The Official Website Of Author PETER THOMAS SENESENow as many of you know, I write under my first and middle name, which is Peter Thomas, and I write under my full name, which is Peter Thomas Senese.
The World Turned Upside Down was created as a FREE resource guide for parents at risk of having their child criminally abducted and taken abroad. The book is created in an open-tablet E-book format so that all individuals everywhere may have access to the highly informative and groundbreaking information on this subject that was created due to the extensive research my co-author Carolyn Vlk and I put forth. The World Turned Upside Down is one of the many examples of my heart-felt advocacy and efforts to protect children from the world of abduction. Combining the publication of the extensive publication The World Turned Upside Down is the release of the landmark educational documentary film on international child abduction titled Chasing Parents: Racing Into The Storms Of IPCA. This film is presently comprised of 10 segments running nearly 4 hours and contains critcial information on IPCA that anyone effected or interested in this subject will benefit from viewing. Additional segments are intended to be added in the near future and on an ongoing basis.
Now before I go any further, I want to thank my large number of friends, fans, and supporters who have acted with kindness, compassion, and caring over the past few years while I was, well, chasing the cyclones of IPCA. With all of my heart, thank you.
As some of you may have read, there still remains several slanderous attacks against my name, reputation, and character. Most of what was written occurred several months before or during the long period that my child was abducted. And as you will read, defaming a Chasing Parent's reputation in advance, and during the act of kidnapping is in fact one of the most often used legal defenses an abducting parent will use in order to defend against their own criminal action of kidnapping (under Article 13 of The Hague Convention). I was not immune to having untruthful and defamatory statements made against me. Most of what was written was all part of a very clever and well orchestrated campaign intending to portray me as a terrible man: you name it, I supposedly did it according to the untruthful blogs including maliciously false statements not worth repeating, as well as being an uninterested, non-supportive, and irresponsible father. Nothing in the world could have been more inaccurate.
Fortunately the facts are straight-forward: the international courts I was required to navigate in order to legally bring my son home did in fact realize the severity and nature of the blatant lies directed toward and about me and realized - as evidence was presented and ruled upon by multiple courts - that the abductor and others who conspired with her were behind the malicious acts in order to create a legal defense for her criminal act of kidnapping. The court's ruled in my favor.
Though Chasing The Cyclone is a fictionalized story heavily inspired by events surrounding my child and my abduction, a great deal of what transpired was written because of my own direct experiences. I share much of this in Chasing The Cyclone.
Since this time, I have been very active in participating in creating new laws that deal with online impersonation and malicious slander, including the new laws in California and New York that have criminalized the use of another person's name online for purposes of malice. I hope and anticipate that more states will adopt new laws regarding making it a crime to impersonate another individual online.
I also am actively involved with federal legislative initiatives that will allow federal courts the opportunity to order the removal of online content related to a third party.
Presently, a website administrator is not obligated to remove content posted on a website that they control if that content is posted by a third party - even if there is a court order 'take down' order. So, in other words, the new form of personal domestic terrorism if found in the form of cyber-terrorism, where sociopathic individuals will slander and defame another person online - in essence trying to create a cruel new identity - with limited accountability (because many of these individuals who act in this manner are considered judgment proof (they have no assets). Thus, the only way to prevent personal cyber-terrorism from occurring is to criminalize such behavior and to allow for accountability to occur across the Internet in light of a court order.
My awareness of these issues obviously is directly related to events in my life surrounding my child's abduction. Some of the issues or events I was aware of at the time they were unfolding, while other issues are one's I only recently became aware of due to my need to bring legal action against those who have acted.
Perhaps the best place for me to begin is by discussing a blog site based in New Zealand. Unfortunately, my son was criminally abducted to New Zealand several years ago. When this happened, I turned to the international courts and filed a Hague Application seeking his immediate return based upon The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Parental Child Abduction via the Canadian Central Authority and with the assistance of the United States Central Authority.
Within days of my legal action seeking for the lawful return of my son, whom I had full custody of, this particular New Zealand website came to life, and a series of defamatory posts were made by individuals I did not know, or by writers who posted anonymously.
What I did not fully grasp at the time is that the defamation of my character was all part of a legal defense by those involved with my son's abduction to defend against the criminal acts of international kidnapping, conspiracy to aid and abet in an international child abduction, and a host of other conspired criminal acts (it is important to say here, that I am one of the fortunate parents who has successfully recovered and reunited with their child - and that should say plenty). To put it bluntly, the abducting party needed to slander my name and reputation in order to defend against the act of international kidnapping and child abuse. It was no coincidence that the website permitting such statements and breaking their own policy regarding content was in New Zealand - the same location where I was required to litigate for my son's return.
The slander scheme supports the defense of Article 13 Subsection B of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Parental Child Abduction because the abductor's defense will be able to demonstrates the Chasing Parent is in fact detrimental to the child's safety.
So, in my case, my former spouse and her lawyers (who were now feeling the pressure that we uncovered substantial evidence that they had falsified documents, perjured themselves in court, and committed the act of assisting in the planning, aiding, and abetting of an international child abduction) fell back on Article 13 Subsection B in a desperate attempt to keep the court action in New Zealand and away from North America.
