A Mother’s Love

The following you about to read is heart wrenching as the adult daughter of Caroline Halonen-Rice ,who was jailed this week by the corrupt system that failed her and her children, tells the tale of abuse, control and a childs neverending love for their Mother.  It is our continued hope that ALL that read of the corruption, collusion and cronyism that exists in the family court system be exposed to the fullest extent.

Please watch the video at the link at the bottom!

My mom, Caroline Marie Rice, was arrested on Monday. This was the third time she had been arrested. I watched the arrest, trying to hold back my tears. I failed, but I stopped crying sooner than the last time she was arrested. It was probably because I saw her being arrested this time. She was calm, like it was something that happened regularly. She told me she could be calm, because she knows she has done nothing wrong. I was not calm, because in Carver County I have not seen any justice for my family.
Prior to her arrest, my mom and I were moving from place to place, running from the people who were supposed to protect us. We were running from the cops and social workers, because an attorney my mom tried to retain advised her to run if she was required to see a psychologist selected by the petitioner’s side (Brent Rice, my biological father, is the petitioner on the order for protection). The attorney said she represented two other women who were perfectly normal who were sent to a mental institute, because of the psychologist’s recommendations. The attorney said that those women are still there today.  My mom already had three normal psychological evaluations when the court asked her to do another one, this time with a special psychologist. When my mom was informed of this requirement, we ran.
My name is Lauren Elizabeth Rice. I am the nineteen-year-old daughter of Caroline. I am the second oldest of five children. In order from oldest to youngest; Kristina Marie (22), me, Brent Thomas (18), Jayson Douglas (15), and Annelise Claire (13). I attended Holy Family Catholic High School and went on to run division one cross-country and track at North Dakota State University and then at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I withdrew from school (leaving behind my scholarship, my friends, and some of my eligibility as a college athlete) when my little sister (Annelise Claire) ran away from my abusive father (Brent Rice). I wanted to be with her and my mother, if it meant going to a different country, it would be worth it. With an order for protection in place that was supposed to keep my mother from contacting my sister, we headed to Canada with hopes of receiving refugee status. Because of the immense stress, our plan was not well thought out. In order to receive refugee status we would have been separated during the court proceedings. They recommended that we go to another country during the court proceedings so that we could stay together. When we were re-entering the US, my mom was arrested, for the second time. We learned later that there weren’t any warrants at the time of her arrest, so whoever put handcuffs on her should be in trouble. It wasn’t until she had been in jail for several days that warrants were produced. Her charges were for deprivation of parental rights, for failing to appear in court, and for violating the order for protection.

My mom was in jail for twenty-three days in Port Huron, Michigan. She was treated horribly and has not yet explained to me all of the details, because it is still a sensitive topic for her. My mom was held in a special cell for six days, which is used to observe the new inmates. Generally, people are held in this type of cell for a maximum of seventy-two hours. In that cell the lights were on twenty-four seven and everyone could see her as they walked in and out of the jail. The entire time she was in Port Huron jail, she watched other inmates withdrawing from drugs and listened to cops screaming all hours of the day.
The first time she was arrested, I was not with her, so I do not know so many of the details. I do know that she was in the driveway of the place she was living, about to head out for a run. Two unmarked police cars pulled up, nearly hitting her to keep her from running. Detective Patrick Barry was one of the men who arrested her. Neither of the men who were there to arrest her wore a uniform.

The first time she was arrested and bailed out, we fled. The second time she was arrested and bailed out, we fled again. So, the high bail is no surprise to my mom or me. I guess this is when we stop running.

While my mom and I were running from the corrupt orders of the court and the shady policemen enforcing them, my three younger siblings were living with my dad and going downhill.

Jayson, who is fifteen, broke his arm on two separate occasions. The first time, he was skiing. He knew it hurt badly enough to be broken so he called my father, who picked him up and brought him home. He told my brother that his friend is a doctor and that his friend would look at his arm. His friend looked at Jayson’s arm and told him that it wasn’t broken. Three weeks later, when my brother was still in pain, he went to the doctor who said his arm was broken.  This same brother broke his hand again by punching a wall in the dugout when he struck out during a baseball game. Before the divorce, I had seen Jayson upset, but never violent.

My youngest sister had many issues while living with my dad. The issue that stands out the most in my mind is when she needed an emergency root canal and my dad refused to bring her to the dentist. So did the social worker. Annelise had a sinus infection, a headache, and was extremely dizzy. All of those symptoms are signs of a serious infection getting close to the brain. My older sister pleaded with my dad to bring Annelise to the dentist and when he refused, my sister met my mom and brought my younger sister to the dentist herself.  My older sister, Kristina, became too nervous to drive. So my mom began driving with the cops and social workers following them to the dentist. They were rushed inside and the endodontist did an emergency procedure. He explained to the social worker that Annelise could not be brought back to school no matter what the court order said. This was an emergency. He locked the door and allowed my mom to hold Annelise’s hand during the entire procedure. That contact between my mom and Annelise violated the court order and may have saved her life.http://opentopossibility.blogspot.com/

VIDEO:http://www.mincava.umn.edu/documents/digitalstories/Caroline.mov