Our Criticism Of FX’s Faye Yager Children of the Underground Docuseries

We have followed Faye Yager’s Children of the Underground Cases for several decades. This has included following the cases of Searching Parents & their Families; the Recovery and Arrest of the Underground Moms; Reunification Stories and related High-Conflict Child Custody Divorce and Parental Alienation Cases.

The Editor
Family Abduction Watch (The Children of The Underground Watch)

[Read on Medium]

The FX Faye Yager Children of the Underground Activist Docuseries Producers

Ted Gesing, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, Dan Cogan, Jon Bardin, Kate Barry and Liz Garbus are Film Makers that will be telling the Faye Yager, Children of the Underground Story. The question for Viewers, Film Reviewers and Critics, did the Producers pursue the truth with honor and integrity or is the Children of theUnderground an Activist or One Sided Docuseries?

Here’s what we know from the reviews so far:

Read More on Medium

Children Of The Underground – Really a Docuseries on FX / Disney+

In the aftermath of the Amber Heard False Accuser of the Decade comes FX / Disney+ with an untimely story of other False Accusers, Faye Yager and the Mothers of the Children of the Underground. This 5 Episode Docuseries airing on August 12, 2022 is by Executive Producers Ted Gesing, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, Dan Cogan, Liz Garbus, Kate Barry and will unlikely show any sympathy toward the emotional abuse inflicted on the victim children and the false allegations against their fathers and extended family members. And like Netflix’s Allen v. Mia Farrow controversial Series, it will provide these false accusers of another opportunity to disparage their former spouse. It is unlikely these Hollywood producers would have been able to comprehend that there was no evidence of abuse in these cases and it has not been until the recent Amber Heard Trial that Women and Mothers can be proven liars, especially in Family Court Custody Cases.

We suspect April Curtis Meyer and her daughter Amanda / Mandy will have appearances on the show and in that case in which there was no proven abuse. That father was given custody in Family Court after April consistently violated court orders including kidnapping her child. She had three different children with three different men and divorced and remarried while in hiding. The Philadelphia Banker’s case will also be injected into the show without respect to the victim families and the adult-children that would more than likely not want their story public — moving on with their lives. But because it makes for good TV and to accompany the family-oriented Disney brand, we will see how these Executive Producers Ted Gesing, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, Dan Cogan, Liz Garbus and Kate Barry respect the privacy of the victims.

It’s clearly wrong to give Faye Yager any further publicity. She was an Interior Designer from West Virginia with no formal Education in Child Protection and should have been found guilty except for the failed efforts of Cobb County Assistant District Attorney Rose Wing and that 1992 jury. 

Finally, we hope these producers are not expecting any Television-Emmy Awards for a show like this in which the victims of these parental kidnappings simply want to move on with their lives. All that being said, Actress Zoe McLellan has been in hiding since 2019 with her son Sebastien and at the very least, maybe this show will bring publicity to that case and help the Los Angeles Police Department find that child and arrest Zoe McLellan.

It’s Time For Parental Kidnapper Actress Zoe McLellan To Surrender

Celebrities are suppose to be role models for our society and it appears the latest mother to kidnap her child is Actress Zoe McLellan best known for her roles on Jag and NCIS New Orleans. McLellan has been party to a long-time custody dispute with her former spouse and appears to have followed the protective parent movement playbook not surprisingly trigged by Mclellan’s attempt to challenge Move-away and Child Support laws for an actress filming in multiple cities.

One thing is certain in the history of this custody dispute—Custody Deprivation, Parental Alienation, and Abuse Allegations eventually led to the most severe form of Family Violence against a child, a Parental Kidnapping.

Zoe McLellan is not the first celebrity to have a high-conflict Family Law Custody Dispute. The list of celebs include: Kelly Rutherford (who eventually gave primary custody to her ex), Mia Farrow, Brittany Spears, Madonna, Kate Goslin and many others.

The issue with Zoe McLellan is that it appears that she has gone into hiding with her son ignoring a Family Law Judges’ Custody Order which is never a legal alternative for any parent. This is a Felony that could and should result in Prison time and is and represents an insults to not only our Nation’s Family Law Court System but to all the parents that rightfully chose to abide by our Family Court Laws — in the best interests of the child standard.

It is time for Zoe McLellan to surrender and negotiate with the Los Angeles District Attorney for reduced charges before it is too late.

Faye Yager’s Daughter Michelle “Jones” French Thinks Her Mom Stopped Hiding Families in 1999

With the upcoming releases of the FX/Disney Series Children of the Underground, Faye Yager’s daughter Michelle “Jones” French signed up for a Twitter Account to start promoting the series. She actually responded to one of our tweets claiming that her mother, Faye Yager stopped helping families after the Philadelphia Millionaires Case.

