My name is Liz Maratta. My son, recently and bravely revealed to me,
that his own father has inflicted both constant physical and verbal
abuse on him for the past six years. It started when my son was eight
years old. He is now fourteen.

My son’s name is Michael Maratta. His father’s name is Ralph Maratta.
I divorced Ralph after I, myself endured twenty years of physical and
verbal abuse.

The following account of my son’s now known abuse is not coming from
some vindictive woman who is out to “get” her ex-husband. I divorced
him six years ago, so that should speak for itself.

I am a mother who is literally living in absolute fear that her son’s
father is going to hurt her son to the point of tragedy, especially now
that his son has revealed the truth.

I do not wish to bury my son!

Ralph and Michael currently reside together as I waived custody of
Michael, via a mediator, when we divorced on September 15, 2005. At the
time of the divorce, and in hindsight, I believe that I was manipulated
by Ralph Maratta, into waiving my custodial rights to Michael, leaving
Ralph Maratta with sole custody. Please note for the record that it
was NOT that I was denied that right, I just waived it voluntarily via
a divorce mediator.

Michael was eight years old when I left him in what I was sure was a
safe and sound environment with his father, Ralph.

It was late Sunday night, March 27th, during one of my pep talks with
Michael, that Michael finally opened up to me and revealed what is
truly going on with him regarding his despondent and sad demeanor of
late. We were on the subject of the importance of school and an
education to do well in life and in the future. Michael looked at me
and said "I want to be happy now." I looked at him and asked, "what
do you mean by that? Aren't you happy?" He said "no." Not knowing
what he meant by that, thinking they were just the words of a typical
teenager, I said to him—“cmon Michael, you don’t have it so badly. You
live in a good home. You have two loving parents. A lot of kids live
in physically and/or sexually abusive situations." At which point,
Michael looked at me, with tears in his eyes and said, "I am one of
those kids." I asked him to clarify what he meant. One of what kids
exactly???!!! He said "a kid from a physically abusive household!!!"

I was standing up at the time that he said this, and I felt my knees
buckle instantly and fell to the ground. That's the amount of shock
that that admittance caused me!!!

My son admitted to me that he's been, and is being abused by his own
father, since he was eight years old!!, since I left the house. My son
has endured and kept this to himself, for 6 years!! As you can imagine,
I died inside, just felt things I never even knew existed.

I swear I never for a second thought this was possible. That his own
father, Ralph Maratta, would inflict such physical and emotional pain
on such a young child of 8 and right up to his present age of 14, was
unfathomable to me.

If one were to meet Ralph, he appears to be a very upstanding citizen
and good father. But that was all a façade. He is a whole different
person, behind closed doors, when no one is looking.

Anyway, that very evening I got on the 24/7 hotline with DYFS and
reported the abuse to them. I recounted the events to them and offered
them some graphic examples of how Ralph has been abusing Michael on a
weekly basis.

Immediately, and I mean immediately, I was surprised by the reaction of
the woman on the line from the 24/7 DYFS abuse reporting hotline. I
believe that the conversation was recorded so if anyone would like to
look into obtaining an audio copy, I would urge them to do so.
The 24/7 DYFS hotline phone attendant seemed more concerned with Ralph
(the perpretator’s) safety than for my fourteen year old son. Despite
my reporting the abuse Ralph inflicted on Michael, the woman on the
phone kept coming back to whether Michael would commit something tragic
towards his father!!! I could not believe my ears.

Little did I know, though, that that was just the start of this
unbelievable resistance that I have encountered with everyone from
DYFS, to the Superior Court system in Flemington, to the attorney at
Legal Services of New Jersey to even some family members, both on my
side as well as from Ralph’s side.

My reporting the child abuse that my son has endured all of these
years, I discovered, was not only something a rightful mother should
do, but it is also mandated by law that if one suspects wrong-doing to
a minor, that it should be immediately reported to DYFS.

I also made my son’s school and counselors aware of it. They have been
very cooperative with this matter, I must say.

DYFS, on the other hand, has what I call “stonewalled” me and my son.
The caseworker for our situation, by the name of Mr. Cory Dick, did
come over to see and interview my son and I on the Tuesday after the
weekend that Michael revealed the truth to me. He met with both of us
separately, which I can understand, is customary. I was not made aware
of Mr. Cory Dick’s findings until the following week, when we all had a
court appearance to make.

