At this point, we are almost a year into the bitter custody dispute between Paul Staehle and Karine Martins.
Oddly enough, it doesn’t seem like the two of them are primarily fighting each other.
Instead, Paul has condemned family courts and child services while defending Karine. He is hitting a very different tone than last year.
Now, both have shared an update. This sounds like a miserable situation for everyone involved.
Paul and Karine share two sons: Pierre and Ethan. At the end of last year, Karine lost custody. Earlier this year, the same thing happened to Paul.
There are many things we do not know, particularly about the reasoning of the court. We can guess, but it’s not like the family court judge is giving interviews.
But we have updates. On October 31, Karine took to Instagram to share, “It’s Halloween and I’m not with my kids.”
That same day, Paul took to his own Instagram story to complain about child protective services.
“The way CPS treats Karine is absolutely unnecessary,” he began.
“For almost a year, he did everything he was told to do,” Paul wrote.
“He still only sees our kids one day a week for an hour if they have time,” Paul described.
“This week, CPS canceled Karine’s visit because no one was available,” she shared. “No updates on them, nothing.”
Paul claimed that social workers “talked to her, leaving her in tears.”
“Karine has three therapists, she took her medicine [and] alcohol classes,” Paul quoted.
“But,” she charged, “because she’s Brazilian, they treat her differently.”
Paul later wrote: “They even canceled our children’s passports and said they can’t go back to Brazil.”
While the cancellation of children’s passports is generally done to protect their well-being, Paul is making some serious accusations to the contrary. Without knowing more, it is difficult to comment.
On October 24, about a week before Karine’s childless Halloween, she was able to spend time with the kids.
She, Ethan, and Pierre enjoyed the unseasonably warm fall weather with a walk in the park.
Paul isn’t the only person who supports Karine’s story having a happy ending.
He thanked his followers on his Instagram story on October 18.
“Thank you all so much for the positive messages and prayers,” Karine said.
“My children are calling another woman mother,” Karine wrote on October 16. “How should I feel?”
“I feel bad,” he said.
“Everything seems to be fine around here,” Karine acknowledged. “But is not.”
As we previously reported in detail, Paul condemned both CPS and the court in a September 20 post.
Despite sometimes being Karine’s biggest critic, Paul noted that Karine “works hard at whatever job she can to make money.”
She revealed that she only received one hour of visits with her children each week. She condemned the judge as “tough”.
It is difficult to understand the underlying issues that could motivate the family courts to be so “tough.”
Perhaps, with more transparency, we would fully share Paul’s outrage or even agree with the judge.
But without knowing more, the most reasonable reaction is simply heartbreak. This is undoubtedly a difficult time for Ethan and Pierre.
And on September 18, Karine wrote on Instagram to address the people who accused her of not caring about her children.
“I come here to say that my children are not with me yet, but I can see them,” he shared.
Karine added: “I can’t take it anymore and there are times when I want to talk about what the 3 of us are going through.”
“I’m always a good mother and I’m going through that, it’s not just me who suffers, my children also suffer,” Karine lamented.
“I will never stop fighting for you two,” he promised.
Karine concluded her post: “Pierre and Ethan, you are my life.”
