~You Can't Have Your Cake and Eat It, Too!~

by Tina~in_ut

I'm sitting here eating my Lemon Creme Cake from the Olive Garden and reading about Christopher Savoie when it dawns on me: Buddy, you can't have your cake and eat it, too! I heard about him on the local radio station on my way to work one day this week. I was appalled when I heard his story and felt so sorry for him. Of course, I only heard the short version on the radio. After hearing "the whole story", well, as much as I could find reported in the news, I don't know what to think!

The radio station reported that Christopher Savoie went to Japan to get his kids, 8-year-old Isaac and 6-year-old Rebecca, back and was arrested by the Japanese police for kidnapping. It seems that he and his wife of 14 years divorced in January, and since she was from Japan and they had only lived in the U.S. for a little over a year, he was afraid that Noriko would take them back to live in Japan. He was right. She took them and when he tried to take the kids to the U.S. Consulate to get passports, he was arrested. The DJ's and I were astounded that someone could be arrested for trying to see their own kids.

After looking up the news stories on him, I don't know who I feel more sorry for. Christopher and Noriko are citizens of both the United States and Japan. They lived in Japan and their children were born and raised there. Christopher moved to the U.S. in January 2008 and Noriko and the children followed in June. Before moving, Noriko tried to get a divorce, but Christopher refused. He talked her into moving to the U.S, and when she finally did, Noriko found that her husband had been having an affair and now wanted a divorce. After much fighting, the divorce was final in January 2009 and Christpher re-married in February. Noriko was awarded custody of the children, but during the divorce proceedings, Christopher feared that she would take the children to Japan and asked the judge to not allow her to take the children on vacation out of the country. In cases of divorce in Japan, custody is almost always granted to the mother, and fathers rarely get to see their children. He didn't want this happening to him. The court decided to hold onto the children's passports.

In March, Christopher took his ex-wife back to court. The judge hearing their case asked Noriko if she planned to take the children back to Japan to live and she said no. She was asked this repeatedly and said no each time. The judge did allow her to take kids on a two week vacation to Japan in July. Noriko was given their passports and they went and returned on time. Two weeks later, Noriko left for good back to Japan with the children. The courts never asked for the children's passports upon their return from their vacation.

Christopher went to Japan and when Noriko was walking the kids to school, he took them and rushed to the U.S. Consulate. Noriko called the local police and they were there waiting for Christopher when he arrived. He was arrested and will be held up to 10 days in jail while this whole mess is worked out. In the United States, once Noriko took the children in August, sole custody was granted to Christopher and a warrant was issued for her arrest, but that warrant has no bearing in Japan.

I have a hard time with this one. You have a woman scorned, living in a foreign country, and she's incredibly bitter. Who wouldn't be? I don't know how he could expect her to want to stay in the U.S. at all. It's almost as if he tricked her into coming here. At the same time, she broke the law. But then again, so did he. And where are the children in all this? It seems that neither one of the parents are thinking of the children. What do you think?