Wrong, Michelle “Jones” French. Here’s a post regarding your mother Faye Yager and her activities as an Inn Keeper helping Underground Mothers.

A post from Natika S. from our comments section on our website in 2012. This post has been public on our website for over a decade.

“I have been volunteering at a homeless shelter in Brevard, NC. It’s a good place run and operated by good people. I consider all of the staff and some of the residents to be friends of mine. There are rules and there is a process to becoming a resident there. The residents MUST be able to pass a background check which is for the safety of the residents and any children that may be there. Some people come and go there quickly but some stay for months at a time due to different reasons. Some are waiting for their disability to start are some and there waiting to be placed in government housing. They are homeless but that does not reflect upon their character except maybe to say they are strong people. It’s not easy to reside with 17 other people that have also had to stay there. That’s 18 different personalities in one room. That’s three bathrooms for 18 people, one washer and one dryer, one kitchen and one refrigerator. It’s hard to live like that but the staff, volunteers and residents make it work with the help of generous donors and the citizens of this small town. There are different churches, organizations and businesses that help as much as they can. The Haven works closely with the Department of Social Services and Brevard Housing Authority to help the residents locate permanent housing. Some of these organizations are also run by donations only. There are a lot of people in this small town that go forth and donate their time, money and resources to helping those that are less fortunate. Some do because they feel it is the right thing to do. Some do because they are happy to look and say “I helped with that.” Still others only do so that they can say they did as a matter of “look at me I did good.” They do for accolades and status. There are still some that just wish to take advantage of someone in a bad situation because they feel like they can.

I recently met a new resident of Haven and he and his family will remain nameless for confidential reasons but I have permission to tell you his story. I’m going to call him Jeff just to simplify things from here on. Jeff came into The Haven more than a week ago with his two children. He had been residing in Brevard for about 6 weeks and was working at a local Inn. There was an agreement for pay plus room and board for him and his two children. As someone that is also a single parent I can honestly say that it would seem like a pretty good deal. When he and his family got here things quickly changed. Jeff has not been paid a dime of the agreed upon amount from his employer so he is essentially destitute. To make matters worse he is now unemployed and without his belongings. He took his kids to the park to play and when they returned to their home which is also where he worked everything was gone. Their clothes, toys, bed, phone and even the kids Wii, system which they had been given as a gift. What was not in their vehicle was gone. Jeff has been told that their things were bagged up and left in the street and someone else must have stolen it. Jeff and his family then made their way to The Haven.

Jeff and his family came to The Haven on a Saturday afternoon. While The Haven wants to help as many as possible it was completely full at that time. Several residents left over that weekend so hopefully he would be able to move himself and his small family in Monday after his background check. That still left the question of where they could stay over the weekend. A volunteer gave them a place to stay Saturday night where they could at least eat, shower and sleep. Another volunteer from another organization housed them on Sunday night. On Monday Jeff and his family became residents of The Haven so things were looking up just a bit. Tuesday afternoon it came crashing down. The Department of Social Services had received a report from his employer against Jeff for child abuse and neglect and they arrived at The Haven to collect Jeff and his children. His children have been in foster care since then and Jeff has been scrambling trying to find a way to have them returned. The employer that Jeff had has a history where she is notorious for helping non-custodial parents to kidnap and disappear with children. The employers name is Faye Yager. Ms. Yager is co-founder of Children of the Underground which is an organization that she created to take abused children from abusive parents. Sounds like a good idea doesn’t it? What happens when she helps to remove children from a home that has no abuse and returns them to a home where they have been abused by an older sibling? That’s what Jeff and his family are going through. Shortly after Ms. Yager tossed Jeff and his children into the streets I started asking questions and have discovered a few things regarding her and her habits.

