution of these
crimes."
Mr. Walter said,“ The legal complexities involved in either trying to prevent
a child from being internationally abducted or getting the child returned under
either the Hague Convention or foreign jurisdiction law in non-Hague signatory
nations is daunting. Clearly, the number of these cases are massively
under-reported due to a lack of research and deep understanding into the issues
at hand.” Walter added that, "Tragically, as many parent-victims of
international parental child abduction realize, the parent-victim is usually
unaware that the abduction is about to occur until the criminal act occurs. With
the correct legal strategy, it is possible for a parent to reunite with the
child. This work involves experience in criminal and family law. It is my hope
to bring the experience I have gained over the past 40 years practicing in both
the family law and criminal law arena to the Foundation, as we continue to
conduct various research, while helping build attorney networks that could
assist targeted children and parents. At the end of the day, it is our hope to
raise the bar on social and judicial education so that we will see a dramatic
reduction in these types of cases. I am very committed to that, as I am honored
to become a Director of the I CARE Foundation."
The Hague Convention on The Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction
comes into play so long as the country where the child was abducted from and to
are both Hague signatory states.
The Law Offices of Joel Walter provides a team of highly experienced counsel
familiar with the legal complexities of international parental child abduction,
professionals who practice regularly in state and federal court, intricate and
thorough legal strategies based upon optimizing various domestic and
international laws, professional relationships with a diverse group of
international family lawyers capable of acting immediately to ensure the return
of the abducted child, strategies and representation that will assist you in
preventing an international child abduction from occurring, and assistance in
enrolling your child in various federal child abduction prevention programs and
the representation and ability to initiate Hague Convention proceedings.
Peter
Thomas Senese, a Director of the I CARE Foundation added, "It is a great
accomplishment to have a person such as Joel Walter not only sit on the
foundation's Board of Directors, but to lead the foundation's investigatory
efforts concerning how failures in abduction prosecution enable would-be
abductors. Mr. Walter is a very intelligent litigator who thinks is paradigms,
something that is extremely useful when dealing with complex cases involving
either the prevention or attempted reunification of parent and child. Mr. Walter
is honest, considerate, and dedicated. His years of extraordinary legal
experience add a very unique presence to our board. The Foundation has been very
fortunate to have Joel Walter as an integral part of our Board. And on a
personal level, when I was forced to Chase The Cyclone of international child
abduction, Joel Walter was the first lawyer I turned to."
