Pieced from interviews and legal and medical documents, this is the story of a ravaged girl fallen victim to maternal cruelty, judicial irregularities and feminism run amok.
Teddy was born in Los Angeles on September 28, 1993, to Photius Coutsoukis, a 46-year-old Greek immigrant, and Susan Samora Coutsoukis, then 43.
Teddy was a healthy, normal infant whose neonatal scores were above
average. She had no known congenital defects and subsequent tests showed no
genetic flaws.
Mr. Coutsoukis suspended a successful business career
where he had previously made a six-figure income to care for their baby girl.
He nicknamed her Houdini, because, he said, she was "extraordinarily
intelligent and athletic".
Within days of Teddy's birth, her mother
filed for divorce in California and then made preparations for a move to
Oregon, where she had accepted an executive position.
While Mr.
Coutsoukis had already made arrangements for the move and had procured a
beautiful new house for them, his spouse had decided to take Teddy and leave
the father behind, only to relent after his pleas to let him care for their
baby.
In November of 1993 the family moved to Medford, Oregon.
In January of 1994, Ms. Samora left the house, taking Teddy, and then
evicted Mr. Coutsoukis with a family abuse restraining order. She placed Teddy
in day care. Mr. Coutsoukis denied that he ever committed any violence. Dr.
David Oas, the court ordered divorce evaluator subsequently confirmed that in
testimony.
Ms.
Samora did not call back in response to my request for an interview.
Less than a month later (with the mother having rescinded the restraining order) Mr. Coutsoukis was reunited with Teddy, only to find her catatonic and ill.
According to Toni Hulse, (the Coutsoukis' housekeeper who saw her a week later) Teddy was withdrawn and not her normal self and she had a runny nose. She had also lost weight, she was very pale and she barely moved. "I had never seen her sick before" said Hulse. Mrs. Hulse continued that after Mr. Coutsoukis's return and under his care, Teddy became her usual smiling, babbling happy self.
Ms. Hulse, who worked for the Coutsoukis family from November of 1993 to
September of 1994, said that she observed Mr. Coutsoukis making baby food for
and feeding Teddy, changing her diapers, bathing her, and playing with her.
She also stated that she could tell "he loves the child very much...He takes
excellent care of the child. He is a loving and very conscientious father."
The housekeeper also described Mr. Coutsoukis as Teddy's primary care
giver and she said that she rarely saw Ms. Samora (who was pursuing a career
outside the home). Ms. Hulse testified that she had never seen Teddy in poor
condition before Mr. Coutsoukis left the family home that January. She said
that Mr. Coutsoukis nursed her back to good health over the next few
weeks.
Hulse described Mr. Coutsoukis's situation as a difficult one.
Ms. Samora had been hostile to him since Teddy's birth but the housekeeper
said he took it in stride, not complaining but concentrating on his job as
Teddy's 24-hour caretaker. He sometimes looked tired and overworked from
having to stay up at night when Teddy awoke. Mr. Coutsoukis made "the greatest
food" for Teddy, his spouse, Susan, and their guests. He also decorated the
house with his art work and tended the flower garden in the spring and summer.
This was Mr. Coutsoukis's "role" as the quite, obedient, husband.
"I have always said that Teddy is a lucky girl to have Photius as a
father," Hulse concluded.
One of Mr. Coutsoukis's complaints about the
poor manner that Teddy was treated by her mother has to do with medical care.
When Teddy needed a pediatric ophthalmologist, her father took her to Dr.
Laurie Christianson of the Casey Eye Institute in Portland and to Dr. Hoytt at
the University of California San Francisco. They examined her gently without
touching her or startling her. When her mother took her to a local
ophthalmologist following Mr. Coutsoukis's eviction, he put metal clamps on
her eyelids and examined her while her mother restrained then 3-month old
Teddy. That ophthalmologist then reported that the baby was "uncooperative."
When it was time for Teddy to go to a dentist, her mother took her to
one where she and two assistants held her down while her teeth were cleaned
(see Dentist's report). Her father chose a dentist who let Teddy sit in Mr.
Coutsoukis' lap while she was examined and aloud several breaks during the
exam when Teddy wanted. She played in his office while she was there.
In July of 1994 at 10 months of age (while on a visit to Greece) Teddy
was diagnosed with serious developmental delays. Teddy was diagnosed by Dr.
Helen Skouteli (a pediatric neurologist) who recommended a battery of tests
including an EEG. Ms. Samora forbade her spouse to have the EEG performed,
hampering early intervention into Teddy's medical problems. Mr. Coutsoukis
meanwhile was reluctant to do anything that would antagonize his spouse,
knowing the potentially catastrophic consequences of being separated from
Teddy.
Upon return from Greece, Mr. Coutsoukis sought and began physical
therapy for Teddy. Ms. Samora again asked him to move out. Mr. Coutsoukis
began caring for Teddy daily at his own apartment while his spouse worked.
On October 6, 1994 Ms. Samora filed a divorce petition in
Oregon.
