There were mutual allegations of abuse, suspicions of infidelity
and a nasty fight over custody of the couple’s toddler son, Drew.
But when Padmashini Drees traveled with Drew to India seven years
ago and didn’t return, the family’s problems reached the U.S. State Department
and the FBI.
Though custody battles tend to be messy, international cases like
the one involving the Dreeses can drag on for years. The U.S. Supreme Court has
wrestled with at least two disputes since 2012. Clashing legal systems become
hurdles for the parents.
The parent left behind has little recourse if a U.S. court order
is not recognized in another country. The parent who takes the child abroad in
violation of a custody order could face criminal prosecution should he or she
ever return to U.S. soil.
The North Texas case appeared to have a movie-script ending July
9, when Dean Drees reunited with Drew, who is now 10. A McKinney police photo
showed a smiling father embracing his son.
Officers arrested Padmashini Drees when her flight landed at
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. They accused her of abducting her son
and put her in jail.
The case is not settled.
Padmashini Drees was released from the Collin County Jail on Sept.
2. Her felony charge of interference with child custody is pending. If
convicted, she faces up to two years in state jail.
“Today, Padma has the option of making a comfortable life anywhere
in the world,” said her attorney, Scott Mackenzie, in a written statement. “She
has chosen to stay in the United States to fight for her son and get the justice
that she truly deserves.”
Neither Padmashini Drees nor Dean Drees would speak with a
reporter except through their lawyers.
The mother
Padmashini Drees’ life in the U.S. began in the early 2000s as her
first marriage, an arranged union, crumbled, her attorney said.
Trained as an architect, she enrolled in a computer-aided design
class where she met Dean Drees. The couple married in August 2003 and started a
family in a middle-class neighborhood in McKinney.
Dean Drees filed for divorce in October 2004, nine months after
Drew’s birth.
In 2006, a court in Collin County granted Padmashini and Dean
Drees joint custody of Drew. It also set the boy’s primary residence with his
father and ordered his mother to pay child support.
Mackenzie said Padmashini Drees, a green-card holder, lived under
her husband’s constant threats of deportation.
“In light of that, I can understand why she felt the need to run,”
Mackenzie said.
Dean Drees’ attorney, Tiffany Haertling, denied the allegations.
She lamented that Padmashini Drees “would choose to continue to inflict hurt
and grief on an already unfortunate situation.”
Drew was about 3 years old when his mother took him overseas. They
lived in India and also traveled to England, France, Switzerland, Italy,
Indonesia and Thailand, according to a court document.
The father
Dean Drees told a Collin County court that he made “continuous
efforts” to get his son back for the seven years he was away. He hired private
investigator Danny Russell to track down Drew. Russell worked with federal
agencies and others to locate the boy.
Dean Drees missed Drew “immensely” and was desperate to find him,
Russell said.
“He was a very polite father who was fearful of the worst because
he didn’t know what had happened to his son,” Russell said. “He had no
contact.”
India is a haven for parental child abductions, said Jeremy
Morley, a New York attorney and former co-chairman of the International Family
Law Committee of the American Bar Association.
The Asian nation hasn’t signed the Hague Abduction Convention, a
treaty that encourages the safe return of children taken from their home
countries.
“There is no consistency in the approaches of the Indian courts in
these cases,” Morley said, “and the Indian legal system is extremely slow and
can be corrupt.”
The U.S. State Department reported 702 parental child abductions
from the U.S. to another country in 2013. India accounted for 28 cases,
trailing only Mexico and Canada.
Coming home
In December, Padmashini Drees restored Drew’s contact with Dean
Drees through video chats. Dean Drees asked his ex-wife to come back with Drew
so they could both parent the boy, Mackenzie said.
“Despite the warnings given to her by Indian authorities and other
people … she kind of hoped Dean would have mercy on her and try to work with
her,” the attorney said.
On July 16, a Collin County court suspended Padmashini Drees’
access to her son as part of the civil custody case.
Her legal team wants to resolve the felony case before pursuing
visitation with Drew, Mackenzie said. Padmashini Drees has no intention of
taking her son back to India, the attorney said.
Parents should seek proper legal advice instead of trying to
resolve custody issues themselves, said Morley, the New York attorney.
“She took the law into her own hands,” he said of Padmashini
Drees. “Now she’s paying the price.”