A Family Destroyed. A Parent Separated. This is my story

Hello, My name is Langston Ball. I'm a father who is finally asking the world for some help to defend myself from my abuser and my ex. I will not pretend to be innocent in this situation, but I also did not choose to use the legal system to annihilate a family and drive an immense wedge between a child and his father. I worked very hard to obtain a job that allowed me to work from home and still allowed me to pay a majority of the bills, allowing my ex to pursue her dream of becoming a social worker. While she was off doing internships, in class, at work, I was at home, raising children with all that entails. I do not say this to minimize the pursuit of education, only to emphasize that I was the primary caretaker of the children, including her son.

In the interests of honesty, I will put forth that I was unfaithful to my ex. In 2022, we had a honest discussion about our relationship and how / if we would move forward. While it seemed things we potentially set to get better, this was a lie.

The Abuse Intensifies

Beginning in August of 2022, an intense campaign of mental abuse began. This involved telling me that I was HIV positive, attempting to traffic people to me for the purpose of sex (those people warned me), faking medical emergencies, driving her vehicle into the wall of the garage, telling our children I was leaving them for another family, sending inappropriate content to my mother and personal friends, telling people she had gotten STI's from me, etc. In October, I told her to seek help and that I no longer wished to be in a relationship with her. I would support her getting better, but I would not be engaging in an intimate activities or anything outside of the wellbeing of the children with her

Using the law for Vengeance

In November of 2022, my ex filed for a Temporary restraining order claiming I had engaged in abuse of different kinds ranging from 'gaslighting' to SA of minors she knew by name. She did not include the names of these supposed SA victims, she did not file any police report that can be found in the city of Downey CA, and she did not include a single text message, photograph, log entry, or anything as part of her evidence. Why? Because, in her capacity as a state licensed social worker, she is aware that the domestic violence statute in CA is easily abused, and there is little if any punishment for those who willingly destroy lives, annihilate families and clog the courts with false claims, drowning out true abuse victims.

But she lied and admitted to doing so

I was escorted from my home by police and had to explain to my son and daughter everything would 'be ok'. Unfortunately, my ex continued on her path of vengeance. From forcing her way into my locked office, to forcing the children to 'evict' my belongings from the home before any actual decision had been made by the courts, and by telling my daughter to 'pack her shit' and claiming she was spying, my ex demonstrated that her only concern was to soil my children's perception of their father and to inflict pain and suffering upon me and the children by proxy. My legal response comprised of 81 pages of text messages showing her verbal abuse, her destruction of property, her abandoning the children and other episodes. I also filed for what is called a 'cross-restraining order' When viewed side by side, she was ordered to leave the home and I was allowed to move back in. Which would have seemed like the ideal resolution.

The Nightmare Continues

Unfortunately this triggered a new round of harassment and the first in a series of mis-steps by my counsel I am still reeling from today. I wished to pursue the restraining order as I felt a divide had been opened that could not be bridged. It was during this time, sensing her precarious position, that my ex approached me with a 'deal' that was entirely one sided and essentially held my son hostage for money. While I balked at this, I was pressured by my attorney to take the deal because even though all the facts were on my side, i didn't know how it was going to go. The overwhelming negative attitude by my counsel left me questioning the validity of the legal system and the very nature of right and wrong. And so I agreed. And in doing so, I allowed my ex to escape the possible investigation which could lead to her losing her license. I regret that, because it was apparently seen as weakness as opposed to not wanting to invalidate the last 10 years of her educational goals. Silly me. I should have learned, but as a man, I was taught to never hit women as hard as you can. After accepting the deal, I went my separate ways with the legal firm as the demeanor was one of indifference, which was the last thing I needed.

Over the next few months, my ex would harass my daughter at her school, and instill a fear of 'getting beaten by your dad' into my son. Suddenly I could no longer go to the pick up line after school and have my little buddy hop in. After 6 weeks of being with his mother, suddenly I had become the most evil person ever, though he could never say what I did to him. It was always, and continues to be about his mother, as she is clearly filling him with her hate and bile, abusing him just as much as me. Her older son began sending harassing text messages to my mother, making threats and spamming negative reviews for her cookies he previous ate by the bag. She stopped complying with our visitation schedule and I had to take her back to court to get it re-affirmed by the judge, again with not even a scolding to her about her activities. She actually claimed police serving her with paperwork was 'abusive' and made her fear for her safety. While at the same time, ignoring my requests to leave me alone and inviting me on cruises and outings as if nothing ever happened.

Poor Legal Retainers

In June of 2023, she stopped complying again with the custody order. I was unable to get into court until August, when the filing was dismissed because of improper service. The downside of being my own counsel. To remedy this I employed another law firm Reel Mens Rights. This was also a mistake. For some unknown reason, my counsel failed to properly serve a response again, much to the dislike of the judge. Instead of re-affirming the custody order, the judge took away my custodial rights. So now, after hiring a second attorney, i am even further back than before. i am now reduced to monitored visits, at a cost of $250/week or $1000/month

I need help. While I have employment, it is currently being docked 1,366 / month for child support. It should be noted that this was raised arbitrarily by the 'commissioner' more than 3x and backdated to a date that doesn't make sense. Its supposedly based on her having full custody, but documents showing the court order of 50/50 custody contradict that justification.

This is, combined with rent, brings my monthly obligations to $4,600 before anything else involving raising a teenager girl who is also deal with the loss of her brother and the turn of someone she was supposed to be able to trust.

Status:

The court found in favor of Heidi, citing the extreme alienation from Jackson but magically not addressing -how- he became so alienated.

I plan to appeal. I will also be filing the actions I held off on as it’s clear the court will not entertain evidence of abuse not just on my word, but with pages upon pages of text messages, photos, receipts.

The Financial Plan of Action

I currently owe:

$5000 im still paying off the loan from a good friend who loaned me the money for a retainer for Reel Fathers Rights only for them to utterly fail me. This is the first priority.

$5000 for a document request I didn't respond to on-time. I have to comply because I made the mistake of not responding on time.

$850 Im still paying to the first attorney after disputing the additional cost of them negotiating me into a bad deal.

Any financial support will help me meet these obligations which in themselves will have cascading consequences if I dont meet them. The court system seems to not care that i am being docked. The side effect of imposing these financial obligation on me is that it prevents me from filing any civil suits, because they cost money.