Prudently, and with a significant and mountainous amount of evidence, my lawyers and I presented to the courts that demonstrated their illicit actions, their efforts failed. Completely. The international courts fully ruled in my and my son's favor.
Unfortunately, I needed to act prudently in sharing the circumstances of my son's abduction due to grave concerns regarding his safety.
I essentially dropped everything I was doing and concentrated on my child.
What many individuals who do not face a child's abduction do not understand is that there is a real danger to the child's life when she or he is abducted. There have been too many deaths associated with a child's disappearance.
I was not willing to openly publicize my son's abduction due to my concerns for his safety.
Prior to my child's abduction, I was in the process of producing a television show evolving around storytelling and writers, and I was also in pre-production on the theological film, Cloning Christ. Then my son was stolen and I was advised not to say much, if anything at all, to anyone but to my most trusted of friends and family members due to real concerns about his safety.
On top of trying to find out where he was taken to, and what legal recourse, if any, I had, I literally had to begin a search for my child. I acted with one goal - to find and safely bring home my son. I informed individuals and key parties that the productions I was working on would be delayed. At the time, I could not put a timetable on when we would begin to revamp back up: I was running into unknown storms, trying desperately to find my son.
Who knew what to do? There was no road map.
Some individuals I shared why, others I did not due to concern of my son's safety. The majority of these individuals I spoke to accepted what I had the misfortune of telling them.
The fear and concern for my child's life and safety was overwhelming. But who wouldn't be overwhelmed when your child is snatched and taken overseas?
Fortunately, I did have the massive desire and resources needed in order to bring my little boy home. Sadly, reunion success in most international child abductions is limited. I know I am in the small minority of those who have achieved success. There is never a day that passes that I am not reminded of my many blessings, nor of the wonderful friends that assisted me in my search for my son.
Unfortunately, at the time that I was literally on an airplane crossing the Pacific Ocean in search for my son, I was contacted via email by a blog writer inquiring about the show I, along with a dozen other individuals were working on. This individual was informed that there would be a public statement in the near future, and that until this time, we were not in a position to comment on the show. After all, how could we? My son had disappeared, I was the show's creator, and I was advised due to concerns of his safety, to say nothing.
This same individual then read the slanderous posts made against me that were written by my ex-spouse and her lawyers, and then participated in attempting to defame my name further, due to my inability to communicate with that person (I was searching for my son in a foreign country). Unwarranted and untruthful things were said about an important television show great resources had been expended on that was intended to increase literacy. I filed a lawsuit and was awarded for the site she blogged on to be removed.
Simultaneously, two former business associates realized there were several online slanderous posts being made against me, and decided to jump into the fray. These individuals used aliases including Mason Fox and John Burns, etc., or posted their comments anonymously.
Several years prior, I had begun writing Cloning Christ. I had met a fellow who professed to me that he had a Ph.D in Theology. So I hired and paid him to act as my content editor with respect to the theological content of this book. Along the way, he informed me that his 'younger cousin', an Australian who had been living in the U.S., was an aspiring screenwriter, and asked me if I would consider putting him on my payroll, and employ him to begin scene breakdowns for a feature film I was intending on producing.
For nearly two years, I worked with these two reputed 'cousins' who were living together. Often, I found myself having to play the role of referee between the two men, who were separated in age by about 25 years.
Then, one day the younger cousin, who was an openly gay man (I could hardly care; I have many friends who are gay and many friends who are not) came to me and said that he had no family other than his older cousin, and that he would like my help in trying to find his own father, who he believed abandoned him twenty-seven years earlier. So, I spent a great deal of money and hired an investigator to try and help this younger cousin locate his own father. And after a month, these efforts were successful: I found his father was living in, of all places, New Zealand (this all occurred before my son was taken there).
Immediately after the conversation the younger cousin had with his father, I purchased him a round-trip airline ticket and gave him nearly $10,000.00 in cash and American Express traveler checks so that he could go for a full month and visit his father and the family he never met.
After the month visit in New Zealand, the younger cousin contacted me asking for more money so he could travel to Australia for one week before returning to New York, and to his 'cousin'. So, having the money, and believing it was important, I sent him what he requested.
On the fourth day, while the younger cousin was in Australia, he called and shared some very personal things, including the fact that he and his cousin were in fact not 'cousins'. You get the picture. He also said that he did not want to return to his cousin's house, but instead wanted to live in my home.
I wanted no part of any of this.
Now, I was very upset about the fact that for nearly two years these two guys lied to me about who they were, and, despite my repeated requests to not ask me to interfere in their disputes, they continued to do so. I had great concerns and so I wanted to speak with the other cousin about this. I clearly wanted an explanation as to why I was lied to and deceived, particularly when there was no reason to do so.
