A Quebec region mother is living in fear after fleeing Spain with her son to escape her abusive rapper husband, who is banned from entering Canada.
The artist tried in vain to convince the court to order his ex-wife to return their son and accused her of child abduction.
A Supreme Court judge said she was convinced it was impossible for the mother to return to Spain without putting her life in danger.
The legal debate began when the mother filed a request for sole custody of her son, whose name she also wants to change.
He wants to intimidate the plaintiff into giving him the child.
Since the case is being heard in family court, the people involved cannot be identified.
In Judge Vincent's decision, which was published online, the rapper's name does not appear, but is instead referred to by initials. It is stated that he pursues a career under the pseudonym “A” to also hide his stage name.
After legal disputes in Canada, the singer and his partner moved to Spain, to a residential building that housed the artist's music studio.
The couple will have a child in the city of A in Spain in 2022, the judge explains. After the birth, the artist moved his studio 90 minutes from the house.
At the beginning of 2023, the mother and her son remained in Quebec with the father's permission.
A Guy Turcotte himself
When the woman returns to the family home in the spring, the situation worsens.
When a friend of the mother visited her in Spain in August, an argument broke out.
In front of a broken television, the father threatens to turn himself into Guy Turcotte with a knife in front of the child.
The mother's boyfriend calls the Spanish police for help.
The mother and her friend left the house with the child and his Canadian passport under police protection. You will arrive in Quebec the next day.
From this moment on, the father will no longer have any contact with his son, although the number of threatening messages used against him in court will increase.
International collection
The rapper responded to the mother's request for sole custody by demanding the return of his son to Spain, which constituted international child abduction and a violation of the Hague Convention.
The judge agrees that this Convention applies in such circumstances because the child is domiciled in Spain and the mother left that country with the child without the consent of the father.
A parent cannot move with a child to another country without the consent of the other parent and then claim that this new country is his or her habitual residence, the court reminds.
Serious risk
On the other hand, the mother claims that there is a serious risk that the return of the child would expose her to physical or psychological danger, which her lawyers have been able to prove.
Even though an ocean separated the couple, the father held them together by threatening them and those around them, the judge finds.
For example, he asked people to take photos of their mother's childhood home and then send him a photo.
The following paragraph contains excerpts from news stories whose content may be shocking. The original spelling was retained.
Danger
“In case you're thinking, 'I'm half joking tonight about keeping what's about to happen,'” the rapper then wrote.
He adds: Bring the baby back and take responsibility for your family before innocent people suffer.
The father defended himself, saying he had simply lost his temper and was upset because she had kidnapped his child.
But the number of messages sent by the father and their content convinced the judge of the opposite.
To demonstrate this, the judge transcribed several excerpts from threatening text messages in her ruling, confirming that they were not isolated, considerate writings from a desperate father.
I'm telling you live and admitting it in front of all social networks: I will be the culprit of your murder and that of everyone associated with you, you ungrateful little whore! –
In a message in English, he also calls on his ex-partner to have him convicted, suggesting that the people of Quebec are waiting for his signal to act.
In another text he writes: I don't buy the life of (child's name), but I buy your death and that of all those who support you in your baby kidnapping.
For the judge, the evidence is clear and shows the toxic atmosphere in which the lady lived.
While the judge waits to make a final decision on the mother's request for sole custody, he entrusts her with the child for a period of six months. It grants the father the right to communicate with his son every Saturday morning at 9 a.m., for example via FaceTime.
On the other hand, this period cannot last more than 10 minutes and the mother can end it if the father makes inappropriate or disrespectful comments, warns Judge Vincent.