What would you do?

Shortly after Ayla was reported missing this is what we were told regarding Justin taking physical custody of Ayla.

12/30/2012 Morning Sentinel
On the evening of Oct. 17, a few days after Trista Reynolds entered drug rehabilitation, DiPietro, of Waterville, arrived at the Lewiston police station.

At 6:06 p.m., a police officer spoke with DiPietro in the lobby, according to Lt. Mark Cornelio.

Police declined to release a report of the service call because it pertains to an open investigation in Waterville, but Cornelio described the dispatch log Friday in a phone interview.

“DiPietro said he was going to … retrieve his daughter and wanted police to go,” Cornelio said. “He explained that he and the mother had an agreement that if she went into treatment, he would take custody.”

Cornelio said police called Maine Department of Health and Human Services and confirmed that the state agency had authorized DiPietro to take custody of the daughter.

Next, DiPietro and one police officer went to the Lewiston home of Jessica Reynolds, Ayla’s maternal aunt. Becca Hanson, Ayla’s maternal grandmother, was there, too.

“Ayla was in my and my daughter’s care while Trista was in rehab,” Hanson said during a recent phone interview.

Cornelio said Ayla was turned over to DiPietro without incident.

Maine Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson John Martins wouldn’t comment on the case during a Thursday phone call.

“We can’t confirm or deny whether we have any type of involvement with a child or family, based on Maine confidentiality laws,” Martins said.

Afterwards this is what Jeff told us on Answers for Ayla.
October 17th 2011, 7pm – Lewiston Police and Justin (who waited downstairs) arrived at Jessica’s apartment and demanded on behalf of DHHS that they turn Ayla over to them. After Ayla was turned over to Justin by the police, it was revealed to Jessica (via phone) that the CPS supervisor had given the police authorization (and Jessica’s address) to retrieve Ayla. Ayla was kicking and screaming when turned over to Justin. While that may qualify as ‘without incident’ on a police log it was traumatic for everyone else involved.

Justin was in the apartment when the officer handed Ayla over to him; his mom Phoebe waited in the car – and Ayla tried to bite the officer as he was handing her over to Justin. After Justin and Phoebe left with Ayla, the officer stated to Becky that: “if he had his way, he would not have let Ayla go with Justin”.

Here’s an excerpt from “The taking of Ayla”.
The untold story of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services involvement in the case of a missing child. by Terrilyn Simpson – [Download PDF]

Ayla Reynolds, now presumed dead, was visibly afraid of her father. On the day he came to get her, up until the moment she saw him, she’d been a happy child. A Lewiston police officer who entered the apartment first, described the one-and-a-half-year-old towheaded toddler as, “laughing, playing and attempting to make conversation with me.”

The officer had informed Aunt Jessica Reynolds, who was temporarily watching Ayla and her brother for mother Trista Reynolds, who had physical custody, that father Justin Dipietro was outside, there to collect his daughter. The aunt objected, describing Dipietro as abusive and saying he’d “beaten the child in the past.” She said she wouldn’t give Ayla up willingly — that Ayla was “terrified of him,” according to the written report.

The officer told the aunt that Karen Small of Child Protective Services (a division of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services) had “authorized the custody.” Small is listed as an Office of Child and Family Services Supervisor at Portland DHHS. When Dipietro had arrived at the Lewiston Police Station a short time before, requesting the police accompany him to “retrieve” his daughter, the officer who met with him recorded, “I consulted my supervisor….who stated that he had been on the phone with Child Protective Services and had spoken with Karen Small who in fact had authorized Dipietro to take custody of his daughter.” Reportedly, no paperwork changed hands.

The aunt told the officer to watch Ayla’s reaction when she saw her father. “I then had Dipietro come to the apartment door,” documented the officer. “I noted that upon seeing her father, Ayla immediately broke down crying and attempted to flee the kitchen. I was able to pick the child up and hand her over to her father as she continued to cry uncontrollably.”

Officials at DHHS have said that the department cannot settle custody issues between parents. “You need to get an order from the court,” said a spokesperson at the agency. It appears that Small simply decided to sidestep due process and presented herself to police as having jurisdiction in the custody matter.

The Lewiston police officer had agreed to assist Dipietro only “After learning that Dipietro was the legal guardian….” And that was based on the say-so of Karen Small who arbitrarily made questionable assertions, and decisions both capricious and contradictory. Justin Dipietro’s mother had, in fact, earlier that same day told Small that Justin had not yet legally established his parental rights.

I’ve seen a wide variety of reactions to this article. One of those reactions was anger toward the officer who handed Ayla over to Justin. It’s easy for us to sit back and judge what should’ve been done after Ayla was reported missing, after we learned of prior injuries, after we learned about Ayla’s blood being found in the home, after we learned that Ayla is probably dead and after we were told the three in the home aren’t telling all they know. Keeping this in mind,

• What would you do if you were the officer in this situation?
• Would you question your superior officer’s words?
• Would you follow your superior officer’s instructions?
• Would you question DHHS’s judgment?
• Would you think this could be another case of false accusations in a custody dispute?
• Would you question if Ayla’s reaction to seeing her father was caused by manipulations of her maternal family?
• Would you refuse to hand Ayla over to her father after witnessing her fear?
• Would you risk losing your job and income when others may be counting on you to support them?
• Would you think that if you refused to hand Ayla over that another officer would follow through with Justin’s requests?
• Would you think this little girl would eventually come up missing from this father’s home, with her blood shed in his bedroom?

 I don’t know what I would’ve done if I’d been in his shoes but I know I would never, ever want to be in his shoes. In my opinion he is one of the many victims in Ayla’s case, another victim of someone’s lies.

Maine State Police Tip Line  –   207-624-7076