Bring Back My Baby Boy, Father Pleads

THE SUNDAY AGE

Saturday July 1, 1995

Paul Robinson

AN AMERICAN, Mr Jim Karides, has flown from his home in Virginia to take Family Court action to locate his runaway wife and nine-month-old baby boy.

Mr Karides, 34, has not seen his wife, Mary Louise, and son, Adam, for seven months, although they have been sighted recently in the Eildon area. They cannot be located despite a Federal Police warrant for the mother's arrest.

Mr Karides has taken action under the international Hague Convention, which enforces the return of family to the country of birth. He began action in the Family Court late last month to question family and friends about the whereabouts of his wife.

The Family Court has taken the highly unusual step of permitting publicity in the case to help the police and Mr Karides find his wife and son.

Mr Karides did not want to take action in a foreign court. ``I love Louise and our son very much and I want them to come out of hiding . .

. I don't want to take the legal approach but what can I do? It's been seven months and I haven't seen or heard from them both," he said.

``I should be teaching my little boy to walk and to talk and watching his teeth come . . . I want to be an influence in my son's life."

Mrs Georgina Fitzpatrick-Hoare of St Kilda has told the Family Court she last saw her close friend Mary Louise and Adam at a Lake Eildon holiday house in January.

She told the court she had not discussed with Mary Louise why she had left her husband or her future plans. She had not seen or spoken to her since.

Mrs Fitzpatrick-Hoare was asked by Mr Noel Akman, QC, counsel for Mr Karides, why she had told a private investigator that Mary Louise did not have a television ``and she didn't go outside" the place where she was living.

Mrs Fitzpatrick-Hoare replied: ``I suppose if you were on the run you wouldn't go outside. As far as I know she isn't earning any money so she couldn't afford a television."

Mary Louise's mother, Margaret, last week undertook to help the court find her daughter. This followed a decision by Justice Dessau to suppress evidence given by Detective Constable Karen Locke, of the Federal Police, about details of Mrs Armishaw's diary.

Mr Karides's case is being promoted by Mrs Jacqueline Gillespie, who runs the Empty Arms Network, a group that fights for the return of children to their parents. Mrs Gillespie has fought her own unsuccessful battle for the return of her two children from Malaysia since they were abducted by their father, Raja Bahrin Shah, in 1992.

Mrs Gillespie said she fully supported Mr Karides, whom she regarded as a kind and decent man. ``People shouldn't be judged on their gender in these cases. These are really tragic circumstances and the child is the ultimate sufferer," she said.

Mr Karides has tried to telephone Mary Louise's parents but an answering service responds. The calls are not returned. He said he had written many letters and sent several parcels and presents to his wife's family. All had been returned unopened.

A former model, Mary Louise, 33, stormed out of the Karides's Virginia Beach home on her birthday on 21 November last year. She took Adam and flew to New Zealand and later to Australia, where she has since been in hiding.

Mary Louise's flight followed a meal and then a family disagreement.

Her mother, Mrs Margaret Armishaw, who was visiting the family, was arrested by police and convicted of assaulting Mr Karides. She received a three-day suspended jail sentence.

Mary Louise's father, Graham, 64, has told `The Sunday Age' that his daughter ran away because Mr Karides had assaulted her. Mr Armishaw, who has said he would be prepared to lie about his daughter's whereabouts, last week gave an undertaking to the Family Court to do all he could to persuade his daughter to give herself up.

Mr Karides rejects the assault claim.

``I don't know why they are saying that. I'm not one to hold ill feelings about anybody. This is not about them or their family, it's about a little boy and his family," he said.

© 1995 THE SUNDAY AGE

Back to News Index | Back to Home