So, I drove over to the older cousin's house and rang his doorbell. Confused to see me, he immediately came outside (the man had over 20 cats living with him inside of his house). I informed him of the phone call and conversation I had with the fellow who was now in Australia. Well the guy at the door instantly became hostile, and said "I am going to break you", before running into his cat-infested house.
Upon my return home, I wrote out a check to him and formally terminated his services. And that was the last time I ever saw or directly heard from either guy.
However, a few weeks later, and unbeknown to me, a series of book signings were scheduled around the country that I was not aware of. In addition, unauthorized and false statements were made by these two fellows regarding the film I was working on. What I also did not know was that the two 'cousins' were back together and behind these scheduled book signings that were being planned. One person in particular who stated he spoke with me about scheduling is a fellow by the name of Tom who owns a bookstore in Ohio. I have never talked to or communicated with him. Sadly, I have no doubt that he was spoken to by one of the 'cousins'.
Now, moving forward, both individuals came to realize that my name was being slandered. In fact, they even reached out to my former spouse and had contact with her. So, in an act of revenge, each of them decided to participate under alias names or anonymously, and slander my name as well.
The truth of my conduct with these fellows is demonstrated in the two letters I have now chosen to reveal. One is notarized, the other is witnessed. They are insightful. Letters of Geis and Weller.
In short, I have not brought this to light until now (and in Chasing The Cyclone, where this is also fully disclosed) to share this information because I wanted to protect the Cloning Christ film project that I own and have worked hard on. In hindsight, this was a big mistake on my part. I should have acted earlier. However, once my son was taken, everything other than his safety was not of my immediate concern.
Additionally, there has been one new recent attack made by another individual. He is a British citizen who claims that his own child was abducted to the United States, and professes to be an activist in the area of children's rights. He was deported from the United States on two previous occasions, while his child remains living in Florida with her mother. Due to his acts of defamation, slander, impersonation, and identity theft, I took legal action against this individual in both civil and criminal form. Presently, the New York State Supreme Court issued favorable orders for me in my civil action, and further found this individual in egregious contempt of court. The New York State Supreme Court has issues and active ARREST and INCARCERATION warrant for this individual. And as I stated, there are other proceedings outside of the civil legal action I took. Due to the laws which I am governed by with respect to such action, I will not comment further at this time.
However, one thing that I will say is that over the past few months, and due to the legal proceedings that I took, my child's criminally abducting parent had been conspiring with this individual for nearly two years. Nothing surprises me, particularly when it comes to the sociopathic tendencies of a child abductor. Ironically, the sociopathic tendencies of a person who abducts a child are very similar to a person who steals another individuals online identity.
Due to my own experiences of having a child purposefully and maliciously abducted, I have become a vocal advocate in this area. No parent should ever go through what I, or for that matter, the tens of thousands of other parents each year must endure due to the criminal act of international child kidnapping and all other ensuing criminal and court ordered rules to which an abductor knowingly and purposefully breaks. Sadly, most abductors believe they are judgment proof because criminal prosecution of their act is hardly enforced. This must change. I know I am far from alone in this belief as most individuals familiar with this highly abusive crime against a child concur that an abductor must be criminally prosecuted.
On this note, I have worked very hard to raise the bar of public awareness on this issue. My activity has included, but not been limited to the following:
1. Participating in the passage of the State of Florida's Child Abduction Prevention Act; and,
2. Successfully advocating for the federal implementation of the 'Prevent Departure Program' to be used as a tool to stop international parental child abduction; and,
3. The co-authoring and creation and FREE publication of the extensive 'The World Turned Upside Down' open-tablet E-book resource guide on IPCA; and,
4. The creation and production of the FREE ongoing educations documentary film on IPCA titled 'Chasing Parents: Racing Into the Storms of IPCA; and,
5. The co-authoring of the extensive research report titled 'Crisis In America: IPCA Today'; and,
6. The co-authoring of the extensive research report titled 'International Child Abduction and Human Trafficking In The Western Hemisphere'; and,
7. The upcoming release of the novel 'Chasing The Cyclone' which is inspired by my own experiences in the world of IPCA; and,
8. The ongoing efforts to create additional federal laws that evolve around child abduction prevention.
9. The stout support and advocacy of online impersonation laws such as those passed in the states of California and New York
On a final note, I would like to thank my many friends and family for always demonstrating unbowed support of me. As those directly in my life know, life is very good these days. My son is growing up to be an amazing little boy. He is happy and acts joyfully. And fortunately, the projects I was initially involved with are carefully being revamped. Along the way, I have become committed to raising awareness on the issues surrounding international parental child abduction, and in my way, trying to help other victimized children and their parents in any way I can.
But most of all, I continue to be a father who loves his son. And that is the most important part of my life.
For More Information on Peter, Please Visit:
http://www.chasingthecyclone.com
http://perspectivesofpetersenese.blogspot.com/
http://peterthomassenese.blogspot.com/
http://thedenoftheassassinbook.blogspot.com/
http://chasingthecyclonebook.blogspot.com/
http://chasingparentsracingintothestorms.blogspot.com/
http://www.peterthomassenese.com
http://www.internationalparentalchildabduction.info