The reason there was a court appearance was because the very next day,
Monday, March 28th, after the Sunday evening that Michael revealed the
truth to me, I ran to the Superior Court in Flemington, NJ to seek an
emergency reversal of custodial rights to be transferred from Michael’s
father, Ralph, to me. Fortunately, the judge did grant a temporary,
emergency transferal of custodial rights from Ralph to me, but only for
a week. He asked that both Ralph and I attend a hearing the following
Monday, April 4th.

On a side note, the Flemington Family Law clerks behind the windows of
the Family Court application room forewarned me that I would not be
successful in my fight for the protection of my son. The callous way
in which the Flemington court clerks treated me was another eye opener
and a wave of what was to come my way, again, in my desperate pursuit
to protect my son. I cannot not imagine that they did not note my
anguish and fear, but compassion just did not seem to be part of their
way.

I looked around in that office, noticed the various posters that they
have hanging up, depicting the sad faces of children who are being
abused in one way or another (sexually, physically and/or mentally).
The posters are there to remind and urge families and their children,
NOT to remain silent and to report whatever abuse they are enduring to
authorities such as DYFS. But with the resistance that I am getting
from agencies such as DYFS, and the court system, I wonder why they
bother posting those advisory posters at all. I did report the abuse
of my son to these so-called resources, but they have all turned their
backs on my son and I. I feel as if they want us to simply go away –
just deal with it ourselves.

Anyway, I detracted. Ralph and I did appear in court that following
Monday morning as was mandated. Ralph showed up with an attorney. I,
on the other hand, did not. I was very wrongly advised by the attorney
at Legal Services of New Jersey, Alisa Grossman, that it would be best
that I self-represent as I seem to know my story better and would be
able to recount it to the judge much better than she would.

Ms. Grossman informed me that if she were to be present, that I would
not be able to explain the events of the abuse my son has endured, to
the courts, but that I would only be able to answer yes or no
questions. That I had more “heart and conviction” than that. Well,
that turned out to be the worst advice I could have ever gotten and
agreed to.

As you can imagine, my ex-husband’s attorney was well versed in the
goings on of that particular courtroom and that particular judge, Judge
Hany Mawla. Without going into too much detail, I was railroaded by
three men in a courtroom; the three men being the judge, Ralph’s
attorney, and Ralph himself. Ralph, especially, because he was allowed
a lot more talk time, by the judge, than I was, and lied left and
right, in an effort to present me as an unfit, uncaring, unavailable
mother.

The few times that I did ask to be able to defend myself, I had to do
so with much trepidation as the judge had already threatened me with
the rules of his courtroom.

The court session took several hours with part of it being one of my
only battle wins which was for the judge to interview my son himself.

To make a long story short, once Judge Mawla was through with speaking
with Michael, himself, he was able to gather his data, which included
his talk with Michael and Cory Dick’s (of DYFS) findings. Mr. Dick, to
my utmost shock, considered the report of child abuse, by Michael, as
“unfounded” and that whatever treatment Michal endured by his father
was considered “physical discipline” and not “physical abuse.”

I sat in front of Judge Mawla’s bench absolutely stunned and in
disbelief as he read the laundry list of abusive reportings that
Michael admitted to enduring, only for it all to be considered both
“unfounded” and “physical discipline” only!!! Mind you, we are
talking about being choked to the point of near suffocation, being
thrown to the ground and having his hair pulled out, plus having to run
to the woods, with no shoes on, with snow on the ground, for three
hours, out of fear for his own life from his own father, only to be
considered discipline, unfounded, and not abuse!!!

I wanted to scream, but held my own because I was already threatened by
Judge Mawla. So I did not want to end up in jail and then there would
not be anyone to help protect my son. I remember wondering---am I in
some communist country where you are not allowed to speak or am I in
America? It was a very, very strange feeling.

Judge Mawla, once he made his decision that Michael would be able to be
alone with his father, once again, and gave me some visitation rights,
proceeded to explain to me that I should act “maturely” when I step out
of the courtroom to hand over my son to that monster of a dad. I
reminded the judge that I did conduct myself in a mature fashion when I
reported this crime to what I thought would be the proper authorities.

Another astonishing aside was when Judge Mawla noted that I was crying
right before I had to turn my son over. I admit I did cry
hysterically. I could not help myself. I felt so scared and helpless
for my son. Judge Mawla remarked to me that I was “crying but that he
did not notice any tears coming down my face.” Surprised by his remark,
I asked him “are you calling me a fake?!!?” He kept quiet.

If you find these accounts to be unbelievable, please feel free to
contact the Superior court in Flemington. The woman, by the name of
Phyllis, in the law library, is able to provide you with an audio
version of the CD for the entire court session at a small fee of ten
dollars. The number at the courthouse is 908-237-5920 or 5800.

