Leighann Burns

The Mother brought a motion to find the Father in contempt for failing to comply with a 2018 court order requiring him to disclose his IP addresses, cell phone numbers, and email addresses.

The court found the Father in contempt, noting his intentional refusal to provide the IP addresses despite having the ability to do so.

After the Father failed to purge his contempt, the court imposed a $2,500 fine, ordered him not to denigrate the Mother online, dispensed with his consent for the Mother to obtain third-party disclosure regarding malicious online posts, and ordered him to pay $5,500 in costs.

The applicant mother and respondent father separated after a tumultuous relationship.

Following separation, the respondent engaged in a campaign of criminal harassment against the applicant, resulting in a criminal conviction, probation, and supervised access.

At trial, the court considered whether to loosen access restrictions.

The court granted the applicant sole custody and ordered a phased expansion of the respondent's access, subject to strict conditions including anger management and drug/alcohol assessments.

The court also ordered the respondent to pay ongoing child support of $776.80 per month and maintained his existing arrears.

The matter was scheduled for trial but the parties agreed to use the time for a settlement conference instead.

On the second day, the self-represented applicant abruptly withdrew from the settlement conference and demanded to proceed to trial, requesting orders for disclosure and a psychiatric assessment of the respondent.

The court found the applicant used the settlement conference to derail the trial and acted in bad faith.

Costs of $1,864.50 were awarded to the respondent on a full recovery basis pursuant to Rules 24(7) and 24(8) of the Family Law Rules.