Ms. Yager has a habit of hiring people from the homeless or near homeless communities and then firing them for theft and not paying them for the work they have performed. I know of five different people with connection to The Haven that she has done this to within the last six months. She offers these people pay with room and board and they work for a few weeks with no pay and then she fires them and they are without a home or a job. Her reason for firing them is always theft. That’s a lot of employee turn over for theft in a busy tourist season. I don’t know about anyone else but it makes me wonder about her employment practices. Ms. Yager is also allegedly under investigation with the North Carolina Labor Board for these hiring and firing habits. I made a few more phone calls to people in other states about Ms. Yager because I don’t want to take just the opinion of one or to rely on Google for my information and I learned a few more things about Ms. Yager. There are still children and parents in her underground network that are hiding from their alleged abusers. In some cases there is no proof of the alleged abuse but she helps these people to disappear. The non-custodial parent is then called a kidnapper and Ms. Yager is called a hero. Ms. Yager has been arrested and tried in the past for what she has done but states that she will continue to help hide the non-custodial parents and their children. From what I’ve learned she will do so with no evidence. The word most used to describe Faye Yager by everyone I have spoken with is “crazy.”
Now that Jeff and his family have been separated due to the actions of Ms. Yager, the children’s non-custodial parent is staying in Ms. Yager’s residence in Brevard, NC, which is called the Inn of Brevard. It has also come to light that Ms. Yager and she have been in contact for some time. Jeff’s children are likely to be returned to the custody of their mother which is a travesty as her older son sexually abused both of them. The older son still resides with the mother and the abuse is likely to begin again. Ms. Yager may call herself helping these children but her actions speak of something else. In the past week Ms. Yager has fired Jeff with no separation notice or pay, emptied storage containers in his room and made it to appear as poor housekeeping and then took pictures, removed his belongings from the room without his knowledge or permission and did so without the presence of the police and then contacted Social Services with her “proof” of Jeff’s neglect. She also managed to accomplish all of this without paying him anything for the work he has done in the last six weeks. Honestly, is Ms. Yager a help or a hindrance to the citizens and children of Brevard? What gives Ms. Yager the right to act as judge, jury and executioner? Honestly, we need to stand up to her and fight back.”

---

Editor’s Note: We really hope the producers of the Children of the Underground pursued the truth with honor and integrity rather than just producing an Activist or One Sided Docuseries like Netflix’s Allen Vs. Farrow. Also, we wonder why Michelle “Jones” French would use “Jones” in her name rather than removing it from her full name for the benefit of herself and her new family.

Faye Yager’s Trial: Rose Wing, Where Are The Video Tapes of Children?

When law enforcement raided in home of Faye Yager in the ’90s, they found many video tapes of Faye Yager interviewing young children. The Georgia Cobb County Prosecutor at the time was Rose Wing. What ever happened to this District Attorney? She apparently retired and ran for a State of Georgia House Seat for Cobb County in 2020.

Rose Wing, Former Assistant District Attorney Prosecuted Faye Yager

There were rumors among the Searching Parents that the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office had many video tapes of Faye Yager questioning young children. The identity of the children was unknown and after the District Attorney’s Office lost the trial against Yager in 1992, there were no further attempts to identify the children.

Faye Yager was an Interior Decorator and had no formal training in child abuse forensics or child psychiatry and should never have been allowed to interview young children.

These parental kidnapping cases are now decades old, but we are hoping that in the extensive research done by the Executive Producers and their Team of the FX Children of the Underground docuseries, that these tapes will be uncovered so that some of these kidnapped children could be found.

Faye Yager – The Children of the Underground FX – Disney Trailer – But where are the video tapes of the child interviews?

The Children of the Underground Trailer is out and it appears that FX/Disney appears to glorify the controversial Interior Decorator Faye Yager that was once on trial in Cobb County, Georgia and faced up to 60 years in prison for kidnapping and emotional cruelty to children. Prosecutors say that she coerced false statements about abuse. Yager was acquitted by the Cobb County Jury that deliberated for only 3 hours.

Editor’s Note: What is missing from the series is most likely the numerous video tapes with unidentified children that were found in a raid of Faye Yager’s home. Yager was known in the ’90s for browbeating a child in a gestapo-like interview until she elicited a disclosure — a practice that is now considered both unreliable and highly-suggestive by today’s standards. We do wonder if it’s not too late for law enforcement to re-file charges against Faye after this TV Series airs.

The Story of Faye Yager Podcast

On November 24, 2021, Enn and Matt the creators of the Ripped From the Headlines Podcast released Season 3, Episode 12 which included the story of Faye Yager. Click here to listen to that podcast. Of all the journalists writing stories about Faye Yager since the ’80s, this appears to be one of the most independent and unbiased reporting of Faye and her Children of the Underground Group.

With the August 2022 release of the upcoming 5 Episode Children of the Underground FX / Disney Series the now adult-children and their recovering parents and families from these Children of the Underground Cases are wondering if its producers (Ted Gesing, Dan Cogan, Liz Garbus, Kate Barry, Gabriela Cowperthwaite) are going to be sensitive and compassionate to them. Or will these producers allow these Underground Moms to be given another opportunity or forum to re-litigate their Family Law Custody Cases like Netflix did for Mia Farrow. Like Moses Farrow, it is doubtful that any of these now adult-children want FX / Disney to to invade their privacy without their consent.