Also, if you would like to get DYFS’s account, I am happy to share the
following, public telephone number for the caseworker—Mr. Cory Dick and
his supervisor Mr. Jeff Kline. The number at their office is
908-782-8784. Mr. Dick’s direct extension is 122.

I did call back, the following Thursday, after the court hearing, the
attorney at Legal Services of New Jersey, Alisa Grossman, to let her
know how badly things went for me and especially for my son that past
Monday in court.

Again, you will not believe her advice, upon hearing the outcome. Ms.
Grossman actually advised me to, and I quote, “let the dust settle”
until Michael turns seventeen. I asked to clarify, and what she meant
by that was for me to just let everything be because Michael will be
turning seventeen soon anyway.

As a matter of fact, Ms. Grossman refuses to represent our case due to
Michael’s age. She said that if he was eight years old that it would
be a different story. At the age he is in right now, representing us
would “not be worth it.” I reminded her that Michael started to be
abused at eight years old, and that with the imminent danger he is in
now, being alone with his father whom Michael exposed for who he really
is, may not live to see seventeen.

I reminded Ms. Grossman, and have spoken to Mr. Cory Dick and his
supervisor, Mr. Jeff Kline to remind them that I will NOT bury my son.
I do not want to do something about this when it is too late. I want
to do something about this NOW.

MY SON IS IN DANGER WHEN HE IS LEFT ALONE WITH HIS FATHER, PLAIN AND
SIMPLE.

His father knows he is being watched at the present moment, but I KNOW
that when things loosen up, he will make sure his son pays for making
him look bad.

My son is 14, therefore he is a teenager. Due to the typical
teenager’s raging hormones, rebellious nature and angst, an account of
the physical and emotional pain that his very own father inflicted on
him from when he was eight, is hard to believe for most. Some do not
believe him.

I, 100% firmly believe my son, Michael. First of all, he would NEVER
make something like this up. He tries to avoid any drama at all cost.

Secondly, fortunately for Michael/unfortunately for me, I too was
physically and mentally abused by the same man, his Father, my
ex-husband, Ralph Maratta, for approximately 20 years.

The graphic descriptions of physical and emotional abuse that Michael
shared with me, about his father, on Sunday, March 27th, were so
incredibly alike to what I had to endure at the hands of Ralph Maratta
that it blew my mind. Michael and I sat and went over our abusive
experiences like two incredibly wounded war soldiers recounting the
trauma from a war we did not wish upon ourselves.

Everything Michael recounted I could very well relate to. That is why
I very much believe him. You couldn’t make some of that stuff up from
out of the blue and for no reason.

For instance:
1. According to Michael, Ralph comes home nightly, of course, from
work. On a daily basis, Michael would get a pit in his stomach, at the
thought of how far a verbal attack could and often would escalate to.
Each day, Ralph would tell him that he is a “Loser” and enjoyed also
using the words “a fuck-up” to describe Michael, to his face, as well.
2. Michael says that on a weekly basis, Ralph would pin him down,
in a restrictive hold, so that Michael would not have any control,
whatsoever, and therefore was not able to call 911. This, let us keep
in mind, has been happening since Michael was eight.
3. Ralph would come up behind Michael, and for no apparent reason
begin insulting him and then proceed to punch Michael hard on the back,
almost knocking the wind out of him.
4. Michael has been choked, almost to the point of suffocation, by
Ralph Maratta.
5. Ralph has also knocked Michael to the ground and pulled his hair
out.
6. Ralph has broken several land phones in an effort to not allow
Michael’s calls into the police.
7. Michael has had to run to his room and lock himself in his
bedroom to avoid his father’s physical violence, out of fear for his
own life. Michael says that Ralph would knock on Michael’s door
relentlessly ordering him to open the door. After some time, and when
Ralph Maratta would change his tone, he would beg Michael, nicely, to
open the door, promising Michael that he would not hurt him. When
Michael would (innocently) open the door Ralph would physically attack
him, and wrestle Michael to the ground and punch him and call him a
loser and a “fuck-up.”
8. Michael also confessed to me that Ralph has threatened him to
never tell me, his mother, about the abuse, (or anyone else, for that
matter). Michael fears for his own life because he says that Ralph has
told him that he “will not even live to regret it, if he tells.”
9. On one very recent occasion, in early March, Ralph, again,
raised the level of altercation with Michael, over nothing, to such a
life-threatening level that Michael, again, really feared for his
life. At that time, there was still some snow on the ground. The
house they live in sits on 5 acres. In an effort to save his own life,
Michael said that he ran around the house, trying to steer clear of his
father while he was chasing him, so he grabbed his coat and quickly
looked for his shoes but could not find them. Michael had no choice,
as Ralph was getting close, but to run out in the snow, in only socks,
and in to the woods. Michael told me that he stayed there for three
hours. He felt scared, lonely, and hopeless. He did not know what to
do, only that he should wait it out long enough so that his father
would perhaps then have time to calm down. I asked Michael why he did
not call me. Sadly, Michael said that he did not think anyone,
including me, would believe him.