While earning what amounts to an exceptionally high income for
the area, Ms. Samora insisted that Mr. Coutsoukis go to work or never see
Teddy again. While preferring to be a full-time stay-at-home parent, he
started a home based business and hired a staff. He cared for Teddy in his new
home from 8:00 a.m. until Ms. Samora picked up Teddy after work each day and
oversaw her rehabilitation.
In August 1995 Ms. Samora observed three seizures in Teddy and finally had
the EEG done at Rogue Valley Medical Center.
Teddy began receiving
seizure medication prescribed by Dr. Helen Skouteli, the pediatric neurologist
who had first examined Teddy 13 months earlier.
A month later Mrs.
Coutsoukis unilaterally reduced the number of hours Mr. Coutsoukis could care
for Teddy in his home to every weekday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and just
"his" weekends or in other words, when she so decided.
In November
1996 (after nine months of resistance) Mrs. Coutsoukis finally relented and
the parties began a court-ordered custody evaluation of both parents and the
child by Dr. David Oas (a licensed clinical therapist, and a clinical
psychologist with 25 years of experience). Dr. Oas, a member of the American
Psychology Association, said that he had testified "in hundreds of child
custody cases, with the best interests of the minor child always considered as
the primary goal."
In February 1997 Dr. Oas indicated that he would
recommend that custody be given to Mr. Coutsoukis. He said that he based his
decision on "the strength of Teddy's biological and emotional attachment to
her father." He noted that "Teddy is an at-risk child who has significant
delays in development and that I believe Mr. Coutsoukis is the best parent and
best person to provide in-home parental care of Teddy with his capacity to use
specific skill-building strategies to offset the significant behavioral
deficits she exhibits." He added that such in-home care is preferable to
out-of-home care for a child with Teddy's needs.
Mrs. Coutsoukis refused to undergo
psychometric tests and denied Dr. Oas access to her recent psychiatric
records.
In mediation, which Mrs. Coutsoukis also resisted, in
December 1996, an agreement was signed by which Mr. Coutsoukis gave his
estranged spouse temporary custody of Teddy provided that she would spend her
days with her father as was done previously. The agreement also required that
she would discuss educational and medical decisions with the father before
implementation.
To Mr. Coutsoukis's consternation, the mother
bargained down the hours that Teddy would spend with her father, choosing
instead to have her cared for by hired baby sitters until 11:30 AM.
Nevertheless, Mr. Coutsoukis felt that it was the best he could get under the
circumstances (which included the fear of a feminist judge) the notoriously
unfair treatment that immigrants received in court and the possibility that a
court might grant exclusive custody to the mother, with limited rights for
him, as happened subsequently.
Having left her $70,000 a year job, she
then requested the court's permission to move to New York, citing better job
opportunities there.
She moved to New York in April of 97 and Mr.
Coutsoukis followed a week later with Teddy. He moved his business so he could
be close to his daughter.
Upon arrival in New York, Mrs. Coutsoukis
filed a modification petition in Westchester Family Court and applied for a
temporary restraining order.
In June, with Mrs. Coutsoukis claiming
that he violated the order, Mr. Coutsoukis was dragged into the courtroom in
handcuffs. He was brought into court without a hearing or admission of guilt,
without even informing him of his right to counsel, and with complete
disregard for UCCJA. The former New York Family Court Judge Ingrid S. Braslow,
based on Ms.
Samora's unsupported allegations, suspended the Oregon order and
drastically reduced Mr. Coutsoukis' time with Teddy to weekly supervised
visits.
Having been terrorized and
having seen his daughter severely diminished, Mr. Coutsoukis consented to the
order of protection at a subsequent hearing in September 1997. He did so
"without admitting" and while vociferously denying Ms. Samora's allegations.
The judge dismissed the mother's modification petition with prejudice
and reinstated the Oregon order. Although, in the intervening three months,
Teddy was only allowed to see her father a few times under supervision at the
YWCA. Following Judge Braslow's new decision, Ms.
Samora refused to allow Teddy to see her father as specified by the
then-in-effect Oregon order, except for a few minutes in a child
rehabilitation facility. During that visit Ms. Samora brought a bowl of what
Mr. Coutsoukis (a world class cook) described as "white vomit" for Teddy to
eat.
Prior to that hearing, in the summer of 1997, Ms. Samora had
taken Teddy to Dr. Darryl DeVivo at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center
requesting that Teddy be placed on the ketogenic diet. Teddy was hospitalized
in August for monitoring and to be placed on that diet.
Ms. Samora
took Teddy to the emergency room twice, for emergency hospitalizations after
she had seizures that went on for 15 minutes.
In May of 1998 the
Oregon divorce decree was entered shortly after Oregon denied Mr. Coutsoukis'
petition to modify the custody/visitation order and custody was given to Ms.
Samora.
In August of 1998, Oregon declined jurisdiction leaving the
case in the hands of the N.Y. courts.
In April of 1999, Judge Braslow
had recused herself from all future proceedings in this case and resigned from
the bench in December of that year.
