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A Sixteen-Year-Old Utah Boy is Killed By His Abusive Father on Mother’s Day Weekend
While His Mom Advocated for the “Keeping Children Safe From Family Violence” Act … to Keep Him Safe
Family court professionals did not act in time nor in the best interest of the child to keep him safe from a clearly dangerous parent."
A Sixteen-Year-Old Utah Boy is Killed By His Abusive Father on Mother’s Day Weekend
While His Mom Advocated for the “Keeping Children Safe From Family Violence” Act … to Keep Him Safe
Family court professionals did not act in time nor in the best interest of the child to keep him safe from a clearly dangerous parent."
Salt Lake City, May 17, 2023 — On Friday May 12, a 49-year-old Salt Lake City father, Parth Gandhi, killed his 16-year-old son Om and then took his own life,according to authorities. The father, a neuropsychologist, was in a protracted family court child custody battle with the son’s mother, Leah Moses, who alleged that Parth was violent, abusive and had problematic behavior involving substance abuse and exposing the children to pornography, according to court records. Despite her concerns for the safety of her child, the father was granted full custody of the boy by the family court.
“Like thousands of other contested custody cases in family courts across the U.S., this protective mother in Utah had presented evidence to the court about the father’s abusive behaviors and asked the court to keep her son safe by seeking full legal and physical custody to keep him in her care,” said Danielle Pollack, Policy Manager at the National Family Violence Law Center at GW Law.
Instead of court professionals properly addressing the documented abuse evidence, the mother was instead viewed with suspicion and was accused of “parental alienation,” (PA), a commonly invoked and unfortunately effective legal tactic of accused abusers in family court. Recent studies have shown this is not an anomaly, but a common reaction by those accused of abuse to fend off abuse allegations, especially those made by a protective mother. Supporting this research is a UN Human Rights Council special report published this month which is bringing attention to the use of PA in family court as an international problem.
“As often happens, family court professionals lack adequate training in domestic violence, child sexual abuse, and trauma, and can sometimes be easily misled by charismatic abusers. They are often unable to identify when a parent is a perpetrator and understand why a protective parent is trying to keep her kids safe once she leaves an abusive home, just as Leah had,” added Pollack.
“Like thousands of other contested custody cases in family courts across the U.S., this protective mother in Utah had presented evidence to the court about the father’s abusive behaviors and asked the court to keep her son safe by seeking full legal and physical custody to keep him in her care,” said Danielle Pollack, Policy Manager at the National Family Violence Law Center at GW Law.
Instead of court professionals properly addressing the documented abuse evidence, the mother was instead viewed with suspicion and was accused of “parental alienation,” (PA), a commonly invoked and unfortunately effective legal tactic of accused abusers in family court. Recent studies have shown this is not an anomaly, but a common reaction by those accused of abuse to fend off abuse allegations, especially those made by a protective mother. Supporting this research is a UN Human Rights Council special report published this month which is bringing attention to the use of PA in family court as an international problem.
“As often happens, family court professionals lack adequate training in domestic violence, child sexual abuse, and trauma, and can sometimes be easily misled by charismatic abusers. They are often unable to identify when a parent is a perpetrator and understand why a protective parent is trying to keep her kids safe once she leaves an abusive home, just as Leah had,” added Pollack.
Image: The Utah boy, Om, who was court ordered into the custody of his abusive father, who killed him on Mother’s Day weekend.
Late in 2022, Leah and other advocates met with Utah Senator Todd Weiler to ask him to sponsor a state version of the federal Keeping Children Safe From Family Violence Act in Utah, and he agreed to lead the effort. Senator Weiler said that passing this law would provide Utah with much needed federal funding to better educate court professionals, so they can better protect abused children in custody cases. It would also improve how courts handle custody cases with abuse allegations. In February of this year, Leah participated in a demonstration at the Utah State Capitol calling for the adoption of more protective child custody laws in the state.
Image: Leah demonstrating with other advocates, including family members of Ty and Brynlee Larson, One Mom’s Battle, BTR.ORG, and the National Safe Parents Organization, at the Utah State Capitol on February 17, 2023, calling for Utah to adopt the Keeping Children Safe From Family Violence Act, also known as “Kayden’s Law.” Twelve weeks later Leah’s son was murdered.
“My son Om’s death was preventable. The family court system professionals ignored my pleas for help to keep my son safe. My son’s father persuaded everyone I was the problem, when in fact I was just trying to protect my child. I never want this to happen to another family, to another child. If the courts would listen to and believe survivors, this nightmare could stop,” said Leah.