10. Ralph Maratta has threatened Michael by saying that he is going to
take Michael to a psychiatrist in an attempt to convince Michael that
Michael is mentally insane. I would imagine that Ralph’s goal is to
drive Michael as crazy as he did me.
11. Ralph is also a heavy, illegal drug user (marijuana). He has been
using it since he was in his teens. He is now 48 years old. He was
using it all throughout our marriage and into the final years of them,
which would mean that Michael was born then as well. Ralph promised me
that he discontinued illegal drug use, but I have asked Michael and
Michael quickly answers—“Oh I know Dad smokes pot! I can smell it on
him!!” Michael has also found his Dad’s supply in their house. Ralph
is also with a woman, who resides in New York City. Her two teenage
children partake in marijuana use on a very regular basis. Michael has
reported to me that the son, who is about Michael’s age, has Michael go
to the marijuana dealer with him and carry the supply for him, so that
the son does not get caught by the mother. My son is silly in
accepting to help out this way, but I do not believe he should have to
pay the price for the other boy’s illegal drug use habit. I am also
afraid of the thought of an introduction, in that household, of any
hard drugs.


In Conclusion:

I am not certain, that Ralph Maratta won’t go into a violent tear
because his reputation of being an upstanding citizen, great husband
and loving father is now in question by the courts, by his family, by
his peers, and by the world in general. What I do know is that I have
spent a full week now, alone, with my son, Michael. At first he
resisted my having announced this to the authorities and to his
school. He was embarrassed and wanted to avoid a dysfunctional
situation. I reminded him that what his father, is allowing, exposing
and doing to him to is way more dysfunctional than any kind of life
Michael will have with me.

In case you are wondering, as I now have, the ONLY reason I think that
Ralph did not seek revenge on me, either in a violent, tragic way when
I finally divorced him, was simply because he transferred all of his
abusive ways on to his own son. Now that he can’t transfer that
forward to another victim, I feel that Michael and I could very well be
his main targets.

Please know that I am not a vindictive woman who is out to “get” her
ex-husband. I am a protective, loving, sane, free of drugs mother who
does not want to see her only son end up a tragic, dead statistic.
Michael’s protection, safety and well-being are my ONLY goal here.

I have spent a good time with Michael, and like most children, despite
the trauma that he has endured and the uncertain future that he has
faced, Michael has colored my world with happiness. He shared the many
lyrics to songs that he has written, along with guitar music that he
has composed, with me, this past week. He has also shared the sweet,
amateur movies and photography that he has produced, directed and
edited, all on his own.

Michael has many fascinating interests. It has been said, by many,
that Michael is a very wise, intuitive child. I get comments from
parents and teachers, all of the time about how respectful and
participatory Michael is. Michael has been made “student of the month”
for his smarts, kindness and compassion for others, in the past. I can
produce, easily, for the courts, written testimonials from various
teachers. I just did not have time to get them this past week.

Michael has proclaimed to me that he wishes to be called a non-violent
Buddhist. He believes that one does not have any right to hurt or end
the life of not even a fly.

Michael has many hopes and aspirations for his life. The reason I am
writing this account is in the hopes that a reporter/newspaper will
expose this unbelievable “David and Goliath” type account so that we
can surround Michael with adults that can help to protect him. People
(including, and especially me) who only mean him well---People who
know what is wrong and what is right for him and that are willing to
lead by example, for the sake of his safety and well-being. Michael,
like all American children, deserves that much.


Lastly, and if I may say one more thing:

A quote that I stand by and would like to share:

“All that is necessary for EVIL to triumph is that good men and women
do NOTHING.”
Edmund Burke


PLEASE HELP US!

Feel free to contact me, Liz Maratta, at any time.

My email address is [email protected].

My cell phone, which I carry everywhere, is 917-520-9914. If I happen
to not be able to answer, kindly leave me a voicemail or text.

Thank you so much for your time in reading this and considering it for
a story.

Kind regards,

Liz Maratta


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