Ms. Samora had taken Teddy back to
Dr. Darryl DeVivo at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. There he put the
child on a ketogenic or high protein, high fat, low carbohydrate diet for the
seizures. Despite the lack of research that proves the diet can be helpful in
such cases.
Upon viewing Teddy's records, Dr. Oas wrote an unsolicited
letter to the court stating that Teddy had shown regressive losses in
cognitive, language and physical development. This letter was based on reports
from special education teachers that teach in her schools in Ossining and
Hawthorne New York. He said the therapy she was currently undergoing was
inadequate for her needs. He continued that she needed daily parental
intervention that he believed Mr. Cousoutkis could best provide.
Dr.
Oas later on reiterated his recommendation, saying that since June of 1997
Teddy's behavioral deficits had increased significantly, whereas before being
separated from her father, she had progressed spectacularly. This all occurred
when Teddy had been predominantly under the care of her mother with minimal
contact with her father.
Dr. Oas also stated that the most current
research on early intervention suggests that long-term brain deficits are
known to be a consequence of traumatic life experience, especially in
neonates, toddlers and children within the first three years from birth.
These deficits are even more pronounced if there are
neurological/brain/developmental delays. They are best offset by immediate
comprehensive and early intervention seven days a week by a parent who has
knowledge of the specific skills to be applied and a strong emotional
attachment to the child to offset environmental stressors.
After
examining Teddy's medical records, Dr. William Bloom, a neurological
consultant, said that Teddy's condition "seriously deteriorated beginning in
the fall of 1997 and continued to deteriorate...she had previously progressed
beyond expectation."
Dr. Bloom added that Mr. Coutsoukis made Dr.
DeVivo aware that Teddy spent her days with her father who was her primary
care giver since birth. Never-the-less Dr. De Vivo, however, chose not to
speak with Mr. Coutsoukis or Dr. Skouteli. He assumed the validity of the oral
history provided by Teddy's mother.
Upon a change of treatment, Teddy
suffered seizures of such severe magnitude (more than 15 minutes of
unconsciousness according to her mother) that she was hospitalized twice on an
emergency basis. Major setbacks or 'regression' as noted by Teddy's care
givers followed the seizures. Dr. Bloom believed that removing Teddy from a
medication that worked without serious side effects and substituting a
ketogenic diet was a departure from standard practice. He said this resulted
in lasting brain damage from the ensuing seizures.
According to the
Child Neurology Society, the ketogenic diet is a high-fat, very
low-carbohydrate diet used in some children with epilepsy that is difficult to
control with conventional drugs. It was developed in the 1920's and fell into
disuse as new medications to treat epilepsy became available. The diet has
never been evaluated in a scientifically controlled manner. Its major side
effect is kidney stones.
Sandra Savo, a baby-sitter hired by Mr.
Coutsoukis in April of 1997 also testified in an affidavit regarding Mr.
Coutsoukis. She stated that Teddy was a loving, happy child and adored her dad
who, "goes out of his way to spend time with her and teach her new
things."
Ms. Savo said she could only "imagine the horror and agony"
Teddy and her father felt when they were suddenly separated from each other.
Ms. Savo said she was there the day Teddy's mother "falsely" accused Mr.
Coutsoukis of abusing and imprisoning her. Ms. Savo added she recently was
rehired to help with Teddy during her vacation with her dad and found her to
be frequently constipated, incredibly hyperactive and distractible, repeating
the same thing over and over. She said Teddy had forgotten a lot of the things
she knew like sign language, the alphabet, numbers, how to turn a knob, open a
door, insert a key into a keyhole and personal hygiene. Teddy could no longer
do elementary things like chew her food or blow her nose. She was
temperamental and insecure, bites instead of kissing and salivated profusely.
Ms. Savo said she had never in her life met "anyone as patient with a child as
Photius."
This reporter, who visited Mr. Coutsoukis and Teddy in
Peekskill, agrees with Ms. Savo's last statement. She has never met anyone as
patient with a child as Photius Coutsoukis.
I observed Mr. Coutsoukis
spend three hours in the kitchen painstakingly preparing food for Teddy's
ketogenic diet. While he was cooking, Teddy was already asleep for the night.
When she was awake, he cared for her lovingly as well as played with
her, fed her and helped her in relearning to feed herself. He read to her,
talked to her and constantly showed affection.
He repeated over and
over with Teddy her colors, numbers, letters and words. He acted as her
private art therapist, speech therapist, and a physical therapist. He appeared
to be eminently qualified to give Teddy the proper care as well as a great
deal of love.
As for himself, Mr. Coutsoukis said that he was struck
by disbelief about his little girl's current situation and about "the
despicable things that were done to her in full view of a country full of
supposed humans".
Although Mr. Coutsoukis said that he worked in his
home office on weekends when Teddy was not with him, he did not work while
Teddy was there. He spent his time with Teddy and also enlisted this
reporter's help in household tasks.
At the present time, the
Coutsoukis divorce decree is under appeal in the Oregon Court of Appeals, and
Mr. Coutsoukis is still seeking custody of Teddy in New York in order to
"save" his daughter's life "before it is too late".ctr7Oct00