We are also speculating if there is potential defamation and libel liability for FX / Disney in resurrecting any past allegations in these decades old cases.

Does the Protective Parent Playbook Tell Mothers to Fabricate Allegations?

Absolutely. In monitoring these high-conflict Protective Parent Family Law Custody Cases, protective moms are groomed that they must commit civil disobedience or fabricate allegations if they are accusing their former spouse of sexual abuse in Family Law Court, CPS Investigation or Criminal Trial. The Protective Parent Movement or Cause appears to be a last resort for mothers that have lost custody of their child/children in Family Law Court.

One of first mentions of the Protective Parent cause was a 1990 Book by the National Center for Women on Family Law: Legal issues and legal options in civil child sexual abuse cases : representing the protective parent. The book encouraged protective moms to find new forums for their case to build a stream of allegations. It was the start of a playbook for protective moms including non-custodial moms that were going to accuse their former spouse of child abuse.

In the cases we have followed, it seems that the Protective Mom or the children are coached to give very graphic and detailed accounts of abuse. These accounts as one Prosecutor commented are sometimes expanded and inconsistent with previous statements. The Protective Moms will often use details they have heard from other moms’s cases. At some of the trials, witnesses will take the stand and provide clearly fabricated allegations. The Protective Parent Movement has always boosted about having a network of supporters of Evaluators, Attorneys and even Law Enforcement workers.

The Protective Parent Attorneys like Alan Rosenfeld (disbarred), Richard Ducote, Barry Goldstein (disbarred) and Wendy Murphy have been lobbying the Family Law Courts to allow them to use young children as witnesses. These children are usually prevented from testifying by the child’s Guardian Ad-Litem Attorney and the Judges. So the Protective Mom in many of the cases will get a reporter to interview the coached child or do the interview herself like Mia Farrow did. And as expected, this video tape is leaked to the media. It appears as in a recent case, YouTube is a new forum for a child making abuse allegations against his or her parent. Keep in mind that these are cases that have already been investigated by CPS and Family Law Courts for many years.

By the time these divorcing mothers have found the Protective Parent Movement, it is likely the mother has lost all credibility with the Family Law Court Judge — violating court orders, parental alienation and in some cases parental kidnapping. So these mothers are groomed by these Protective Parent Groups to use any and all means including illegal criminal acts without regard to the safety, welfare and privacy of their child/children.

That appears to be happening in Franklin, Tennessee today.

Protective Parent Attorney Alan D. Rosenfeld Disbarred August 2019

Alan Rosenfeld, Protective Parent Attorney

People v. Alan David Rosenfeld. 18PDJ023. November 23, 2018.
A hearing board suspended Alan David Rosenfeld (attorney registration number 30317) for one year and one day, with three months to be served and the remainder to be stayed upon successful completion of a three-year period of probation, with conditions. The Colorado Supreme Court affirmed the hearing board’s decision on July 10, 2019, and Rosenfeld’s suspension took effect on August 5, 2019. Rosenfeld did not pay any court-ordered child support between June 2016 and December 2016.

Here is an excerpt from the final order:

“Even more troubling, Respondent’s 2007 discipline was preceded by two other instances of misconduct, though we focus here only on one.26 In 1991, Respondent was suspended for six months because he advised a client that a court likely would not be troubled if she failed to follow the court’s order regarding custody. Notably, one of the
hearing board members was disturbed by Respondent’s apparent lack of concern about court orders.27 Given that we see threads of Respondent’s recalcitrance toward court directives woven throughout these three episodes, we weigh this factor heavily in aggravation.”

[More info]

Editor’s Note: Alan D. Rosenfeld is the original law partner of Garnett Harrison (also disbarred and often credited with starting the Protective Parent Movement) of Harrison & Rosenfeld in Montpellier, Vermont. He claims to have represented thousands of protective moms. Rosenfeld has stated he was a member of the Elizabeth Morgan defense along with Richard Ducote who is credited in Allen vs. Farrow. Other Protective Parent Attorneys including Barry Goldstein (disbarred) and H. Joan Pennington (National Center for Protective Parents) are no longer practicing law. Michelle MacDonald is another controversial Protective Parent Attorney in the Sandra Grazzini-Rucki case.

Of course this is what surprises us the most about seeing the promotion of Protective Moms in Allen vs. Farrow (HBO 2021), we were under the impression that this movement was over with the Family Court’s new era of Joint Custody and Coparenting.