Image: Leah and Om sharing a mother-son moment in New York City in 2022.
Dr. Candice Smith, Layton Hospital Department Chair of Pediatrics and Member of Utah Medical Association Board of Delegates, is all too familiar with cases like this. “Pediatricians in the State of Utah are becoming more and more frustrated with our inability to keep children safe from maltreatment due to court ordered parenting time with an abuser,” said Dr. Smith.
This Utah filicide follows on the heels of two important recent Utah cases with family court involvement, one where an abusive father killed his wife, five children and mother-in-law after the mother, Tausha Haight, had filed for divorce, and another where two siblings, who had been sexually abused by their father according to DHS, barricaded themselves in their room to avoid the court order to be in their father’s custody.
After battling for her child’s safety for over 14 years, presenting evidence in court and enduring legal and other abuse by Parth, Leah saw a glimmer of hope when a custody evaluator finally made a recommendation to give Leah full custody of Om. Leah said, “When I received that custody recommendation I was relieved and hopeful that the court would act quickly to ensure that Om could escape the violence he’d been subjected to at the hands of his father and finally live in a safe and healthy environment. Instead, three and half weeks later, he was murdered.”
“Had the court professionals Om was subjected to been educated about abuse and family violence dynamics and acted on the evidence, Om would likely still be alive,” Leah said.
Instead of celebrating his upcoming seventeenth birthday, young Om, a bright student and talented musician, who was loving and protective to his mother and sister, will be laid to rest in the coming days.
Contributions to the Om Moses Ghandi Memorial Fund can be made here and will support Leah’s efforts to bring child safety and survivor-centric reforms to Utah.
This Utah filicide follows on the heels of two important recent Utah cases with family court involvement, one where an abusive father killed his wife, five children and mother-in-law after the mother, Tausha Haight, had filed for divorce, and another where two siblings, who had been sexually abused by their father according to DHS, barricaded themselves in their room to avoid the court order to be in their father’s custody.
After battling for her child’s safety for over 14 years, presenting evidence in court and enduring legal and other abuse by Parth, Leah saw a glimmer of hope when a custody evaluator finally made a recommendation to give Leah full custody of Om. Leah said, “When I received that custody recommendation I was relieved and hopeful that the court would act quickly to ensure that Om could escape the violence he’d been subjected to at the hands of his father and finally live in a safe and healthy environment. Instead, three and half weeks later, he was murdered.”
“Had the court professionals Om was subjected to been educated about abuse and family violence dynamics and acted on the evidence, Om would likely still be alive,” Leah said.
Instead of celebrating his upcoming seventeenth birthday, young Om, a bright student and talented musician, who was loving and protective to his mother and sister, will be laid to rest in the coming days.
Contributions to the Om Moses Ghandi Memorial Fund can be made here and will support Leah’s efforts to bring child safety and survivor-centric reforms to Utah.
Image: Om, skiing with his mom, Leah, January 2023.
Image: Leah with Om and her daughter on the day she graduated.
*Court professionals who were tasked with evaluating and keeping the boy safe from abuse have not responded to requests for comment.
National Safe Parents Organization
We are a national coalition of more than 100,000 survivor parents and concerned citizens in the United States advocating for evidence-based policies which put child safety and risks at the forefront of child custody decisions.
We believe it is a child’s human right to live free from abuse and that child safety, which is implicit in the law, must be made the top priority in practice, in all private custody decision-making. We at NSPO work with similar national groups across the globe, all contending with similar problems to those we see in the U.S.: Court’s resistance to taking safety risks and abuse to a child seriously in the context of child access decisions.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/safe_parents
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nationalsafeparents/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nationalsafeparents/
Media Contact:
Danielle Pollack
[email protected]
(646) 724- 7211
National Safe Parents Organization
We are a national coalition of more than 100,000 survivor parents and concerned citizens in the United States advocating for evidence-based policies which put child safety and risks at the forefront of child custody decisions.
We believe it is a child’s human right to live free from abuse and that child safety, which is implicit in the law, must be made the top priority in practice, in all private custody decision-making. We at NSPO work with similar national groups across the globe, all contending with similar problems to those we see in the U.S.: Court’s resistance to taking safety risks and abuse to a child seriously in the context of child access decisions.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/safe_parents
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nationalsafeparents/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nationalsafeparents/
Media Contact:
Danielle Pollack
[email protected]
(646) 724- 7211